The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor by Elizabeth Norton

Author:Elizabeth Norton [Norton, Elizabeth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781784081713
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Published: 2016-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

By 5 September, the queen, weakened with fever, was declining; everyone knew that she could not live long. She was calmer, though, and had already asked Thomas for his consent to her making a will.*7 Early that morning, in the presence only of Dr Huicke and her chaplain John Parkhurst, who prayed with her, she made her will, declaring that she was ‘lying on her deathbed, sick in body, but of good mind, perfect memory and discretion’.33 Perhaps the fog in her mind had cleared – if she had been delirious at all. Still conscious of her status, she called herself ‘Queen of England, France and Ireland’ and ‘late the wife of Henry VIII, that prince of famous memory’. She also referred to Thomas as her current husband, proudly setting his titles alongside those of her previous husband.

Catherine’s will shows signs of revision and alteration. It was not admitted to probate until three months after her death, and the surviving document may not accurately reflect the queen’s true wishes.34 If the will was forged, then Thomas, who was the executor who proved the will, was the most likely culprit. On the face of it, the document demonstrates Catherine’s enduring love for her husband, the scribe recording that ‘the said most noble queen, by permission, consent, and assent aforesaid, did... with all her heart and desire, frankly and freely give, will, and bequeath to the said Lord Seymour, Lord High Admiral of England, her married espouse and husband, all the goods, chattels, and debts that she then had, or of right ought to have in all the world, wishing them to be a thousand times more in value than they were or been’.

Yet, as a wife, Catherine legally owned nothing. The will was largely pointless as a means of conveying property. It was, however, a useful record of her wishes, particularly since anything that she ‘of right ought to have in all the world’ potentially included her disputed jewels, still languishing in the royal treasury. Given Dr Huicke’s somewhat dubious character, he might have been persuaded to help in the forgery of a will that made little legal difference anyway. Thomas did not absolutely need the testament; but it was helpful. Since Thomas would not have consented to a will in which he was not the chief beneficiary, it is unlikely that Catherine’s original wishes differed substantially from what was written, although the sentiments towards her jealous, possessive and wayward husband may well have been expressed in different words.

Thomas remained at Catherine’s side, holding the hand of a wife who had once wished him ‘better to fare than myself’.35 There was no final message for Elizabeth, who was waiting for news at Cheshunt. Instead, the queen spent her last hours praying with Jane Grey, to whom she passed her personal prayer book as a memento. Catherine had continued to write in the tiny book up until her sickness overcame her, breaking off abruptly half way through a prayer redolent of one in adversity: ‘all mine hope and whole affiance, most pitiful Lord, have I cast on Thee.

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