Dead Folk You Should Know: Katherine Parr

I recently read the Old Testament book of Esther, about a beautiful young woman who becomes queen so that she can use her position to save God’s people. Katherine Parr in 16th Century England had a similar experience, and used her influence in the King’s court for the sake of reforming Christ’s church. Her courage demands our respect. Colin Reed explains:

‘Psalms and Prayers’, published in 1545, was the first book ever published in England with a woman named as the author; ‘the most virtuous and gracious Princess Katherine, Queen of England’. You have heard of King Henry VIII’s six wives; she was the one who outlived him.

This book was a collection of Psalms translated from the Latin Bible, and prayers, from older writers, also translated from Latin. Queen Katherine was a supporter of the Reformation, which was dangerous in those turbulent days. Henry VIII wanted to be free of the political power of the Pope and the Spanish, who helped to uphold Papal power; the ill-fated Spanish Armada invaded England some 40 years later. Henry VIII was not so keen on actually reforming the beliefs of the Church of England and was suspicious of those who were.

But he was proud of his well-educated wife with whom he could discuss theological issues. He knew that she read her translations of the Psalms to her ladies-in-waiting when others would have been punished for translating the Bible into English. The Council issued an order for her arrest on charges of ‘heresy’ but the charge was dropped. In 1545 the King supported Katherine in publishing her book, which she had discussed with Archbishop Cranmer who also managed to survive the troubled court of Henry, and later wrote the Reformed Anglican Prayer Book. Katherine then wrote another book, the testimony of her own conversion, called ‘Lamentations of a Sinner’. It was a ‘significant document of the Reformation’ (Wikipedia). The queen translated it into Latin and French and it was widely read on the Continent.

From this brave queen we learn: (a) courage to stand for true Biblical faith (b) the power of personal testimony and Christian biography.

Grace and peace,
Mark