QUEEN KATHERINE AND THE HOWARDS: A TUDOR FAMILY ON THE BRINK OF DISASTER
Published January 2025 by Pen and Sword Books
Details: Hardcover, 248 pages, 24 monochrome plates, 2 family trees, extensive bibliography
The book, Queen Katherine and the Howards: a Tudor family on the brink of disaster is the result of prolonged research into primary and secondary sources, and of questioning the veracity of traditional perceptions of Katherine and her family. Research entailed many visits to places associated with the Howards, particularly in Lambeth where Katherine lived with the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, and in Lincolnshire, where her after dark exploits would be major contributory factors to her arrest and execution.
In order to place Queen Katherine within the family’s wider history, the Howards’ triumphs and disasters are investigated, including the new creation of the dukedom of Norfolk for them in 1483 by Richard III, the death of the first duke, John Howard, two years later at Bosworth, and the imprisonment of his wounded son, Thomas Howard. The latter survived to become a leading statesman in the reign of Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch, and won a famous victory against the Scots at Flodden for the young Henry VIII in 1513, shortly after which the dukedom lost in 1485 was restored to the Howards.
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk was the grandfather of both Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard; his second wife, Agnes Tilney, was their step-grandmother. Katherine is gradually introduced into the family’s complicated story, initially just fleetingly as a young child, and eventually becoming centre stage in 1540, when Henry VIII made her his fifth wife. In less than two years the revelations about Katherine’s private life, before and after her marriage, would leave the old Duchess Agnes, who brought her up, and other family members and servants who knew her, facing ruin and life imprisonment.
Queen Katherine and the Howards: a Tudor family on the brink of disaster examines the life of Duchess Agnes in some detail, before and during the time she was acting as Katherine’s guardian, and traces how she was drawn into the terrifying consequences of her step-granddaughter’s downfall. There is also a full chapter dedicated to Katherine’s father, Lord Edmund Howard,
Queen Katherine and the Howards; a Tudor family on the brink of disaster
Cover Story
Left: Queen Katherine, wearing a silver dress, a reminder of the gown in which she dazzled the people of Lincoln, looks over her shoulder afraid that her husband will find out about her dangerous and increasingly intense friendship with one of his favourite servants, Thomas Culpeper.
The buildings to the left of the red brick gatehouse are Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, while the tower is part of the Church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, the burial place of Duchess Agnes, Katherine’s step-grandmother who brought her up, and of Elizabeth (Howard) Boleyn, Anne Boleyn’s mother, as well as other prominent Howard ladies. Both buildings, which still exist, would have been familiar to Katherine, who lived for several years at Norfolk House, the duchess’s mansion behind the trees on the right of the picture; long since demolished, its former site is now the location of the Novotel on Lambeth Road.
Right: The silver dress worn at Lincoln recreated by costumier Pauline Loven, was for some years on display at Gainsborough Old Hall. © Marilyn Roberts, courtesy of Crows Eye Productions.