Editing Catherine of Valois

{{about|the queen consort of England|the princess of Achaea and Taranto and titular Latin empress|Catherine II, Latin Empress}}
{{short description|Queen of England from 1420 to 1422}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox royalty
| image        = Catherinevalois.png
| caption      = Drawing from the Beauchamp Pageant, {{c.|1483–1494}}
| consort = yes
| succession = [[Queen consort of England]]
| reign = 2 June 1420 – 31 August 1422
| coronation = 23 February 1421
| spouse = {{Unbulleted list |{{marriage|[[Henry V of England]]|1420|1422|end=d}} |[[Owen Tudor]] ({{abbr|m.|married}} {{c.|1428}})}}
| issue = {{Unbulleted list |[[Henry VI of England]] |[[Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond]] |[[Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford]]}}
| issue-link = #Relationship with Owen Tudor
| issue-pipe = more...
| house = [[House of Valois|Valois]]
| father = [[Charles VI of France]]
| mother = [[Isabeau of Bavaria]]
| birth_date = 27 October 1401
| birth_place = [[Hôtel Saint-Pol]], France
| death_date = 3 January 1437 (aged 35)
| death_place = [[London]], England
| burial_place = [[Westminster Abbey]], London
}}

'''Catherine of Valois''' or '''Catherine of France''' (27 October 1401 – 3 January 1437) was [[List of English royal consorts|Queen of England]] from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of King [[Charles VI of France]], she married King [[Henry V of England]]{{sfn|Haigh|1985|p=345}} and was the mother of King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]].{{efn|Catherine's older sister [[Isabella of Valois|Isabella]] had also been a Queen of England as the [[child bride]] of [[Richard II]].}} Catherine's marriage was part of a plan to eventually place Henry V on the throne of France, and perhaps end what is now known as the [[Hundred Years' War]]. But, although her son Henry VI was later crowned in Paris, the war continued.  

After Henry V's death, Catherine's unexpected marriage to Sir [[Owen Tudor]] helped lead to the rise of the [[House of Tudor]]'s fortunes and to her Tudor grandson's eventual elevation to the throne as King [[Henry VII of England]].{{sfn|Williams|Fraser|2000|p=19}}

==Early life==
Catherine of Valois was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France and his wife [[Isabeau of Bavaria]].{{sfn|Fritze|Robison|1992|p=94}} She was born at the [[Hôtel Saint-Pol]] (a royal palace in Paris) on 27 October 1401. Early on, there had been [[arranged marriage|a discussion of marrying her]] to the [[Prince of Wales]], the son of [[Henry IV of England]], but the king died before negotiations could begin. In 1414, the prince, now [[Henry V of England|Henry V]], re-opened discussion of the match, along with a large dowry and acknowledgement of his [[English claim to the French throne|right to the throne of France]].

Some authors, such as [[Agnes Strickland]], have maintained that Catherine was neglected as a child by her mother, with Strickland claiming that the princess and her sisters were left ‘in a piteous state.’<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strickland |first=Agnes |title=Lives of the Kings and Queens of England from the Norman Conquest |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1854 |isbn=9780511736421 |location=Cambridge |publication-date=2010 |pages=106-107}}</ref> However, modern examination of the evidence suggests otherwise. According to the financial accounts of her mother, toys and gifts befitting a French princess were purchased, including pet turtledoves for Catherine.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Tracy |title=The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8018-9625-5 |pages=252}}</ref> Religious texts were also provided, and Catherine was sent to the convent at [[Poissy]], where her sister [[Marie of Valois, Prioress of Poissy|Marie]] had been consecrated, to receive an education.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Tracy |title=The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8018-9625-5 |pages=253}}</ref>{{sfn|Gibbon|1996|pp=51–63}} In 1417, Catherine accompanied her mother during her imprisonment at Tours.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Tracy |title=The Life and Afterlife of Isabeau of Bavaria |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-8018-9625-5 |pages=201}}</ref>

