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 Lepère tortured, but because of her advanced age, she was merely fastened in the torture device without it being put to actual use, as there was a fear that she would die of the torture rather than the execution if the torture was actually applied. She was executed by hanging. Catherine Lepère is portrayed in a novel by Judith Merkle Riley: "The Oracle Glass" (1994) Catherine Lepère Catherine Lepère (1601–1679) was a French midwife. She was an associate of La Voisin and one of the accused in the famous Poison Affair. Lepère was a licensed midwife who had delivered La Voisin's