Linda Ganstrom

 

Linda Ganstrom

Bell)e): Kathryn

Porcelain figure stained and painted on a welded steel skirt covered in tulle

 

 

 

 

Inspiration and Celebration



Kathryn de Valois, Catherine of Valois

 

Catherine of Valois was born October 27, 1401 and lived until January 3, 1437.  A daughter of French King, Charles VI or Charles the Mad and Queen Isabeau of Bavaria, Kathryn married Henry V of England in 1420 making him King of France.  After traveling to England, Kathryn soon became pregnant, but Henry had to return to the battlefield in France, where he died of dysentery at age 35. 

 

Kathryn, age 20 was left queen dowager with an infant son who was king of England and France.  To control her power through marriage, the English courts said her son had to reach majority and then grant her permission to marry, in affect condemning her to a unmarried life for at least 15 years.  But she developed a relationship with Owen Tudor and they had at least six children together, including Edmund who fathered Henry Tudor or Henry VII, King of England, thus establishing the Tudor line.

Possibly embarrassed and seeking to punish Kathryn for her unsanctioned union with Owen Tudor, Henry VII allowed Kathryn's corpse, uncovered in a renovation of Westminster, to remain exposed until reinterred by Queen Victoria.