==Royal marriage==
[[File:Marriage of henry and Catherine.jpg|thumb|Marriage of King Henry V of England and Catherine of Valois. Illumination, Jean Chartier, Chronicle of Charles VII, av. 1494, British Library, Royal E.V., f. 9v.]]
Henry V went to war with France, and even after the victory at [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]], plans for the marriage continued. Catherine was said to be very attractive, and when Henry finally met her at [[Meulan]], he became enamoured. On 21 May 1420, a peace agreement was made between England and France, the [[Treaty of Troyes]], and Charles acknowledged Henry of England as his heir. Catherine and Henry were married at the Parish Church of St John or at [[Troyes Cathedral]] on 2 June 1420. Catherine went to England with her new husband and was crowned queen in [[Westminster Abbey]] on 23 February 1421. On 10 June 1421, Henry returned to France to continue his military campaigns.

By this time, Catherine was several months pregnant and gave birth to a son, whom she named [[Henry VI of England|Henry]], on 6 December 1421 at [[Windsor, Berkshire|Windsor]]. Her husband never saw their child. During the [[siege of Meaux]], he became sick and died on 31 August 1422, just before his 36th birthday.{{sfn|Allmand|1992|pp=173–174}} Catherine was not quite 21 and was left a [[queen dowager]].  Charles VI died a couple of months after Henry V, making the young Henry VI king of England and English-occupied northern France. Catherine doted on her son during his early childhood.

==Relationship with Owen Tudor==<!-- A link in the infobox links to this heading -->
Catherine was still young and marriageable, a source of concern to her brother-in-law [[Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester]], the guardian of her son. Rumours abounded that Catherine planned to marry [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset|Edmund Beaufort, Count of Mortain]], her late husband's cousin. The Duke of Gloucester was strongly against the match, however, and the Parliament of 1427–8 passed a bill which set forth the provision that if the queen dowager remarried without the king's consent, her husband would forfeit his lands and possessions, although any children of the marriage would not suffer punishment. The king's consent was contingent upon his having attained his majority. At that time, the king was only six years old.

Catherine lived in the king's household, presumably so she could care for her young son, but the arrangement also enabled the councillors to watch over the queen dowager herself. Nevertheless, Catherine entered into a sexual relationship with [[Wales|Welshman]] [[Owen Tudor|Owen Maredudd Tudor]], who, in 1421, in France, had been in the service of Henry V's steward Sir [[Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford|Walter Hungerford]]. Tudor was probably appointed keeper of Catherine's household or wardrobe. The relationship began when Catherine lived at [[Windsor Castle]], and she became pregnant with their first child there. At some point, she stopped living in the King's household, and in May 1432, Parliament granted Owen the [[Rights of Englishmen|rights of an Englishman]]. This was important because of Henry IV's laws limiting the rights of Welshmen.

[[Image:Arms of Catherine of Valois.svg|thumb|right|upright|Catherine of Valois's arms as queen consort. Her arms as princess of France impaled with the arms of the Plantagenet English kings, claimants for the French throne]]

There is no known date of Catherine's marriage to Owen,{{sfn|Griffiths|Thomas|2005|p=35}} and yet there is no contemporaneous evidence that the validity of the marriage and the legitimacy of her children were questioned in secular or canon law.{{sfn|Chrimes|1980|pp=320–333}} From the relationship of Owen Tudor and Queen Catherine descended the [[Tudor dynasty]] of England, starting with [[King Henry VII]]. Tudor historians asserted that Owen and Catherine had been married, for their lawful marriage would add respectability and stronger royal ties to the claims of the Tudor dynasty.

Owen and Catherine had at least six children. [[Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond|Edmund]], [[Jasper Tudor|Jasper]] and Edward (who became a monk and died young)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Payne|first=Matthew|title=The lost Tudor|journal=[[History Today]]|volume=73|issue=3|date=March 2023|pages=62–7}}</ref> were all born away from court. They had one daughter, Margaret, who became a nun and also died young.

