Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (144321 May 1524), styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1485 and again from 1489 to 1514, was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
, soldier and statesman who served four monarchs. He was the eldest son of
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (c. 142522 August 1485), was an English nobleman, soldier, politician, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk. He was a close friend and loyal supporter of King Richard III, with whom he was slain at the Battl ...
, by his first wife, Catharina de Moleyns. The Duke was the grandfather of both 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 ...
and Queen
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
and the great-grandfather of
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
. In 1513 he led the English to victory over the Scots at the decisive
Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
, for which he was richly rewarded by
King Henry VIII, then away in France.
Early life
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, was born in 1443 at
Stoke-by-Nayland,
Suffolk, the only surviving son of
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk (c. 142522 August 1485), was an English nobleman, soldier, politician, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk. He was a close friend and loyal supporter of King Richard III, with whom he was slain at the Battl ...
, by his first wife, Katherine, the daughter of
Sir William Moleyns (died 8 June 1425) and his wife Margery. He was educated at
Thetford Grammar School
Thetford Grammar School is an independent co-educational school in Thetford, Norfolk, England. The school might date back to the 7th century, which would make it one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom.
History
The school website conject ...
.
Service under Edward IV
While a young man, he entered the service of King
Edward IV as a
henchman
A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal Employment, employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose val ...
. Howard took the King's side when war broke out in 1469 with the
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the United Kingdom. The title has been created four times in English history, and the name refers to Warwick Castle and the town of Warwick.
Overview
The first creation ...
, and took sanctuary at
Colchester
Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian.
Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colch ...
when the King fled to Holland in 1470. Howard rejoined the royal forces at Edward's return to England in 1471, and was severely wounded at the
Battle of Barnet
The Battle of Barnet was a decisive engagement in the Wars of the Roses, a dynastic conflict of 15th-century England. The military action, along with the subsequent Battle of Tewkesbury, secured the throne for Edward IV. On Sunday 14 April ...
on 14 April 1471.
He was appointed an
esquire of the body in 1473. On 14 January 1478 he was
knighted by Edward IV at the marriage of the King's second son, the young
Duke of York, and
Lady Anne Mowbray (died 1481).
[.]
Service under Richard III
After the death of Edward IV on 9 April 1483, Thomas Howard and his father John supported Richard III. Thomas bore the
Sword of State at Richard's coronation and served as steward at the coronation banquet. Both Thomas and his father were granted lands by the new King, and Thomas was also granted an annuity of £1000. On 28 June 1483, John Howard was created
Duke of Norfolk
Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes ...
, while Thomas was created
Earl of Surrey
Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror. It is currently held as a subsidiary title by the Dukes of Norfol ...
.
Surrey was also sworn of the
Privy Council and invested with the
Order of the Garter. In the autumn of that year Norfolk and Surrey suppressed a rebellion against the King by the
Duke of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham.
...
.
Both Howards remained close to King Richard throughout his two-year reign, and fought for him at the
Battle of Bosworth
The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 Au ...
in 1485, where Surrey was wounded and taken prisoner, and his father killed. Surrey was
attainted in the first Parliament of the new King,
Henry VII, stripped of his lands, and committed to the
Tower of London
The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...
, where he spent the next three years.
Service under Henry VII
Howard was offered an opportunity to escape during the rebellion of the
Earl of Lincoln in 1487, but refused, perhaps thereby convincing Henry VII of his loyalty. In May 1489 Henry restored him to the
earldom of Surrey, although most of his lands were withheld, and sent him to quell a
rebellion in Yorkshire. Surrey remained in the north as the King's lieutenant until 1499.
He and his family lived in Sheriff Hutton Castle while in North. In 1499 he was recalled to court, and accompanied the King on a state visit to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in the following year. In 1501 he was again appointed a member of the Privy Council, and on 16 June of that year was made
Lord High Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in ...
. Surrey,
Richard Foxe
Richard Foxe (sometimes Richard Fox) ( 1448 – 5 October 1528) was an English churchman, the founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was successively Bishop of Exeter, Bath and Wells, Durham, and Winchester, and became also Lo ...
(
Bishop of Winchester and
Lord Privy Seal) and
William Warham
William Warham ( – 22 August 1532) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1503 to his death.
Early life and education
Warham was the son of Robert Warham of Malshanger in Hampshire. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford ...
(
Archbishop of Canterbury and
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. Th ...
), became the King's "executive triumvirate".
He was entrusted with a number of diplomatic missions. In 1501 he was involved in the negotiations for
Catherine of Aragon's marriage to
Arthur, Prince of Wales, and in 1503 conducted
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor (28 November 1489 – 18 October 1541) was Queen of Scotland from 1503 until 1513 by marriage to King James IV. She then served as regent of Scotland during her son's minority, and successfully fought to extend her regency. Ma ...
to
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
for her wedding to King
James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
.
Service under Henry VIII
Surrey was an executor of the will of King Henry VII when the King died on 21 April 1509, and played a prominent role in the coronation of King
Henry VIII, in which he served as
Earl Marshal
Earl marshal (alternatively marschal or marischal) is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the U ...
. He challenged
Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...
in an effort to become the new King's first minister, but eventually accepted Wolsey's supremacy. Surrey expected to lead the 1513 expedition to France, but was left behind when the King departed for Calais on 30 June 1513. Shortly thereafter King
James IV
James IV (17 March 1473 – 9 September 1513) was King of Scotland from 11 June 1488 until his death at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. He inherited the throne at the age of fifteen on the death of his father, James III, at the Battle of Sauch ...
of Scotland launched an invasion into England, and Surrey, with the aid of other noblemen and his sons
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
and
Edmund, crushed James's much larger force at the
Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
, near
Branxton, Northumberland
Branxton is a village and civil parish in northern Northumberland, England. It lies about from the England-Scotland border and about from the Scottish border town of Coldstream, just off the A697 Newcastle-Edinburgh road. At the 2011 Census, ...
