Complex though their stories may be and overshadowed by Henry's own personality and complex character, let us not forget that we have six women who were Queen Consort of England, up to then, the highest rank in the land. Whilst three would bear children who would themselves become monarchs, two of whom would rise above the rank of their mother and become England's first official Queens Regnant in their own right, three would not. The significant issue, however, that set the ball rolling was Henry's desire for a male heir to secure and carry on the Tudor Dynasty that his father established.
The six women are generally reduced to the mnemonic for their fates "Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived", which is technically incorrect as both Catherine of Aragon's and Anne of Cleves' marriages were annulled, as was Anne Boleyn's two days before she was beheaded.
Not only do they provide a rich tapestry of stories but also a treasure trove of heraldry from the often complicated and political nature of their marriages. Personally, I have been eagerly awaiting the chance to tell their stories and share their heraldry. I am greatly indebted to the work of Meg McGath and her website tudorqueen6: The Life and Family of Queen Katherine Parr and her Blog COAT OF ARMS: Anne Boleyn vs. the other English Queens, for information regarding Queen Katherine/Catherine Parr. My apologies for not having noted that sooner.
Catherine of Aragon
By 1525, however, Henry VIII was infatuated with Anne Boleyn (one of Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting) and dissatisfied that his marriage to Catherine had produced no surviving sons, leaving their daughter, the future Mary I of England, as heir presumptive at a time when there was no established precedent for a woman on the Throne. He sought to have their marriage annulled, setting in motion a chain of events that led to England's schism with the Catholic Church. When Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage (for seven years the Pope avoided issuing the annulment because he could not alienate Catherine’s nephew, the Holy Roman emperor Charles V), Henry defied him by assuming supremacy over religious matters. In 1533 their marriage was consequently declared invalid and Henry married Anne on the judgement of clergy in England, without reference to the Pope. Catherine refused to accept Henry as Supreme Head of the Church in England and considered herself the King's rightful wife and queen, attracting much popular sympathy. Despite this, she was acknowledged only as Dowager Princess of Wales by Henry. After being banished from court by Henry, she lived out the remainder of her life at Kimbolton Castle and died there on 7th January 1536 of cancer. The English people held Catherine in high esteem, and her death set off tremendous mourning.
The Education of a Christian Woman by Juan Luis Vives, controversial at its release for promoting that women have the right to an education, was commissioned by and dedicated to her in 1523. Such was Catherine's impression on people that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her, "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History." Catherine also won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor. She was a patron of Renaissance humanism and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More.
The Royal Arms impaled with that of her parents the Catholic Monarchs:
- Quarterly, 1st and 4th Grand Quarter; Quarterly, gules, a Castle or (Castile), argent, a Lion rampant purpure (León).
2nd and 3rd Grand Quarter; or, four Pallets gules (Aragon), impaling quarterly per Saltire, in Chief and Base,or, four Pallets gules, and in the Flanks argent, an Eagle displayed sable (Sicily)
In the Base Point, argent, a Pomegranate slipped proper (Granada).
Supporters:
Dexter: a Lion guardant or imperially crowned proper.
Sinister: an Apostolic Eagle sable (Eagle of Saint John), wings elevated, membered and haloed or.
Catherine's Arms as Arthur's wife, widow and subsequently whilst given the title Dowager Princess of Wales were presumably the same but with a white three-pointed Label on the Royal Arms.
Anne Boleyn
Early in 1523 Anne was secretly betrothed to Henry Percy, son of Henry Percy, 5th Earl of Northumberland, but the betrothal was broken off when the Earl refused to support their engagement. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey refused the match in January 1524 (possibly under the King’s orders) and Anne was sent back home to Hever Castle. In February or March 1526, Henry VIII, having tired of his wife Catherine who had not given birth to the much-wanted male heir, began his pursuit of Anne. She resisted his attempts to seduce her, refusing to become his mistress, which her sister Mary had been. Henry soon focused his desires on annulling his marriage to Catherine so he would be free to marry Anne. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey failed to obtain the annulment of King Henry’s marriage from Pope Clement VII and in 1529-1530 Anne helped bring about his downfall and his death. When it became clear that the Pope would not annul the marriage, Henry and his advisers, such as Thomas Cromwell, began the breaking of the Catholic Church's power in England and closing the monasteries and the nunneries. In 1532, Henry made Anne the Marquess of Pembroke.