==Death and aftermath==
Catherine died on 3 January 1437, shortly after childbirth, in London, and was "buried in the old Lady chapel" of Westminster Abbey.{{sfn|Harvey|2003|p=27}} While the death date is not in question, the cause is, with an equal number of records stating that she did not die [[maternal mortality|as a result of childbirth]], but entered [[Bermondsey Abbey]], possibly seeking a cure for an illness that had troubled her for some time. She made her will just three days before her death. She now rests at Westminster Abbey in Henry V's [[Chantry]] Chapel. After her death, Catherine's enemies decided to proceed against Owen for violating the law of the remarriage of the queen dowager. Owen appeared before the Council, was subsequently arrested, and taken to [[Newgate Prison]].{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|pp=9–10}} He tried to escape from there in early 1438 and eventually ended up at Windsor Castle in July of that year.{{sfn|Chrimes|1999|pp=9–10}}

Meanwhile, Owen and Catherine's two older sons, Edmund and Jasper, went to live with [[Katherine de la Pole]], [[Abbess of Barking]], and sister of [[William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]. Sometime after 1442, the king (their half-brother) took a role in their upbringing. Owen, their father, was eventually released on £2000 bail, but was pardoned in November 1439 (and the bail cancelled in 1440). Owen was treated well afterwards and was a member of the king's household until the mid-1450s. He lived until 1461, when he was executed by the [[Yorkist]]s following the [[Battle of Mortimer's Cross]] in [[Herefordshire]]. Their surviving sons were given earldoms by Catherine's son King Henry VI. Edmund married [[Margaret Beaufort]], a descendant of John of Gaunt who had consequently a distant but disputed claim to the throne; following the elimination by war of most other candidates, their son became King Henry VII.

The wooden [[funeral effigy]] which was carried at Catherine's funeral still survives at Westminster Abbey, and was previously on display in the [[Westminster Abbey Museum]] in the [[Undercroft]]. It is now displayed in the new Queen's Diamond Jubilee Gallery in the abbey [[triforium]]. Her tomb originally boasted an [[alabaster]] memorial, which was deliberately destroyed during extensions to the abbey in the reign of her grandson, Henry VII. It has been suggested that Henry ordered her memorial to be removed to distance himself from his illegitimate ancestry. At this time, her coffin lid was accidentally raised, revealing her corpse, which for generations became a tourist attraction. In 1669 the diarist [[Samuel Pepys]] kissed the long-deceased queen on his birthday: 
{{Quotation|On Shrove Tuesday 1669, I to the Abbey went, and by favour did see the body of Queen Catherine of Valois, and had the upper part of the body in my hands, and I did kiss her mouth, reflecting upon it I did kiss a Queen: and this my birthday and I thirty-six years old and I did kiss a Queen.|Samuel Pepys}}
Catherine's remains were not properly re-interred until the reign of [[Queen Victoria]].

==Cultural depictions==
'''Plays'''
* [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]'' (c. 1599) depicts Catherine of Valois' marriage to [[Henry V of England]] after the [[Battle of Agincourt]].
*[[Mary Pix]]'s play ''[[Queen Catharine; or, The Ruines of Love|Queen Catherine; or, the Ruines of Love]]'' (1698) depicts the end of Catherine's relationship with [[Owen Tudor]]. 
*[[Rosemary Anne Sisson]]'s play ''The Queen and the Welshman'' (1957) tells the story of Catherine de Valois and Owen Tudor.

