The Life of Catherine Parr: 16th Century Feminist and Sixth Wife of Henry VIII
A review of Katharine Parr, the Sixth Wife by Alison Weir
It had been months since I read a book when I picked up Katharine Parr, the Sixth Wife by Alison Weir from my local library on Wednesday morning. By 6pm the following day, I had finished it, having read it virtually from cover to cover, barely putting it down. It is the tale of a woman, a feminist, who lived a life plagued by sadness and death while surrounded by luxury.
Katharine Parr (also spelled Catherine or Katherine) was twice widowed before she was married to an ailing Henry VIII. Her first marriage was to a man some historians believe was gay, Sir Edward Burgh, and her second marriage was to John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, who was twice her age. She had no children by either man. Katharine believed strongly in the education of women and advocated for her stepdaughters, Lady Mary (later Mary I) and Lady Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I), to be reinstated into the line of succession after their younger brother, Edward VI. In other words, we have Katharine to thank for the very first female monarchs in England. Her religious beliefs leaned heavily toward reformation and England stepping (or rather, leaping) away from the Pope, which occasionally got her into trouble, but she avoided the executioner’s block and outlived Henry, unlike many of her predecessors.
Katherine strongly believed that the Bible should be read in English, instead of being interpreted by the few who could read Latin.
Scandalously, quite soon after Henry’s death, while she still donned mourner’s black, Queen Katharine married a fourth time. Her final husband was Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley (and brother to the venerated Jane Seymour, who died giving Henry his heir), with whom she had her one and only child, Mary Seymour. Thomas’ sister’s manner of death foreshadowed Katharine’s own passing. She died of ‘childbed fever’ not long after Mary’s birth, at the age of thirty-six.
Alison Weir paints this incredible woman’s life in deep and beautiful colours. Weir’s love for Katharine is clear, and she tells her tale with brilliant honesty. The novel is well-researched, though a list of sources is not explicitly included, which is something I’ve appreciated from Philippa Gregory.
The only other novel in this series I have read is Anne Boleyn, A King’s Obsession, which I believe relied much more on the author’s imagination. I hope to read the rest and form a greater opinion on Weir’s interpretation of each woman’s life.
It is important for all of us to remember that the fight for gender equality began long ago, and could not have emerged with such force in the 19th and 20th centuries without the dedication of women from much earlier times.
