(A.D. 1521-1542.)
|There is not a family in England whose name has appeared so often in
its history, whether for good or for bad, as that of the Howards, nor
one whose members filled such varied and important positions, as every
attentive reader will admit.
Katharine Howard was nearly related to Anne Boleyn; she became the fifth
wife of Henry VIII., and is by no means one of the nobler specimens of
the family to which she belonged.
She was born in 1521, and had the misfortune to lose her mother while
she was still young. Her father's duties called him from home a greater
part of the time, and the Duchess of Norfolk, her grandmother, who had
charge of Katharine, was so neglectful of her duty as to permit the
child to choose her own companions, and they were unfortunately low and
degraded.
Unlike most grandmothers, the duchess merely tolerated Katharine in her
household, and felt that she had performed her part when the little maid
was locked in her room, and the key safely deposited in her own pocket.
But, like many naughty girls, Katharine managed, in spite of locks, to
meet Francis Derham, one of the Duke of Norfolk's retainers, to whom she
secretly engaged herself. In order to be nearer his lady-love, Derham
entered the service of her grandmother as gentleman-usher. After a
{423}time the old lady began to observe certain signs of intimacy
between this pair of lovers, and on entering a room one day unexpectedly
she found them romping together. Shocked at the familiarity of her usher
towards her granddaughter, she boxed the ears of the lady-attendant
for permitting it, punished Katharine, and dismissed Derham from her
service.
[Illustration: 0427]
After that Katharine was kept under greater restraint, and as she grew
into womanhood learned to behave properly, and became remarkable for her
charming and graceful manners.
She met Henry VIII. the first time at a banquet given by the Bishop of
Winchester to celebrate the monarch's marriage with Anne of Cleves, and
afterwards at the house of Gardiner. The king took such a fancy to her
that it was not long before he secured her appointment as maid-of-honor
to the queen. It has been supposed that Katharine was instrumental in
bringing about the death of {424}Cromwell, but, as she only intrigued
for the king's favors, it is not probable that she troubled her head
about politics.
Henry VIII. fell in love with her as he had done with Anne Boleyn and
Jane Seymour, when they were maids-of-honor, and little Katharine was
silly enough to be flattered by the marks of favor he showed her. The
Duchess of Norfolk, instead of warning the girl of her danger, was
foolish enough to encourage her to court the king's attention, and
provided her with fine clothes to make her as attractive as possible to
his majesty.
Henry was easily won, and privately married Katharine a few days after
he was divorced from Anne of Cleves.
[[A.D. 1540.]] On the 8th of August, 1540, the new bride was introduced
at Hampton Court as Queen of England. A short honeymoon was passed at
Windsor, and then the royal couple made a tour through several counties,
but the king had exhausted his treasury when he married his Flemish
bride, so he could not honor Katharine Howard with either a coronation
or a marriage festival. But he was very much in love, and lavished
affection on her.
Six months of peace and happiness were enjoyed by the royal couple,
Henry seldom leaving the side of his young wife, nor permitting any of
his councillors to interrupt his pleasures. Katharine felt her power and
forgot what had been the fate of her predecessors. She was soon to
be reminded, however, for the realm had become divided into two
parties--the Catholic and Protestant, and both were strong. The
Reformers fondly hoped that Anne of Cleves might be restored to her
former position, and regarded Katharine in the same unfavorable light as
Anne Boleyn had been looked upon by the Catholics.
At last, in the spring, came a crisis in the shape of an insurrection by
the Catholics in Yorkshire, headed by Sir {425}
[Illustration: 0429] {427}John Neville. Henry thought Cardinal Pole was
the cause of it, and so took his revenge by ordering the execution of
the Countess of Salisbury, Pole's mother, who had been in the Tower for
more than a year: When the aged lady heard of it she refused to lay her
head upon the block, saying, "So should traitors do, but I am none,
and if you will have my head you must win it as you can." Thereupon the
brutal ruffian who acted as executioner dragged her by her hoary locks,
and "slovenly butchered the woman in whose veins flowed the noblest
blood of England."
For the purpose of ascertaining the exact state of affairs in Yorkshire,
King Henry set out with his wife for that place early in July, 1541,
leaving Cranmer, Audley, and Seymour, three Protestant adherents, among
his councillors at home. At Yorkshire the royal couple were met by two
hundred gentlemen in velvet coats, with four thousand yeomen, who knelt
while one of their number offered nine hundred pounds. At another place
three hundred ecclesiastics presented six hundred pounds, and so on
until Henry found himself much richer than when he started on his
journey. Queen Katharine saw more of the pomp of royalty at this
time than she had done during the whole year before, for the wealthy
aristocracy in every part of the country vied with each other in the
grandeur of their entertainments given in honor of the royal couple.
Katharine had been married little more than a year when Francis Derham
returned to England, and she committed the error of appointing him as
her private secretary. As soon as the king heard of the relation that
had existed between this man and his wife previous to her marriage his
jealousy was aroused, and the Protestant statesmen took good care to
encourage every suspicion that entered their monarch's head. Meanwhile
poor little Katharine was {428}entirely unconscious of the storm that
was gathering about her.
King Henry was soon forced to order her removal from Hampton Court.
Wriothesley and Rich were the unprincipled, cruel agents who, determined
upon the destruction of the queen, persecuted her until she was beside
herself with terror and grief. Then, too, she loved her husband, and
when she was compelled to leave him without one word of farewell, one
look of compassion, her heart was almost broken. The king suffered also,
but his council took little heed of that; it would be dangerous for them
were Katharine to regain her power.
Shakespeare truly says:
"Trifles, light as air,
Are to the jealous confirmations strong
As proofs of holy writ."
Katharine was removed to Sion House, and thence a few days later to the
gloomy dungeon of the Tower.
During the short season of terror that succeeded the queen's arrest,
Derham, the poor old Duchess of Norfolk, Culpepper, Katharine's cousin,
and several other persons who were guilty of no crime but that of
suspecting the attachment that had existed before her marriage between
Katharine and Derham, were executed.
On the 16th of January, 1542, parliament met to decide the fate of the
queen, and without granting her the privilege of uttering one word in
her own defence she was condemned to die. The 14th of the following
month was fixed upon for the execution of this beautiful young girl,
against whom no crime could be proved even through the instrumentality
of the torture.
[[A.D. 1542.]] She met her death calmly and meekly, professing to the
last her loyalty to the king. Her burial {429}took place immediately
without even the ceremonies that would have been accorded to the meanest
of her subjects; she was interred in St. Peter's chapel of the Tower.
When speaking of Henry VIII., Sir Walter Raleigh says: "If all the
patterns of a merciless tyrant had been lost to the world they might
have been found in this prince."
[Illustration: 0433]
{430}