Henry and Anne formally married on 25th January 1533, after a secret wedding on 14th November 1532. On 23rd May 1533, newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared Henry and Catherine's marriage null and void; five days later, he declared Henry and Anne's marriage valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against Henry and Cranmer. As a result of this marriage and these excommunications, the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place, and the King took control of the Church of England. Anne was crowned Queen of England on 1st June 1533 in a magnificent ceremony at Westminster Abbey. On 7th September, she gave birth to her first child – a daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry was disappointed not to have a son but hoped one would follow and professed to love Elizabeth. Anne subsequently had three miscarriages and, by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour.
Henry VIII had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536. On 2nd May she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where she was tried before a jury of peers – which included Henry Percy, her former betrothed, and her own uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk; she was convicted on 15th May. She was beheaded four days later. Modern historians view the charges against her, which included adultery, incest, and plotting to kill the king, as unconvincing.
Anne has been called "the most influential and important queen consort England has ever had", a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that marked the start of the English Reformation. She provided the occasion for Henry VIII to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and declare the English church's independence from the Vatican.
The Royal Arms impaled with that of her own arms as Marquess of Pembroke, which alluded to several of her ancestors, however remote. 1st, 2nd and 3rd Quarters were Augmentations:
Quarterly of six:
1st: Gules, three Lions passant guardant or, a Label azure with three Fleurs-de-Lys on each point or (Duchy of Lancaster)
2nd: Azure, semé-de-lys or, a Label of three Points gules (Anjou-Naples)
3rd: Gules, a Lion passant guardant or (Aquitaine).
4th: Quarterly, I and IV, Or, a Chief indented azure (Butler), II and III, Argent, a Lion rampant sable crowned gules (Rochford).
5th: Gules, three Lions passant guardant or, a Label of three Points argent (Thomas of Brotherton).
6th: Chequy or and azure (Warenne).
Supporters:
Dexter: a Leopard gorged with a royal Coronet pendant therefrom a Chain reflexed over the back or.
Sinister: a Male Griffin argent, armed and tufted or similarly gorged and chained.
We will see later on that there was a precedence that came about under similar circumstances as Anne Boleyn wasn't the first commoner that an English king married and whose 'right' he wished to bolster and uphold.
Even having said that Anne's Arms were a bit of a dog's dinner, the the first three Quarters may be looked on more as Augmentations.
Lancaster – Presumably referring to Henry VIII’s Lancastrian roots and Anne’s links to the Plantagenets through her mother, who was descended from Edward I.
Anjou-Naples/Angoulême/Capet – Some think this could refer to Marguerite of Angoulême, the sister of King Francis I of France. An author and a patron of humanists and reformers, she may have been a royal role model to Anne from her time at the French court. Others believe the reference is way back to Margaret, daughter of Capetian King Philip III of France who married King Edward I of England and from whom Anne's mother (and the Howard/Norfolk family) was descended.
Guienne/Aquitaine – Guienne or Guyenne is now known as Aquitaine and is a region of France known for Eleanor of Aquitaine (wife of Louis VII of France and then Henry II of England, the Plantagenet king) and being a Protestant Huguenot stronghold. Katherine Swynford, third wife of John of Gaunt, had the maiden name of Katherine de Roet de Guienne and John of Gaunt was the Duke of Aquitaine as well as Duke of Lancaster. Henry VIII’s grandmother, Margaret Beaufort, was descended from John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, and Katherine Swynford, and Anne Boleyn could trace her family (through her mother again) back to Edward I, again, who was John of Gaunt’s great-grandfather.
Butler/Rochford - These Quarterings are those of Anne's father’s maternal grandfather, the 7th Earl of Ormonde (Butler and Thomas). Rochford refers to the title given to Anne’s father in 1525 and to her brother in 1529. But still not her father's Coat of Arms! Some contend that the Earldom of Ormonde, along with the Wiltshire and Rochford titles, was only granted to Thomas due to Henry's courtship of Anne and her influence. A closer contender, Piers Butler, was stripped of the Ormaonde title could be said to be proved by him losing the title after Anne’s execution. In May 1536, the Irish Parliament passed the act that reverted Butler lands and the title of Earl of Ormond to the Crown. Henry finally granted the Earldom of Ormond back to Piers Butler in October 1537, two years before Thomas Boleyn’s death.
