Tea at Trianon: The True Age of Catherine Howard

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

Saturday, March 26, 2022

The True Age of Catherine Howard

From Royal History Geeks:

In recent years, historians have feared that Catherine Howard was just 15 years old when she married the aged Henry VIII. But according to the Tudor Queen’s most recent biographer, robust evidence places her year of birth earlier than has recently been assumed.
In 1527, Isabel Worsley left a modest bequest of 20 shillings to her young granddaughter, Catherine Howard. She could never have fathomed that this little gift would form the basis of an academic debate 500 years’ later.

Like all of Henry VIII’s English wives, the year of Catherine Howard’s birth is shrouded in mystery.

Baptismal records were not systematically kept. Though Catherine was born into a great family, she was firmly on its fringes. Few could have predicted that her date of birth would ever be a source of interest to future generations.

Mercifully, a handful of clues survive. In the will of John Leigh, Catherine’s step-grandfather, the future Queen is not mentioned. Scholars have traditionally dated this document to 1524. Yet, just three years later, Isabel’s will gave due mention to both Catherine and a little sister.

Many have assumed that Catherine must have made her debut between the drafting of these two documents. Given that she had to arrive with time to spare for a baby sister, 1525 leaps out as the most logical choice.

This conclusion matters. It makes Catherine just 15 when she married the 49-year-old Henry and became Queen of England. Phrases like “child bride” or “abusive marriage” may be anachronistic. But they would not be entirely inaccurate.

It’s a horrifying conclusion. But is it the right one?

According to historian Gareth Russell, Catherine’s most recent biographer, there is more to this debate than meets the eye.

“The idea that Catherine was born in 1525 is based on a misreading of her grandparents’ wills,” Gareth explains. “It’s an understandable mistake. But it is unambiguously a mistake.” (Read more.)