Catherine of Valois
A French princess whose secret second marriage, after a brief reign as England's queen, founded the Tudor dynasty.
1401–1437 (age 36)·Queen of England from 1420 to 1422·Birthday: October 27
Biography
Catherine of Valois entered history as a political pawn, a daughter of the mad French king Charles VI married to the victorious English warrior-king Henry V to seal a treaty. She was crowned Queen of England in 1421, but her husband's sudden death from dysentery the following year left her a widow with an infant son, Henry VI, in a foreign and fractious court. As a young dowager queen with royal blood from both sides of the Hundred Years' War, she became a problem for the English nobility, who feared her potential remarriage. Defying them, she formed a relationship with a Welsh courtier, Owen Tudor. Their secret marriage, which produced several children, was a stunning act of personal agency. Though she died at just 35, this union planted the seed for the House of Tudor; her grandson would become Henry VII, the first Tudor king, forever altering England's monarchy.
#1 When Catherine Was Born
The biggest hits of 1401
Catherine's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1401Born
1406Started school
1414Became a teenager
1417Could drive
1419Could vote
1422Turned 21
1431Turned 30
1437Died at 36
Key Achievements
- Became Queen of England through her marriage to Henry V, mothering the successor King Henry VI.
- Her secret marriage to Owen Tudor established the Tudor lineage that would rule England for over a century.
- Acted as a vital genealogical link between the warring Plantagenet houses of England and Valois of France.
- Her descendants include every English monarch from Henry VII onward and the modern British royal family.
Did You Know?
She was only 20 years old when she became a widow and dowager queen.
Parliament passed a law forbidding her from remarrying without the king's consent, which she circumvented.
For many years after her death, her coffin was left open at Westminster Abbey, becoming a macabre tourist attraction.
She is a direct ancestor of Queen Elizabeth II.
“I was a king's daughter, a king's wife, and the mother of a king.”
