Editing Lady Katherine Grey

{{Short description|English noblewoman (1540–1568)}}
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{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox royalty
| title           = Lady Herbert <br> Countess of Hertford
| image           = CGrey.jpg
| image_size      = 250px
| caption         = [[Portrait miniature|Miniature]] by [[Levina Teerlinc]], c.&nbsp;1560
| birth_date      = 25 August 1540
| birth_place     = [[Bradgate Park]], near [[Leicester]]
| death_date      = 26 January 1568 (aged 27)
| death_place     = [[Cockfield Hall]], [[Yoxford]], [[Suffolk]]
| place of burial = [[Salisbury Cathedral]]
| house    = [[House of Grey|Grey]]
| father          = [[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk]]
| mother          = [[Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk|Lady Frances Brandon]]
| spouse          = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Henry Herbert, Lord Herbert]]|1553|1554|end=annulled}}
* {{marriage|[[Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford]]|1560}}
}}
| issue           = [[Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache|Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp]]<br>Thomas Seymour
}}

'''Katherine Seymour, Countess of Hertford''' ({{nee}} '''Lady Katherine Grey'''; 25 August 1540 – 26 January 1568)<ref>She signed her own name Katherine (see [[Leanda de Lisle]]'s ''The Sisters Who Would be Queen'')</ref><ref>The portrait of her is inscribed with "The La Kathe'/ Graye. / Wyfe of Therle of / Hertford" implying that was how her name was written.</ref> was a younger sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]].

A granddaughter of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]]'s sister [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary]], she emerged as a prospective successor to her cousin, [[Elizabeth I of England]], before incurring Queen Elizabeth's wrath by secretly marrying [[Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford]]. Arrested after the Queen was informed of their [[Fleet Marriage|clandestine marriage]], Katherine (''as'' Lady Hertford) lived in captivity until her death, having borne two sons in the [[Tower of London]].

==Family and claim to the throne==
Lady Katherine was born on 25 August 1540 at [[Bradgate Park]], near [[Leicester]], the second surviving daughter of [[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk]], by his marriage to [[Lady Frances Brandon]]. She was the younger sister of [[Lady Jane Grey]] and elder sister of [[Lady Mary Grey]]. Katherine Grey's maternal grandparents were [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]], and [[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France]], youngest surviving daughter of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] and [[Elizabeth of York]].<ref>Chapman p. 154.</ref>

Through their [[grandmother]], the Grey sisters had a close claim in the line of succession to the [[English throne]]. They were preceded in the line of succession only by Henry VIII's three children – [[Edward VI of England|Prince Edward]], [[Mary I of England|Lady Mary]] and [[Elizabeth I of England|Lady Elizabeth]] – and the descendants of [[Margaret Tudor|Princess Margaret]], the elder daughter of Henry VII and Queen Consort of Scotland, after 1542 represented by [[Mary, Queen of Scots]]. However, Henry VIII had excluded the Scottish regal line from the English succession in his Will, placing the Grey sisters next-in-line after his own children.<ref>Chapman, p. 156.</ref>

==First marriage==
Some time before August 1552, Katherine Grey was betrothed to [[Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Henry, Lord Herbert]], [[heir apparent]] to [[William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1551 creation)|William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke]].<ref>de Lisle, p. 302.</ref> In 1553, as Edward VI was dying, the King and his Chief Minister, [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland]], planned to exclude Edward's sister Mary Tudor from the succession in favour of Katherine's elder sister, Jane. According to the [[Letters Patent]] of 21 June 1553, Lady Katherine was to be second in the line of succession behind her sister and heirs-male.<ref>Ives, pp. 147, 150.</ref> Jane had been married to Northumberland's son, [[Lord Guildford Dudley]], on 25 May 1553. On the same occasion, Katherine was married to Lord Herbert at Durham House. After the wedding, Katherine (''now'' Lady Herbert) went to live with her husband at [[Baynard's Castle]] beside the Thames.<ref>Chapman, p. 165.</ref>  When Jane's accession to the throne failed, Henry's father sought to distance himself from the Grey family by separating his son from Katherine and seeking the [[annulment]] of the marriage;<ref>Chapman, pp. 166–167, 169.</ref> this was probably achieved in early 1554, as the union had not been consummated.<ref>Haynes, p. 26.</ref> Meanwhile, her sister Jane and her father (the [[Duke of Suffolk]]) had been executed in February 1554 after the suppression of [[Wyatt's Rebellion]].<ref>Ives, p. 287.</ref>