Brotherton – Thomas Brotherton (1300-1338) was the first Earl of Norfolk. Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard) was descended from him as he was the eldest son of King Edward I and his second wife, Margaret of France, again.
Warenne – The first Earl of Warenne or Warren was William de Warren who was also the first Earl of Surrey during the reign of King William II. In 1163, the widow of William de Blois, who had been the 4th Earl of Warren and Surrey, married Hameline Plantagenet, half-brother of Henry II. Hameline became the 5th Earl of Warren and Surrey by right of marriage. In 1247, a John de Warren married the daughter of Hugh de Lusignan (Earl of March and Angoulême) and Isabelle d’Angoulême, widow of King John and the mother of Henry III who was father of Edward I. There is therefore some kind of link between the House of Warenne, the Angoulêmes, the title of Earl of Surrey (which was inherited by the Howard family) and the Plantagenets.
At the end of the day, if you can explain Anne Boleyn's Coat of Arms, you're a better person than me...
As mentioned in her daughter Queen Elizabeth I's Blog, Anne had the Badge of a Silver Falcon on a Wood Stump. This Badge is full of symbolism. Nicholas Udall and John Leland penned the following tribute which was read out by a child at Anne's Coronation: Honour and grace be to our Queen Anne, The white Falcon itself came from the heraldic crest of the Butlers who were Earls of Ormonde. Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn, was related to the Butlers of Ireland through his mother and was granted the Earldom by Henry VIII after the King forced Piers Butler to relinquish the title in 1528. |
A venerable symbol of majesty and power, heraldic writers add that the Falcon denotes someone eager, or hot in the pursuit of an object much desired; if seated on its 'rest' or perch it may signify a bearer who is ready and serviceable for high affairs
The Falcon had also been a Plantagenet Badge, first used by King Edward III. It was adopted by Henry's maternal grandfather, Edward IV, who placed it within a Fetterlock. Anne's mother, Elizabeth Boleyn (née Howard) was descended from King Edward I.
The Crown and Sceptre are symbols of authority derived from her husband, King Henry VIII. In a way, Anne's Badge also symbolised the authority of her husband. The fact that it is an ‘Imperial’ Crown is possibly an allusion to claims that Henry had recently made to emphasise that he had the powers of an emperor in his own kingdom and so was entitled to reject Papal authority.
At some point during their relationship Anne and Henry adopted honeysuckle and acorns as a private motif. It is unclear when exactly, but it is clear is that they featured regularly in palace furnishings. Honeysuckle has long been a symbol of love and devotion, while an acorn symbolizes fertility, growth and new life. It has also been used as an emblem of luck, prosperity and youthfulness.
Jane Seymour
There is little more to write about Jane. During the remaining 17 months of her life Jane managed to restore Mary, Henry’s daughter by Catherine of Aragon, to the King’s favour. Mary was a Roman Catholic and some scholars have interpreted Jane’s intercession to mean that she had little sympathy with the English Reformation. Her greatest accomplishment came with the birth of the future Edward VI on 12th October 1537. But, to Henry’s genuine sorrow, Jane died 12 days later due to complications brought on by the birth. Her stepdaughter Mary was chief mourner at her funeral (the only wife of King Henry VIII to receive a queen’s funeral). Historians have speculated that Jane was Henry’s favourite wife because she gave birth to a male heir. When he died in 1547, he was buried beside her, on his request, in the grave he had made for her at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Jane’s family enjoyed Henry’s favour until the end of his reign. On the accession of Edward VI to the throne, Jane’s brother, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, became regent as Lord Protector with the title Duke of Somerset. Another brother, Thomas Seymour of Sudeley, was Lord High Admiral from 1547 to 1549 whilst married to Catherine Parr, Henry’s sixth wife.
