Saturday, May 15, 2010

Question from Teresa - Katherine Howard's age

Hello everyone, I am a very big Tudor fan and have been trying to find out how old Katherine "kitty" howard was when she married king henry VIII and when she was beheaded. I tried googling it but i got three completely different answers saying she was 15, and then saying she was 17 and finally saying she was 19 when she married the king. I was hoping someone might be able to help me find the right age. Thanks for all the help and god bless.

[There was an old discussion about this from about three years ago, but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a new discussion on it. - Lara]

4 comments:

Marilyn R said...

Kathryn’s date and place of birth are not known; all that can be said is she was born between 1520-1525. Depending on the month she was born, she would therefore have been between 14/15 and 19/20 when she came to Court at the beginning of 1540 as part of the Household of Henry’s new bride, Anne of Cleves.
In view of what had already happened in the Maidens’ Chamber at Norfolk House in Lambeth – NOT at Lambeth Palace – 14/15 seems rather too young.

Alia said...

Unfortunately, like Marilyn R said, Katherine's age is not known. However 15-20 would be the age when she married Henry VIII. I would say that 17-20 is the most plausible, however.

Kathy said...

Just out of curiosity, but where did you come up with the idea that Katherine Howard was nicknamed "Kitty"? I've never seen that in any contemporary source. In fact, I don't think I've seen anybody from that era nicknamed "Kitty".

Anonymous said...

I see "Kitty" a lot from people who read Phillipa Gregory. Is it a nickname she made up and popularized with her fans? I find it quite condescending, myself.