Big thanks to The History Press for sending me a review copy of this book, and sorry it’s taken so long to review it!
This book had an interesting premise that I think should have been explored long before now. The idea is that Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife wasn’t actually an empty-headed teenager who acted according to her basest instincts, but instead was a young woman who acted as best she could according to her experience and was sexually manipulated by the men in her life. This book challenges the more traditional view.
Byrne makes a good case, but I am unconvinced by his arguments. A lot of the book is repetitive about the nature of Katherine’s relationships with Manox and Dereham, and how the two men had manipulated Katherine into sexual relationships, and even abused her. However, I think it is an intriguing argument.
The book is well-researched with a complete bibliography and notes. There are primary sources cited throughout, and the historiography is discussed in full in the first chapter, including works by Retha Warnicke, Josephine Wilkinson and Gareth Russell. The notes are detailed and advise further reading as well as where the primary sources can be found.
The book could have been shorter had you taken out the repetitiveness, as I felt it was over-stated. However, it is well-worth reading as Conor Byrne discusses a new possibility on Katherine Howard’s sexual relationships and her suitability as queen consort to Henry VIII. It’s quite interesting and if you are fascinated by the six wives of Henry VIII it is accessible and erudite to read.
Chapter List:
- Introduction: Historiography of Queen Katherine Howard
- Henry VIII’s Accession and the Howards
- A Howard Queen
- ‘His Vicious Purpose’: Manox and Dereham 1536-9
- ‘Strange, Restless Years’: The Howards at Court 1537-40
- The Fourth Queen
- Queen Katherine
- Queenship 1540-1
- The Culpeper Affair
- Disgrace and Death
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