The Royal Arms impaled with that of her own arms and that of the Seymour family. The blazon:
Quarterly of six, 1st: an Augmentation, or, on a Pile gules, between six Fleurs-de-lys azure, three Lions passant guardant or.
2nd: Gules, two Wings conjoined in lure or (Seymour).
3rd: Vair azure and argent (Beauchamp).
4th: Argent, three Demi-Lions rampant gules (Stiny).
5th: Per bend, argent and gules, three Roses bendwise countercharged (MacWilliams).
6th: Argent, on a Bend gules, three Leopard's Heads or.
Supporters:
Dexter: a Lion guardant or imperially crowned proper.
Sinister: Unicorn argent, gorged with a Coronet with a Chain affixed thereto reflexed over the back.
Jane has two features to her Arms, let alone the fact that her Achievement is shown everywhere and especially at Hampton Court Palace, presumably as the 'most loved' of Henry's wives. Firstly, she seems to have two sets of Supporters - the ones mentioned in the blazon above (strangely enough, a Lion and a Unicorn) and a second set, blazoned as follows: Dexter, a Unicorn argent, crowned and unguled or, collared with a double Wreath of white Daisies and red Roses; Sinister, a Panther incensed, striped with various colours, gorged with a Coronet of Crosses patée and Fleurs-de-Lys alternately and chained or. There is no apparent reason for these two sets and it is all the more surprising, considering that Jane was Queen for a year and a half. The Unicorn and Panther may have been the first set, considering that her father's family, now the Dukes of Somerset, have a Unicorn (with a Coronet in blue and gold) to the dexter, but a blue Bull to the sinister, rather than a Panther. Maybe Jane was assigned the Lion and Unicorn as an Augmentation for having given birth to Henry's longed-for male heir. Please note that the Panther in that period was generally portrayed as white (argent) with thin stripes, rather than the modern interpretation of broad stripes. Also, the Tudor fascination with these creatures (incensed simply means that fire is issuing from it) is lost to us nowadays. |
The Augmentation is in the first Quarter and takes elements from the Royal Arms, namely Lions and Fleurs-de-Lys.
The fifth Quarter is given as MacWilliam(s) but this looks suspiciously like an Augmentation. The sixth Quarter could easily be an Augmentation as well and is given as Coker by The Royal Heraldry of England by J. H. & R. V. Pinches, 1974. But Jane's grandfather, John Seymour, inherited manors in Somerset on the death of his cousin Margaret Coker in 1489. So, there may be some logic in their madness.
Jane's Badge is not only rather complicated to explain and long-winded to blazon, some suggest that the Phoenix, the symbol of rebirth and renewal was quite prophetic. The Badge shows a grass mound and curtain wall on top of another mound within another curtain wall which has a towered gate and a crowned, fruited tree (said to be a Hawthorn Bush). On the very top, surrounded by flowers, is a crowned Phoenix rising from flames. If a Hawthorn Bush, the tree was taken from a badge of Henry's father, Henry VII, who found Richard III's Crown in a Hawthorn Bush at the end of the Battle of Bosworth. The flowers are generally shown to be Tudor Roses but a manuscript of the time appears to show Roses, Carnations and possibly Daisies. The Badge was shown on a Grant of Land to Jane in 1536. The Phoenix was subsequently granted as a Crest to Jane's brother Edward Seymour by King Henry VIII and the Badge was granted to the Seymours by King Edward VI. |
The funeral procession was headed by Henry's elder daughter Mary as chief mourner, followed by his other daughter Elizabeth. They, in turn, were followed by a procession which included 29 mourners - one for every year of Jane's life. She was the only one of Henry's six wives to receive an proper state funeral fit for a queen.
Henry wore black for the following three months - also for the first and only time for one of his wives - and did not marry for another three years, although tentative marriage negotiations began soon after Jane's death. This is also the period when Henry put on weight, probably due to depression, to become the figure we know him as now and eclipsing the youthful, athletic figure he used to be. Henry later chose to be buried alongside Jane in St George's Chapel, Windsor.
Although a relatively plain black stone marks the spot, Jane's original grave carried the following inscription:
"Here lieth a Phoenix, by whose death
Another Phoenix life gave breath:
It is to be lamented much
The world at once ne'er knew two such."
