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wonder-worker · 8 months

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Katherine of York:

Henry (VIII)’s fondness for his aunt was once again demonstrated when in 1512 he granted Katherine all the Courtenay estates in Devon for the term of her life, and to be passed to her children upon her death. This act gave Katherine her much needed security, although did she have to make a sacrifice to pay for it? For shortly after William’s death, Katherine took the following vow of chastity:

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I, Katherine Courtneye, Countess of Devonshire, widow, and not wedded, ne unto any man assured, promise and make a vow to God, and to our Lady, and to all the Company of Heaven, in the presence of you, worshipful Father in God, Richard, Bishop of London, for to be chaste of my body, and truly and devoutly shall keep me chaste, for this time forward, as long as my life lasteth, after the rule of St Paul. In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti

The romantic perspective of course is that she took the vow because she deeply loved her husband and had come to a decision that she did not want to marry anyone else. This may well have been the case. But there is also a hypothesis that perhaps this vow may have either been a condition of Henry’s grant to her, or a condition Katherine placed upon herself to keep her lands and property safe. As the daughter of a Yorkist King, as much as Henry had a real regard for her, he may not have felt the same about any future man that she may have chosen to marry. There is no proof that he asked her to take the vow of chastity, but it may have been a bargaining tool that saw him grant her the estates, ultimately giving her security without the threat to himself of a new husband at some point in the future using her lineage to threaten the throne. But it may also of course have been something that Katherine decided was in her own best interests. Widows in medieval times were able to run their own estates and take care of their children but once they remarried, their power completely diminished and they once again because subservient to their husband. Having been through so much upheaval and insecurity, this was finally Katherine’s chance to take control of her own destiny once and for all and she must have grabbed the opportunity with both hands, never again having to rely on anyone else for help and support.

Once William had died Katherine spent less time and court and much more of her time on her Devon estates. She remained in favour with her nephew, Henry VIII, giving and receiving gifts from him, as well as several wardships. She was also given the honour of being godmother to Princess Mary.

As a femme sole, Katherine was now able to make a comfortable life for herself in Devon, and it seems she became a well-liked and respected member of the community. Her main residence was Tiverton Castle, which today is a privately owned house which the owners open up to the public. In an inventory taken in 1538 after the death of her eldest son, the castle is described as a mansion, moated, walled and embattled, with houses, offices and lodgings ‘well-kept and repaired’ with fair gardens and two parks. It was originally built as a motte and bailey castle in 1106 by the de Redvers family, the first Norman Earls of Devon. As the centuries moved on, the castle was altered and enlarged and exhibits today all periods of architecture from medieval to modern, along with beautiful walled gardens.

...For over fifteen years she lived here in relative peace and comfort, keeping in touch with her friends and family in London by letter and perhaps travelling to London and the court for special occasions. Household accounts that have survived from the period 1522-23 and 1523-24 detail payments to messengers for taking correspondence to the King and Cardinal Wolsey. She used for her title and seal ‘the excellent Princess Katherine, Countess of Devon, daughter, sister and aunt of Kings’ and in official documents, signed herself Katherine Devonshire.

She also paid a servant who took four horses to her daughter in London and remembered her husband William by paying for a mass on the anniversary of his death. A London Chandler was likewise paid for a year’s supply of wax for Lord William’s tomb.

Katherine ran her own estates with network of stewards and servants; some of her properties were administered for her by a bailiff, and some paid rent directly to her. Her influence was felt throughout the local area, an example of which can be found on a rood screen in Kenn church, which contains a panel to Saint Bridget and is the only known surviving example of a depiction of the Bridget cult in the south-west. The Courtenays presented to Kenn church and before its restoration in the nineteenth century the Courtenay arms were reportedly seen by antiquarians in the east window of the chancel and in a window in the south aisle. It is not believed that Katherine paid for the screen but the presence of Saint Bridget on one of the panels does suggest her influence, particularly because of her family connection to Saint Bridget, the saint whose name her younger sister bore. Katherine did visit the church at Kenn as she presented the new rector, Thomas Mitchell, in 1517. She certainly had a reputation in the parish for her generosity in the giving of alms and was a patron of several religious orders, inviting their members to come and preach at Columbjohn. The rood screen can still be seen today in St Andrew’s church in Kenn. During the reformation, many rood screens were renamed chancel screens but were often defaced or destroyed in an attempt to remove the images of saints and catholic idolatry. Amazingly the Kenn screen survived and it was renovated to its former glory in the nineteenth century.

