How Did That Happen?: The Marriage of Catherine Valois and Owen Tudor.

How did that happen?

We've all thought it.  You see a good looking woman holding the hand of an ugly man and think," how did that happen?"  Maybe the man is rich, charming or had her drink a love potion, why else would she be with him?  I often feel bad after thinking this, because I was being extremely judgemental.  But admit it, I'm not alone.

A few weeks ago I was reading a blog about Henry VIII's ancestry.  Sadly I don't remember the blog's name, however, it provided me a glimpse into Catherine Valois and Owen Tudor's love story.  Owen Tudor, a mere squire, but descended from Welsh royalty, somehow married the Dowager Queen Catherine Valois during the War of the Roses.  Yea...how did that happen?

Catherine Valois

While Owen Tudor was handsome, Catherine Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France and Elizabeth of Bavaria, was clearly out of his league.  Born in 1401, Catherine was betrothed to Henry V of England after the famous Battle of Agincourt.  Henry V was taken by her beauty and she seemed happy enough with the marriage.  Henry was a great military leader, the King of England, future King of France and didn't suffer from a debilitating mental illness like her father.They married in 1420 and in December of 1421, had a son Henry VI.

Shortly after Henry's birth, Catherine would become a widow at the age of 21.  The Duke of Gloucester, Henry VI's official protector, didn't want the newly widowed Catherine to remarry.  She was young, pretty and the mother of the future king, which made her dangerous.  Many men desired to marry her and influence the future king of England.

Gloucester, however, wasn't about to let this happen and had Parliament pass a law that forbade the remarriage of dowager queens unless they had the king's permission.  The chances of Catherine remarrying  were now about as good as Hell freezing over, because the penalty for breaking this law was death.  A little dramatic, but that's how they did things in the Middle Ages.  So Catherine Valois, the young, beautiful dowager queen was left with a cold bed.

Not Owen Tudor, but Henry VIII.  No known pictures of Owen Tudor exist, so I used his great grandson's portrait.

Reading like a romance novel enters Owen Tudor, who's father escaped Wales to avoid murder charges.  Unlike his father, Tudor had a respectable career, first fighting for the King of England in France and later as the courtier for Henry VI.  Sometime after Henry V's death, Tudor was made Clerk of the Wardrobe for Catherine Valois. How their affair started and when, has been debated for centuries, however it was believed their romance began at Windsor castle.

The walls of Windsor Castle.  If they could talk, what would they say?

 They secretly married, had children (one of which was the grandfather of Henry VII) and died tragic deaths.  Catherine died in childbirth, while Owen was arrested for treason.  Henry VI, however, pardoned Owen and later put him in command of his forces during the War of the Roses.  Tudor's death would ultimately be at the hands of Edward, Earl of March after the battle of Battle of Mortimer's Cross.  Before Owen Tudor was executed he said, "the head which used to lie in Queen Catherine's lap would now lie in the executioner's basket."  A fitting end to one of history's most intriguing love affairs.