Today in 1541 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer left a letter for Henry VIII in the chapel at Hampton Court giving details about his wife Catherine Howard’s past. Henry had married Catherine thinking she was an innocent virgin – which she was not. A woman who knew Catherine when they were younger had told a story of Catherine’s relationship with Francis Derham, as well as her music tutor Henry Manox.
At first, Henry didn’t believe it, thinking that she was an honest woman, and not doubting her, but he organized an investigation – which would, of course, highlight that she had committed adultery on top of all of the other stuff. Catherine would be executed about three months later.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Autumn 2018 Tudor Summit: Claire Ridgway on Katherine Howard
James Boulton on Tudor Queens
From the shop:
Katherine Howard Portrait Bracelet
Ps. All products are made on-demand and can take a few weeks to ship.
Want more Tudor in your life? Join the Tudor Learning Circle - the only social network devoted solely to Tudor History. Sign up free at TudorLearningCircle.com! And why not Tudorfy your YouTube algorithm by getting exclusive videos and content on Heather's YouTube channel!
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.