... What we can also glean from these records is her generosity to staff. Philippa, her maid, upon her marriage received £6 13s 4d and Katherine also covered the cost of velvet for her wedding dress and kirtle, the cost of making the outfit and the cost of the wedding. ‘Andrew of the kitchen’ had garments made for him and her fools, Dick, Mug and Kit were well provided for as she paid for the mending and washing of their clothes. In her Will of 2nd May 1527 she made provision for her servants to be provided for a year after her death. For the Christmas festivities, she bought a ‘gallon of honey, apples and pears bought against Christmas’. Players who performed before the Countess on New Years’ Eve and New Years’ day were paid 13s 4d. Payments for the King and Queen’s New Year gifts are listed as well as a gift to her son of two buckles, two pendants, six studs, six oiletts, six aglets (a metal tube wrapped around a shoelace) and gold and enamel garters.

Katherine, on her estates far away from London, would almost certainly have had an opinion on the goings-on at court but that opinion of course was never recorded. Staunchly catholic as she had been brought up, she would likely have received news of her nephew’s intentions to divorce Catherine with some dismay; she would have known and met Catherine of Aragon on more than one occasion. Thankfully she did not live long enough to witness the arrest and execution of her son. As the King removed the threat of any remaining Yorkists, you cannot help but wonder whether his deep admiration and regard for Katherine would have been enough to save her had she still been living, or whether she too would eventually have fallen under his suspicion. But as it was, she did not even live long enough to see Anne Boleyn finally usurp her rival to become Henry’s second wife, as on 15th November 1527, at 3pm in the afternoon, she died at her home in Tiverton. She was forty-eight years old. Her body was embalmed, cered, leaded and covered with a pall of black velvet, with a cross of white satin. Upon that was placed another pall of cloth of gold with a white cross of silver tissue garnished with six escutcheons of her arms. Katherine’s body was attended day and night until Monday 21st December, when mourners wearing black hoods and gowns and carrying banners depicting the saints, escorted her body to Tiverton parish church under a canopy of black velvet. The coffin was placed under a richly decorated canopy, which was guarded all night by attendants. The mourning party then returned to Tiverton Castle for a meal.

At 7am the next morning, the mourners returned to the church where a requiem mass was sung by the Abbot of Montacute, who was supported by choristers from the nearby city of Exeter. In honour of his aunt, the King sent one of his chaplains to deliver the sermon. Her Chief mourner was Lady Carew, who was assisted by Sir Piers Edgecombe. After the service, her body was buried in a vault in the Courtenay chapel on the north side of the church (probably near the site of the present vestry). Her funeral was attended by five hundred mourners including the Mayor of Exeter and City Alderman and was a testament to her popularity. After her death, eight thousand poor people were paid two pence each on the condition they prayed for her soul. In her memory, her son Henry had a tomb erected, of which there is no longer any trace; it was very likely a casualty of the Civil War.

Katherine was still living when Thomas More was writing his History of King Richard III between 1513 and 1518, and his description of her is a perfect summing up of her life. He tells us Katherine was ‘long time tossed in either fortune, sometimes in wealth, oft in adversity, at the last – if this be the last, for yet she liveth – is by the benignity of her nephew King Henry the Eighth in very prosperous estate and worthy her birth and virtue’. She did not live long enough to see the outcome of her nephew’s ‘great matter’ that brought about not only his divorce but also radical changes to the religion that Katherine would have held so dearly. And she managed to live out her final years in peace and security and also, one hopes, she managed to find happiness. After all the adversity she experienced in her early life, this Princess of York may not have ended up as Queen of Spain as was originally intended for her by her father, but she managed to obtain for herself her own little kingdom where she could reign as Duchess of Devon.

