Catherine Parr
Catherine Parr (alternatively Katherine or Kateryn) (c. August 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and of Ireland (1543–47). She was the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII. She married him on 12 July 1543, and outlived him by one year. She was also the most-married English queen, with four husbands. She was also the first woman to be queen of both England and Ireland.
| Catherine Parr | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Queen consort of England and Ireland | |
| 12 July 1543 – 28 January 1547 | |
| Born | August 1512 Blackfriars, London, England |
| Died | 5 September 1548 (aged 35–36) Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire, England |
| Burial | St Mary's Chapel, Sudeley Castle |
| Spouse | Sir Edward Burgh (m. 1529–1533; his death) John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer (m. 1534–1543; his death) Henry VIII of England (m. 1543–47; his death) Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley (m. 1547–48; her death) |
| Issue | Mary Seymour |
| Father | Sir Thomas Parr |
| Mother | Maud Green |
| Signature |  |
Catherine had a close relationship with Henry's three children. She personally helped teach school for Elizabeth and Edward, both of whom became English monarchs. She helped get the Third Succession Act in 1543 passed. This placed Mary I and Elizabeth I, back into the line of succession to the British throne.[1]
Henry died on 28 January 1547. Six months after Henry's death, she married her fourth and final husband, Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley.
Catherine gave birth to her only child — a daughter, Mary Seymour. She was named after Catherine's stepdaughter Mary – on 30 August 1548. She died only six days later, on 5 September 1548, at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire, from what was probably childbed fever (sepsis). This was common at that time, because births did not happen in clean conditions.
Many years later, in 1782, the coffin of Queen Catherine was found in the ruins of the Sudeley Castle chapel.
Catherine Parr Media
The Melton Constable or Hastings portrait of Queen Catherine[2]
Coat of arms of Catherine Parr as queen consort
Rose Maiden heraldic badge used by the queen consort
Title page of Parr's Prayers or Meditations, published in 1545
A letter from Catherine Parr to Thomas Seymour, declaring her love. On display at Sudeley Castle
Detail from tomb of Catherine Parr in St. Mary's Chapel, Sudeley Castle
An illustration of the opening of Catherine Parr's coffin in 1782
This portrait, originally, and now identified as Catherine Parr, was wrongly identified as Lady Jane Grey for decades.
References
- ↑ Jones, Phillippa (2010). Elizabeth: Virgin Queen. London, England: New Holland Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84773-515-7. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
- ↑ Edwards 2010.
Further reading
- Martienssen, Anthony (1973). Queen Catherine Parr. London: Secker & Warburg.
- Parr, Katherine (2011). Mueller, Janel (ed.). Katherine Parr: Complete Works and Correspondence. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Norton, Elizabeth (2011). Catherine Parr. Chalford: Amberley.
- Withrow, Brandon (2009). Katherine Parr: The Life and Thought of a Reformation Queen. Phillipsburg: P&R.