KATHARINE PARR, SIXTH QUEEN OF HENRY VIII. CHAPTER I. Katharine Parr the first Protestant queen of England-Her ancestryRoyal descent-Relationship to Henry VIII.-Her parents—Her birth at Kendal Castle-Death of sir Thomas Parr, her father-His will— Prudent conduct of lady Parr-Katharine's learned education-Her royal destiny predicted - Her dislike of needlework-Sought in marriage for the heir of lord Scroop-Her mother's letters-The treaty broken off— Katharine weds lord Borough - His familyKatharine a widow at fifteen-Her residence at Sizergh Castle with lady Strickland-The queen's chamber at Sizergh-Description of Katharine Parr's embroidery at Sizergh-She marries lord Latimer— Her rich dower - Her husband joins the pilgrimage of Grace His peril-Katharine's influence with the king-She intercedes for her aunt's husband-Cromwell's disgrace attributable to Katharine Parr-Death of lord Latimer-Katharine a second time a widowShe embraces the reformed faith-Religious assemblies at her house-Courted by sir Thomas Seymour-Her attachment to Seymour-Compelled to relinquish him for the king-Her reluctance to the royal marriage-Cranmer's licence for king Henry's nuptials with Katharine Parr-She is married to the king at Hampton CourtHer attentions to her royal step-children-Presents to the princess Mary-Her friendship with Mary-Fondness of prince Edward for queen Katharine-His letters to her-Description of her queenly dress-Her miniature at Strawberry-hill-Her devotional writings— Henry's hopes of offspring by Katharine Parr-His regard for her— She is appointed queen-regent of England-Her autograph-Her government in king Henry's absence-Her order in council-Return of the king-Painting of the royal family group at Hampton Court, (see vignette.) KATHARINE PARR was the first Protestant queen of England. She was the only one among the consorts of Henry VIII. who, in the sincerity of an honest heart, embraced the doctrine of the Reformation, and imperilled her crown and life in support of her principles. The name of Katharine, which, from its Greek derivative, Katharos, signifies pure as a limpid stream, seems peculiarly suited to the characteristics of this illustrious lady; in whom we behold the protectress of Coverdale, the friend of Anne Askew, the learned and virtuous matron who directed the studies of lady Jane Grey, Edward VI., and queen Elizabeth, and who may, with truth, be called the nursing mother of the Reformation. Katharine Parr was not only a queen of England, but an English queen. Although of ancient and even royal descent, she claimed, by birth, no higher rank than that of a private gentlewoman. Like Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, Katharine Parr was only the daughter of a knight; but her father, sir Thomas Parr, was of a more distinguished ancestry than either sir Thomas Boleyn or sir John Seymour. From the marriage of his Norman progenitor, Ivo de Tallebois, with Lucy, the sister of the renowned earls Morcar and Edwin, sir Thomas Parr inherited the blood of the Anglo-Saxon kings. Ivo de Tallebois was the first baron of Kendal, and maintained the state of a petty sovereign in the north. His male line failing with William de Lancaster, the seventh in descent, the honours and estates of that mighty family passed to his sisters Helwise and Alice. Margaret, the elder coheiress of Helwise by Peter le Brus, married the younger son of Robert lord Roos, of Hamlake and Werks, by Isabel, daughter of Alexander II., king of Scotland. Their grandson, sir Thomas de Roos, married Katharine, the daughter of sir Thomas Strickland, of Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland. The fruit of this union was an only daughter, Elizabeth, who brought Kendal Castle and a rich inheritance into queen Katharine's paternal house, by her marriage with sir William del Parr, knight. Sir William Parr, the grandson of this pair, was made knight of the Garter, and married Elizabeth, one of the coheiresses of the lord Fitzhugh, by Alice, daughter of Ralph Neville, earl of Westmoreland, and Joan Beaufort, daughter of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. Alice Neville was sister to the king's great grandmother, Cicely Neville, duchess of York; and through this connexion Katharine Parr was fourth cousin to Henry VIII.' From the elder coheiress of Fitzhugh, the patrimony of the Marmions, the ancient champions of England, was transmitted to sir Thomas Parr, father of queen Katharine. Her mother, Matilda, or, as she was commonly called, Maud Green, was daughter and coheiress. of sir Thomas Green, of Boughton and Green's Norton, in the county of Northamptonshire. This lady was a descendant of the distinguished families of Talbot and Throckmorton. Her sister, Anne, wedded Sir Nicholas Vaux, afterwards created lord Vaux of Harrowden, and dying childless, the whole of the rich inheritance of the Greens of Boughton centred in Matilda. At the age of thirteen, Matilda became the wife of sir Thomas Parr. This marriage took place in the year 1508. The date generally assigned for the birth of Katharine Parr is 1510; but the correspondence between her mother and lord Dacre, in the fifteenth year of Henry VIII., in which her age is specified to be under twelve,' will prove that she could not have been born till 1513. Her father, sir Thomas Parr, at that time held high offices at court, being master of the wards and comptroller of the household to Henry VIII. As a token of royal favour, we find ' Dugdale. Baker's Northamptonshire, corrected from Dugdale. * Hopkinson's MSS. Whittaker's Richmondshire. |