==Prospective royal heir under Mary I and Elizabeth I==
During the first phase of Queen Mary I's reign, Katherine was senior heir-in-line to the throne as Mary was yet unmarried and her younger sister Elizabeth was regarded as illegitimate.<ref>Chapman, p. 169.</ref> Demoted when Elizabeth was declared heir, Katherine's claim came to the fore again when Queen Elizabeth I acceded to the throne in November 1558. At one point the Queen was apparently contemplating Katherine as a potential Protestant heir, with rumours of a possible adoption, but any such development was terminated upon Katherine's clandestine marriage to [[Earl of Hertford|Lord Hertford]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Sisters of Lady Jane Grey, by Richard Davey.|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/49265/49265-h/49265-h.htm|access-date=2021-01-26|website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref>

==Second marriage==
[[File:Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, Attributed to Hans Eworth (1515 - 1574).jpg|thumb|Oil on panel portrait of Edward Seymour attributed to Hans Eworth]]
One of Katherine's friends, [[Jane Seymour (writer)|Lady Jane Seymour]], daughter of the [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Duke of Somerset]], introduced her brother, [[Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford]], to Lady Katherine Grey (so [[Style (manner of address)|restyled]] after the annulment of her first marriage). Without [[royal assent]], the two were married in late December 1560 during a secret ceremony<ref>{{Cite web|title=Queen Elizabeth I and Bess of Hardwick|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hardwick/features/queen-elizabeth-i-and-bess-of-hardwick|access-date=2021-01-26|website=National Trust|language=en}}</ref> at Lord Hertford's house in [[Cannon Row]], where Lady Jane Seymour was the [[Witness|sole witness]].<ref name="Lisle">{{Cite web|last=Lisle|first=Leanda de|date=2017-08-15|title=The Last Tudor: New novel examines Elizabeth I and the threat to her throne|url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/840961/The-Last-Tudor-novel-Elizabeth-I-threat-throne-Grey-sisters|access-date=2021-01-26|website=Express.co.uk|language=en}}</ref>

Soon thereafter, the Queen despatched Lord Hertford with [[Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter|Thomas Cecil]], eldest son of [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|Sir William Cecil]], on a [[grand tour]] across [[Europe]] "for the improvement of their education".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Davey|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o-IqDwAAQBAJ&q=lady+katherine+grey+%22cannon+row%22&pg=PT121|title=The Sisters of Lady Jane Grey and Their Wicked Grandfather: Being the True Stories of the Strange Lives of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and the Ladies Katherine and Mary Grey, Sisters|date=2020-09-28|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=978-1-4656-1655-5|language=en}}</ref> The Earl of Hertford provided his wife with a [[Affidavit|document]] that would, in the event of his death, enable her to prove the marriage and inherit his property,<ref>Chapman, p. 197</ref> but apparently Katherine lost the document. Thus, after Lady Jane Seymour died of [[tuberculosis]] in 1561, Katherine was unable to prove that they had ever been married.<ref name="Lisle"/>

==Imprisonment==
Katherine concealed the marriage from everyone for months, even after she became pregnant; in her eighth month of pregnancy and on progress with the [[royal court]] to [[Ipswich]], she decided to ask someone to plead for her with the Queen. She first confided in [[Bess of Hardwick]], who refused to listen to Katherine and berated her for implicating her. Katherine then went to her late sister's brother-in-law, [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert Dudley]]. Visiting his bedroom in the middle of the night, she explained her dilemma. As Dudley's room adjoined the Queen's chambers, he was afraid they might be overheard or that he might be caught with a visibly pregnant woman at his bedside, and tried to get rid of Katherine as soon as he could. The next day he told Elizabeth everything he knew regarding Katherine and her pregnancy.<ref>Chapman, pp. 199–200.</ref>

[[File:Lady Katherine Grey and her son Lord Edward Beauchamp v2.jpg|thumb|Lady Katherine Grey with her elder son [[Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache|Edward, Lord Beauchamp]].]]

