Parr, Katherine, Queen of England

Abstract

On July 12, 1543, Katherine Parr (1512–1548) married Henry VIII and served as queen consort for 3.5 years and as dowager queen for almost 2 years. As queen, she was expected to participate fully in the magnificent cultural life of the Tudor court and to serve as a patron of the visual arts, literature, music, and religious culture. Parr was an unusual consort in that she was a writer and a patron of religious texts that circulated in print, in manuscript, and in special gift copies. She translated the Psalms or Prayers (1544), composed the Prayers or Meditations (1545) and Lamentation of a Sinner (1548), and was the chief organizer and patron of the English translation of Erasmus’ Paraphrases Upon the New Testament (1548). She pursued her literary and religious interests alongside other women who were also writers, readers, or patrons, women such as Elizabeth Tyrwhit, Katherine Brandon, Mildred Cooke Cecil, Mary Tudor, Jane Wriothesley, Anne Cooke Bacon, Anne Askew, and Elizabeth Tudor. Parr’s works were popular during her lifetime and throughout the sixteenth century, and her contemporaries acknowledged that she was an important writer and reformer. In 2011, Janel Mueller edited her works and correspondence, and scholars have since uncovered new information about her works and sources that enhances our understanding of her contributions to England’s literary and religious history.