'''In historical fiction'''
*Catherine of Valois is the subject of [[Rosemary Hawley Jarman]]'s novel ''Crown in Candlelight'' (1978)
*[[Margaret Frazer]]'s medieval mystery ''The Boy's Tale'' (1995) features Catherine and her sons [[Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond|Edmund]] and [[Jasper Tudor, Duke of Bedford|Jasper]].
*In ''The Queen's Secret'' by [[Jean Plaidy]], Catherine is the [[title character]].
*Another novel by [[Jean Plaidy]], ''Epitaph for Three Women'', retells the minority of Henry VI by focusing on the lives of Catherine, [[Joan of Arc]] and [[Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester]].
*In the historical novel, ''Fortune Made His Sword'' by [[Martha Rofheart]], Catherine is one of five narrators who tell the story of Henry V.
*Dedwydd Jones's novel, ''The Lily and the Dragon'' (2002) tells the story of Owain Tudor and Catherine of Valois.
*Joanna Hickson's novel ''The Agincourt Bride'' (2013) tells the story of the early life of Catherine of Valois while its sequel ''The Tudor Bride'' (2014) tells of her life as the Queen of England and her relationship with Owen Tudor.
*Anne O'Brien's novel ''The Forbidden Queen'' (2013) details the life of Catherine of Valois.
*[[Vanora Bennett]]'s novel ''Blood Royal/The Queen's Lover'' (2009) tells the story of Catherine's early years through her secret marriage to Owen Tudor.
*Mari Griffith's novel ''Root of the Tudor Rose'' (2014) is the story of Catherine's brief marriage to Henry V and her subsequent clandestine relationship with Owain ap Maredydd ap Tudur.

'''In film and TV'''
*In the [[Laurence Olivier]] film ''[[Henry V (1944 film)|Henry V]]'' (1944), Catherine (listed as Katherine) is played by [[Renée Asherson]].
*In the [[Kenneth Branagh]] film ''[[Henry V (1989 film)|Henry V]]'' (1989), Catherine (listed as Katharine) is played by [[Emma Thompson]].
*In the BBC adaptation of [[Henry V (The Hollow Crown)|''Henry V'']] as part of [[The Hollow Crown (TV series)|The Hollow Crown]] TV series (2012), Catherine (listed as Katherine) is played by [[Mélanie Thierry]].
*In the Netflix film ''[[The King (2019 film)|The King]]'' (2019), Catherine is played by [[Lily-Rose Depp]].

