Tea at Trianon: Katherine Howard: A Victim of Child Abuse?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, December 30, 2016

Katherine Howard: A Victim of Child Abuse?

I have always thought so. From The Telegraph:

It’s all very well to describe her “easy charm”, and her “abundant store of good nature”, but it is questionable to do so about a girl who, from the age of 11 or 12 onwards, had older men coming into her bedroom. Especially when Manox was placed in a position of responsibility towards Katherine as her music teacher.

Regardless, you might argue, there’s still the damning ‘love letter’ that she wrote to Thomas Culpepper after her marriage: surely to take such a risk as queen is evidence, if not of adultery, of stupidity?

But when you consider the personal politics of abusive relationships, you have to suspect that all is not as it seems. Thomas Culpepper, a favourite of Henry’s, was a thoroughly unpleasant character. He’d been accused of raping a woman, although the king had excused him. He too was associated with Katherine’s grandmother’s household, and knew what had gone on here.

Imagine, then, Culpepper using his knowledge of Katherine’s past against her. It is quite understandable that a woman in her position would say or do anything at all to try to placate or mollify such a dangerous blackmailer. We know today that’s not impossible for a ‘love letter’ to be motivated entirely by fear.

With this in mind, think again of Katherine’s last journey by boat to the Tower of London. Think again of her asking, the night before her execution, as we know that she did, if she could please practise the laying of her head upon the block in order to do it properly. Her final requests were that the king spare her family vengeance, and that he should give gifts to her attendants. (Read more.)