Summary

Catherine de France, or Catherine de Valois, born on October 27, 1401 in Paris and died on January 3, 1437 in London, was one of the daughters of King Charles VI of France and Isabeau of Bavaria. She became Queen of England through her marriage to King Henry V. From childhood, Catherine attracted the interest of Henry V of England, who negotiated at length with Charles VI over the amount of her dowry and the cession of certain lands to England. However, the English demands were deemed unrealistic, precipitating the resumption of the Hundred Years' War in 1415. After several military successes and dissensions between Armagnacs and Burgundians, Henri V repeated his marriage proposal in 1419.

Under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes signed in 1420, Catherine married Henri V, who was to inherit the throne of France on the death of Charles VI. However, Henri V and Charles VI died respectively in 1422, making it difficult to implement the dual Franco-English monarchy in the person of the young Henri VI, son of Catherine and Henri V. Catherine played no political role during her son's reign, and secretly remarried Owen Tudor between 1428 and 1432, despite being forbidden to do so by Henry VI's regents. Withdrawn from her son's court, Catherine de France died in 1437, having given several children to her second husband, including Edmond Tudor, father of the future King Henry VII.

Childhood and wedding plans

Catherine de France was the sixth daughter and tenth child of Charles VI of France and his wife Isabeau of Bavaria. She was born on October 27, 1401, at the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris. At the time of her birth, her father had been subject to recurrent bouts of insanity since 1392, which gradually distanced him from government affairs and forced him to delegate his power to a regency council. Contrary to rumors accusing Isabeau de Bavière of neglecting her children, modern historians in fact demonstrate that she remained close to them during their childhood: she took them on trips with her, bought them gifts and devotional texts, and ensured that her daughters were educated. Catherine, for her part, was sent as a child to live with her elder sister Marie, a Benedictine nun at the Saint-Louis priory in Poissy since 1397. Finally, Isabeau maintained close correspondence with her daughters after their marriages, including Catherine.

The interest that Catherine's hand could bring was evident from an early age. On June 18, 1403, when she was just a year and a half old, she was engaged to her cousin Charles de Bourbon, grandson of Duke Louis II de Bourbon. The plan was quickly abandoned, however, as Isabeau de Bavière sought a more interesting match for her youngest daughter. Since the accession of Henry IV of England in 1399, Franco-English relations had worsened and, in a bid to ease them, the latter repeatedly proposed that Catherine's elder sister Isabelle marry his eldest son and heir, the future Henry V. The offer was systematically rejected by Charles VI, but despite Isabelle's marriage to Charles d'Orléans on June 29, 1406, Henri IV proposed in 1408 that another daughter of the King of France be chosen. Finally, in 1409, discussions of a marriage alliance between France and England mentioned Catherine for the very first time, but came to nothing.

The project was not abandoned, however, and after Henry IV's death in 1413, his successor began more serious marriage negotiations. But from the outset, Henry V's demands proved colossal. The English emissaries sent to Charles VI in April 1414 demanded a dowry of two million crowns, including Normandy, Touraine, Anjou and Guyenne. The King of France objected to these astronomical demands, proposing a dowry of 600,000 crowns, with extended English suzerainty in Guyenne. In February 1415, a portrait of Catherine was sent to Henry V while negotiations continued, but the English king refused to moderate his demands. Finally, discussions broke down in July 1415 and, on August 13, Henry V landed with a small army in Normandy and conquered Harfleur, before inflicting a crushing defeat on France at the Battle of Azincourt on October 25, 1415.

Marriage to Henry V of England

The English invasion occurred during the civil war between Armagnacs and Burgundians, which paralyzed the kingdom between the supporters of Bernard VII of Armagnac and those of John I of Burgundy. Hesitating between an alliance with the Armagnacs or the Burgundians, Isabeau de Bavière finally sided with the latter when the Armagnacs removed her from power and put her under arrest in Tours in the summer of 1417. In November of the same year, the Queen was freed by the Duke of Burgundy and relinquished her position as regent. Following the success of the English, who were now laying siege to Rouen, Isabeau and John I of Burgundy entered into negotiations with Henry V in October 1418, with the aim of getting him to marry Catherine. On June 2, 1419, a first meeting took place at Meulan between Henri V and Catherine, accompanied by her mother and the Duke of Burgundy: the English king gallantly kissed the hands of the French queen and her daughter, but did not abandon the demands he had made in 1414. Clearly impressed by Catherine de France's beauty, Henry V sent her jewels worth 100,000 ecus in August 1419, but these were seized and confiscated by the Dauphin Charles, Catherine's younger brother and the new leader of the Armagnacs.