Sarah J. Hodder, "The York Princesses: The Daughters of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville"

#historicwomendaily #apart from Elizabeth (obviously) Katherine is the most interesting York daughter to me #obviously it helps that we know a lot more about her than the others #comparatively speaking that is. in general we know frustratingly little about any of them (apart from Elizabeth naturally)#katherine of york #catherine of york #16th century #english history #henry viii #queue #(also was she a duchess? she married an Earl's heir so I don't think that's the term? oh well)#my post

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thottybrucewayne · 7 months

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Speaking of Do the Right Thing, here's some companion films to watch with it!

Uptight (1968) Dir. Jules Dassin ||A drama based on the novel The Informer, Uptight is a film set post-MLK assassination, focusing on a group of Black revolutionaries preparing for a race war and betrayal from within their ranks.|| Like Do the Right Thing, Uptight is about a cast of young Black folks struggling with the society they live in being built on white supremacy and how they navigate that, whether it be through resistance or assimilation. Basically, it is a mediation on Black American identity (Another movie I recommend watching with this one specifically is The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) dir. Ivan Dixon is based on a play by the same name that deals with the same themes through the POV of a Black former CIA agent)

Cornbread, Earl, and Me (1975) Dir. Joseph Manduke ||"High school basketball star Nathaniel "Cornbread" Hamilton (Keith Wilkes) is the pride of his urban neighborhood, and he appears destined for big things on the court and in the classroom. But a dare leads to a fatal misunderstanding when Nathaniel is shot dead by police who take him for someone who's just committed a violent crime. As police officers try to protect one of their own, members of the oppressed African-American community do what they must in order to find justice."|| This film is the one I feel has the most in common with Do the Right Thing, there are many parallels to be drawn from both Radio Raheem and Cornbread to the way cops are presented in both films. Both tell stories that are unfortunately prescient, a misunderstanding that a Black person pays for with their life is the sad reality of the society we live in. Each film also feels like a time capsule, which makes the reality that things haven't changed that much hit so much harder. Each film paints a sobering picture of Policing, race relations in America, and the demonization of Blackness.

Higher Learning (1995) Dir. John Singleton // A group of incoming freshmen at Columbus University -- including varsity athlete Malik Williams (Omar Epps), awkward outcast Remy (Michael Rapaport), and wide-eyed Kristen Connor (Kristy Swanson) -- struggle to find themselves and adjust to newfound independence. When Remy finds acceptance among a group of neo-Nazis, tensions rise even higher on a campus already divided along racial, socio-economic, and gender lines.// John Singleton's Higher Learning pulls no punches when it comes to the depiction of the banality of evil and the alt-right pipeline years before we even knew how to define it. In the character of Remy, we see the effects of white supremacist dogma coupled with white male insecurity. Like Do the Right Thing, Higher Learning mainly focuses on race relations on and policing. I do think its view of misogyny and gender was extremely lacking and not nearly as fleshed out. (like spoiler alert the Black girl that dies in this barely was a character like she's not very well written at all) but this movie is still very much worth the watch for the discussion of race alone.

La Haine (1996) Dir. Mathieu Kassovitz ||When a young Arab is arrested and beaten unconscious by police, a riot erupts in the notoriously violent suburbs outside of Paris. Three of the victim's peers, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Said (Said Taghmaoui), and Hubert (Hubert Koundé), wander aimlessly about their home turf in the aftermath of the violence as they try to come to grips with their outrage over the brutal incident. After one of the men finds a police officer's discarded weapon, their night seems poised to take a bleak turn|| I first saw this movie during my freshman year of college and WHEW! It's best to go in with little knowledge on this one but just know it is a VERY hard watch. This black-and-white French film brilliantly tackles police brutality, racism, classism, and the frustrations of youth demonized by a white supremacist system.

#Uptight (1968) dir. Jules Dassin #Cornbread Earl and Me (1975) dir. Jopesh Manduke #Higher Learning (1995) dir. John Singleton #La Haine (1996) dir. Mathieu Kassovitz #thotty speaks #thotty goes to the movies!#The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973) dir. Ivan Dixon #tw police brutality

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