Catherine Parr

Born around July 1512, Catherine Parr became Henry VIII's sixth wife on 12 July 1543, when she was already twice-widowed. She forged close bonds with his children - Mary, Elizabeth, Edward - tutoring the younger two herself and persuading Henry to restore his daughters to the line of succession in 1543. Her Protestant leanings nearly cost her: in spring 1546 a warrant for her arrest was drawn up by Catholic officials hoping to destroy her, but she and Henry reconciled. She published three books - Psalms or Prayers anonymously in April 1544, then Prayers or Meditations under her own name in June 1545, making her the first English queen to do so. After Henry died on 28 January 1547, she took Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey into her household, then six months later married Thomas Seymour. She died of childbirth complications on 5 September 1548; her funeral two days later was the first Protestant service held in English in the British Isles.