Summary:
Writings of certain nineteenth and twentieth-century historians continue to colour our perceptions of the past, but is the picture of Katherine Howard painted by some of them necessarily fair? Was she really a neglected young girl set up by an unscrupulous family to enable them to exercise control over Henry VIII, or a secure teenager brought up in the home of her illustrious step-grandmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, who treated her well? Ultimately, was her untimely death the fault of others or the result of Katherine’s own ill-advised choices?
Through original research and use of primary sources, Queen Katherine and the Howards: A Tudor Family on the Brink of Disaster examines the Howards’ journey from practising law in East Anglia to their elevation to the dukedom of Norfolk by Richard III and, following the Yorkist defeat at Bosworth, their decades of service and loyalty to the fledgling Tudor dynasty.
The final weeks of Katherine Howard’s short life, presented as a day-to-day narrative, enables the reader to appreciate how terrifyingly quickly the old duchess and Katherine’s associates, most involved against their wishes, were rounded up and consigned to the Tower for concealing what they knew of her lively past.
The last chapters examine how the third Duke of Norfolk, Katherine’s paternal uncle, although surviving the turmoil of the scandal and continuing in his roles as Lord Treasurer and Henry VIII’s leading general, remained highly vulnerable; he and his son eventually fell victim to the king’s deadly paranoia.
Review:
I’ve read a lot of books about the Tudor era. I mean, A LOT. The Howards are one of the premier families of that time, and as you probably know, two of Henry VIII’s six wives were Howards. That’s what made me so confused to see that this book almost completely ignored Anne Boleyn, who was arguably one of the most consequential Howards, in favor of Katherine Howard. Yes, the book is titled with Katherine’s name, but if you’re going to do a book about the Howard family as a whole, it seems odd to leave Anne out. I freely admit to a great affection for Anne, but that doesn’t negate the fact that she was instrumental in much of the history of the decades that followed her death.
Because of this, I felt like the book wasn’t quite sure what it wanted to be: a book about Katherine Howard, or a book about the Howard family as a whole. If the focus was on the family, I really feel that it would have made more sense to spread the text out over the entirety of the Tudor era family history and not try to home in on one member of it quite so much. I have no quibble with bringing some attention to Katherine, but this is an odd way to do it.
I was also taken aback by the author’s choices in who and what she chose to quote from when mentioning other books about the Howards in general and Katherine in particular. There was the usual quoting from historical sources, which is fine, but she also draws from more modern publications as well. A casual reader of history may not know this, but back in 2017, Gareth Russell released a book titled Young and Damned and Fair, which is widely considered to be the quintessential book about Katherine Howard. As you can probably imagine, I’ve read it myself, and its reputation is well deserved. However, while Russell’s book is listed in the bibliography, there is no point in the text where she quotes from, or even mentions, his book. I find this omission strange, but that’s a quibble from a Tudor buff.
On the plus side, there are some interesting facts about the Howard family and the shenanigans that they all got up to, from the cranky Duke of Norfolk who was Anne Boleyn’s uncle, to the doomed Earl of Surrey convicted and executed for treason. There are plenty of Howards with great stories to feature, and I can only be sorry that the narrative doesn’t flow through the family history more smoothly.
I’m not sure I would recommend this book to someone just beginning to learn about Tudor history. While the Howards are a fascinating clan, a book about the Tudor era in general or about the reign of Henry VIII will provide plenty of info about the major players. If Tudor history is your jam, you may find some interest in this book, but I personally feel that there are other texts that do the job better. Still, I discovered a few facts that were new to me, so the author obviously did her research, and the structure may not be as much of an issue to other readers.
