[MR] Wikipedia: Catherine of Valois, Queen of England

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1401, Catherine of Valois was born in Paris. She was the
daughter of French King Charles VI (aka "Charles le Fou" or "Charles the
Mad") and Queen Isabeau of Bavaria.

Even as a child, Catherine had been marked for a marriage to the future
English king Henry V as a possible way to end the Hundred Years' Wars. Poor
Catherine was perhaps the ultimate pawn in the European dynastic marriage
game. Their marriage didn't happen until 1420, and the war still dragged on
as Henry contested the French crown with supporters of the Dauphin Charles
(later Charles VII).

The union between Catherine and Henry lasted less than two years, ending
with his death by dysentery while on campaign in 1422. Together they had
one child, the future King Henry VI. Catherine's father, Charles the Mad,
suffered mood swings and irrational behavior for most of his adult life,
resulting in his genteel imprisonment. His grandson, Henry VI, was himself
unstable, and also suffered from bouts of true insanity. His instability
led to the rebellion and usurpation by the House of York known as War of
the Roses, and the King's eventual murder. Was it possible that Queen
Catherine was the carrier of a faulty gene that afflicted both her father
and her son?

After Henry V's death, Catherine married Owen Tudor, and was the
grandmother of King Henry VII. Through Henry VII's daughter Margaret Tudor
(married to James VI of Scotland), Catherine is an ancestor of the current
King of England Charles III.

More about Catherine of Valois is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Valois .

Yours Aye,


Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