Catherine Howard: Her Rise & Fall, with Facial Reconstructions | Royalty Now

hello everyone and welcome back to royalty now where we bring you face to face with figures from the past Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of King Henry VIII a girl who never expected to be Queen and paid a terrible price for it we'll walk you through the life and appearance of Catherine and then reveal some Recreations of this ill-fated Tudor Beauty so let's go ahead and get started like many Tudor women most of Catherine's early life has been lost to history we know she was born in Lambeth Parish in what is now London but what year she was born is something that historians still debate they've proposed anywhere between 1518 and 1527. we're following historian Gareth Russell's hypothesis that Catherine was born around 1521 and was therefore older than most accounts suggest during her story the Howard family had been a prominent presence in The Tudor world ever since its founding in 1483 Catherine's father Edmund Howard had been a fixture at Henry VIII's court and even had a jousting match with the king at his coronation but by the time Catherine was born the Howard family's reputation had been tarnished after her father spent much of the family's Fortune to make things worse Edmund was closely related to King Henry VII's disgraced second wife Ann Berlin after her mother's death and her father's debt caused him to leave the country Catherine was left to be raised by relatives as a young girl she packed her things and went to live with her grandmother Agnes Howard The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk chesworth house in Sussex seemed an idyllic place to be raised the countless Wards of The Duchess would play in the woods near the house splashing in the river Aaron and taking long walks in the Tudor Garden it was also a wonderful place to go nearly unsupervised the dozens of household servants were always there watching and gossiping but they didn't interfere with the Ward's antics [Music] around 1536 when Catherine was about 14 she met Henry Mannix her music teacher and their relationship quickly escalated manics by most accounts was this stereotypical musician sensitive young impulsive and very attentive to the young Catherine soon enough they would be seen flirting and even kissing now although this may seem scandalous it's important to remember that Catherine growing up on the fringes of the Tudor Court never expected to become anyone of real importance at most she expected to work as a lady in waiting or perhaps marry into an estate of her own so she was mostly free to find herself a match and although you could tell she had a mind of her own breaking things off with Maddox because he was too pushy she seemed to have grown a weakness for a certain type of man the young Catherine had no shortage of admirers the few surviving descriptions describe her as flourishing in youth you can imagine her being just lovely with a ready smile and a cheerful personality after her break with Mannix Catherine set her sights on an even more troubling companion The Dowager secretary Francis darum not long after they met Darren began to sneak out at night into Catherine's shared dorm bringing fruit and wine with him and spending night after night with Catherine during one of these visits one of the other girls in the dorm unable to sleep reported that she had to switch beds after she began to hear puffing and blowing from Catherine and darum rumors began to spread that Catherine had lost her innocence to Francis but she didn't care about the rumors and the pair became Inseparable no longer bothering to even keep their relationship a secret from the other girls they even began to speak of marriage calling each other husband and wife making some believe that they may have been engaged it's this part the idea that they may have had an understanding between them that would come back to haunt Catherine for months they would continue their public affection with each other so much so that even Catherine's grandmother noticed But as time went on Catherine began to get to know another side of Francis his possessive and jealous side as the months wore on Francis would only get worse and worse and Catherine's feelings for him began to fade but he wasn't about to let her go that easily in 1539 Catherine's father died making her an orphan but luckily her Uncle William swooped in arranging a coveted position for her as a maid of honor in the court of King Henry's new wife Anne of Cleves this was not just a fantastic opportunity but also a convenient excuse to get away from the volatile Francis Durham as a history Creator my brain loves living in the past but somewhere I don't love living in the past is in my kitchen we have a lot of skills in our household but sadly cooking just isn't one of them today's sponsor hellofresh makes it so easy to prepare and eat delicious healthy meals hellofresh's bright summer produce was plenty to entice my mom to come over and try it out with me instead of calling for delivery we had the best time cooking it came together in only about 15 minutes and was 25 percent cheaper than takeout would have been for our girls night the recipes arrive at your doorstep and are pre-portioned with clear directions that only have a few steps if you're looking to eat well this summer try America's number one meal kit for yourself go to hellofresh.com and use code royaltynow50 for 50 off plus free shipping that's hellofresh.com and use code royaltynow 50. in the Autumn of 1539 Catherine would travel to London to the Glamorous Tudor Court [Music] and it's here that she catches King Henry VIII's eye so what was Henry seeing as he laid eyes upon young Catherine Howard we don't have a single verified portrait of Catherine left for us today it's possible that one was never made or that they were all destroyed physical descriptions are also lacking they tell us she was short and slender young fresh and lovely but no specifics let's talk about some portraits that current historians have brought forward as contenders for being Catherine first there's this Holbein portrait it was identified as Catherine in 