Anne of Cleves
Anne's father followed a moderate path within the Reformation and opposed Emperor Charles V. After Anne's brother William became Duke, her elder sister Sibylle was married to John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, head of the Protestant Confederation of Germany and considered the "Champion of the Reformation." The following year, in 1527, at the age of 11, Anne was betrothed to Francis, Duke of Lorraine but the betrothal was considered unofficial and was cancelled in 1535. Ongoing disputes with Charles V made the family suitable allies for Henry VIII in the wake of the Truce of Nice. The match with Anne over the other leading candidate, Christina Duchess of Milan, was urged on the king by his chief minister, Thomas Cromwell.
The artist Hans Holbein the Younger was famously dispatched to paint portraits of Anne and her younger sister, Amalia, requiring the artist to be as accurate as possible. Cromwell oversaw negotiations and a marriage treaty was signed on 4th October 1539.
Henry valued education and cultural sophistication in women, but Anne lacked these traits. Nevertheless, Anne was considered gentle, virtuous and docile, which is why she was recommended as a suitable candidate for Henry. Anne arrived in England on 27th December 1539. Henry met her in disguise on 1st January 1540 and then officially on the 3rd. He took an instant dislike to her. It is often sited that Holbein’s portrait had flattered her too much and that Henry called her ‘The Flander’s Mare’, both of which are later inventions. It is generally believed that, having secured a male heir, lost the one wife whom he loved, for whatever reason, and having waited over two years, Henry was simply disappointed that there was no attraction between him and this stranger. Don’t forget, this was an arranged marriage for political reasons and Henry had only previously married women he had already known and was attracted to.
Despite Henry's misgivings (urging Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage which, by this point, was impossible without endangering the vital alliance with the Germans), the two were married on 6th January 1540 by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. The couple's first night as husband and wife was not successful. Henry confided to Cromwell that he had not consummated the marriage, saying, "I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse."
Anne was commanded to leave Court on 24th June, and on 6th July she was informed of her husband's decision to reconsider the marriage. Shortly afterwards, Anne was asked for her consent to an annulment, to which she agreed and which happened 9th July 1540 on the grounds of non-consummation and her pre-contract to Francis of Lorraine. Cromwell was sent to the block on 28th July 1540.
The former and un-crowned queen received a generous settlement, including Richmond Palace, and Hever Castle, home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. They became good friends—she was referred to as "the King's Beloved Sister". She was invited to Court often and, out of gratitude for her not contesting the annulment, Henry decreed that she would be given precedence over all women in England save his own wife and daughters. Although, after Catherine Howard was beheaded, Anne and her brother pressed the King to remarry. Henry quickly refused to do so…
After Henry died, she was shunned by Edward VI’s Privy Council but lived to see Mary succeed to the Throne, accompanying her on her entrance into London and at her Coronation. However, Anne fell out of favour again after being implicated in Wyatt’s Rebellion to put Elizabeth on the Throne and so was compelled to live a quiet and obscure life on her estates.
Anne died at Chelsea Old Manor on 16th July 1557, eight weeks before her forty-second birthday, most likely of cancer. She was buried in Westminster Abbey on 3rd August in what has been described as a "somewhat hard to find tomb".
The Royal Arms, impaled with that of her father John III, Duke of Cleves. The blazon:
Quarterly of seven, four in chief and three in base, 1st: Gules, an Inescutcheon argent, overall an Escarbuncle or (Cleves).
2nd: Or, a Lion rampant sable (Jülich).
3rd: Azure, a Lion rampant crowned or (Schwarzburg).
4th: Argent, a Lion rampant double-queued gules, crowned or (Limburg).
5th: Or, a Fess chequy argent and gules (Mark).
6th: Argent, a Lion rampant gules, crowned azure (Berg).
7th: Argent, three Chevronels gules (Ravensberg).
Alternatively, the arms of Cleves is used only.
Supporters:
Dexter: a Lion guardant or imperially crowned proper.
Sinister: a Lion sable charged on the shoulder with an Escarbuncle or.
