Image Attribution: engraved by W. H. Mote (1803-1871) after an illustration by J.W. Wright, Public domain (PD-US-expired), via Wikimedia Commons
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For the month of April 2022, we are going to be focusing on the spectacular Catherine of Valois (daughter of the French Mad King, mother of the English Mad King, and grandmother to the most famous English dynasty ever AKA the Tudors). We are starting out with the traditional KISS Edition (Keep It Simple Stupid) so that we are all on the same page as we explore the world of Catherine of Valois.
For a review of the Hundred Years War, use this link to read my blog post “Hundred Years War: The Gift That Keeps On Giving”.
For more information about the War of the Roses, use this link to read my blog post “The War of the Roses: The KISS Edition”.
Baby French Princess
Growing up as a French princess may seem like a dream come true, but for Catherine of Valois, it was, in many ways, a living nightmare. France, to put it simply, was a hot mess. There was a civil war between the Burgundians and the Armangacs. England took advantage of the chaos and restarted the Hundred Years War. On top of all of this, her father, Charles VI, suffered from bouts of insanity, which not only made him extremely violent but also unable to consistently rule France. Isabeau of Bavaria, her mother, ended up having to step in and rule as his regent. She was (un-fucking-fairly) blamed for all of the chaos and suffering (which was actually the fault of power hungry men like Henry V and John the Fearless of Burgundy). She joined Marie Antoinette, and Catherine de’ Medici as one of the worst Queens of France in history.
The Shining New Queen of England
Probably the only normal thing about Catherine’s early life was that her marriage was a political move. A desperate political that completely backfired in every way, but a political move none the less. In an effort to end the Hundred Years War, Charles VI signed the Treaty of Troyes, which named Henry V of England as his heir once he married Catherine of Valois. His enemies claimed that Charles VI and Isabeau essentially sold off France and their daughter (conveniently forgetting the destruction that the English was raining down on the French countryside).
Of course, the English loved it and celebrated their new queen for the simple fact that she brought France as her dowry. It definitely helped that she got pregnant almost immediately, and the future looked bright for the new Queen of England; however, within two years, that future was in ashes at her feet.
The Suspicious Queen Mother
Henry V died suddenly from dysentery (diarrhea that will literally kill you), leaving his only son, Henry VI, as the new king of England before his first birthday. The same people who looked at Catherine with reverence now looked at her with suspicion. Their heroic king was dead. Catherine was a French princess and could not be trusted. Any power that she had was gone in an instant.
Henry V’s brothers essentially ran the country until Henry VI was old enough to rule on his own. Catherine was allowed to raise Henry VI while he was young, but he was soon put in the care of tutors to help prepare him to rule England (without Catherine’s nasty French influence). For the most part, Catherine was left to her own devices, as long as she did not make any waves.
The Rebel Wife
So naturally, Catherine made waves. For the most part, Catherine was the consummate Queen Mother, but she wanted to be more. She was raised to be a wife and mother and she was barely given the chance to be either. So, she began a courtship with Edmund Beaufort. Because her brothers-in-law were control freaks and jackasses, they passed an act that essentially declared that she could not marry without permission from the king; otherwise, her husband would lose his lands. At this point, Henry VI was still too young to give his permission, which effectively cock-blocked her.
Edmund Beaufort decided that he had too much to lose to risk marrying Catherine, so once again, she was alone. She then set her eyes on Owen Tudor, a Welsh knight with nothing to lose. They married in secret, basically giving the regency council the middle finger. While she was slapped on the wrist, she was essentially able to live a happy life with Tudor. She had three children with him before she died. Her descendants would create the infamous Tudor dynasty.
Catherine of Valois took her own happiness into her own hands and effectively changed the course of history in the process, embodying the spirit of an absolute badass.
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Sources
| Author | Source Name | Links Per Type |
| Alison Weir | The War of the Roses. | Kindle Edition Audible Edition Paperback Edition |
| Mary McGrigor | The Sister Queens: Isabella & Catherine de Valois | Kindle Edition Paperback Edition Hardcover Edition |
| Dan Jones | The War of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors. | Kindle Edition Audible Edition Hardcover Edition Paperback Edition |
| Lisa Hilton | Queens Consort: England’s Medieval Queens from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Elizabeth of York. | Kindle Edition Paperback Edition |
| Erin Lawless | Forgotten Royal Women: The King and I | Kindle Edition Paperback Edition |
| Dan Jones | The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England | Kindle Edition Audible Edition Paperback Edition Hardcover Edition |