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Catherine Knollys (nee Carey)
By Steven Van Der Meulen |
For many years rumors have abounded in the historical community regarding Catherine Carey's, Mary Boleyn's daughter, paternity. In fact, there are questions about whether or not William Carey, husband to Mary at the time of the births, sired either one of her children. This doubt is rooted in the fact that during the time of Katherine's conception Mary was involved in an affair with King Henry VIII of England. In this article I will discuss what I feel is strong evidence proving that Henry VIII was indeed Katherine's father.
Mary Boleyn returned from France probably in 1519 after spending much time at the court of Francois I. She came, presumably, to let gossip regarding her flirtations and possible affair with the King die down as well as to finally marry. Her father had been working diligently to betroth her to William Carey, a rising star at the court of Henry VIII and a member of privy chamber. It is not known exactly when Mary caught Henry's eye but some small pieces of evidence would point to 1522. There was a series of royal grants made to William Carey in February 1522, suggesting that the King was rewarding him for his buxom bride, additionally there were assertions by Cardinal Reginald Pole that the king "violated" Mary Boleyn in 1522. While we cannot be sure that Pole spoke truthfully or out of malice, but we do know that an affair took place. In 1528, while being questioned by Parliament a member accused Henry of sleeping with Anne's mother
and sister. Undoubtedly flustered, the king replied: "Never with her mother." In 1527, Henry was planning to marry Anne Boleyn. He sought and received a papal dispensation to marry the sister of a woman with whom he had engaged in illicit/unlawful intercourse. Anne had only one sister - Mary.
Now that we have established the affair took place with its probable start in 1522, we shall discuss the child born of the relationship. Because there is no contemporary proof of Katherine's paternity we must investigate circumstantial evidence. Many have decried the theory of Catherine being Henry's daughter because he never recognized her in the same fashion he did Henry FitzRoy, his illegitimate son with Mistress Elizabeth Blount. First of all we must consider historical social context. When Henry FitzRoy was born in June of 1519 it was likely that the King had all but given up on the prospect of a legitimate heir by his wife Catherine of Aragon. She had only given him a daughter, Princess Mary born in 1516 and it was probably known that Queen Catherine was no longer able to become pregnant. In the absence of a legitimate male heir, it makes sense that Henry would not only acknowledge his bastard son, but also ennoble him, paving the way for him to possibly be acknowledged as the next king. Mary Boleyn's daughter, on the other hand, would have served no dynastic purpose; not only was she illegitimate, she was a female barring her from direct inheritance. Not only would Henry's acknowledgement of Katherine have served him no purpose, it would have also destroyed Mary's already tenuous reputation and publicly labeled her husband a cuckold. Had Henry chose to acknowledge Katherine as his own daughter following the 1527 fall out of his marriage, it would have seriously jeopardized his ability to marry Anne Boleyn; essentially creating the same familial bond between himself and Anne that he believed existed between he and Catherine of Aragon because of her previous sexual relationship with his brother. When I put forward this theory, a fellow Anne enthusiast asked then why Henry would not have acknowledged Katherine following Anne's death. There are several reasons, namely that Henry wanted to distance himself from Anne and her kin, but also that after proclaiming himself head of The Church in England it would have been morally questionable to have bastard children.
Because Katherine's birth is recorded as early Spring (March/April 1524) we can assume that the child was conceived in the summer of 1523 when the King and Mary were seeing each other. In order to dodge questions of her child's paternity, Mary chose to name the child Katherine, in honor of the reigning queen. It is very safe to assume that Mary's pregnancy was an accident and that it resulted in the distancing of the couple as sex during pregnancy was considered dangerous and sinful in the Tudor era. The King would have found someone else to keep him company during Mary's pregnancy. Following her first pregnancy, the King's grants to William Carey lessened though he retained his position as a member of the King's household and Mary's time as a favorite was over.
Following the death of William Carey of the sweat in 1528 his lands and wealth transferred to his sole heir Henry Carey. Mary would have had use of these funds and lands until wardship of young Henry was transferred to Anne in December of 1528. When Anne assumed wardship of the child, his monies and properties were all taken into her keeping as well, leaving Mary quite destitute. Swiftly, the King had a pension transferred to Mary of about 100 pounds per year. This is the equivalent of 32,000 GBP or $49,187.00 USD by today's standards. This was not a typical action as widows normally became the responsibility of their families until another marriage could be arranged for them. This again suggests that Henry had a vested interest in ensuring that Katherine was provided for. Additionally, he intervened with Thomas Boleyn, urging him to take Mary and Katherine into his home and provide care for them, something he had originally denied them, possibly due to his disapproval of her compromising her reputation so many times.
In addition to the timing of Katherine's conception being suspect there is also the evidence in the similar facial features of the Tudor dynasty and Katherine Carey. Anyone who examines the above portrait can see definite Tudor features. The red hair, prominent chin and heavy lids are all distinct and noticeable in portraits of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I as well as Elizabeth of York, suggesting they are the genetic manifestations of Plantagenet blood.
Without a genetic test we could never be sure that Katherine was indeed the King's illegitimate daughter, but I feel there is strong circumstantial evidence to suggest that she was. Whoever was her father, Katherine Carey was a rising star at court who made a fantastic marriage and had eleven children. She remained close with Elizabeth I for the remainder of her life and when she died she was buried in a sumptuous funeral, her sarcophagus is one of the richest and most beautiful in Westminster Abbey both paid for by the notoriously penny pinching Elizabeth. Her legacy as a powerful woman at Elizabeth's court lives on through her famous descendants descendants including Winston Churchill, Charles Darwin and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Sources: Weir, Alison; Ives, Eric; Warnicke, Retha; Jones, Phillipa.