The representation at the top of this section giving Anne 8 Quarters is slightly wrong as the Limburg Quarter is repeated. Anne's 7 Quarters are represented in the stained-glass window at Hever Castle, one of the properties assigned to her on her divorce from Henry, shows the Quarterings correctly. Having said that, the first Quarter (Cleves) was sometimes used alone. This may have been after the annulment when Anne no longer needed to impress anyone with her lineage. She is also said to have used the Cleves Escarbuncle shield, crowned and in gold, as a Badge. However, she and Henry were married for so short a time and her Badge and Arms would have been removed quite quickly to ever confirm the use anyway. |
Catherine Howard
Soon after the death of her mother (in about 1528), Catherine was sent with some of her many siblings to live in the care of her father's stepmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk who presided over large households at Chesworth House and Norfolk House where dozens of attendants, along with her many wards—usually the children of aristocratic but poor relatives—resided. The Dowager Duchess was often at Court and seems to have had little direct involvement in the upbringing. Catherine, described as vivacious and giggly, therefore became influenced by some older girls who allowed men into the sleeping areas at night. It is claimed that she was groomed and preyed on by Henry Mannox, one of her music teachers, although claims, especially at Catherine’s later trial, that she lost her virginity to him, were denied. Catherine next met Francis Dereham, a secretary of the Dowager Duchess, allegedly becoming lovers who addressed each other as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’. Some say that they were married as a prerequisite to having sex. but either way, the relationship apparently ended in 1539, when the Dowager Duchess found out.
Catherine's uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, found her a place at Court in the household of the King's wife, Anne of Cleves. As a young and attractive lady-in-waiting, Catherine quickly caught Henry's eye and Norfolk may have seen an opportunity similar to Anne Boleyn’s. The middle-aged sovereign was captivated by her and claimed he had never known "the like to any woman". Within months of her arrival at court, Henry bestowed gifts of land and expensive cloth upon her and called her his “very jewel of womanhood”.
King Henry and Catherine were married on 28th July 1540, the same day that Cromwell was executed, and this was made public on 8th August. Whilst Henry embarked on lavish spending sprees and refurbishments, and everyone awaited a royal pregnancy which was expected to be celebrated with Catherine’s coronation at Whitsuntide 1541, Henry’s bad moods deepened and grew more furious. Undoubtedly the pain from his ulcerous legs was agony. It was inevitable that if Catherine was going to be pregnant, it wasn’t going to be by her ageing, fat, ill-tempered husband.
Catherine’s downfall came when rumours started circulating that she had taken up with Henry's favourite male courtier, Thomas Culpeper, a young man whom Catherine had considered marrying whilst maid-of-honour to Anne of Cleves. Their meetings were allegedly arranged by one of her ladies-in-waiting, Lady Rochford, widow of Catherine's executed cousin, George Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's brother and a love letter from Catherine was found in Culpeper's chambers. Catherine may have been plagued by ladies trying to blackmail her to keep quiet about her conduct as a ward and paid off with positions in her household. Henry was informed on 1st November 1541 and she was questioned and placed on suicide watch 6 days later.
If Catherine had admitted to a precontract of marriage to Dereham, Henry would have been able to annul the marriage and Catherine would have saved her head. However, she denied it and claimed Dereham raped her. Catherine was stripped of her title as Queen on 23rd November 1541 and imprisoned in the new Syon Abbey. Culpeper and Dereham were arraigned at Guildhall on 1st December 1541 for high treason and executed at Tyburn on the 10th. Catherine herself remained in limbo until The Royal Assent by Commission Act was passed on 7th February 1542 and retroactively made her guilty of treason for not having disclosed sexual activity prior to her marriage to the King. She was removed, kicking and screaming, to the Tower of London on 10th February. The Act received Royal Assent the next day and her execution was set for 7:00 am on Monday 13th. Lady Rochford was executed immediately afterwards.
No formal trial had been held.
Catherine Howard's Arms as Queen were:
The Royal Arms impaled with that of her own as granted by the King. Her arms incorporated those of her family the Howards. Catherine's father Lord Edmund Howard, was the third son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. The blazon:
Quarterly of four, 1st and 4th were Augmentations, 1st: Azure, three Fleurs-de-Lys, in pale or, between two Flaunches ermine, each charged with a Rose gules.
