Katharine Basset (c. 1522 – after 1558, occasionally misnamed "Elizabeth") was an English gentlewoman who served at the court of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

, namely in the household of Queen

Anne of Cleves Anne of Cleves (german: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557) was Queen of England from 6 January to 12 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. Not much is known about Anne before 1527, when she became betrothed to Francis, Duke of ...

, and was briefly

jailed A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correcti ...

for speaking against him. Three of her letters to her mother

Honor Grenville Honor Grenville, Viscountess Lisle (c. 1493–1495Byrne, vol.1, p. 305, Honor's birthyear was estimated at 1493–95 – 1566) was a Cornish lady whose domestic life from 1533 to 1540 during the reign of King Henry VIII is exceptional ...

survive in the

Lisle Papers The Lisle Papers are the correspondence received in Calais between 1533 and 1540 by Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (c.1480-1542), Lord Deputy of Calais, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV and an uncle of King Henry VIII, and by his wife, ...

Life

Basset was the second daughter of Sir John Basset (1462–1528), KB, of

Tehidy Tehidy Country Park is a country park in Illogan in Cornwall, England which incorporates of the parkland and estate around Tehidy House, a former manor house of the Tehidy manor . The park's facilities include an events field, barbecue hire ...

in Cornwall and

Umberleigh Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it becam ...

in Devon (

Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, oth ...

in 1497, 1517 and 1522 and

Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1524) by his second wife,

(died 1566; later Viscountess Lisle), a daughter of Sir Thomas Grenville (died 1513) of

Stowe Stowe may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village **Stowe House **Stowe School * Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish * Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire * Stowe, Linc ...

in the parish of

Kilkhampton Kilkhampton ( kw, Kylgh) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is on the A39 road#Atlantic Highway, A39 about four miles (6 km) north-northeast of Bude. Kilk ...

, Cornwall, and

lord of the manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

in North Devon,

in 1481 and in 1486. Her siblings were: Philippa Basset (born 1516), eldest daughter; John Basset (1518–1541), his father's eldest son and heir, a lawyer and servant of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

who died aged 23;

Anne Basset Anne Basset (1520 – before 1558) was an English lady-in-waiting of the Tudor period, reputed to have been the mistress of King Henry VIII. Biography Anne was born in 1520, the fourth child of Sir John Basset and Honor Grenville (daughter of S ...

(born 1521), third daughter and a fellow courtier,

maid of honour A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Role Traditionally, a queen r ...

successively to

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their Wives of Henry VIII, marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen followi ...

Catherine Howard Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the s ...

and

Katharine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

;

George Basset George Basset (), of Tehidy in the parish of Illogan, near Redruth in Cornwall, was an English politician. He was a Member of Parliament for Launceston, Cornwall, in 1563 and 1572, and for Bossiney, Cornwall, in 1571. He was patron of the a ...

(b.''circa'' 1522–5), second son, MP; and James Basset, MP, third son and youngest child, a courtier first to

Stephen Gardiner Stephen Gardiner (27 July 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip. Early life Gardiner was b ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except dur ...

and

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

, and later a courtier to

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

. Katharine was brought up by her mother and stepfather,

Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG (died 3 March 1542) was an illegitimate son of the English king Edward IV, half-brother-in-law of Henry VII, and an uncle of Henry VIII, at whose court he was a prominent figure and by whom he was app ...

(died 1542), Governor of Calais, uncle of King Henry VIII.

Career

Servant to Countess of Rutland

The young Katharine was sent to live in the household of

Eleanor Manners, Countess of Rutland Eleanor Manners, Countess of Rutland (née Paston; c. 1495 – 1551), was lady-in-waiting to five wives of King Henry VIII of England: Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. Marriage The daughter of ...

(c. 1495 – 1551), (

lady-in-waiting A lady-in-waiting or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but of lower rank than the woman to whom sh ...

to four wives of King Henry VIII:

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Howard) whom she served as a gentlewoman-waiter, until about 1540. During this time, her mother wrote to the Countess of Rutland, asking if "Mistress Basset" could become one of the Queen's maids, but the Countess thought no more maids would be accepted at court.

Servant to Anne of Cleves

Later after 1540 she gained a position in the household of Anne of Cleves, 4th wife of King Henry VIII from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. However, she never achieved the coveted position of

, as did her sister Anne Basset, as Anne of Cleves' marriage to the king was soon

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

to facilitate his marriage to Catherine Howard. Katharine Basset was referred to thereafter simply as "The Lady Anne of Cleves' woman". Anne resided at

Hever Castle Hever Castle ( ) is located in the village of Hever, Kent, near Edenbridge, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century. From 1462 to 1539, it was the seat of the Boleyn (originally 'Bullen') family. ...

, the old

family seat A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families to ...

of the

Boleyn family * Queen of England The Boleyn family was a prominent English family in the gentry and aristocracy. They reached the peak of their influence during the Tudor period, when Anne Boleyn became the second wife and queen consort of Henry VIII, their d ...