==Ancestry==

{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|boxstyle_5=background-color: #9fe;
|1= 1. '''Catherine of Valois'''
|2= 2. [[Charles VI of France]]
|3= 3. [[Isabeau of Bavaria]]
|4= 4. [[Charles V of France]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=109–110}}
|5= 5. [[Joanna of Bourbon]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=109–110}}
|6= 6. [[Stephen III, Duke of Bavaria]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=111–114}}
|7= 7. [[Taddea Visconti]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=111–114}}
|8= 8. [[John II of France]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=105–106}}
|9= 9. [[Bonne of Luxembourg]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=105–106}}
|10= 10. [[Peter I, Duke of Bourbon]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=109–110}}
|11= 11. [[Isabella of Valois (1313-1388)|Isabelle of Valois]]{{sfn|Anselm|1726|pp=109–110}}
|12= 12. [[Stephen II, Duke of Bavaria]]<ref name="ADB-Stephan III">{{cite ADB|36|68|71|Stephan III.|Riezler, Sigmund Ritter von |ADB:Stephan III.}}</ref>
|13= 13. [[Elisabeth of Sicily, Duchess of Bavaria|Elisabeth of Sicily]]<ref name="ADB-Stephan III"/>
|14= 14. [[Bernabò Visconti]]<ref name="Tuchman">{{cite book |first=Barbara W. |last=Tuchman |author-link=Barbara W. Tuchman |title=[[A Distant Mirror]] |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf Inc. |location=New York |year=1978 |page=145 |isbn=9780394400266}}</ref>
|15= 15. [[Beatrice Regina della Scala]]<ref name="Tuchman"/>
}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |last=Allmand |first=Christopher |title=Henry V |url=https://archive.org/details/henryv0000allm |publisher=University of California Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-4135-3280-0 |url-access=registration}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Chrimes |first1=S. B. |title=The Reign of Henry VI: Some Recent Contributions |journal=[[Welsh History Review]] |year=1980 |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=320–333 |issn=0043-2431}}
*{{cite book |title=Henry VII |first=S.B |last=Chrimes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5BQaCAAAQBAJ |publisher=Yale University Press |date=July 11, 1999 |isbn=978-0-3002-1294-5}}
*{{cite book |title=Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, 1272–1485 |editor-first1=Ronald H. |editor-last1=Fritze |editor-first2=William Baxter |editor-last2=Robison |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=INmdwCSkvIgC |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-3132-9124-1}}
*{{cite journal |last=Gibbon |first=Rachel |title=Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France (1385–1422): The Creation of an Historical Villainess: The Alexander Prize Essay |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |year=1996 |volume=6 |pages=51–63 |doi=10.2307/3679229 |jstor=3679229 |s2cid=162409969}}
*{{cite book |title=Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France |volume=1 |trans-title=Genealogical and chronological history of the royal house of France |first1=Anselm |last1=de Gibours |author-link=Anselm de Guibours |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n9lEAAAAcAAJ |publisher=La compagnie des libraires |location=Paris |language=fr |edition=3rd |year=1726 |ref={{harvid|Anselm|1726}}}}
*{{cite book |title=The Making of the Tudor Dynasty |url=https://archive.org/details/makingoftudordyn0000grif |first1=Ralph A. |last1=Griffiths |first2=Roger S. |last2=Thomas |publisher=Sutton Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-7509-3776-4}}
*{{cite book |title=The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland |editor-first=Christopher |editor-last=Haigh |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1985 |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgehistori0000unse_a9n8 |isbn=9780521255592}}
*{{cite book |chapter=The monks of Westminster and the old Lady chapel |first=Barbara |last=Harvey |title=Westminster Abbey: The Lady Chapel of Henry VII |url=https://archive.org/details/westminsterabbey00tatt |url-access=limited |page=[https://archive.org/details/westminsterabbey00tatt/page/n23 5]-32 |editor-first1=Tim |editor-last1=Tatton-Brown |editor-first2=Richard |editor-last2=Mortimer |publisher=The Boydell Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-8438-3037-5 }}
*{{cite book |editor-last1=Williams |editor-first1=Neville |editor-first2=Antonia |editor-last2=Fraser |title=The Tudors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rJ9RXtkTYpUC |publisher=University of California Press |date=29 November 2000 |isbn=978-0-5202-2804-7}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Catherine of Valois}}
*{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Catherine of Valois |volume=5 |short=x}}
*Heidi Murphy [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011230349/http://britannia.com/history/biographies/catherine_valois.html Catherine of Valois (1401–1437)]
*{{NPG name}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|[[House of Valois]]|27 October|1401|3 January|1437|[[Capetian dynasty]]}}
{{S-roy|en}}
|-
{{S-vac | last = [[Joan of Navarre, Queen of England|Joanna of Navarre]] }}
{{S-ttl| title = [[Queen consort of England]] | years = 2 June 1420 – 31 August 1422}}
{{S-vac| next = [[Margaret of Anjou]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{English consort}}
{{House of Plantagenet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catherine of Valois}}
[[Category:1401 births]]
[[Category:1437 deaths]]
[[Category:15th-century English women]]
[[Category:15th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:15th-century French women]]
[[Category:15th-century French nobility]]
[[Category:Burials at Westminster Abbey]]
[[Category:Daughters of kings]]
[[Category:English royal consorts]]
[[Category:Female Shakespearean characters]]
[[Category:French princesses]]
[[Category:Henry V of England]]
[[Category:House of Valois]]
[[Category:Irish royal consorts]]
[[Category:Ladies of the Garter]]
[[Category:Nobility from Paris]]
[[Category:People of the Hundred Years' War]]
[[Category:Remarried queens consort]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]
[[Category:Deaths in childbirth]]
[[Category:English queen mothers]]