13 February 2012

This day in history:
The fifth queen of Henry VIII was Catherine Howard. Her father was very poor, and Catherine lived mainly with Agnes, widow of the 2nd duke of Norfolk. Henry was evidently charmed by her and he was privately married to Catherine at Oatlands in July 1540. In November 1541 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer informed Henry that his queen's past life had not been stainless. After some denials the queen herself admitted that this was true; but denied that she had misconducted herself since her marriage. Some fresh information, however, very soon came to light showing that she had been unchaste since her marriage; a bill of attainder was passed through parliament, and on the 13th of February 1542 the queen was beheaded. read more