A Comparative Essay Jane Seymour & Catherine Howard

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A Comparative Essay – Jane Seymour & Catherine Howard Jane Seymour and Catherine Howard were both at some time married to King Henry VIII. They had just as many similarities between them as differences. They were two very different women in how they acted, but in their earlier days before Henry, they were quite similar. They were both born in England, although the exact birthplace of Jane is unknown, it is definitely still in England. Catherine was born in London. Religion was another big similarity. Though Jane would be portrayed after her death as a strong Protestant, she was raised a pious Catholic. She was tagged by Martin Luther as “an enemy of the gospel”. Catherine was also raised a Catholic, but she was never pious like Jane. However, Catherine went on to represent the Catholic people’s best hope for influencing the King to restore the Catholic faith to its pre – Reformation superiority. In today’s society, to be as young as these women were when they married, would be uncommon. Jane married Henry at the age of 27, which isn’t that uncommon, but it’s still quite young. Catherine married Henry at the age of 17; she was just a young girl. Both women were somewhat related to Henry, therefore were both descendants of royalty. Jane was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth. She was also King Henry VIII’S fifth cousin three times removed. Catherine was the tenth daughter of Lord Edmund Howard, a younger son of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Joyce Culpeper. She was also the first cousin to Henry’s first wife, Anne Boleyn. These women reigned in different periods of time. Jane was Queen Consort from 1533 – 1536, while Catherine was also Queen Consort from 1540 – 1542. Both women’s personalities differed enormously, they were complete opposites. Jane was more the conservative type, as opposed to Catherine who was very

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