Katherine Howard (Henry VIII's Slandered Queen)

Over the years, Katherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, has been slandered as a "juvenile delinquent," "empty-headed wanton," and "natural-born tart" who engaged in promiscuous liaisons prior to her marriage and committed adultery after her marriage to Henry VIII. This biography challenges these assumptions by drawing on seven years of research, demonstrating that Katherine’s reputation is unfairly deserved. It offers new insights into her activities as queen as well as the nature of her relationships with Manox, Dereham and Culpeper. Katherine was bright, charming and beautiful, but it was her tragedy that her premarital liaisons—in a climate of distrust and fear of female sexuality—led to her ruin in 1542. Conor Byrne challenges Katherine’s negative reputation and redeems her as Henry VIII’s slandered queen.