Katherine Howard's Letter

Thanks to the National Archives UK the only surviving letter written by Katherine Howard is still beautifully exhibited. Katherine Howard was the least educated of Henry VIII's wives and she could barely write at all when she first arrived at court which is why this letter is written in such a nervous hand. This sole letter of hers to survive was directed to Thomas Culpepper and it reads:

Master Coulpeper,

I hertely recomend me unto youe praying you tosende me worde how that you doo. Yt was showed me that you wassike, the wyche thynge trobled me very muche tell suche tyme that Ihere from you praying you to send me worde how that you do.For I never longed so muche for [a] thynge as I do to se you andto speke wyth you, the wyche I trust shal be shortely now, thewyche dothe comforthe me verie much whan I thynk of ett andwan I thynke agan that you shall departe from me agayneytt makes my harte to dye to thynke what fortune I havethat I cannot be always yn your company. Y[e]t my trust ysallway in you that you wolbe as you have promysed meand in that hope I truste upon styll, prayng you than thatyou wyll com whan my lade Rochforthe ys here, for thenI shalbe beste at leaysoure to be at your commarendmant.Thaynkyng you for that you have promysed me to be sogood unto that pore felowe my man, whyche is on of thegrefes that I do felle to departe from hym for than I doknow noone that I dare truste to sende to you and therforI pray you take hym to be wyth you that I may sumtymhere from you one thynge. I pray you to gyve me a horsefor my man for I hyd muche a do to gat one andthefer I pray sende me one by hym and yn so doying Iam as I sade afor, and thus I take my leve of youtrusting to se you s[h]orttele agane and I wode you waswythe me now that yoo maitte se what pane I takeyn wryte[n]g to you.

Yours as long aslyffe endures

Katheryn 

One thyng I had forgotten andthat hys to instruct my man to tare here wyt[h] me still, for hesas wat so mever you bed hym he wel do et and [...]

If you have any troubles reading it just message me and I will add the "translation" into modern language

Mary Tudor's Dislike of Katherine Howard

When Henry VIII married (yet) again to his fifth wife, Katherine Howard, the new Queen did not charm the entire court. Actually you do not even have to look beyond Henry's own family to find an intense dislike.

Princess Mary was far from satisfied with her father's new wife. The dislike may have routes in two things: first of all, Katherine was 9 years younger than Mary and it is possible that Mary may have felt jealous at this young woman who was certainly more unintelligent than herself but still married - it was considered an embarrassment to grow old as a spinster and despite that Mary was not old, she was still older than her father's new wife. Perhaps Katherine reminded Mary of what she wanted - a household of her own.

Secondly, Katherine's silly behaviour was so far from what Mary had experienced from her first years with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, that Mary may have found it difficult to accept a young, giggling girl sitting at the throne her mother had sat in. It is very likely that the immensely proud Mary saw the marriage of her father as a demeaning to the image of an ever-dignified Queen that Catherine of Aragon had imprinted on her daughter.

But the dislike turned into a scandal when Katherine noticed the hostility from Princess Mary and consequently complained to her husband. To prove her new status Katherine had two of Princess Mary's maids removed which was a public humiliation and the scandal was well-known.

Princess Mary

Katherine Howard

Confess!

Archbishop Cranmer tries to get Katherine Howard to confess her guilt and her offences against the King

Drawings of the Queens

I have come across these beautiful drawings of Henry VIII's wives and I thought that I might share them (I have arranged them to look nicer):

The Rose Without a Thorn

Katherine Howard - with her obedient motto - had of course chosen her badge from the nick-name Henry VIII had given her: His rose without a thorn. So, consequently, Katherine's main feature is a rose without a thorn. The rose petals are the united colours of Lancaster and York - another symbol of her obedience towards her husband and his family.
It is a more feminine version of Henry VIII's own badge.

Katherine Howard

Katherine Howard was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper. She was the cousin of Henry's doomed Queen, Anne Boleyn. Due to Lord Edmund Howard's bad finances, Katherine was sent to be brought up at the household of the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk.
But the young people living with the Dowager Duchess never received a proper education and consequently Katherine was one of the least educated wives of Henry VIII. The young Katherine Howard is described as vivacious and beautiful but without any interest in studies or religion.