Lady Katherine Gordon being presented to Henry VII – photo credit Google Images
- Lady Catherine Gordon
- Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-lennox
- Lady Katherine Huntly
- Lady Catherine Gordon 1637-1742
- Lady Catherine Gordon Henry Vii
Highborn, beautiful and rich, Lady Katherine Gordon was an ideal wife for any young man. The daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. There is some dispute if her mother was Princess Annabella, daughter of King James and Joan Beaufort, or the Earl’s third wife Elizabeth Hay. Either way, she was related to the Scottish royal family. The king called her his “tender cousin”. She was a catch. Whose hand did this luscious plum fall into? The answer is surprising.
The end of the 1400s were not an easy time in Great Britain. Wii wbfs loader. Henry Tudor defeated Richard III to become Henry VII. Depending on who you asked, his crown was dependent on his victory in battle or his marriage to Elizabeth of York, the eldest daughter of Edward IV. But where were her brothers who would precede her claim to the throne? Disappeared into the Tower and the mists of history.
However, with no bodies to cry over, pretenders popped up as fast as Tudor could put them down. In November 1495, a new one attempted invasion, but was driven to Ireland then Scotland and the court of James IV. He was claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the younger son of Edward IV and Elizabeth’s little brother. The Tudors found another name for him- Perkin Warbeck.
The jury is still out as to whether this man was really who he said was. He looked and acted the part enough for Edward’s sister, Margaret of Burgundy, to back him. However, she could have been trying to stir up trouble for the Tudors, who deposed her family and killed her brother Richard at Bosworth. To this day, there are arguments on both sides. However, he was a real enough threat, pretender or not.
Young “Richard” and James IV took to each other, and he offered this engaging young man with a possible claim to the English throne his “tender cousin”, Katherine Gordon. They married in January 1496, and Katherine began styling herself as the Duchess of York. However, the young couple had been courting since his arrival in Scotland. A letter remains where “Richard” refers to her “divine rather than human beauty” and refers to himself as “her slave”.
Lady Catherine Gordon, because of her rank, was considered the chief mourner at Elizabeth of York’s funeral. Henry VII, at a minimum, felt that Lady Catherine had been purely used by Piers Warbeck, her husband. Oct 31, 2013 - Lady Catherine Gordon (c. 1474–October 1537) was a Scottish noblewoman and the wife of Yorkist pretender, Perkin Warbeck. After her imprison.
Living quietly in Scotland for two years, the couple had one, possibly two children. Then in the summer of 1497, they landed in Cornwall, where Warbeck was declared king. Henry marched west and both Warbeck and Katherine were captured and taken into royal custody.
They both lived at King Henry’s court for a year, forbidden to share a bed, but given every courtesy. Katherine was given a place of honor in Queen Elizabeth’s rooms. Henry was much taken with her beauty and wit. There is speculation she was Henry’s mistress. He did seem taken with her, and who knows what lengths a lovely young woman would go to to protect a beloved husband. There is no proof to this, however, there is a certain romance to it that lets the rumors persist.
In 1498, Warbeck tried to escape his cushy digs at court and was taken to the Tower for his attempt. A year later he and the Earl of Warwick were executed for plotting. Katherine reverted back to her maiden name of Gordon, and despite her marriage to three other men wore black for the rest of her days.
There are no records as to what happened to the couple’s children. Some sources say the second pregnancy ended in a stillbirth, but there is agreement on the first child named Richard. Some believe he was taken to Wales for safety. In fact there are some Perkins families who claim descent from this lost child. However, we will never know.
In 1503, Katherine was the chief mourner at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Supposedly for her ties to the Scottish throne, but maybe….just maybe…she was mourning her sister-in-law.
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Source: “Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the War of the Roses” by Sarah Gristwood
Lady Catherine Gordon
Lady Catherine Gordon (c. 1474–October 1537) was a Scottish noblewoman and the wife of Yorkist pretender, Perkin Warbeck. After her imprisonment by King Henry VII of England, she became a favoured lady-in-waiting of his wife, Elizabeth of York. She had a total of four husbands, but there are no records she had any surviving children.
