Sir Thomas Clere (died 14 April 1545) was a successful poet at the court 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 disa ...

. He is commemorated in several poems by

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), Order of the Garter, 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 instan ...

, with whom he had a very close friendship. He was engaged to

Mary Shelton Mary Shelton (1510-1515 – 1570/71) was one of the contributors to the Devonshire manuscript. Either she or her sister Madge Shelton may have been a mistress of King Henry VIII. Family Both Margaret and Mary were daughters of Sir John Shel ...

, a former mistress of the King's, in 1545, but died before their love match could be made into a marriage. Sir Thomas Clere was the third son of Sir Robert Clere (c.1493 - 10 August 1529) of

Ormesby St. Margaret Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby is a civil parish in the England, English county of Norfolk. It is made up of the inland village of Ormesby St Margaret and the adjacent seaside resorts of Scratby and California. The villages are some apart, an ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, and his wife

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

, the daughter of Sir William Boleyn and his wife Margaret Ormond (otherwise Butler), daughter and co-heiress of

Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond PC (1426 – 3 August 1515) was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was attainted, but restored by Henry VII's first Parliament in November 1485, and the statutes made at Westminster, by E ...

. Alice was the sister of

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire Thomas Bolina, Earl of Wiltshire, 1st Earl of Ormond, 1st Viscount Rochford KG KB (c. 1477 – 12 March 1539), of Hever Castle in Kent, was an English diplomat and politician who was the father of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry ...

, and the aunt of King Henry VIII's second Queen,

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

. Sir Thomas Clere was thus Queen Anne Boleyn's first cousin.. Sir Thomas Clere was buried in the Church of St Mary at Lambeth in Surrey where his monumental brass can still be seen. His brother, Edward Clere was killed at the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Cro ...

in 1547.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clere, Thomas 1545 deaths 16th-century English poets 16th-century Royal Navy personnel English knights Year of birth missing English male poets Burials at St Mary-at-Lambeth