[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Catherine of Valois

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1437 the dowager Queen of England, Catherine of Valois,
died in London at the age of just 35.

Poor Catherine got something of a rotten deal in life. She was a daughter
of King Charles VI of France (aka "Charles the Mad"). At the age of 19 she
was bartered to King Henry V under the Treaty of Troyes, which promised the
French throne to Henry and supposedly would end the Hundred Years War.
Apparently Henry and Catherine hit it off rather well, but their happiness
was brief. Early in 1421, Henry and Catherine departed for London where she
was crowned Queen of England. In June Henry was back in France continuing
the war against supporters of the Dauphin, later Charles VII. Henry died of
dysentery in 1422. Their infant son, Henry VI became King of England and
France, or at least king in the parts of France under English occupation.

Catherine remained in England where she saw to the education of her young
son under the guardianship of her brother-in-law Humphrey, Duke of
Gloucester. Eventually the lonely ex-queen began an affair with Owen Tudor,
which led to a marriage, or maybe it didn't. There is no record of a
marriage, but proof might have been . . . uh . . . removed by Yorkists
during the later Wars of the Roses. Edmund Tudor, one of her sons by Owen,
married Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of John of Gaunt, which gave the
Tudor line a double claim on the English throne. Her grandson Henry Tudor,
of course, won all the marbles and became king as Henry VII.

Poor Catherine wasn't around to see any of this. She died at Bermondsey
Abbey shortly after childbirth. Whether the cause was complications during
the birthing, or some other ailment, is disputed. She was initially
interred in Henry V's chantry in Westminster Abbey, but her tomb was later
moved, and left open to become a grim tourist attraction. She was finally
given a dignified reburial during Queen Victoria's reign.

There is an intriguing possibility that Charles VI's madness passed into
the English Royal line through Catherine. Her son, Henry VI, suffered a
mental breakdown in 1453, and was unresponsive for more than a year. Much
like his grandfather, Henry continued to suffer bouts mental illness for
the rest of his life.

More about Catherine can be found at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Valois .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