The Lamentations of a Sinner

The Lamentation of a Sinner is a three-part sequence of reflections published by the English queen Catherine Parr, the sixth wife and widow of Henry VIII, as well as the first woman to publish in English under her own name. It was written in the autumn of 1546 at the latest and published in November 1547, after her husband's death. Its publication was sponsored by the Duchess of Suffolk and the Marquess of Northampton, the Queen's closest friend and brother respectively.

Catherine Parr, who became queen in 1543, had a profound influence on government decisions, including religious policy. She succeeded in preventing Henry VIII from plundering universities, which happened to monasteries in 1541. Eminent humanists advocating the Reformation had place in her household, and she entrusted to them the education of her stepchildren, the future monarchs Elizabeth I and Edward VI. She hosted readings of the newly published English translations of the Bible for her friends and theologians, and did not refrain from engaging in debate about the Reformation with her more conservative husband. He eventually became discontented with her growing independence; sensing this, her opponents at court tried to incriminate her during the trial for heresy of the Protestant Anne Askew in 1546. Heresy charges were drawn up against the Queen, with the King's approval, and her rooms were searched for unorthodox literature, but no evidence was found. She publicly submitted to her husband's supreme authority and so avoided becoming the third of Henry's wives to be executed (following Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard), but remained undeterred in her Protestant conviction.

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