- 1Family
Lady Catherine Gordon
Family
Lady Catherine was born in Scotland, the daughter of George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly, by his third wife, Lady Elizabeth Hay.[1] Some 19th-century writers had assumed she was a daughter of Princess Annabella of Scotland, who had been the Earl of Huntly's first wife.[lower-alpha 1][2]
Perkin Warbeck
Before 4 March 1497, Lady Catherine was given in marriage to the adventurer Perkin Warbeck, who was favored by King James IV of Scotland for political reasons, and who had apparently been courting her since 1495, as a love letter[lower-alpha 2] from him to the very beautiful[lower-alpha 3] Lady Catherine has been preserved in the Spanish State Letters, vol, i, p. 78.[3] James IV gave Perkin Warbeck a 'spousing goune' of white damask for the wedding at Edinburgh. The celebrations included a tournament. Perkin wore armour covered with purple brocade.[4] Lady Catherine followed her husband's fortunes and was styled the Duchess of York; she was taken prisoner at St. Michael's Mount after Henry's forces routed Warbeck's Cornish army at Exeter in 1497.[5] On 15 October 1497 there is record of a payment of £7 13s. 4d. to Robert Southwell for horses, saddles and other necessities for the transportation of 'my Lady Kateryn Huntleye.'[5] Her husband was hanged at Tyburn on 23 November 1499.[6] Lady Catherine was kept a virtual prisoner by King Henry who placed her in the household of his wife, Elizabeth of York, where she became a favorite lady-in-waiting.[7] Initially, Henry VII paid some of her expenses from his privy purse.
Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-lennox
In the privy purse accounts her name was recorded as 'Lady Kateryn Huntleye.'[8] Henry VII gave Lady Catherine gifts of clothing.[9] These clothes included; in November 1501, clothes of cloth-of-gold furred with ermine, a purple velvet gown, and a black hood in the French style; in April 1502, black and crimson velvet for gown and black kersey for stockings; and in November 1502, black satin, and other black cloth, to be trimmed with mink (from her own stock) and miniver, with a crimson bonnet.[10] On 25 January 1503 Catherine attended the ceremony of marriage between James IV and Margaret Tudor at Richmond Palace. James was represented by the Earl of Bothwell as his proxy.[11]
In February 1503, Lady Catherine was the 'Chief Mourner' at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, arriving in a 'chair', a carriage, with the Lady Fitzwalter and Lady Mountjoy. The train of her dress was carried by the Queen's mother-in-law, the Countess of Derby. Lady Catherine made the offerings at the masses and with 37 other ladies placed a 'pall', an embroidered cloth, on the coffin at Westminster Abbey.[12]
In 1510, Lady Catherine obtained letters of denization and that same year, on 8 August, was given a grant of the manors of Philberts at Bray, and Eaton at Appleton, both then in Berkshire.[13] Two years later she acquired along with her husband the manor of 'Fiffhede', Fifield, and upon surrender of patent of 8 August the three manors were all re-granted to Lady Catherine Gordon with the proviso she could not leave England, for Scotland or other foreign lands, without license.[13]
Subsequent marriages
Before 13 February 1512, she married James Strangeways of Fyfield, a gentleman usher of the King's Chamber.[1] The couple endowed a chantry priest to sing for the souls of their parents at St Mary Over at Southwark in London,[14] where James's father was buried. In 1517, she married her third husband, Matthew Craddock of Swansea, Steward of Gower and Seneschal of Kenfig, who died c. July 1531.[1] Matthew Craddock's will notes the jewels and silver that Lady Catherine owned before they were married. These included a girdle with a pomander, a heart of gold, a fleur-de-lis of diamonds, and a gold cross with nine diamonds. He bequeathed her an income from the lands of Dinas Powys and Llanedeyrn near Cardiff.[15]
Her fourth and last husband was Christopher Ashton of Fyfield also then in Berkshire.[16] She is not recorded as having any surviving children, however, she had two stepchildren by Ashton's previous marriage.
According to biographer David Loades, Lady Catherine was head of Mary Tudor's Privy Chamber until 1530.
When not at Court, Catherine resided at Fyfield Manor, except during her marriage to Craddock when she gained permission to live in Wales.[9] Catherine made her will on 12 October 1537, and died soon after.[17] She was buried in the church of St Nicholas at Fyfield, with a monument, including brass figures (now lost).[9] Matthew Craddock had previously erected a chest monument for himself and 'Mi Ladi Katerin' with their effigies in St Mary's Church, Swansea which was destroyed in 1941. The carved heraldry included emblems of the Gordon and Hay family. Both Catherine's mother and paternal grandmother were members of the Hays family.[18]
Notes
References
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Lady Katherine Huntly
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Lady Catherine Gordon 1637-1742
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Lady Catherine Gordon Henry Vii
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