Katherine Parr
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The sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, Katherine Parr, has gone down in history as the wife who 'survived'.
But despite the common misconception that she was a middle-aged, pious 'frump', Katherine Parr was in fact the cleverest and most passionate of Henry VIII's six wives.
In 1543 when Henry proposed, Katherine was no middle-aged frump.
She was probably around 30 years of age, had been born into a courtier family, and held a place in Tudor high society.
She loved fine clothes, jewels and intelligent company, had been married and widowed twice before, and was no flighty young girl, like her predecessor, Catherine Howard.
She was in many ways an excellent choice to be Englands first lady
Katherine made a success of her marriage to Henry because she brought to it a combination of intelligence and passion she spared no effort to make her marriage work.
Katherine was a woman who used clothes, milk baths, perfumes, chamber furnishings, food, drink and conversation, to provide the right ambience when her husband came to her chamber.
Determined to make the King happy, Katherine embarked on her marriage to Henry at great emotional cost: she was in love with someone else.
Thomas Seymour, the kings brother-in-law and uncle to Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, was in his mid-30s and one of the most dashing men at the Tudor court.
On 12 July 1543, when Katherine Parr and Henry VIII were married quietly at Hampton Court, Thomas Seymour was appointed to a succession of diplomatic and military positions, that kept him out of the country for most of the rest of Henrys reign.
In her relations with the king, Katherine was young enough to interest him sexually, and mature enough to perceive and cater to his other needs.
Dressing his sores cant have been pleasant, and diverting his attention from his pain with stimulating conversation.
But the queen went further reconnecting Henry with his children, whom he rarely saw.
Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, lived in various royal manors in the home counties.
The girls had both been bastardised and were excluded from the court, while Edward, as the sole heir, was kept far away from the plague-ridden capital.
Within a few months, Katherine had arranged for Henrys children to pay visits to their father, and provide him with some semblance of the home life he had never had.
When Henry was absent on campaign in France between mid-July and late September 1544, he left Katherine to oversee a regency council headed by Cranmer (who was now fully restored to favour).
She attended assiduously to her duties, meeting daily with her advisers.
A religious anthem by the leading composer Thomas Tallis, was written for a service at St Pauls, aimed at uniting the nation behind the invasion.
The words were written by Queen Katherine.
During the crucial three-and-a-half years the pair were married, the balance swung in favour of the reformers.
Katherines contributed to the reformation.
She proved herself to be an exemplary consort, and she used every means at her disposal to spread the brand of Christianity that, within a few years, would come to be called Protestant.
Katherines contributions to the spread of her faith was well in excess of that of her predecessors.
Not only did she study the Bible and listen to favoured preachers with her ladies in the seclusion of her own chambers, Katherine did something quite novel, something that women at the time simply did not do: she ventured into print.
In 1544 and 1545, she had her first books published.
These were devotional books prayers and reflections on the Psalms.
Then, in 1546, she began an intensely personal testimony, The Lamentation of a Sinner, in which she chronicled her journey from the traditional Catholicism of the pope, to the faith of which Luther spoke.
The Lamentation of a Sinner was not published until after Henrys death in January 1547.
In the summer of 1546, Katherine came close to being executed for her faith.
Bishop Gardiner and his associates were growing increasingly anxious as the end of the ailing Henrys reign drew nigh.
Leading councillors and courtiers were discreetly making plans for the accession of a minor.
If the princes uncle, Edward Seymour, grabbed the reins of power, England would be carried farther along the road of religious reform.
Gardiner and his associates needed to prevent that at all costs.
A campaign was launched against the Queen.
They brought to trial a notoriously outspoken heretic with court connections by the name of Anne Askew, subjected her to fierce and unprecedented torture and promised that her sufferings would end if she would but name members of the royal court (including the queen) who shared her heretical beliefs.
But Anne did not break under pressure.
Katherine was warned of the plot, the queen hastened to Henrys chamber and threw herself on his mercy, thus enabling him to make a great show of support and affection.
The failure to arrest the Queen, left those in favour of the reform in power, when Henry eventually died.
Katherine Parr, therefore, holds an important place in the history of the English Reformation.
When Henry died in 1547, Katherine was, at last, able to marry her true love, Thomas Seymour, but it did not bring her happiness.
Katherine had brought the 14-year-old Princess Elizabeth to live with them, but Thomas soon began indulging in intimate horseplay with the teenager.
The behaviour became more outrageous after Katherine became pregnant at the end of 1547.
Seymour would visit Elizabeth, clad only in his nightshirt, and tumble with her on her bed.
For a while Katherine was tolerant, but when on one occasion she came upon her husband and her royal ward embracing, she sent Elizabeth away.
On 31 August 1548 Katherine gave birth to a daughter, Mary, but immediately succumbed to puerperal fever.
In her delirium, she accused Thomas of poisoning her.
It may well have been the delirium speaking, but Seymour was ambitious and it is quite possible that he entertained hopes of picking up his relationship with the princess where it had left off.
We now know, Puerperal Fever was often caused by the attending physician, or midwife, using dirty instruments, or not washing their hands during the delivery.
Katherine lingered for 5 days as infection ravaged her body, causing multi-organ failure.
She died in the early hours of Wednesday, 5th September.
Katherine now lies at peace, within the heart of the chapel, at Sudeley Castle, in Gloucestershire.
Unfortunately her body wasn't always at peace...but that's a story for another post.....
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