William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham bride, Anne of Cleves at Calais. While on an embassy to France in 1541 William Howard was charged with concealing the sexual indiscretions of his young niece, Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, and was recalled to England to stand trial. On 22 December 1541 Howard, his wife, and a number of servants who had been alleged witnesses to the Queen's misconduct were arraigned for misprision of treason, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of goods. He and most of the others were pardoned after Queen Catherine's execution on 13 February 1542. In 1544 Howard accompanied the Earl
Catherine Cecil, Countess of Salisbury Catherine Cecil, Countess of Salisbury Catherine Cecil, Countess of Salisbury (c.1590 – January 1673), formerly Lady Catherine Howard, was the wife of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury. She was a daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, and his second wife, the former Catherine Knyvett. She married the future Earl of Salisbury on 1 December 1608, and became countess when he inherited the earldom on his father's death in 1612. Their children, several of whom died in infancy, were: In 1615, the countess was present at Trinity College, Cambridge, for the performance of "Aemilia" by students, in the