Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen
Alison Weir’s Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen begins in the spring of 1540. Henry VIII, desperate to be rid of his queen, Anna of Kleve, first sets eyes on the enchanting Katheryn Howard. Seated near him intentionally by her ambitious Catholic family, Katheryn readily succumbs to the courtship. Henry is besotted with his bride. Katherine delights in the pleasures of being queen and the power she has to do good to others. She comes to love the ailing, obese king and tolerate his nightly attentions. If she can bear him a son, her triumph will be complete. But Katheryn has a past of which Henry knows nothing, and which comes back increasingly to haunt her—even as she courts danger yet again.
Of all Henry VIII’s queens, Katheryn’s story is one of the most tragic. Her life before her marriage to the king is full of sexual speculation. Her affair during her marriage is especially shocking, for how could a person be so stupid as to cheat on such a volatile man? But one must consider Katheryn’s age. She is very young and naïve. This is evident by how her powerful family members so easily influence her to enchant the king. She doesn’t feel like she can say no, and realistically, she couldn’t have. As a young woman of marital age, her life is dictated by her male family members’ desires.
I learned a lot about Katheryn’s past in Weir’s book. Weir is an exceptional historian and she really did her research on Katheryn.
I didn’t initially have a lot of compassion for Katheryn. True, she is young and naïve, but she could still have made better choices once she was queen. However, seeing where she was raised, and whom she was raised with, gave me the impression that Katheryn was led astray at a young age. She didn’t have a mentor who could guide her. Instead, young women and men eager to experience a little pleasure, without considering the consequences, surrounded her. When one looks at her time with the dowager duchess, it isn’t hard to see how she came to her tragic end.
Her poor choice in friends only continued once she was queen. Anne Boleyn’s sister-in-law Jane meddled with Katheryn and encouraged her to take up with Tom Culpeper, Katheryn’s cousin. Katheryn should have resisted, but how could she, when Jane was constantly berating her, Tom was so handsome, and the king was, well, the king?
Katheryn Howard was a young, beautiful woman in the prime of her life, but a series of mistakes led to a life cut short by a powerful man bent on saving his dignity and preserving his pride. I wish history had been kinder to her.
Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen Rating: ★★★★
Of all Henry VIII’s queens, Katheryn’s story is one of the most tragic. Her life before her marriage to the king is full of sexual speculation. Her affair during her marriage is especially shocking, for how could a person be so stupid as to cheat on such a volatile man? But one must consider Katheryn’s age. She is very young and naïve. This is evident by how her powerful family members so easily influence her to enchant the king. She doesn’t feel like she can say no, and realistically, she couldn’t have. As a young woman of marital age, her life is dictated by her male family members’ desires.
I learned a lot about Katheryn’s past in Weir’s book. Weir is an exceptional historian and she really did her research on Katheryn.
I didn’t initially have a lot of compassion for Katheryn. True, she is young and naïve, but she could still have made better choices once she was queen. However, seeing where she was raised, and whom she was raised with, gave me the impression that Katheryn was led astray at a young age. She didn’t have a mentor who could guide her. Instead, young women and men eager to experience a little pleasure, without considering the consequences, surrounded her. When one looks at her time with the dowager duchess, it isn’t hard to see how she came to her tragic end.
Her poor choice in friends only continued once she was queen. Anne Boleyn’s sister-in-law Jane meddled with Katheryn and encouraged her to take up with Tom Culpeper, Katheryn’s cousin. Katheryn should have resisted, but how could she, when Jane was constantly berating her, Tom was so handsome, and the king was, well, the king?
Katheryn Howard was a young, beautiful woman in the prime of her life, but a series of mistakes led to a life cut short by a powerful man bent on saving his dignity and preserving his pride. I wish history had been kinder to her.
Katheryn Howard: The Scandalous Queen Rating: ★★★★