Today in 1541 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer left a letter for Henry VIII in the chapel at Hampton Court giving details about his wife Catherine Howard’s past. Henry had married Catherine thinking she was an innocent virgin – which she was not. A woman who knew Catherine when they were younger had told a story of Catherine’s relationship with Francis Derham, as well as her music tutor Henry Manox.
At first, Henry didn’t believe it, thinking that she was an honest woman, and not doubting her, but he organized an investigation – which would, of course, highlight that she had committed adultery on top of all of the other stuff. Catherine would be executed about three months later.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Autumn 2018 Tudor Summit: Claire Ridgway on Katherine Howard
James Boulton on Tudor Queens
From the shop:
Katherine Howard Portrait Bracelet
Ps. All products are made on-demand and can take a few weeks to ship.
Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast,  the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop.
She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 30 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history (how exciting when she got to interview Alison for the first time!). In addition to history, she is passionate about travel, and has lived in 3 countries and 4 states (not counting her perpetual state of confusion), and her family (who help her host her YouTube channel occasionally).
