Medieval Queens: Catherine of Valois

Born of kings, matriarch to kings

Born to a king, married to a king, and mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother to kings, Catherine of Valois managed to create herself quite a legacy despite dying at the age of 35.

Born to King Charles of France, Catherine was another royal princess with a knack for getting attention. Henry IV of England had attempted to broker an engagement between Catherine and his young son but failed, dying before he was able to ink the contract. Henry V himself tried to pursue a marriage and was flatly denied—though sources are not sure whether it was father or daughter who was against the match.

Much like generations of men before him who do not handle rejection well, Henry V went to war against France. In 1420, as part of the peace treaty, Catherine and Henry were married. The groom was 32 and the bride was 19. In 1421, they travled to England where Catherine was crowned queen and quickly sent her husband back to France to continue his campaigns, though not before becoming pregnant. In 1421, a healthy boy (Henry VI) was born to the couple, though father and son would never meet. Henry died of illness in France in 1422 at the age of 34.

With an infant king to raise, Catherine found herself a young, beautiful widow thrust into the role of Queen Dowager and at the mercy of Henry’s relatives who worried that an unsavory match between the Catherine and another of Henry’s relatives (Edmund Beaufort, Count of Mortain) would jeopardize their power. In 1428, Henry’s uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, helped enact a bill that required the king’s permission for a Dowager Queen to remarry—including the stipulation that the king must have reached the age of majority to grant it. (Keep in mind Catherine’s son, Henry VI, was only six years old at the time.)

Tudur becomes Tudor

A secret relationship developed between Catherine and Owen ap Maredudd ap Tudur of Wales, a knight who served Henry V’s steward. Historians guess Tudor was in charge of the queen’s household, but regardless, she was pregnant with his child while at Windsor Castle.

Did they marry?

It’s unclear, but he was granted the rights of an Englishman in 1432 and changed his name from Tudur to Tudor (important because of Henry IV’s laws limiting the rights of the Welsh). Had they married, it would have gone against the law passed in 1428 requiring the King’s permission. No one is certain. What is certain, however, is that they had five children together: Edmund, Jasper, Owen, Margaret, and Tacina.

Their son, Edmund Tudor, married a royal named Margaret Beaufort and their son became Henry VII—king himself and father to the infamous Henry VII.

Catherine died shortly after giving birth to Tacina in January of 1437. She was buried at Westminster Abbey and during the reign of her grandson, Henry VII, her coffin lid became ajar and was never righted until well into Queen Victoria’s reign. Her grave was a morbid tourist attraction where commoners could marvel at the corpse of a long-dead queen.

Owen was arrested shortly after Catherine’s death for breaking—you guessed it—that permission law of 1428. He was eventually pardoned and lived under the protection of his step-son, Henry VI, for years until his death in 1461. Catherine and Owen’s sons were granted earldoms by their stepbrother.

Her legacy lasted well into future generations—including her great-great-granddaughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I.