New Release, Katherine The Queen by Linda Porter

Oooh, this one looks really good. I am waiting patiently until it release date. But it is so far off...March 12Th 2010!

"The general perception of Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of Henry VIII, is that she was a provincial nobody with intellectual pretensions who became queen of England because the king needed a matronly consort to nurse him as his health declined. In the various studies of the six wives of Henry VIII she receives much less attention than Katherine of Aragon or Anne Boleyn. Her main achievement, in the famous rhyme about Henry's six wives, is that she 'survived'. Yet the real Katherine Parr was attractive, passionate (she had a mighty temper when aroused) ambitious and highly intelligent. She was thirty years old (younger than Anne Boleyn had been) when she married the king. Twice widowed, held hostage by the northern rebels during the great uprising of 1536-37 known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, her life had been dramatic even before she became queen. It would remain so after Henry's death, when she hastily and secretly married her old flame, the rakish Sir Thomas Seymour. Katherine died shortly after giving birth to her only child in September 1548, her brief happiness undermined by the very public flirtation of her husband and step-daughter, Princess Elizabeth. Despite the vivid interest of her life, this is the first full-scale, accessible biography of this fascinating woman who was, in reality, one of the most influential and active queen consorts in English history."

Today In History, Losing Catherine Parr

On September 5Th 1548 Catherine Parr passed away. Catherine is most well known as being the last wife of Henry VIII. Many had even said that she was more his nurse than his wife. The real story of Catherine's life had begun after Henry had died, when she married Thomas Seymour.

After Henry had died Catherine had taken his daughter Elizabeth into her care. They had become close and in many novels it is stated that Catherine had given Elizabeth stability which she had never known before. The drama with Catherine began with her husband Thomas Seymour. Thomas and Catherine had married not too soon after Henry VIII had died and some had speculated a little too soon. Catherine being madly in love with him had not noticed the tell tell signs of affection between Elizabeth and Thomas. The affection had later gone so far that Thomas had been sneaking into Elizabeth's room at night to "surprise and tickle" her. After she had found out about her husbands late night rendezvous it is rumored that she began to join him. Later on Catherine had caught him with Elizabeth and finally had had enough and sent her away.

Catherine had become pregnant and gave birth to her only child Mary Seymour but she died six days later at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire. She died from childbed fever. Less than a year after her death Thomas would loose his head for trying to attack his own nephew the king and for ousting his brother as protector. It is rumored that Elizabeth loved Thomas and had made plans to be together but Thomas had been on a blood thirsty rampage for power and lost his head because of his own actions.