Written with an exciting combination of narrative flair and historical authority, this interpretation of the tragic life of Catherine Howard, fifth wife of Henry VIII, breaks new ground in our understanding of the very young woman who became queen at a time of unprecedented social and political tension and whose terrible errors in judgment quickly led her to the executioner’s block. On the …
On the morning of July 28, 1540, as King Henry’s VIII’s former confidante Thomas Cromwell was being led to his execution, a teenager named Catherine Howard began her reign as queen of a country simmering with rebellion and terrifying uncertainty. Sixteen months later, the king’s fifth wife would follow her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold, having been convicted of adultery and high treason.
The broad outlines of Catherine’s career might be familiar, but her story up until now has been incomplete. Unlike previous accounts of her life, which portray her as a naive victim of an ambitious family, this compelling and authoritative biography will shed new light on Catherine Howard’s rise and downfall by reexamining her motives and showing her in her context, a milieu that goes beyond her family and the influential men of the court to include the aristocrats and, most critically, the servants who surrounded her and who, in the end, conspired against her. By illuminating Catherine’s entwined upstairs/downstairs worlds as well as societal tensions beyond the palace walls, the author offers a fascinating portrayal of court life in the sixteenth century and a fresh analysis of the forces beyond Catherine’s control that led to her execution–from diplomatic pressure and international politics to the long-festering resentments against the queen’s household at court.
Including a forgotten text of Catherine’s confession in her own words, color illustrations, family tree, map, and extensive notes, Young and Damned and Fair changes our understanding of one of history’s most famous women while telling the compelling and very human story of complex individuals attempting to survive in a dangerous age.more
5 stars
Based on amazing scholarship and clear reasoning, this is a beautifully written history of Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII.
Mr. Russell has written a comprehensive illustration of 16th Century privileged life. He describes everything from clothing to jewelry and all the other small details of daily life in the royal household. The author goes on to discount some of the most popular myths about Catherine, such as the Norfolk’s (her family of origin), pushing her into the king’s way. He spent a bit of time examining her servants and ladies-in-waiting, for some of them certainly had plenty to say about Catherine. Mr. Russell also examined just how big a part the Dowager Duchess aunt played in the whole drama and how much she really knew about Catherine’s behavior while she lived with her. I really liked the way he carefully examined each rumor and fact that we previously understood about the young woman.
He goes on to examine the volatility of King Henry VIII by this stage in his life and his mercurial temperament, as well as the politics of the time. Henry was so apt to fly into a rage at any time, it was best to keep one’s head down.
There are several lengthy quotes in the book, especially from various letters that still survive, including the fatal letter that Catherine sent to Thomas Culpeper.
I found this book fascinating, very well researched and clearly written. There are numerous footnotes and a copious bibliography for those who wish to investigate Catherine’s life further.
This is my second Gareth Russell book, and I do believe that I’ll read the rest of his output as soon as I am able.
I confess to not liking Henry VIII. Reading Gareth Russell’s Young & Damned & Fair, my view of Henry Tudor has not changed, but only been reinforced. Whilst it can be argued that all political power involves difficult and painful decisions for the greater good, Henry VIII’s reign is one awash in the blood of tragedies – too many of them avoidable and, in my mind, unforgivable. One of these unforgivable tragedies is the subject of this brilliant, insightful and satisfying biography. Catherine Howard was the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was Henry’s youngest wife – a teenage girl who had the great misfortune to catch Henry’s eye when she was given a position as one of the women attending Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII’s rejected fourth wife.
Tudor history paints for us the image Henry VIII desired to present to his world: a king of great magnificence; a king of glory and might. A king who could do no wrong. Russell shows that you only have to dig a little into the story of Henry’s reign to find the corruption and evil brought by the absolute power of kingship in the hands of a man, as Russell so aptly says, “who had somehow gone rotten without ever being ripe”. It is not only Russell who speaks so bluntly about this particular Tudor King, but also voices from the past, like the voice of Cardinal Pole, the son of the king’s close kinswoman, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, butchered by one of Henry VIII’s executioners. After his family is virtually destroyed by his royal cousin, he spoke of Henry “as comparable in wickedness to Herod, Caligula, and Nero’ (Russell 2017, p.240).
Catherine’s heartbreaking story, as told by Russell, provides more evidence of Henry’s wickedness. With his meticulous research correcting a number of Catherine Howard legends in the pages of this work, Russell brings Catherine vividly and empathetically to life.
On the surface, Catherine lived in a time that expected a well-born girl to be a virgin on her wedding day. Reading Russell’s biography turned me to the words of Eustace Chapuys, who said of Jane Seymour, “You may imagine whether, being an Englishwoman, and having been so long at court, she would not hold it a sin to be still a maid” (Baldwin Smith 1961, p.56). Catherine’s story reveals the truth of Chapuys’ keen observation. While the morality of this time claimed one thing, it often hid a darker reality. Poor Catherine. She thought herself free to follow her own desires – as long as she wasn’t caught. Alas, she was – and it cost her her life.
With all the power of a skilful storyteller, Russell draws the reader into a time long gone. Young & Damned & Fair is a thoroughly researched and beautifully written work – rich in details, colour and pageantry, opening the door to the court of Henry VIII, Catherine’s world and stage for the brief and final years of her life. It also does not flinch from the savagery known in this period. Reading the work, I was reminded why I remain fascinated by the Tudor age.
Young & Damned & Fair offers to the reader a fresh and perceptive account of a well-known Tudor tragedy. By the end, l was left grieving for a girl who never had the chance to learn the wisdom of true maturity; a girl damned by her own youth, sexual appeal to men, and also by her marriage to a man who had already proven he was willing to murder his wives. As the wife of Henry VIII and cousin of Anne Boleyn, Catherine should have known better to play with fire by engaging in love games with a man she seemed to have truly loved. But she seemed to have believed she was clever enough to follow her heart, and escape unscathed. Instead she learned what happens when you fall foul of Henry VIII.
For me, a biography is only good when the subject of the work steps out of its pages as a person of flesh and blood. A rich and rewarding feast for the lover of this period, this biography is more than simply good – it is a multilayered work that brilliantly juxtapositions the cause and effect of events and deepens your understanding of not only Catherine Howard, but the time in which she lived.
Works cited
Baldwin Smith, L. 1967, A Tudor Tragedy
Russsel, G. 2017, Young & Damned & Fair