Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby

Who was Catherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby?

Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, was an English noblewoman living at the royal courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and later, Queen Elizabeth I. She was the fourth wife of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, who acted as her legal guardian during his third marriage to Mary Tudor, the younger sister of Henry VIII. Her second husband was Richard Bertie, a member of her household. Following Charles Brandon's death in 1545, it was rumoured that King Henry had considered marrying Catherine as his seventh wife, while he was still married to his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, who was Catherine's close friend.

An outspoken supporter of the English Reformation, she fled abroad to Wesel and later Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the reign of Queen Mary I, to avoid persecution.