. The pursuit of a place at court for Katharine is well documented in the Lisle Papers. In 1539 Katherine wrote to her mother:

"...Madame, the cause of my writing to your ladyship is that we hear say that the King's grace shall be married and my lord and my lady (i.e. Rutland) as yet doth hear no word of their coming up to London. Wherefore I desire your ladyship that ye will be so good lady and mother unto me as to speak so that I may be one of the queen's maids..." (signed "Katherin Bassitt")

Her mother took the opportunity of making the request via John Norris, brother of Henry Norris. On her way to England Queen Anne of Cleves in December 1539 had an enforced stay at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, and Lord Lisle used his influence as Lord Deputy of Calais, on behalf of his step-daughter Katharine, to speak to the vice-chancellor of the

Duchy of Cleves The Duchy of Cleves (german: Herzogtum Kleve; nl, Hertogdom Kleef) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged from the medieval . It was situated in the northern Rhineland on both sides of the Lower Rhine, around its capital Cleves and ...

, Henry Olisleger, who wrote to Lord Lisle on 6 January 1540 with disappointing news as follows:

"My lord, very sorry at heart I am to advertise you that with the knowledge and goodwill of the Queen's Grace I have spoken with the king our master and also with my
Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
''(i.e.
Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
)'' and the other gentlemen of the
council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
to have Mistress Katharine, your wife's daughter, to be of the
privy chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...
with the queen; to the which I have had answer made me that the ladies and gentlewomen of the privy chamber were appointed before her grace's coming and that for this time patience must be had".

On 17 February 1540 Lady Rutland wrote more positively to Lady Lisle:

"My very good lady...And where ye be very desirous to have your daughter Mistress Basset to be one of the Queen's Grace's maids, and that ye would I should move her Grace in that behalf. These shall be to do your ladyship: to wit that I perceive right well the King's Highness' pleasure to be such that no more maids shall be taken in until such time as some of them that now be with the Queen's Grace be preferred. Albeit if ye will make some means unto Mother Lowe, who can do as much good in this matter as any one woman here, that she may make some means to get your said daughter with the Queen's said Grace; and in so doing I think ye shall obtain your purpose in every behalf and I for my part shall do the best I can to prefer her here for I would be right glad thereof both for the great honesty that is in her".

On 19 February 1540 Katharine wrote to her mother:

"Madame, in my humble wyse my duty to your ladyship deserving you of your daily blessing...I humbly beseech your ladyship to be good lady and mother to me, for my Lady of Rutland sayeth that Mother Lowe, the Mother of the Dutch Maids, may do much for my preferment to the Queen's Highness; so that your ladyship would send her my good token that she might the better remember me. Trusting that your ladyship would be good lady unto me in this behalf..."

The suit to "Mother Lowe" was successful and after 1540 Katharine was taken into the household of Anne of Cleves.

Arrest and questioning

Her sister

Anne Bassett Anne Basset (1520 – before 1558) was an English lady-in-waiting of the Tudor period, reputed to have been the mistress of King Henry VIII. Biography Anne was born in 1520, the fourth child of Sir John Basset and Honor Grenville (daughter of ...

was rumoured to be a mistress of Henry VIII, by whom she was showered with great gifts and kept at court even after her stepfather Viscount Lisle had been sent to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

for alleged

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, namely for having plotted to betray Calais, then an English dominion, to the French. According to rumour, Anne Basset was being considered as Henry's sixth wife on the eve of Queen Catherine Howard's execution. Katharine came to public attention at the same time that her sister was supposedly being considered as a new wife for King Henry VIII, and was arrested and briefly imprisoned on suspicion of having made treasonable utterances. Katharine is said to have gossiped that Catherine Howard's

misdemeanour A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

s and execution were the actions of God showing the king that his previous marriage to Anne of Cleves was still in force. The

Letters and Papers of Henry VIII ''Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII'' (full title: ''Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII: preserved in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and elsewhere in England''; often abbreviated in citat ...

record the following examination dated 4 December 1541 of Jane Rattsey, who it appears had been provoked by Katharine Basset's relation to her of the news of Catherine Howard's misdemeanours and by her expression of praise of Anne of Cleves, into making unconsidered and impolitic replies to her:

"Jane Rattsey, examined of her words to Eliz. (''sic'') Bassett, viz.: "What if God worketh this work to make the lady Anne of Cleves queen again?" says it was an idle saying suggested by Bassett's praising the lady Anne and dispraising the Queen that now is. Never spoke at any other time of the lady Anne, and she thinks the King's divorce from her good. Examined why she said, "What a man is the King! How many wives will he have?" She said it upon the sudden tidings declared to her by Bassett, when she was sorry for the change and knew not so much as she knows now".

Attends funeral of Henry VIII

At the funeral of King Henry VIII in 1547 Katharine Basset received a cloth allowance for clothing as one of the household of Anne of Cleves, and her sister Anne Basset received a cloth grant also as a servant of the king.

Marriage and progeny

On 8 December 1547 she married Sir

Henry Ashley Henry Ashley (February 19, 1778 – January 14, 1829) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from New York from 1825 to 1827. Biography Ashley was born the son of David Ashley in Winchester, Cheshire County, New Hampshire. He at ...

(1519–1588), MP, of Hever in Kent, later of St Giles, Upper Wimborne in Dorset, who was later knighted in 1553 the day after the coronation of Queen Mary I. She had the following progeny: * Sir

(1548-post 1605), MP, knighted in 1603, a gentleman-pensioner to Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Death

Basset was still alive in 1558 when mentioned in the will of her brother James Basset, but appears to have predeceased her husband, who died in 1588.Byrne, vol.6, p.277

Notes

References

*Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The Lisle Letters, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bassett, Katharine 1522 births Year of death missing 16th-century English women

Katharine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

English courtiers Household of Anne of Cleves