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| | From:  Linda_J9 (Original Message) | Sent: 7/19/2007 2:11 PM |
Everyone is making valid points about Katherine Howard. Yes, young women have always been attracted to the wealth and power of older men, and Katherine was, quite likely, no exception. But she was so young, naive, and silly! How could she possibly have grasped the full implications of marrying Henry? At that age, I certainly couldn't have. And before anybody says that childhood was shorter in the 16th century and "adolescence" hadn't been invented yet, yes, I do realize that she was considered to be a fully grown, adult woman. But from what we know she was a very immature 19 for that period. And how many 19-year-olds (regardless of what era they live in, their family background, and how relatively naive and silly they are) are really mature enough to know what kind of man they want/need to marry in order for the marriage to be a success? I shudder to think who I would have married at 19!!! I'm thinking another aspect of this is that Henry was such an overwhelming, powerful personality that even though he was an overweight, petulant etc. etc., the entire Howard family must have had stars in their eyes when they realized he fancied Katherine -- dead A. Boleyn or no dead A. Boleyn. This is a fascinating subject, isn't it? History, psychology, sociology, and psychiatry all rolled into one! Linda |
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Catherine was used by Norfolk's faction to get rid of Cromwell in my opinion. Despite the times & being considered marriageable much younger than we are used to nowadays, the basic tenets of child development would still hold true. Tis why nowadays we have a thing called "age of consent". Catherine may have been as young as 15 when she caught Henry's eye, & having once upon a time been an adolescent of such an age my good self, I would think she was probably pretty typical of a teenage girl no matter what the times, as nothing has ever been said about her possessing exceptional presence or sense (just the opposite) & she therefore wasn't quite mentally mature. Despite Henry's age & size LOL he was THE KING. It had to have been flattering to her to have a man of his age, experience, & position wooing her even if he was not all that physically attractive anymore, especially given Catherine's shabby upbringing. She went from an obscure relation to being the cynosure of all eyes, pretty heavy stuff for a teenage girl to handle. |
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Catherine really did not have much of a choice. Are YOU going to tell Henry ummm no thanks you're too old & fat for me & your leg is nasty & stinky so I think I'll go find a nice boy my own age? At this point in his career it was an accepted fact that one did NOT piss Henry off for ANY reason. I still cannot get over him executing Nicholas Carew, his best friend  Did Catherine Parr dare say sorry Hal I'm already spoken for by that naughty Lord Admiral Tom Seymour? Henry was the sort of man who was not easily naysayed. She may not have fully understood the ramifications of such an unholy union, being quite young & not the sharpest crayon in the Howard box, but she had to know what happened to Cousin Anne, at least. That was quite the event. When Henry cast his eye on her Norfolk all but bought her slutty lingerie in his haste to shove her into the royal bed. Catherine not only had to be disgusted by how gross Henry was at this point, but she would have to be even stupider than previously imagined to not be terrified at the prospect of ending up exactly how she did end up....practicing to lay her head on the block. Yes there was the Culpeper thing....but honestly, with the lack of privacy at court, especially for the king and queen, it would have been awful hard for Catherine & Culpeper to actually be closeted privily enough to do it. I'm not entirely convinced there was actual sex going on there. She was definitely smart enough to keep her mouth shut about her previous affairs & lack of virginity (& cmon HOW did Henry not notice THAT after the number of virgins he futtered? ), so perhaps she was not as stupid as history's portrayed her to be. I blame Jane Rochford LOL |
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I agree. Jane Rochford was a snake. She ended up badly tho. |
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I read The Bolyen Inheritance. Man...was Katheirne made out to be a total idiot or what? That's, to me, the worst portrayal of her I've ever read. I just find it hard to beleive she was THAT stupid. I know she was quite young, but for goodness sakes, she was made out to be totally brainless in that book. Unfairly I thought too. |
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Don't get me started....that has to be THE worst of Philippa Gregory's books  |
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Don't get me started....that has to be THE worst of Philippa Gregory's books The worst??????? That's really saying something!!! terrilee | |
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Yesm her ads should read: AND YOU THUNK THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL WAS BAD..... WAIT TILL YOU READ THE BOLEYN INHERITANCE! |
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Maybe I am the last person to find this, but, did anyone else see the article about the portrait collection at Hever back in March where David Starkey has identified the Holbein portrait of Katheryn Howard as Katheryn Howard again? I have always thought it was her - it looks like the miniature portrait. Also, in answer to the question of her sometimes being shown as a blond, look at the Holbein watercolor sketch. Lynne Frederick will always be my favorite Katheryn though - pretty, dainty, sweet lamb led to slaughter. |
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