Elizabeth was infuriated that her cousin had married without her knowledge or consent. The marriage also upset Anglo-Scottish diplomacy, as the possibility of a union between Katherine and the [[James Hamilton, 3rd Earl of Arran|Earl of Arran]], a young and unstable nobleman with a strong claim to the Scottish throne, had thereby been removed as an option.<ref>''Calendar State Papers Scotland'', vol. i, HMSO (1898), 483, [[Thomas Randolph (diplomat)|Thomas Randolph]] to Cecil, 23 September 1560</ref> Elizabeth also disapproved of her choice of husband and, still unmarried, also feared that Katherine's ability to bear male offspring could possibly facilitate a rebellion in support of Katherine as queen.<ref name="Chapman p. 200">Chapman p. 200</ref> To Katherine's misfortune, her claim to the throne was at the time argued by a book written by [[John Hales (died 1572)|John Hales]].<ref>Ellis, ''Original Letters'', 2nd series vol. 2, London (1827), 285, note citing British Library Ms. Lansdown, no. 102 art. 49.</ref>

Elizabeth imprisoned Katherine in the [[Tower of London]], where Edward Seymour was sent to join her on his return to England. Bess of Hardwick was also imprisoned, as Elizabeth had become convinced (not without reason) that the marriage was part of a wider conspiracy against the Crown.<ref>Chapman, pp. 200–201.</ref> [[Edward Warner (1511–1565)|Sir Edward Warner]], [[Lieutenant of the Tower of London|Lieutenant of The Tower]], permitted secret visits between Katherine and Edward. Warner reported that the furnishings of Katherine's room, which were provided from the Royal Wardrobe in the Tower, had been damaged by her pet monkey and dogs.<ref>Ellis, ''Original Letters'', 2nd series vol. 2 (1827), 274, note citing British Library MS. Lansdown no.7 art. 32.</ref> While imprisoned in the Tower, Katherine gave birth to two sons:

* [[Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp of Hache|Edward Seymour]] (1561–1612)
* Thomas Seymour (1562/3, [[Tower of London]] – 8 August 1600).<ref name="dnb">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Seymour, Catherine|volume=51|page=311}}</ref> Baptized on 11 February 1563, he married Isabel Onley (d. 20 August 1619), daughter of Edward Onley <small>MP</small>,<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/onley-edward-1522-82 |title = ONLEY, Edward (1522–82), of Catesby, Northants. &#124; History of Parliament Online}}</ref> of [[Catesby Priory|Catesby]], Northamptonshire.<ref name="dnb" /> The couple had no issue,<ref name="dnb" /><ref>Richard Harold St. Maur. ''Annals of the Seymours,'' K. Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., ltd., 1902. pg 161. [https://books.google.com/books?id=qw8XAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA161 ''Google eBook'']</ref><ref>Sir Bernard Burke. ''A Genealogical History of the Dormant: Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire,'' Harrison, 1866. pg 489. [https://books.google.com/books?id=K3MaAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA489 ''Google eBook'']</ref> and were buried at [[St Margaret's, Westminster|St. Margaret's Church, Westminster]],<ref name="dnb" /> where there is a [[Memorial tablet|monument with effigies]] in their memory.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/thomas-seymour |title = Thomas Seymour}}</ref>

In 1562, the marriage was annulled and the Seymours were censured as fornicators for "carnal copulation" by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref>Chapman, p. 214.</ref> This rendered the children [[illegitimate]] and thereby ineligible as successors to the throne. Nonetheless, this did not stop their being courted as potential heirs to the Crown.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Byrne |first=Conor |title=Lady Katherine Grey: A Dynastic Tragedy |date=13 July 2023 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0750999700 |edition=1st |location=United Kingdom}}</ref>

==Final years==
After the birth of Katherine's second child in 1563, the enraged Elizabeth ordered her permanent separation from her husband and elder son. Katherine was removed to the care of her uncle, Sir John Grey, at [[Pirgo]]. She stayed there until November 1564, when she was transferred to the charge of Sir [[William Petre]]. For two years she was in his custody, and probably resided at [[Ingatestone Hall]]; then she was removed to the care of Sir John Wentworth (a kinsman of Petre's first wife) at [[Gosfield Hall]], and after seventeen months' confinement there was taken to [[Cockfield Hall]], [[Yoxford]], in Suffolk.<ref name=":0" />

There, Lady Katherine died fourteen days later on 26 January 1568 at the age of 27 of consumption.<ref>Farquhar p. 33</ref><ref name="dnb"/> She was interred at the Cockfield Chapel in [[Yoxford]] [[Parish church|Church]], [[Suffolk]], before her body was moved to [[Salisbury Cathedral]] to be buried alongside her husband.<ref>[https://www.geograph.org.uk/snippet/9531 Geograph – Seymour monument]. Accessed 6 December 2013</ref>

