Queen Katherine Howard: Space, and Promiscuity Pre- and Post- Marriage, 1536-1541

Abstract

The fall of Queen Katherine Howard in 1541-1542 is a well-known event: the young woman with allegedly loose morals who captured the heart of the King and then proceeded to break it by continuing to arrange sexual liaisons with another man has long captured the public imagination. Unlike her cousin Anne Boleyn, Katherine’s fall has not engendered much historical debate. We know, unequivocally, that she was guilty of the crimes with which she was charged, and we know this because the documentation surrounding her trial—the questions asked and depositions given—is exceptionally full. It has not, however, been fully exploited. The descriptions given by witnesses to Katherine’s pre-and post-marital liaisons contain an enormous amount of incidental information about the spaces and places in which they occurred, and can therefore be used to inform our understanding of the practical use of, and conceptualisation of, domestic space during this period. This article compares and contrasts Katherine’s spatial behaviour and others’ reactions to it ‘at home’ with her grandmother before her marriage, and in royal palaces and lodgings on royal progress after it.

Keywords

• katherine howard
• marriage
• sex
• space
• queenship
• henry viii
• treason