Katherine Willoughby: Duchess, Exile, Survivor

On this day in Tudor history, 19 September 1580, Katherine Willoughby (Katherine Brandon, later Katherine Bertie), Duchess of Suffolk, died after a long illness and was laid to rest at Spilsby, Lincolnshire.

I’m historian and author Claire Ridgway, and today I’m telling the story of one of my favourite Tudor women, a brilliant, resilient figure who moved from court glitter to deepest grief, from duchess to exile and back again, guided by a sharp mind and a fiercer faith.

In this episode:

• Heiress & child-bride: ward of Charles Brandon and Duchess at 14
• Court & conscience: official mourner at Catherine of Aragon’s funeral; hiring Hugh Latimer to preach
• Tragedy in 1551: losing both sons to the sweating sickness the same day
• Love & exile: marriage to Richard Bertie, flight under Mary I, return under Elizabeth I
• Legacy: patronage of reform, Miles Coverdale in her household, and that famous little dog named “Gardiner”

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