2nd: Gules, three Lions passant guardant or, a Label of three Points argent (Thomas of Brotherton).
3rd: Gules, on a Bend between six Cross-Crosslets fitchy argent an Escutcheon or charged with a Demi-Lion rampant pierced through the Mouth by an Arrow within a Double Tressure flory counterflory of the first. (Howard).
4th: Azure, two Lions of England, the verge of the Escutcheon charged with four half Fleurs-de-Lys or.
Supporters:
Dexter: a Lion guardant or imperially crowned proper.
Sinister: a Horse argent holding in the mouth a Slip of Oak Vert fructed proper (Howard)
Catherine Howard was heraldically in a similar situation to Anne Boleyn, let alone being from the same family. Her first and fourth Quarters were Augmentations, using elements of the Royal Coat of Arms. Her second Quarter was that of Brotherton, like Anne, and her third was the Howard Quarter with the Inescutscheon Augmentation for the defeat of the Scots at Flodden, hence the Arrow in the Lion's mouth. The Supporter of a Horse with a sprig of Oak in its mouth is also an element from the Howard Arms. Please note that the graphic at the top of this section is slightly wrong in that the two ermine Flaunches (or curved flanks) in the first Augmentation Quarters should each contain a red Rose. The Victorian memorial plaque shown here is correct. Unfortunately, Catherine would share a similar fate as her cousin as well as elements of her Coat of Arms. Catherine, in her short time as Queen, made use of a Badge - a crowned, thornless Tudor Rose. So beguiled with Catherine was Henry and willing to indulge her every whim that he had a number of pet names for her and, while some believe it a myth, one of those was 'My rose without a thorn'. Hence the Badge. However, like the Queen herself, Catherine's badge would be short-lived and, so, there are very few if any instances of its use. Catherine also adopted the Motto, Non autre volonté que la sienne or "No other wish but his". | |
Catherine Parr
Her tactfulness enabled her to exert a beneficial influence on the King during the last years of his reign. Catherine enjoyed a close relationship with Henry's three children and was personally involved in the education of Elizabeth I and Edward VI. She was influential in Henry's passing of the Third Succession Act in 1543 that restored both his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession to the Throne. Catherine was appointed regent from July to September 1544 while Henry was on a military campaign in France and, in case he lost his life, she was to rule as regent until Edward came of age.
In 1543, she published her first book, Psalms or Prayers, anonymously. On account of Catherine's Protestant sympathies, she provoked the enmity of anti-Protestant officials, who sought to turn the King against her; a warrant for her arrest was drawn up in 1545. However, she and the King soon reconciled. Her book Prayers or Meditations became the first book published by an English queen under her own name. She assumed the role of Elizabeth's guardian following the King's death, and published a second book, The Lamentation of a Sinner.
After Henry’s death in January 1547 Catherine was allowed to keep her jewels and dresses as queen dowager and according to Henry’s will was to be treated as the Queen still. About 6 months later she secretly married a former suitor, Thomas, Lord Seymour of Sudeley. He was admiral of England from 1547 to 1549 and also uncle of the new boy King and brother of the King’s new Lord Protector, Edward Seymour. There was no love lost between the brothers and soon, when the marriage became public knowledge, there were arguments between Catherine and Edward’s wife, Anne, over the royal jewels. Rumours also began that Thomas was flirting with Catherine’s stepdaughter, Elizabeth, whom he is also rumoured to have wanted to marry before marrying Catherine and whom Catherine was continuing to educate. Catherine is even rumoured to have encouraged the flirtation. However, Elizabeth was sent away and Catherine took Lady Jane Grey under her wing.
All through this Catherine found herself pregnant for the first time. She gave birth to her only child, a daughter, named Mary after Catherine's stepdaughter the future Queen, on 30th August 1548. But Catherine died on 5th September from what is commonly called ‘childbirth fever’ due to lack of hygiene.
Thomas was executed less than a year later for treason against Edward VI and Mary was left a destitute orphan. The following year, 1550, Mary disappears from any record leading to the belief that she died at 2 years of age. Although other theories are that she lived to be 10 or even into adulthood and marriage.
