The Six Wives of Henry VIII (2001)

Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr (1x4)

: 13, 2001

A promiscuous niece of the Duke of Norfolk, and a cousin of Anne Boleyn, Catherine caught the king's attention while serving as lady-in-waiting for Queen Anne. The duke believed that a relationship between his niece and the king would be an excellent political move, and at the tender age of 16, Catherine married Henry. Her feisty personality rejuvenated the aging king, but he found it difficult to keep up with her nonetheless. When she was still not pregnant after six months of marriage, the king slipped into a depression and shut her out of his life for a week. Though the marriage appeared to continue after that, rumors began surfacing about the queen's pre-marital relationships -- and the adulterous ones she still maintained. Though Henry found it difficult to believe Katherine was unfaithful, he was presented with proof. She was found guilty of "presumptive treason" and, like her cousin before her, was executed. The widow Catherine Parr was in love with Sir Thomas Seymour, brother of the late Queen Jane, when Henry became smitten with her. To eradicate the competition, the king assigned Seymour to a diplomatic post in Brussels, and proposed to Catherine. Catherine accepted because, she claimed, God had told her to do so. Catherine believed it was her duty to complete the conversion of her husband and the rest of the country to the Protestant faith, and even published a book expressing her views. High-ranking religious officials began to accuse her of heresy, but she reassured the ailing king that her opinions were merely those of a woman and, thus, meant nothing. The debate became moot when Henry died in 1547. Catherine later married Seymour and gave birth to a daughter, but she too fell ill and died. She was buried as Henry's widow, marking the first Protestant royal funeral.