However, Henry V's demands worried John I of Burgundy, who interrupted his negotiations with him and began talks with the Dauphin Charles, in the hope of putting an end to the conflict with the Armagnacs. A first meeting between the two men led to the Peace of Ponceau on July 11, 1419, but at the next meeting, held in Montereau on September 10, 1419, the Dauphin's supporters took umbrage at the Duke of Burgundy's insolence and took advantage of the situation to assassinate him in a heated melee. The rupture between Armagnacs and Burgundians became total after this assassination: John I of Burgundy's son and successor, Philip III, immediately resumed negotiations with Henry V, while Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria denounced their son's actions, disinherited him from succession to the throne on account of his "enormous crimes" and informed him that he had "rendered himself unworthy to succeed to the throne or any other title". Advised by Philip III of Burgundy, Isabeau of Bavaria signed an agreement with Henry V in Arras on December 2, 1419, under which she consented to his marriage to her daughter Catherine. On December 25, the King of England and the Duke of Burgundy joined forces in Rouen to fight the Dauphin.

Negotiations between Henry V and Isabeau of Bavaria continued over the following months, culminating in the Treaty of Troyes. Signed on May 21, 1420 by the King of England and the Queen of France on behalf of her husband, this treaty deprived the Dauphin Charles of his right to succeed to the throne of France for plotting the assassination of John I of Burgundy, and conferred his heir status on Henry V, on condition that he married Catherine of France. Under the terms of the treaty, Charles VI remained King of France for the rest of his life, but Henry V retained control of the territories he had conquered in Normandy and acted as regent of the kingdom in his father-in-law's name. The plan for a dual Franco-English monarchy was thus born. Engaged to the King of England on the very day the Treaty of Troyes was signed, Catherine married him on June 2 in the church of Saint-Jean-du-Marché in Troyes, receiving a dowry of 40,000 écus. However, hostilities with the Dauphin continued: Catherine accompanied her new husband to the surrender of Sens on June 11, then stayed with her parents in Bray and Corbeil while Henry V laid siege to Melun, which only surrendered on November 17, 1420. The King of England visited her frequently during the military operations.

Queen of England

On December 1, 1420, the kings of France and England entered Paris in triumph, to the acclaim of the populace. The following day, their respective wives received the same welcome. While Charles VI and Isabeau of Bavaria settled in at the Hôtel Saint-Pol, Henri V and Catherine celebrated Christmas with great pomp at the Palais du Louvre, then left Paris on December 27, arriving in Rouen on the 31st and returning to England on February 1, 1421, first via Amiens and then Calais. Disembarking at Dover the same day, the couple reached London on February 21, where they were received with all honors. Two days later, Catherine was crowned Queen of England by Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, in a glorious ceremony at Westminster Abbey. The coronation is followed by a sumptuous banquet at the Palace of Westminster, where fish and shellfish are served despite the Lenten season. In order to draw attention to his new bride, Henry V absent himself from the ceremony. During the banquet, Catherine of France is seated next to Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, and James I of Scotland, in captivity in England since 1406 but now considered more as a guest than a hostage.

Henry V then decided to take his wife to the North of England to introduce her to his subjects and raise new funds for his upcoming campaigns against the Dauphin Charles. The royal couple met at Kenilworth Castle on March 15, 1421, celebrated Easter in Leicester on March 23, then travelled to York on April 2 via Nottingham and Pontefract, before turning back and stopping in Lincoln on April 15. Henri and Catherine visited many places of pilgrimage along the way. Back in London in May, Henry V left his wife on June 10 to return to France, to continue fighting the Dauphin, who had just won a victory at the Battle of Baugé on March 22, in which Thomas, Duke of Clarence and Henry V's younger brother, was killed. Catherine de France remained in England and gave birth to a son at Windsor Castle on December 6, 1421, immediately christened Henry. During her husband's absence from England, Catherine granted asylum to Jacqueline de Hainaut, who was seeking to escape the clutches of Philip III of Burgundy's allies, and the following year favored her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and brother of Henry V.

After giving birth to her son, Catherine de France soon received news of her husband, who requested her presence at his side. In early May 1422, she left her child in the care of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and disembarked at Harfleur with John, Duke of Bedford and Henry V's other brother, at the head of 20,000 soldiers. The Queen of England and her brother-in-law settled in Rouen on May 14, then reached Vincennes on May 26, where Catherine was reunited with her parents and husband. The two couples settled in Paris on May 30, where they celebrated Pentecost with sumptuous festivities that Charles VI did not attend, presumably due to his state of health. His absence and the arrogance of the English irritated the Parisians. On June 11, the King and Queen of England visited the Basilica of Saint-Denis, then continued on to Senlis. However, the dysentery Henry V had contracted during the siege of Meaux worsened and gradually weakened him. While her husband lay dying in Vincennes and added codicils to his will, Catherine remained in Senlis, probably at his request, and learned of his death on August 31, 1422. Their son was immediately proclaimed King of England as Henry VI.

