*The author uses Catherine with a ‘C’ to distinguish her from other Katherine-named folk of the time and, as her name is sometimes written with a ‘C’, it is the author’s liberty to use this spelling. I will use the same spelling as the author.
If you’ve read my writing on Gareth Russell, then you don’t want to miss my series on his Hampton Court book: The Palace, which I have to say is probably amongst his best pieces. Yes, I do like Queen James as well, but The Palace is a very special book. There’s a section of it which deals with the Haunted Gallery in which the story of *Catherine Howard is told – about how she ran through the gallery and was dragged, kicking and screaming, back to her quarters where she was later imprisoned and awaiting execution. This is the person that Young and Damned and Fair is about. Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, executed when she was still very young, Gareth Russell’s book deals with who she really was and it was so very interesting that I could barely put it down.
Gareth Russell begins with an introduction where he takes us through some common misconceptions about Catherine Howard and her connection to a family member by the name of Anne Boleyn. He emphasises that this connection often made by people looking to present Catherine Howard as another victim along these lines is often wrong as of course, these women were two individuals and not one of the same. It was quite refreshing to read that someone was at least talking about Catherine Howard as if she were an individual with her own life, but as Gareth Russell does state, in order to understand her, we need to understand what kind of family she came from.
We are introduced to the Howard family and especially Catherine’s father, Edmund Howard. His exploits are especially important because it is during his upbringing that the Howards found themselves on the wrong side of the royal favour – supporting Richard III during the Battle of Bosworth field. Gareth Russell takes us through how the Howards became, under Henry VII, basically obedient dogs. The way he writes this is clearly signposting us in the general direction of how Catherine Howard herself would act in court, constantly trying to remain in favour. This line of best-fit gives us a good general overview of the family and because of their role in court life, how they interacted with other lords and ladies. It’s a useful piece of information for reading about a woman who would eventually become the wife of Henry VIII.
From: Amazon
Gareth Russell’s leaning towards demystifying Catherine Howard for us seems strong in these first chapters as, during her whirlwind love affairs as a teenager and possible sexual encounters with older men, we are led to believe that she is going to make some grave errors when she is under the hand of the King. Of course, we know she is beheaded after being accused of an affair behind the King’s back, but because of Anne Boleyn’s same fate under similar circumstances, we tend not to believe that the rumours surrounding Catherine Howard are true. Yet, as we take a look through Russell’s well-documented cases of Catherine Howard defying her mother and advisors in order to embark on these sexual escapades when she was clearly too young and the men, not her equals, we have to rub away our misconceptions and accept that there might be some truth to it.
We are introduced to Thomas Culpepper, the man that Catherine Howard would be accused of having an affair with once she became the Queen of England. Thomas Culpepper is quite a figure to Catherine, and Gareth Russell makes sure that we know how important he is in the story of Catherine Howard even before Henry VIII enters her picture. One thing I like about Gareth Russell’s writing on this topic is that he presents Catherine Howard as a whole person before her marriage and, for the first eight chapters, she isn’t yet married to the king, instead she does things like present herself in court and work for Anne of Cleves. It was during this marriage to Anne of Cleves where Henry would then take Catherine as a mistress of some sort, though not many could prove it.
As we move through the book, we start to see that Catherine Howard’s reputation is built out of a couple of things: the first is that her father ran away from England because he owed people money, the second is that she was even before her marriage – seen as a bit of a temptress, and then thirdly, her attitude was not of someone who wanted power though would be more than happy if she received it. I love how Gareth Russell’s writing doesn’t place blame on anyone and yet, seems to separate Catherine Howard from her cousin, Anne Boleyn.
