Catherine Parr: Last Wife of Henry VIII Quiz

Answer: Blackfriars, London

Catherine Parr was the oldest child of Thomas Parr who was lord of the manor in Kendal, of Westmorland, which is now Cumbria. It was once widely believed that Catherine Parr was born in Kendal because of her father's presence as a lord there, however, Kendal Castle was in severe disrepair at the time of Catherine's birth.

Her family had hence been living in their townhouse in Blackfriars, London. The journey from Blackfriars to Kendal in those days would have amounted to two weeks, and historians now consider it doubtful that Thomas Parr would have subjected his pregnant wife to this. Therefore, it it considered most likely that Catherine Parr was born in Blackfriars.

Answer: Maud Green

Maud Green was close friends with Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was her lady-in-waiting, or court lady, a personal assistant to the Queen.

Maud Green's father, Catherine Parr's grandfather, was Sir Thomas Green who was imprisoned for treason in the Tower of London, where he died in 1506.

Maud Green died in 1531 and is buried beside her husband in Blackfriars, London.

Answer: Edward Burgh

Edward Burgh married Catherine Parr in 1529. Their marriage faced problems, in the form of Edward's grandfather, of the same name, Edward Burgh, who was used to dominating and terrorizing his family. Several accounts described him as being in the grip of mental illness. Catherine did not appreciate his attitude and, although her husband was terrified of his grandfather even as an adult, Catherine refused to grovel and placate him.

There was once a historical misunderstanding where Catherine Parr was thought to have married her father-in-law instead of the younger Edward. However, she would have been twelve years old and he was by then an "ageing lunatic", as dubbed by some.

Catherine's husband Edward was unwell and his exact condition or affliction has been lost to history. Speculation from his physical health being in decline, him inheriting the mental illness that had plagued his family, to rumours of homosexuality. Catherine and he never had children and there is no pregnancy recorded from the marriage. Edward had died by 1533.

Answer: John Neville

Catherine Parr's second husband was John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer. He had been married three times before marrying Catherine and was twice her age.

John Neville served in Henry VIII's French military campaign in 1513, and was knighted after. He did not, however, remain in the King's good graces. John Neville was a supporter of the Catholic Church and vocally did not approve of Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn nor the end of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. However, it was a mob of Catholic rebels who dragged John Neville from his home in 1536 during the Lincolnshire Rising in front of Catherine Parr.

Upon being called to London to explain whether he had any part in the rebellions, he managed to escape with his life. His name was forever tarnished by the incident. John Neville, 3rd Baron Latimer, died in 1543.

Answer: During her wedding, she secretly loved Thomas Culpeper

Catherine Parr married Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace in 1543. She did secretly love a Thomas - but this was Thomas Seymour, the brother of Henry's wife who had died in childbirth, Jane Seymour.

Thomas Culpeper was cousin to both Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife who he had beheaded in 1536, and also cousin to Catherine Howard, another wife Henry had beheaded, in 1542.

Thomas Culpeper was, in fact, beheaded, accused of having an affair with Catherine Howard under the nose of Henry VIII. While there is no definitive proof this was true, eyewitness accounts describe their obvious affection towards each other and he wrote her love letters.

After her second husband had died, Catherine Parr wanted to marry Thomas Seymour. She had by then, however, caught the eye of the King. Considering Henry's history of executing those who had displeased him, Thomas Seymour wisely distanced himself from Catherine and she accepted Henry's proposal.

Answer: Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour was Jane Seymour's brother, the wife of Henry VIII who married the king in 1536, 11 days after Anne Boleyn's execution.

Thomas Seymour had understandably been reluctant to marry Catherine Parr, when the King was alive and interested in her. But when Henry died in 1547 in the Palace of Whitehall, Seymour was free to marry Catherine.

Answer: Inappropriate behaviour towards Henry VIII's daughter, Elizabeth

After Henry VIII died in 1547, Edward VI became king at the age of nine. He was Elizabeth's half-brother. Catherine Parr married Thomas Seymour soon after Henry's death and they both agreed to welcome Elizabeth into their home in Chelsea.

Thomas Seymour became too interested in the 14-year-old Elizabeth, finding excuses to come into her bedroom which made her surround herself with maids to prevent his advances. At one point, Catherine Parr even held her down as he was tickling her. However, when Catherine discovered them too close in embrace, she was not happy resulting in Elizabeth being sent away in 1548. The two never saw each other again.

Thomas Seymour continued his pursuit of Elizabeth even after Catherine Parr died, but Elizabeth was not interested.

Answer: False

Henry VIII did embark on a military campaign to France in 1544, and he did grant Catherine the role of Regent of England. However, Henry had also entrusted this responsibility in his absence with his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

Answer: Religion

Catherine had become more and more enamored with Protestantism, and decided to preach to Henry about her religious beliefs when he was not in a good mood. He remained fairly religiously conservative whereas Catherine Parr remained enthusiastic about reforming the church.

In 1546, Catherine Parr was arrested on suspicion of heresy. However, upon placating Henry by agreeing with everything he said regarding religion in their next conversation, Catherine's life was spared.

Answer: The Lamentation of a Sinner

This was published in around 1547, about nine months after the death of Henry VIII. "The Lamentation of a Sinner" most likely would not have been accepted by Henry when he was alive. Not only did the book have an aim of converting people to Protestantism, but Catherine Parr clearly and repeatedly decried herself a sinner in the book, something a Queen of England had never done before.

Answer: One

Despite being married four times. Catherine had her last child with her last husband, Thomas Seymour, when she was 35. Mary Seymour was born in 1548. After 1550, Mary vanished from historical records entirely, and she never later came to claim her father's large estate, leaving some to conclude that she died around the age of two.

Answer: Queen of Ireland

Henry's previous title of Ireland had been "Lord of Ireland" however, after a failed rebellion organised by Silken Thomas, the Earl of Kildare, Ireland, Henry was declared King of Ireland in 1542. This made Catherine Parr Queen of Ireland by default.

Answer: Anne Herbert

Anne Herbert (nee Parr) held titles of Countess of Pembroke, and Baroness Herbert of Cardiff in her lifetime. She was Catherine Parr's younger sister, and was a lady-in-waiting to each one of Henry VIII's wives. She was so ingratiated into the royal court scene, she was one of the few present for the baptism of Henry's son, Prince Edward VI.

Catherine Parr also had a brother, William Parr, who held the titles of: 1st Marquess of Northampton, 1st Earl of Essex and 1st Baron Parr.

Answer: Childbirth

Catherine Parr died about a week after giving birth to her daughter, Mary, who lost her father soon after when Thomas Seymour was beheaded for treason against Henry's son Edward VI. It is a sometimes a common misconception that Catherine Parr died of old age, partly because she outlived Henry VIII, and possibly because she is often played onscreen by actresses much older than how old Catherine Parr actually was.

She was in her early 30s when she married Henry and dead by the age of 36.

Answer: Sudeley Castle

Sudeley Castle is situated in the Cotswolds, which is located in the south-central to south-west England, and in the Midlands. Sudeley Castle is the only privately-owned castle in the world which features a Queen of England buried on its grounds. Catherine Parr remains the only English Queen to be buried on private land.

Sudeley Castle also features a pheasantry which hosts one of the largest collections of endangered pheasant breeds in the world.