== Family tree ==
The following chart illustrates Lady Katherine Grey's relationship to the [[House of Tudor]] and other claimants to the English throne. Italics indicate people who predeceased Edward VI; Arabic numerals indicate the line of succession to Edward VI at the time of his death according to Henry VIII's will; and Roman numerals indicate the line of succession at the time of Edward VI's death according to Edward's will.<ref>Ives (2009) Figures 1–5</ref>
{{tree chart/start}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | | | | | | | | | |Harry|y|Liz| |Liz=''[[Elizabeth of York]]''|Harry=''[[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]''}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | | | | | |,|-|-|-|-|-|-|^|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|.| |}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | | | | |Harry| | | | | | | |Marge| | | |Mary|y|Charlie| |Harry=''[[Henry VIII]]''|Mary=''[[Mary Tudor, Queen of France|Mary Tudor]]''|Charlie=''[[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk|Charles Brandon]]''|Marge=''[[Margaret Tudor]]''}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | |!|}}
{{tree chart|border=0 |Eddy| |Mary| |Bess| |Jim| |Marge| | | |Fran|y|Harry|Mary=[[Mary I]]<br>(1)|Bess=[[Elizabeth I]]<br>(2)|Eddy=[[Edward VI]]|Fran=[[Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk|Frances Brandon]]|Jim=''[[James V of Scotland]]''|Marge=[[Margaret Douglas]]|Harry=[[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk|Henry Grey]]}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | |!| | | |!| | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.|}}
{{tree chart|border=0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |Marie| |Harry| |Jane| |Kate| |Mary| | |Jane=[[Lady Jane Grey|Jane Grey]]<br>(3, I)|Marie=[[Mary, Queen of Scots]]|Harry=[[Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley|Henry Stuart]]|Kate=Katherine Grey<br>(4, II)|Mary=[[Lady Mary Grey|Mary Grey]]<br>(5, III)}}
{{tree chart/end}}

== Descendants ==
The descendants of Lady Katherine would one day inherit the British throne, on account of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]] being a descendant of Lady Katherine by the following line:

# [[Lady Katherine Grey]] (1540-1568)
# [[Edward Seymour, Lord Beauchamp]] (1561-1612)
# [[William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset]] (1588-1660)
# Lady Jane Seymour (1637-1679), m. [[Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan]] (1639-1694)
# [[Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington]] (d. 1704)
# [[Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington]] (1694-1753)
# [[Charlotte Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington]] (1731-1754)
# [[Dorothy Bentinck, Duchess of Portland]] (1750-1794)
# [[Lord Charles Bentinck]] (1780-1826)
# [[Charles Cavendish-Bentinck (priest)]] (1817-1865)
# [[Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne]] (1862-1938)
# [[Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother]] (1900-2002)
# '''[[Elizabeth II]]''' (1926-2022)

==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
* Chapman, Hester: ''Two Tudor Portraits: Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Lady Katherine Grey''. Jonathan Cape, 1960.
* de Lisle, Leanda: ''The Sisters Who Would be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine & Lady Jane Grey''. Ballantine Books, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-345-49135-0}}.
* Farquhar, Michael: [https://books.google.com/books?id=0DSD8JFkJqEC ''A Treasure of Royal Scandals'']. Penguin Books, 2001. {{ISBN|0-7394-2025-9|9781101010396|1101010398}}.
* [[Ives, Eric]]: ''Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1-4051-9413-6}}.
* Haynes, Alan. ''Sex in Elizabethan England''. Sutton Publishing, 1997. {{ISBN|0-905778-35-9}}.

==External links==
* [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/CatherineGrey.htm Katherine Grey profile], TudorPlace.com. Accessed 23 November 2022.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Katherine}}
[[Category:1540 births]]
[[Category:1568 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:16th-century English women]]
[[Category:Heirs presumptive to the English throne]]
[[Category:Daughters of English dukes]]
[[Category:English countesses|Hertford]]

[[Category:People from Leicester]]
[[Category:Prisoners in the Tower of London]]
[[Category:Grey family|Katherine]]
[[Category:Seymour family|Katherine]]
[[Category:Herbert family|Katherine]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in England]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]
[[Category:Annulment]]