The Royal Arms impaled with that of her own as granted by the King. The arms allude to those of her family and the titles of her father Sir Thomas Parr. The blazon:
Quarterly of six, 1st: an Augmentation, Argent, on a Pile gules, between six Roses gules, three other Roses argent.
2nd: Argent, two Bars azure, within a Bordure engrailed sable (Parr).
3rd: Or, three Water-Bougets sable (Ros of Kendal).
4th: Vairy, a Fess gules (Marmion).
5th: Azure, three Chevrons interlaced in base, a Chief or (FitzHugh of Ravensworth).
6th: Vert, three Harts at gaze or (Green).
Supporters:
Dexter: a Lion guardant or imperially crowned proper.
Sinister: a Panther incensed, striped with various colours, gorged with a Coronet of Crosses patée and Fleurs-de-Lys alternately and chained or.
Ros of Kendal - Received due to the marriage of Catherine's 3x great-grandfather, Sir William of Kendal Parr and Elizabeth de Ros, heiress of Sir John of Kendal and Hon. Katherine Latimer.
Marmion - The 3rd Baron FitzHugh married Eleanor Grey, granddaughter and heiress of Avice Marmion, the daughter of the 2nd Baron Marmion; the barony of Marmion thus went into the FitzHugh family and came to Catherine's family via her paternal grandmother, the Hon. Elizabeth FitzHugh.
FitzHugh of Ravensworth - Catherine’s father, also through his mother, was in line for the Barony of FitzHugh because it died out and went into abeyance after the death of Parr’s cousin, George, the 7th Baron. (Baronies could be inherited and passed through the female line.) This title, though, is still in abeyance today between the descendants of Thomas Parr’s aunt, Alice Fiennes, and those of his daughter, Anne, Countess of Pembroke.
Green of Greens Norton - Catherine’s mother, Maud, was co-heiress with her sister Anne to the Green inheritance.
As we have seen, the idea of Supporters, as we know them nowadays, was being fixed around the time of Henry VIII's reign. Anne Boleyn was the only wife who had both Supporters assigned to her. All the others showed the crowned Lion of England on Henry's dexter side of the marital Shield plus either an actual family/paternal Supporter on the sinister side or an assigned one. In Catherine's case she was assigned the same or very similar incensed Panther as Jane Seymour. This Supporter has no connection with the Parr family which used Dexter, a Buck and sinister, a Wyvern.
Catherine's brother, William Parr and 1st Marquess of Northampton, became Earl of Essex in 1543 after Thomas Cromwell died in 1540, a title held by the late father of his first wife, Lady Anne Bourchier, and was the favourite uncle of the boy King Edward VI. But, upon the Ascension of Queen Mary I, Parr was stripped of his titles, his Garter stall plate was taken down and broken due to being part of the conspiracy which put Lady Jane Grey on the Throne. (He was actually attained for High Treason by act of Parliament.)
Upon the ascension of Queen Elizabeth I, Parr was restored to his titles (including the Garter) and lands. Elizabeth also honoured William’s separation from his adulterous first wife which Queen Mary had proclaimed as null and void in 1553, and was allowed to continue his “common law marriage” with Elisabeth Brooke, daughter of George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham. She was treated as Marchioness of Northampton within the court and elsewhere.
Catherine Parr's Badge was of a crowned Maiden rising from a Tudor Rose. The Maiden is actually St. Catherine of Alexandria, a virgin saint, an icon of a woman triumphant and an image worthy of emulation. The Badge was originally in the Parr family's Horae ad Usum Sarum, a book of hours in Latin and is derived from the family of Ros of Kendal. As a child, Catherine signed her name on the page that described the story of St. Catherine and adopted the badge later as Queen. It may seem a little odd that a fervent Protestant would have adopted a very traditional Catholic image for her badge, but it was a transitional period; people could still celebrate their personal saint's day while strongly disapproving of the cult of the saints as a "corruption" of pure religion. Catherine Parr was a studious woman. Henry, who was still very attached to most forms of the old religion, was technically still a Catholic himself. Catherine's choice would probably have pleased Henry and been in keeping with the tradition for English queens at that time. |
The heraldry of the six women is not only rich but shows up the complicated politics of the day and, as we have found, is rich in intrigue and symbolism like no other age.