1909 but actually has a much stronger association with the family of Thomas Cromwell an inscription on the painting makes it clear that the sitter is 21 years old and the style of the sleeve suggests it was painted around 1535 which would make the subject too old to be Catherine it's more likely that this is one of the Cromwell women so while this has been highly associated with Catherine it's probably not her there's also this miniature which is associated with Catherine because it was found among the Howard ancestors things it's around the 1740s that this becomes known as a likeness of her the necklace that she's wearing is known to have belonged in the Royal collection of jewels and can also be seen on this portrait of Jane Seymour unfortunately there's not enough evidence to conclusively identify it just yet the other strong Contender is located at the Metropolitan Museum it's certainly an alluring option the beauty of this subject is undeniable especially for the Tudor period the dress is of the right style and rank to be Catherine and it appears to have been painted in the early 1540s other women at court who had enough money to have a painted portrait at this time can actually be ruled out because there are existing images of them that don't look like this this could definitely be the face that Henry saw it would be a while before anything could even begin to happen between Catherine and the King his new wife Anne of Cleves had brought with her a desperately needed Protestant Alliance so at least for the time being he had to prioritize his marriage during her first few weeks at Tudor Court Catherine took her new duties very seriously but she never let that stop her from having fun she was young pretty and vivacious and she could be caught flirting with many of the young men of the court but one in particular caught her eye Thomas Culpepper handsome funny and athletic he was one of Henry's favorites and a favorite to many of the women at court as well he was just Catherine's type in the good and bad ways the two would begin to be seen flirting laughing and teasing each other in a love letter found later Thomas called Catherine my sweet little fool Catherine was enamored with Culpepper and for a while even thought about marriage but because of her previous relationships she kept her guard up unfortunately for Catherine Thomas wasn't on the same page and eventually got tired of the chase without much notice he had moved on to someone else devastating Catherine little did she know that her life was about to change drastically by the summer of 1540 King Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves had all but disintegrated and Catherine may have been to blame the King was absolutely captivated by her by this point King Henry was nearly 50 years old and had passed his physical prime a long time ago he was sedentary due to a leg injury and he had gained a massive amount of weight over the last few years but Catherine made him feel young again he lavished her with gifts buying anything she wanted on July 9th the king divorced his fourth wife Anne of Cleves only six months after their wedding within days it was clear that he intended to marry Catherine but ominously Catherine and Henry's marriage would need a special dispensation because she was too closely related to Anne Boleyn now we don't know how Catherine actually felt about the marriage she could not have been very excited to marry an ill-tempered old man but she would be Queen of England and her family's influence would grow immensely plus King Henry absolutely adored her as marriage preparations commenced Catherine was required to fill out her household and suddenly many people from her past were asking for favors including Francis Dara the secret they shared could destroy Catherine and he would use it against her if he had to he demanded a position in her court and to silence him he was allowed a position at Hampton Court Henry VIII's main residence knew that their secret could easily have him killed as well he began trying to erase their past together finding anything and everything related to their old love affair he would lock all of the evidence in a single chest and give the chest to The Dowager duchess but he would keep the key Catherine and Henry were married on July 28 1540. Henry seemed enamored with his beautiful new wife courtiers remarked that they had never seen him so happy and that after sundry troubles in marriage Henry found in her a jewel for Womanhood at the beginning of her queenship Catherine seems less sure of herself but as the months go by she becomes more and more Charming at public events she would stand radiant next to her husband but wisely never outshined him she knew when to make a joke or when to remain serious and was a delightful hostess honestly Catherine Howard made a great Queen but the happy marriage would hit its first bump when Henry got sick in 1541. fever struck the king aggravating an ulcer in his leg and causing him extreme pain he would spend weeks fighting the illness leaving him angry and temperamental lashing out at everyone around him including Catherine to Catherine this was just like all of her previous relationships once the honeymoon was over she was left with a darker side of her Partners only this time she was stuck as time went on and her relationship with Henry remained distant her insecurities as Queen began to get the best of her she began to believe that like Anne of Cleves Henry may have just lost interest so she begins to lash out yelling at her ladies and waiting and even King Henry's own daughters in order to comfort herself Catherine began to surround herself with women women who flirt and women who gossip something that previous Tudor queens were much less tolerant of because they knew the risks this Posse would also include Jane Malin the lady Rochford Jane had a fondness for excitement and Intrigue just like Catherine and the two seemed to bring out the worst in each other after getting to know Catherine Jane knew just how to cheer her up in March of 1541 Catherine was walking through her private corridor and came face to face with her old love Thomas Culpepper for