Catherine of Valois
Born on 27th October 1401, Catherine of Valois was the youngest daughter of King Charles VI of France. As a Princess of France, she was of great diplomatic importance and was to follow her elder sisters, Isabella, Jeanne, and Michelle, into being married to a leading statesman of the time.
Diplomatic Marriages
Catherine’s elder sister, Isabella, had been married to King Richard II of England. This diplomatic marriage was one of the means through which the two countries had managed to maintain a reasonably peaceful coexistence through Richard’s reign. As tension mounted between the nations once more in the reign of Henry IV, England sought a marriage of Prince Henry, later King Henry V, to another of the King of France’s daughters.
Catherine of Valois as a future bride of Henry V
Talks over such a marriage centred around Catherine. Stumbling blocks frustrated England’s attempts to secure the match, her father demanding 2 million crowns and much land as her dowry. These talks, which took place in the last days of Henry IVs reign through to 1415, proved fruitless. Instead, England opted to use force. The ensuing campaigns, begun in 1415, saw the situation change quite dramatically. At Agincourt the French suffered terrible losses. In subsequent campaigns much of Normandy was lost, and France found herself in no position to continue resisting.
Treaty of Troyes
A union between King Henry V and Catherine was agreed between the two nations in the Treaty of Troyes, 1420. The couple were formally betrothed on 21 May and married at Troyes on 2 June 1420. It was a hugely symbolic act that tied the families together at the same time as the Treaty saw the inheritance of the French crown pass to King Henry and his heirs. This union, should it bear children, would ensure that future kings had Valois as well as Plantagenet blood.
Birth of a son, Henry
Catherine and Henry’s marriage produced one child, the future Henry VI of England, before the King’s early death. Henry’s passing posed many questions for the young Dowager Queen and the English Great Council. Typically, a young woman would remarry following the death of her husband. A lady of rank would require the permission of the King to do so. This presented problems. The lady was a Dowager Queen, her son was an infant and would not ordinarily be able to give consent until his own coming of age. The Council therefore moved to block Catherine remarrying, as any such marriage may have negative consequences for the state.
Marriage to Owen Tudor
By 1429, though, Catherine was in a relationship with a young member of her own household. Owen Tudor worked as Master of her Wardrobe. From a minor Welsh family, he was a wholly unsuitable match for a Dowager Queen. Yet, by 1430 Catherine was pregnant with the first of the couple’s children at which time it is thought, but not proven, that the couple may have married.
The marriage produced four children, Edmund, Jasper, Owen and Tacina. Edmund’s marriage to Margaret Beaufort produced Henry Tudor, later King Henry VII.
As Catherine’s health declined in 1436, she moved into Bermondsey Abbey, where she died on 3 January 1437.
Featured Image of Catherine of Valois
By engraved by W. H. Mote (1803-1871) after an illustration by J.W. Wright – engraving published in 1875 book “The Queens of England or Royal Book of Beauty” (or 1851 book “Biographical Sketches of the Queens of England”), edited by Mary Howitt, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40031725