Widowhood

Catherine de France, accompanied by members of the court present at Henri V's death in Vincennes, escorted her late husband's funeral procession, which reached Rouen on September 24, 1422, and was then transported to Calais via Abbeville, Hesdin and Montreuil. The remains of the deceased king were shipped to England, and a pompous funeral in his honor was held at Westminster Abbey on November 7. Later, Catherine had a magnificent silver portrait erected on her husband's grave. Meanwhile, on October 21, Charles VI died at the Hôtel Saint-Pol in Paris, and his ten-month-old grandson Henri VI was proclaimed King of France to succeed him, although the Dauphin Charles, who had taken refuge in Bourges, proclaimed himself King under the name of Charles VII on learning of his father's death: under the fundamental laws of the kingdom, Charles VII emphasizes that the King of France belongs to the crown, not the other way around, and proclaims that the crown is unavailable, meaning that it is not up to the king or a council to designate his successor, but that it is transmitted by the simple force of custom, and that the king has no power to cede it or pledge it to a foreign power, as Charles VI himself did by approving the Treaty of Troyes in 1420.

On December 5, 1422, Henry V's last will and testament was examined by the English Parliament, which made a number of modifications. A double regency was instituted: John, Duke of Bedford, took custody of the young Henry VI and was charged with leading the war in France against Charles VII, while Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was to lead the government of England in his absence with the title of Lord Protector. As for Catherine, her late husband's will granted her several estates in England as a dower, but she was denied any involvement in her son's government. She did, however, take care of his upbringing, even if she is mainly mentioned only for representative duties, notably at the opening of several Parliaments: for example, she carried the young king on her lap at the opening on October 20, 1423, and accompanied him in the solemn procession to St. Paul's Cathedral in London preceding that of April 30, 1425. Catherine de France nevertheless remained an influential figure at court, where she resided until at least 1429, receiving James I of Scotland at Hertford Castle at Christmas 1423 and attempting to reconcile the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester during their conflict the following year.

However, Catherine de France soon acquired a sulphurous reputation, which explains why Walter Hungerford, entrusted under Henry V's will to watch over his son and successor, was relieved of this function on February 18, 1423: by allowing Catherine to stay with her son, the regents ensured that they could keep a closer eye on her and curb her influence. As early as 1425, there were rumors of a possible relationship between the dowager queen and the young Edmond Beaufort, nephew of the prelate Henri Beaufort. But such a marriage was strongly opposed by the Duke of Gloucester, who was concerned about the Beauforts' growing influence. The following year, Parliament proposed to pass a law allowing dowager queens to remarry as they wished, in exchange for payment of a fine: this proposal was tacitly aimed at Catherine. Nevertheless, in 1427, the Duke of Gloucester had Parliament pass a law firmly forbidding the remarriage of dowager queens without the consent of the royal council or that of the king, if the latter was of age. In the event of infringement, the dowager queen's new husband was to be dispossessed of his property, but no provision was made for the eventuality of children being born of this unauthorized remarriage.

Remarriage to Owen Tudor and death

Ignoring this legislation, between 1428 and 1432 Catherine married the Welshman Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, anglicized to Owen Tudor, after having had a relationship with him at Windsor Castle. The details of their meeting are uncertain: according to some chroniclers, the queen met the young courtier when he danced drunk in front of the court and fell in front of her; according to others, she watched him swim with her ladies-in-waiting; finally, he was first in the service of Walter Hungerford in France in 1421, before being transferred to officiate in the queen's wardrobe. One theory even claims that Catherine and Edmond Beaufort's relationship never ended, and that Owen Tudor only served as husband to the dowager queen to prevent Edmond from being deprived of his property by virtue of the parliamentary decision taken in 1427. The morganatic marriage of Catherine and Owen became known at court in May 1432, when the latter acquired the rights of an Englishman and was no longer subject to the Penal Laws against Wales of 1402. Although the marriage was not made public until after Catherine's death, its validity and the legitimacy of the children born of it were never challenged by an ecclesiastical court.

