Katherine the Queen

Name: Katherine the Queen
Rating: 4.07 (1836 reviews)

by Linda Porter

First published 2010

Amazon

4.1(1,836)

This biography restores Katherine Parr to the centre of Tudor political and religious life. Twice widowed before marrying Henry VIII in 1543, Katherine had already survived the Pilgrimage of Grace, during which rebels held her household hostage. As queen, she created a stable royal family around Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, acted as regent while Henry campaigned in France and used print to express reformist religious ideas.

Porter follows Katherine through the danger created by conservative opponents who attempted to turn her theological interests into a charge of heresy. After Henry’s death, she married Thomas Seymour and established a household that included the young Elizabeth, but Seymour’s behaviour damaged both the marriage and Katherine’s standing. Her death after childbirth in 1548 ended a life in which queenship, authorship and step-motherhood influenced the generation that inherited the Tudor crown.

Historical Periods

Pilgrimage of Grace1536–1537 CE Edwardian Reformation1547–1553 CE

Genres

Court & Political Fiction

Historical people

Henry VIII1491–1547 Catherine Parr1512–1548 Mary I1516–1558 Edward VI1537–1553 Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley1508–1549 Elizabeth I1533–1603