Catherine Howard Part I

Catherine Howard was the 5th wife of Henry VIII, and the cousin of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Anne’s mother was a Howard, who had married Sir Thomas Boleyn... who came from a more modest background. Catherine’s father, Lord Edmund Howard was a soldier, a younger son and very poor. He had a large family and married twice more after the death of Joyce Culpepper, Catherine’s mother. The date of Catherine’s birth is not firmly fixed, but it was probably around 1520-23. Her mother died when she was a child, and unluckily, she was sent to her step grandmother, Agnes Duchess of Norfolk, to be cared for. The old Dowager Duchess was not a very attentive mother figure. She left Catherine among the young girls of her household, and while she in theory was meant to train them in ladylike behaviour, she seems to have been neglectful. Anne Boleyn had been sent abroad to royal courts, to further her education – but she was intelligent whereas Catherine does not seem to have been very clever. She was not given much training or education - though she did learn music and was literate. The young girl’s friends among the “maidens” of the household were let run wild and behind the Duchess’s back, they frolicked and amused themselves. They managed to allow the young men of the household into their sleeping chamber... Catherine grew up in this atmosphere. In her early teens, she was involved in an affair with her music master, Henry Manox, who was older than her. It was not fully consummated but Catherine had been “groomed” for “easy sex” and was accustomed to the casual romping atmosphere of the “maidens’ chamber-.
 The Duchess seemed to occasionally pay attention to what was going on, and physically punished some of the offenders, but then tended to leave things alone. A few years after the Manox affair, Catherine fell in love with Francis Dereham, one of the Duchess’ secretaries. She and he exchanged vows, called each other husband and wife, and were considered by the custom of the day to be engaged, and when their affair became physical, they were considered informally married. The Duchess found out about the affair, and lost her temper. Dereham was dismissed and went to Ireland. Catherine may have missed him and hoped they might be able to marry - but he was a poor retainer and in spite of her being poor as well, she had Howard blood. It was unlikely that she would be allowed to marry a “nobody”.