Sir John Gates KB (1504–1553)Sil p. 69 was an English courtier, soldier and politician, holding influential

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

positions in the reigns of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

and

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...

. One of the Chief Gentlemen of the

Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

under Edward VI, he became a follower of

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jan ...

and was a principal participant in the attempt to establish

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

on the English throne. For this he was executed for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

under

Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

Serving Henry VIII and Edward VI

Originating from an ancient

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Gr ...

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

family going back to

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

, John Gates had a thorough training as a lawyer at

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

. He married Mary Denny, sister of

Sir Anthony Denny Sir Anthony Denny (16 January 1501 – 10 September 1549) was Groom of the Stool to King Henry VIII of England, thus his closest courtier and confidant. He was the most prominent member of the Privy chamber in King Henry's last years, having ...

, and served

Queen Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

from 1543–1545.Hutchinson p. 335 He was a member of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagr ...

, first as a groom, from 1542. From 1546 he was in charge, with his brother-in-law, of the King's personal finances and his "dry stamp", a substitute, to the King's convenience, for Henry's "sign manual" or personal signature. These positions of trust implied considerable influence. In December 1546, Gates was one of three commissioners (along with Sir Richard Southwell and Wymond Carew) sent to confiscate and inventory the houses of

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), KG, was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person executed at the instance of King Henry VI ...

, and

Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, (1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were behead ...

, following their arrests on suspicion of challenging the succession of Prince Edward. Gates and Southwell produced detailed inventories of

Kenninghall Kenninghall is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England, with an area of and a population of 950 at the 2011 census. It falls within the local government district of Breckland. Home to the kings of East Anglia, after the Norman invasion o ...

, the duke's mansion, Castle Rising, and Surrey's house at St. Leonard's, Norwich, while Carew visited and inventoried the house of Elizabeth Holland, the duke's mistress, at Mendham, Suffolk. Under

King Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...

Gates became a Chief

Gentleman of the Privy Chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, ...

after the fall of Protector Somerset in the autumn of 1549. He rose to Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household on 8 April 1551; a few days later he was admitted to the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

under the leadership of

. In these positions Gates was a significant channel of communications between the Duke and the young King and was granted custody of the King's signet in December 1551. In July 1552 he was appointed

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is a ministerial office in the Government of the United Kingdom. The position is the second highest ranking minister in the Cabinet Office, immediately after the Prime Minister, and senior to the Minist ...

. He was a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the same ...

for Essex from 1532 until his execution and served as

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

for 1549–50. Gates was also a soldier and as Sheriff went several times into Essex to arrest rioters and carry through the official destruction of "superstitious altars". He was also

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the

Gentlemen Pensioners His Majesty's Body Guard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms is a bodyguard to the British Monarch. Until 17 March 1834, they were known as The Honourable Band of Gentlemen Pensioners. Formation The corps was formed as the Troop of Gen ...

(the royal guard) from April 1551.

Parliamentary career

Gates was elected MP for Wycombe in 1542, for New Shoreham in 1545, for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

in 1547 and for

in 1547 and 1553.

1553 succession crisis

John Gates was deeply involved in the succession crisis of 1553, and

claimed that he had confessed to have been the first to have induced King Edward to name her his successor. Notwithstanding Gates' commitment to Edward's will, his putative role in its conception has been questioned by Narasingha P. Sil on the grounds that he probably was not as close to the young King as traditionally believed. On 14 July 1553, Gates led the troops of the royal household to

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in wh ...

in the campaign against

. He was arrested with Northumberland at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge becam ...

and tried at

Westminster Hall The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

on 19 August 1553. On 22 August 1553, he took the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

communion, recanting his

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to ...

faith in a ceremony at

St Peter ad Vincula Saint Peter ad Vincula (Saint Peter in Chains) alludes to the Bible story of the Liberation of Saint Peter, when the Apostle Peter, imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa, was rescued by an angel. Frequently seen translations are: *English – St Peter i ...

in the Tower precincts. Immediately afterward, he was executed, together with the Duke of Northumberland and Sir Thomas Palmer on Tower Hill. He was buried in St Peter ad Vincula. According to one chronicle the following scene had taken place shortly before at the

Lieutenant of the Tower The Lieutenant of the Tower of London serves directly under the Constable of the Tower. The office has been appointed at least since the 13th century. There were formerly many privileges, immunities and perquisites attached to the office. Like the ...

's garden gate:

"Sir John," sayeth the duke, "God have mercy upon us, for this day shall end both our lives. And I pray you forgive me whatsoever I have offended; and I forgive you with all my heart, although you and your counsel was a great occasion hereof." "Well, my lord," sayeth Sir John Gates, "I forgive you as I would be forgiven; and yet you and your authority was the only original cause of all together; but the Lord pardon you, and I pray you forgive me." So, either making obeisance to achother, the duke proceeded owards the scaffold

His Essex estates at

Rivenhall St Mary and All Saints' church Rivenhall is a village and civil parish near Witham in the Braintree district in the English county of Essex. It is near the small settlement of Rivenhall End. It has a primary school called Rivenhall Church of ...

and Shalford were confiscated by the Crown.

Notes

References

*Alford, Stephen (2002): ''Kingship and Politics in the Reign of Edward VI'' Cambridge University Press * Hutchinson, Robert (2006): ''The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracy, Treason and Heresy at the Court of the dying Tyrant'' Phoenix * Ives, Eric (2009): ''Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery'' Wiley-Blackwell * Loades, David (1996): ''John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553'' Clarendon Press * Nichols, J. G. (ed.) (1850)
''The Chronicle of Queen Jane''
Camden Society *Sil, N.P. (2001): ''Tudor Placemen and Statesmen: Select Case Histories'' Rosemont Publishing {{DEFAULTSORT:Gates, John (courtier) 1504 births 1553 deaths 16th-century English soldiers English MPs 1542–1544 English MPs 1545–1547 English MPs 1547–1552 English MPs 1553 (Edward VI) Knights of the Bath Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber High Sheriffs of Essex High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire People executed under the Tudors for treason against England Executions at the Tower of London Executed people from Essex People executed by Tudor England by decapitation People executed under Mary I of England Burials at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula English courtiers English politicians convicted of crimes Court of Henry VIII Chancellors of the Duchy of Lancaster

Serving Henry VIII and Edward VI

Parliamentary career

1553 succession crisis

See also

Notes

References