Catherine Howard Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542) was Queen of England from 1540 until 1541, as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She (then aged 16 or 17) married him (then 49) on 28 July 1540, at Oatlands Palace, in Surrey, almost immediately after the annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves was arranged. Catherine was stripped of her title as queen within 16 months, in November 1541. She was beheaded three months later, on the grounds of treason for committing adultery while married to Henry, similarly to Anne Boleyn. Catherine was one of the daughters of
Catherine Des Roches Catherine Des Roches Catherine Fradonnet (December 1542 – November 1587), called Catherine Des Roches, was a French writer of the Renaissance. She was the daughter of Madeleine Des Roches, née Madeleine Neveu (c. 1520 - November 1587) and of André Fradonnet, seigneur Des Roches, the procurer of Poitiers. Catherine was educated by her mother and was taught poetry, literature and ancient languages. Wanting to invest all her time in her intellectual pursuits, Catherine Des Roches never married. Both mother and daughter died of an epidemic on the same day. Contemporaries of Pierre de Ronsard, and friends of the humanist Estienne