Samantha Pauly as Katherine Howard in Six on Broadway.

While Henry VIII's wives have captured the imagination of many for centuries, Catherine Howard often gets overshadowed by some of the other wives like Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon. Comparatively, Catherine's marriage to Henry was much shorter, and there are far fewer remaining documents of her life than many of the other wives. Even so, she's made her own impact on pop culture and history.

Catherine has been the subject of many biographies and documentaries, as well as appeared in films and tv shows. One of my personal favorites is the musical Six which focuses on all six of Henry VIII's wives and all of them get their own songs about their downfalls. Katherine's (spelled with a K in the musical to help differentiate between the three Catherines) song focuses on her relationships and how they affected her.

Catherine has also captured minds in the world of the paranormal. Hampton Court Palace, the palace that she was questioned in, claims to be haunted by her spirit. It is said that in the portrait gallery the ghost of Catherine screaming and running can be seen. This is based on a legend that when she was accused, she escaped from her room and attempted to flee the palace. Though this legend is untrue, claims of witnessing her spirit have not died down.

She may have also influenced someone important far earlier. Shortly after Catherine was executed, Elizabeth I expressed her wish to never marry. It is possible that the death of her latest stepmother, along with the execution of her mother, may have influenced the future queen to wish to stay unmarried. This is, of course, something she famously stuck to.

Catherine Howard has been historically lambasted and ignored for centuries. It is my intention to use this website to help spread her story and give her the respect she deserves. It is important that we examine her actions as human, and take her mistakes as they are. It must be remembered that she was a teenager, and her actions are ones that dumb teenagers do all the time. She was guilty of what she was accused of, but her sentence was far harsher than she deserved. It is far past time we look upon her with forgiveness rather than with accusations.