Joan Bulmer was an English gentlewoman during the reign of Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. She grew up in the household of Agnes Howard, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and there became a close friend of the Dowager Duchess' step-granddaughter, Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....

, who went on to become Henry VIII's fifth wife

Wives of Henry VIII

The wives of Henry VIII were the six queens consort married to Henry VIII of England between 1509 and 1547. The six women to hold the title 'queens consort' of King Henry VIII were, in order:* Catherine of Aragon ,* Anne Boleyn ,...

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She was the second daughter and heir of John or Thomas Bulmer or Bulman. During her teenage years, she was the lover of Edward Waldegrave

Edward Waldegrave

Sir Edward Waldegrave was an English courtier and recusant.-Life:Waldegrave was the son of John Waldegrave and a maternal nephew of Robert Rochester...

. Once Catherine became queen

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

, she gave Joan a place at court; it cannot be determined whether this was out of friendship or consideration of the tales which Joan could tell on the Queen and her teenage affairs. Bulmer may have been close to Francis Dereham

Francis Dereham

Francis Dereham was a Tudor courtier whose involvement with Henry VIII's fifth Queen, Catherine Howard, in her youth was a principal cause of the Queen's execution.-Life:...

, Queen Catherine's liaison who brought about her downfall.

In film and television

Joan is depicted in the fourth series of The Tudors

The Tudors

The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...

by Catherine Steadman

Catherine Steadman

Catherine Steadman is an English actress, best known for playing Joan Bulmer, best friend and betrayer of Catherine Howard in the fourth and final season of The Tudors.-Career:...

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