Catherine the attraction had never faltered and the sight of her old lover along with her husband's neglect started her down a dangerous path for a while Catherine was able to keep Thomas mostly out of her mind but by May Thomas was ill and Catherine was sending page boys with dinners and notes for him before long Catherine's affections seemed to become dangerously more obvious and her behavior more erratic her ladies were confused when she would give them cryptic messages like find Lady Rochford and ask her if she has the things she promised me and it was with the help of Lady Rochford the Thomas and Catherine arranged a secret meeting Catherine arrived in Jane's room where Thomas Culpepper snuck in the back door narrowly missing a guard that had come to lock the doors lady brought for dozed while Catherine and Thomas talked for hours up nearly until dawn flirting and talking about past loves it was the move of a teenage girl and not a queen of England someone who felt herself Invincible to any consequences their meetings would continue in the coming weeks progressing from talking to Declarations of love and probably to physical intimacy we aren't quite sure what Thomas Culpepper's motivations for the affair were he knew what would happen if they were caught it's been hypothesized that maybe Thomas suspected the king would die soon and that he could marry the wealthy Dowager Queen or perhaps he just loved her but on August 25th Catherine's past finally caught up with her Francis Dara possibly out of jealousy demanded a position that would keep him close to the queen or else with no obvious positions to fill Catherine was panicking she couldn't anger him he simply Knew Too Much she agreed to appoint him her gentleman Usher a position which wasn't typical for a queen's household this set off some alarm bells to those around her Catherine was rightly becoming deeply paranoid we see her frantically trying to tie up Loose Ends from her youth she invites Alice Wilkes to court the girl from years ago who couldn't sleep due to Catherine and Francis puffing and blowing unfortunately for Catherine no matter how hard she tried a truth eventually caught up with her one cold November morning after Mass Archbishop Thomas cranmer heard a story it came from a man named John lassos whose niece Mary Hall used to work for The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and she seemed to know quite a lot about the young Queen of England Henry Mannix and Francis darum with trepidation cranmer brought the story in front of the king surprisingly King Henry read the revelations rather calmly and then concluded they must be fabricated but never one to be made fool of he dispatched five men to find the truth soon they found Henry Mannix and he confirmed their suspicions in fact providing so much evidence that it was impossible not to believe him even providing a list of everyone who knew about Catherine's affairs and it was not a short list next they apprehended Francis Durham it didn't take him long to confess to a physical relationship with the queen and he was immediately sent to the Tower on November 6th the investigators told the king what they had found Henry simply sat in stunned silence for several minutes and then he began to weep reports of emergency Council meetings set at odd hours and the absence of Francis Durham from his post struck a bolt of Terror in the heart of Queen Catherine on November 7 1541 Thomas cranmer went to Winchester Palace to arrest Catherine as soon as she saw them Catherine knew it was all over I found her in such lamentation and heaviness as I never saw any creature so that it would have pitied any man's heart to have looked upon her soon she was being questioned and over the course of several visits the interrogators received a full confession but only to the mistakes of her youth there was still no suspicion of a romance with Thomas Culpepper that was until the hot-headed Francis Durham confessed that Culpepper had succeeded him in the queen 's affections eventually the investigators got their most complete confession from Catherine's lady Catherine tilney tilney had lived with Catherine her entire life and had witnessed firsthand every mistake and every indiscretion the evidence was undeniable on November 23rd Catherine was formally stripped of her title as Queen of England at their trials Francis Durham and Thomas Culpepper were sentenced to death even though Thomas's offense seemed worse possibly sleeping with the queen while she was married it was darum who received the death sentence of a traitor all because of the pre-contract he made with Catherine so many years ago after being imprisoned for many months Catherine was taken to the scaffold on February 13 1542 in a heartbreaking anecdote it's said that Catherine requested a block to be placed in her cell the night before so she could practice setting her head upon it the young Queen bravely went to her death that cold day in February [Music] her life reads like a tragedy that of a young woman being caught in the gears of the Tudor machine it seems her only sins were seeking love and companionship from those who failed to guide her I've made versions of Catherine from both of the leading portrait contenders let us know in the comments which one you think is the true Catherine Howard so let's take a look at the Recreations now [Music] foreign [Music] thank you [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you all so much for watching and we'll see you all for the next video [Music] thank you

Channel: Royalty Now Studios

Views: 304,502

Keywords: real face of, what historical figures would look like, true face of, true faces of, real faces of historical figures, true faces of historical figures, what historical figures would look like today, royalty now, roylaty now, history documentary, history, biography, facts, catherine howard, katherine howard, tudor queens, six wives of henry viii, real faces of tudor, real faces of tudors, tudors real faces, catherine howard biography, catherine howard facts, henry viii wives

Id: Np5MurOkOnA

Length: 23min 28sec (1408 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023