The Wives of Henry VIII: Katherine Howard, Part II
An uprising by a Catholic faction in the North brought back Henry VIII's old fears of Plantagenet claims to the throne. As the closest member of the house of Plantagenet, Henry fixed on Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, who still lay in the Tower. He decided that she was a threat to his throne and, despite the pleas of Katherine and others, ordered her executed. The poor Countess was awakened on 28 May, 1541 with the shocking news that she was to die that day. She was executed on the same scaffold which had seen Anne Boleyn, by a young executioner so unskilled and nervous that it took him several minutes to hack the pitiful old woman to death. Henry refused to feel remorse, and proceeded to put down the Northern uprising in summary fashion, but his popularity among his people had suffered more than he seemed to realize.
The king decided that a trip to the North might help to reanimate affection toward him among his recalcitrant Northern subjects, and so he and Katherine left London on 30 July for a progress to the North. They traveled as far as Newcastle in Northumberland, the farthest north Henry had ever ventured during his reign.
Meanwhile, trouble was brewing on the international horizon, as the Emperor Charles and Francis I drew closer and closer to war with one another, each seeking the backing of the king of England. Francis suggested a marriage alliance between his heir, the Duke of Orleans, and the Princess Mary, but Henry feared that such a marriage would alienate the powerful Emperor, and declined. Thereafter relations between France and England deteriorated to worse levels than they had known in many years. Henry had spent much time and money since his excommunication fortifying the coast of England against invasion, and hoped now that these fortifications would stand, if they became necessary.
Katherine was thrown into confusion by the reappearance of a shadow from her past who threatened her position at court. When she and Henry reached Pontefract on their progress, a man named Francis Dereham presented himself with a letter of recommendation from Katherine's old guardian, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, in whose household he had for a time lived. Katherine had secrets regarding this man which could have damaged her severely in the eyes of the king, and so, to keep him silent, she hired Dereham to work in her household. He joined another face from her past, Joan Bulmer, who had also come forward asking for the queen's favor, and who also had disreputable secrets to hold over the queen's head. Dereham did not endear himself to members of the court, being overly familiar with the queen and insolent to her retainers who had been in her service longer than he.
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