Withdrawn at the end of 1436 to Bermondsey Abbey, Catherine de France died there on January 3, 1437. The cause of her death remains uncertain: either she was weakened by her successive pregnancies, or she died of another illness, perhaps suffering from the congenital frailty that afflicted several of her ancestors, in particular her father Charles VI. Having written her will two days before her death, she mentions only her son Henry VI and makes no allusion to Owen Tudor or the children she had from her second marriage. Her Book of Hours, which she probably wrote herself, has survived. After her death, Owen Tudor was deprived of her protection and prosecuted for violating the 1427 law concerning the remarriage of dowager queens. Appearing before the Royal Council, he was arrested and imprisoned at Newgate, from which he tried to escape in early 1438, then at Windsor Castle from July 1438. He was finally released on payment of a £2,000 fine, but was pardoned in November 1439, and his fine was cancelled shortly afterwards. Owen Tudor was then favored by Henry VI, before being executed in 1461 by the future Edward IV after the battle of Mortimer's Cross, during the War of the Two Roses.

Catherine de France's body was laid to rest in St. Catherine's Chapel near the Tower of London, then transferred to St. Paul's Cathedral and buried in February 1437 in the future Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey. His son Henry VI had an alabaster tomb built for him, whose epitaph makes no mention of his marriage to Owen Tudor. Later, his grandson Henry VII gave him a new tomb with an inscription duly mentioning this marriage. When the Henry VII chapel was rebuilt around 1503, her body, which was only loosely wrapped, was buried next to the grave of her first husband, Henry V: it is possible that Henry VII ordered this transfer in order to distance himself from his illegitimate ancestry, being a grandson of Catherine by his second marriage to Owen Tudor. On February 23, 1669, diarist Samuel Pepys kissed the mummy of Catherine de France on the mouth during a visit to the abbey. It wasn't until 1878, under the reign of Victoria, that Catherine's body was moved to its final resting place beneath a marble altar slab in Henry V's votive chapel. A wooden funerary effigy used for her first burial is on display at Westminster Abbey Museum.

From her first marriage to Henry V of England, celebrated on June 2, 1420 in Troyes, Catherine de France had only one child:

From her second marriage to Owen Tudor, celebrated at an unknown date between 1428 and May 1432, she had at least three children:

Other children may have been born of this second union, but their existence remains uncertain:

In William Shakespeare's play Henry V, written around 1599, Catherine of France appears in Act V, as the English and French negotiate the Treaty of Troyes, and Henry V attempts to woo the French princess. Neither speaks the other's language well, but the humor of their mistakes helps Henri achieve his goal. In film adaptations by Laurence Olivier in 1944, Kenneth Branagh in 1989, Thea Sharrock in 2012 and David Michôd in 2019, the role of Catherine is played by Renée Asherson, Emma Thompson, Mélanie Thierry and Lily-Rose Depp respectively.

Other literary works feature her: The Queen and the Welshman by Rosemary Anne Sisson, a play written in 1957; Fortune Made His Sword by Martha Rofheart, a novel published in 1972; Crown in Candlelight by Rosemary Hawley Jarman, published in 1978; The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy, published in 1989; The Boy's Tale by Margaret Frazer, published in 1995; The Lily and the Dragon by Dedwydd Jones, published in 2002; Blood Royal

Sources

1. Catherine of Valois
2. Catherine de France (1401-1437)
3. Gibbons 1996, p. 51–74.
4. Autrand 1986, p. 325.
5. Gibbons 1996, p. 51–63.
6. Adams 2010, p. 230–3.
7. Autrand 1986, p. 515.
8. a b Michael Jones: Catherine. In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Bd. 10, 2004, S. 546.
9. Thea Tomaini: The Corpse as Text: Disinterment and Antiquarian Enquiry, 1700-1900, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2017, S. 80–83
10. Westminster Abbey: Henry V and Catherine de Valois. In: westminster-abbey.org, letzter Zugriff am 5. September 2020.
11. Amy License: Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort. The History Press, Strout 2016, ISBN 978-0-7509-7050-1, S. 200–201.
12. Amy License: Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort. The History Press, Strout 2016, ISBN 978-0-7509-7050-1, S. 195.
13. В истории Англии было несколько случаев, когда вдовствующие королевы выходили замуж после смерти мужа. Однако вдовы Иоанна Безземельного и Ричарда II вступали в брак за пределами королевства[14]. Случаев же брака королевской вдовы с вассалом покойного мужа не было с 1130-х годов[15][14], когда Аделиза Лувенская, вдова короля Генриха I, вышла замуж за английского барона Уильяма д’Обиньи[16][17].
14. В Англии взрослыми считались юноши с 14 лет[14].
15. Оуайн Глиндур был сыном старшей сестры Маргарет, матери Маредита[15].
16. 1 2 Историк Майкл Джонс считает, что такого сына в реальности не существовало. По его мнению, ребёнка добавили в список детей Екатерины и Оуэна Тюдора в поздних источниках, возможно, объединив версию о ещё одном сыне Эдуарде Бриджуотере, который якобы в 1465—1466 годах стал монахом Вестминстерского аббатства, но умер в 1471 или 1472 году[5].