Was King Henry V of England related to his wife Catherine of Valois?

[raccoon]

In Shakespeare's HENRY V he calls her "cousin," and most of the royals of Europe were related somehow.

[JNelson6563]

1. Perhaps but not within the prohibited degrees.

Such terms "cousin", "brother", etc. were used in the non-literal sense. Remember in Henry V, the French King ask Exeter acting as messenger "And from our brother, England?"

Julie

[Rowdyboy]

2. Dammit, this question has irritated me since I first saw it months ago...I finally gave up and

did the legwork. Thank God for Wikipedia!

Yes, they were 3rd or 4th cousins. Charles of Valois (1270-1325) had multiple children including Joan who married the Count of Hainaut and Isabella who married the duke of Bourbon. Joan was the grandmother of John of Gaunt who was the grandfather of Henry V. Isabella was the grandmother of Charles VI of France and Catherine of Valois was his daughter.

They all intermarried constantly and bred like rabbits. Cheers!