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| Portrait by Master John (1545) |
- Sir Edward Borough (m. 1529 - 1533)
- John Neville, Baron Latimer (m. 1534 - 1543)
- King Henry VIII of England and Ireland (m. 1543 - 1547)
- Thomas Seymour, Baron Sudeley (m. 1547 - 1548)
- With Thomas Seymour, Baron Sudeley
- Lady Mary Seymour (1548 - ????)
Appearance:
Katherine is described as having strawberry blonde hair and grey eyes. She was also tall, thin, and had pale skin. She frequently enjoyed wearing rich fabrics, favouring French and Italian styles. Her appearance was described as 'pleasing', and she sat for many portraits.
Character:
She is credited as being incredibly intelligent, with a love for learning. She was fluent in several languages, including, French, Latin, Italian, and Spanish. She enjoyed reading and writing and even published her own books and became a best selling author. This made her the first woman in England to publish under her own name.
Katherine was also notoriously opinionated, which could sometimes get her into trouble, and very nearly caused her to be charged with treason due to her outspokenness. She greatly favoured Protestantism and the English Reformation.
Due to all of this, she could often be quite feisty, though she always knew when she had gone too far, and managed to talk herself out of situations, such as when she was nearly arrested for treason.
For the most part, she was a devoted step-mother, until she aided in her final husband's psychological abuse of her step-daughter, Elizabeth.
She would also help nurse Henry VIII during his final years of life.
Biography:
Katherine was born in London, England, some time around 1512, while both her parents were serving at court. She was the eldest child of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife, Lady Maud Green, and she came from a powerful family of knights, and was a descendant of King Edward III of England. She was likely named after Katherine of Aragon, the first wife and queen of Henry VIII, as her mother was very close friends with her. Katherine of Aragon was also Katherine's godmother.
Unfortunately, Katherine's father died while she was still very young, and she would mainly be brought up by her mother, who she was very close to. She received an excellent education, and became fluent in a few languages.
In 1527, Katherine married her first husband, Sir Edward Burgh, when she was 17 years old. They would have no children together, and Burgh died just a few years later in 1533.
The next year, she married again, and her second husband was John Neville, Baron of Latimer. He was twice her age and already had two children from his previous marriage, but she became good friends with her husband, as well as a devoted step-mother. Her second husband was strongly opposed to Henry VIII's break from Rome, as well as his relationship with his second wife, Anne Boleyn, and Katherine was forced to watch as he was dragged away by rebels in the Lincolnshire Rising in 1536. Katherine lived in fear during this time, and struggled to keep both herself and her step-children alive. This likely fuelled her later devotion to Protestantism.
Things took a turn for the worse for Katherine in 1537 during the Pilgrimage of Grace. Both she and her step-children were held hostage, and the rebels threatened to kill them if Baron Latimer did not return. Latimer managed to return just in time and persuaded the rebels to release his family and leave his property. However, Latimer became implicated in the rebellion and was placed under investigation, in which he was told to condemn the leader of the rebellion.
Luckily, Latimer completed this task, and Katherine's brother vouched for him. No charges would be brought against him, though the family's reputation was ruined. Despite this, Katherine would begin attending court, and it was here that she met and fell in love with Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry VIII's third wife, Jane Seymour.
In 1542, Katherine's husband became increasingly ill, and she left court to help nurse him. He would then die in 1543, and leave her a rich widow. She would greatly mourn his death, and took every care towards his youngest daughter, who was now placed in Katherine's care.
Katherine did not want to return north, and instead, desired to stay at court, and became good friends with Henry VIII's eldest daughter, Mary. Mary accepted her into her household, and this is where she likely caught the attention of the King. Katherine was still very much in love with Thomas Seymour, and likely realising this, Henry sent him away to work in Brussels. Katherine had no choice but to accept Henry's proposal, believing that it must be God's plan for her.
Both Henry and Katherine married in 1543. Her step-daughter from her second marriage became her lady-in-waiting, and she also set about finally fully reconciling Henry with his daughters, and restoring them to the line of succession. She became great friends with her new step-children, and she threw herself into religious and literary works. When Henry went on campaign in France in 1544, Katherine was trusted and respected enough to be left as regent.
Her religious writings made her a best selling author, but her works did place her under suspicion of heresy. A warrant was drawn up for her arrest, but Katherine was able to gain knowledge of this before it could be carried out. She begged for Henry's forgiveness, and claimed that her words were merely to help draw a debate out of him and distract him from the pain in his leg. When men showed up to arrest her, Henry sent them away, and thus, Katherine was able to survive Henry's and his government's wrath.
In 1547, Henry VIII finally passed away, making Katherine the Dowager Queen of England, and the richest woman in the whole country. She attended the coronation of her step-son, King Edward VI of England, before she decided to retire from court life. Thomas Seymour returned, and they became engaged just four months after Henry's death, something which would have caused a scandal. They married in secret, only revealing their marriage when the allotted time for mourning had passed. This especially angered Edward VI and his sister Mary, and they cut off contact with her.
Katherine also quarrelled with her sister-in-law during this period, as Thomas Seymour's brother, Edward Seymour, had been appointed Lord Protector of the realm while Edward VI remained a minor. She argued that she should be in possession of the jewels of the Queen of England, since she was the Lord Protector's wife. Katherine, however, refused this. This caused huge tensions within the Seymour family.
Meanwhile, Katherine began to become a lot more open about her reformist views, and she also assumed care over her step-daughter, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's cousin, Lady Jane Grey. However, Thomas Seymour appears to have been plotting to marry Elizabeth in order to gain more power and influence. He began to abuse Elizabeth, both physically, psychologically, and likely sexually. Katherine would even join in during some of these incidents, including pinning Elizabeth down and forcing her to watch as Thomas tore apart one of her favourite dresses. It's possible that she may have also taken part in the sexual abuse, but after catching both Thomas and Elizabeth embracing each other, she sent Elizabeth away.
Some time in 1548, Katherine became pregnant, which came as a surprise to her. Throughout all of her marriages, she had never once conceived a child. With Elizabeth gone, Katherine focused most of her time and effort on the education of Lady Jane Grey, before preparing to give birth.
Katherine gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Mary after her step-daughter. Katherine would then die just a few days after giving birth, likely as the result of a postpartum infection.
Rule:
Katherine very much played an active role as royal consort and was very politically astute. She often played the role of 'peacemaker', and helped to reconcile her husband with his daughters, even managing to help restore them to the succession. She helped to maintain good relations with the Holy Roman Emperor, and ruled as regent while Henry was away for war with France. During her time as regent, she was able to decrease tensions with Scotland.
Katherine was also a supporter of religious reform, becoming a driving force in the Protestant Reformation of England. She was a patron of religious scholars, and was able to survive the conspiracy against her and remain as queen consort.
Overall, she was very much respected by both her husband, step-children, and many English courtiers during her time as consort.
- Her final husband, Thomas Seymour, was arrested and executed not long after her death due to his plot to marry Elizabeth.
- It is unknown exactly what happened to her daughter. She likely lived in disgrace after the execution of her father, and died young.
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