Catherine Howard was Queen of England from 1540 to 1541. Though her family was not wealthy, Catherine was born into the aristocracy as the granddaughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and was a first cousin of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. Catherine became queen by marrying Henry VIII shortly after his annulment from Anne of Cleves. However, her marriage to the king was short-lived. Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer accused Catherine of having undisclosed premarital relationships, notably with Henry Mannox, her music teacher, and Francis Dereham, a former secretary. She was also alleged to have had an affair with Thomas Culpeper, a courtier, during her marriage. Following these charges, Mannox and Dereham were executed, and Parliament passed an act of attainder against Catherine, leading to her beheading in 1542. At the time, there was little sympathy for the young queen, but her story is now often cited as an example of how women were historically judged primarily on their sexuality.
