Catherine Howard
| Catherine Howard | |
|---|---|
Portrait miniature possibly of Catherine Howard, Anne of Cleves or Margaret Douglas by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1540 (Royal Collection) | |
| Queen consort of England | |
| Tenure | 28 July 1540 – 23 November 1541 |
| Born | c. 1523 Lambeth, London, England |
| Died | 13 February 1542 (aged 18–19) Tower of London, London, England |
| Burial | 13 February 1542 Church of St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London |
| Spouse | |
| House | Howard (by birth) Tudor (by marriage) |
| Father | Lord Edmund Howard |
| Mother | Joyce Culpeper |
| Signature | |
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Catherine Howard (c. 1523 – 13 February 1542) was Queen of England from July 1540 until November 1541 as the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a first cousin to Anne Boleyn (the second wife of Henry VIII), and the niece of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Thomas Howard was a prominent politician at Henry's court. He secured her a place in the household of Henry's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, where Howard caught the King's interest. She married him on 28 July 1540 at Oatlands Palace in Surrey, just 19 days after the annulment of his marriage to Anne. Henry was 49, and it is widely accepted that Catherine was about 17 at the time of her marriage to Henry VIII.
Catherine was stripped of her title as queen in November 1541 and beheaded three months later on the grounds of treason for committing adultery with her distant cousin, Thomas Culpeper.