, on 9 September 1513. The Scots may have lost as many as 10,000 men, and King James was killed. The victory at Flodden brought Surrey great popular renown and royal rewards. On 1 February 1514, he was created Duke of Norfolk, and his son Thomas was made Earl of Surrey. Both were granted lands and annuities, and the Howard arms were
augmented in honour of Flodden with an inescutcheon bearing the lion of Scotland pierced through the mouth with an arrow,
within a ''double tressure flory-counterflory-gules'', an emblem of the Scottish royal arms on rare occasion granted by Scottish kings to a favoured follower as a special mark of favour. The grant by Henry VIII to Howard was thus a blatant heraldic insult to the kings of Scotland.
Final years
In the final decade of his life, Norfolk continued his career as a courtier, diplomat and soldier. In 1514 he joined Wolsey and Foxe in negotiating the marriage of
Mary Tudor to King
Louis XII of France, and escorted her to France for the wedding. On 1 May 1517, he led a private army of 1,300
retainers
Retainer may refer to:
* Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth
* RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship
* Retainers in early China, a social group in early China
Employment
* Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer pays in advance for w ...
into London to suppress the
Evil May Day
Evil May Day or Ill May Day is the name of a xenophobic riot which took place in 1517 as a protest against foreigners (called "strangers") living in London. Apprentices attacked foreign residents ranging from "Flemish cobblers" to "French royal co ...
riots. In May 1521 he presided as
Lord High Steward
The Lord High Steward is the first of the Great Officers of State in England, nominally ranking above the Lord Chancellor.
The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, and is now an ''ad hoc'' office that is primarily ceremonial and ...
over the trial of
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham. According to David M. Head, "he pronounced the sentence of death with tears streaming down his face".
By the spring of 1522, Norfolk was almost 80 years of age and in failing health. He withdrew from court, resigned as
Lord Treasurer
The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...
in favour of his son in December of that year, and after attending the opening of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
in April 1523, retired to his
ducal
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...
castle at
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include Ea ...
in
Suffolk where he died on 21 May 1524. His funeral and burial on 22 June at
Thetford Priory
Thetford Priory is a Cluniac monastic house in Thetford, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1103 by Roger Bigod of Norfolk, Thetford was one of the most important monasteries of East Anglia.
It should not be confused with the Dominican Friary of Blac ...
were said to have been "spectacular and enormously expensive, costing over £1300 and including a procession of 400 hooded men bearing torches and an elaborate bier surmounted with 100 wax effigies and 700 candles", befitting the richest and most powerful peer in England. After the dissolution of Thetford Priory, the Howard tombs were moved to the
Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham
St Michael's Church in Framlingham, Suffolk is a Church of England church dedicated to Saint Michael. It was the burial site of the Howard family. The church was declared a Grade I listed building in 1966.
History
The Church of Saint Michael ...
. A now-lost monumental brass depicting the 2nd Duke was formerly in the
Church of St. Mary at Lambeth.
Marriages and issue
On 30 April 1472, Howard married
Elizabeth Tilney
Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey (before 1445 – 4 April 1497) was an English heiress who became the first wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk (when still Earl of Surrey). She served successively as a lady-in-waiting to two Queen ...
, the daughter of Sir Frederick Tilney of
Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier, slain at
Barnet, son and heir apparent of Sir
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, KG (died May 1474) was an English peer.
Bourchier was the fourth son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, and his wife Anne of Woodstock, Countess of Buckingham, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of ...
. They had issue:
*
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 beheade ...
*
Sir Edward Howard
*
Lord Edmund Howard
Lord Edmund Howard ( – 19 March 1539) was the third son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney. His sister, Elizabeth, was the mother of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn, and he was the father of th ...
, father of Henry VIII's fifth Queen,
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard ( – 13 February 1542), also spelled Katheryn Howard, was Queen of England from 1540 until 1542 as the fifth wife of Henry VIII. She was the daughter of Lord Edmund Howard and Joyce Culpeper, a cousin to Anne Boleyn (the se ...
* Sir John Howard
* Henry Howard
* Charles Howard
*
Henry Howard (the younger) Henry Howard may refer to:
Nobles and politicians U.K.
*Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517–1547), English aristocrat and poet
*Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (1540–1614), son of the Earl of Surrey
*Henry Howard, 22nd Earl of Arundel (1 ...
* Richard Howard
*
Elizabeth Howard, married
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 V ...
, and was mother of 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 ...
, and grandmother of
Queen Elizabeth.
* Muriel Howard (died 1512), married firstly
John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle
John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle (April 1480 – 9 September 1504) was a British peer of the Tudor period. Upon his death the title Viscount Lisle became extinct, but the Barony of Lisle passed to his unborn daughter Elizabeth, his only child ...
(died 1504), and secondly Sir
Thomas Knyvet
Norfolk's first wife died on 4 April 1497, and on 8 November 1497 he married, by dispensation dated 17 August 1497, her cousin,
Agnes Tilney
Agnes Howard (née Tilney) (c. 1477 – May 1545) was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. Two of King Henry VIII's queens were her step-granddaughters, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard. Catherine Howard was placed in the Dowag ...
, the daughter of
Hugh Tilney of
Skirbeck
Skirbeck is a suburb and former civil parish in the Borough of Boston in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Skirbeck is a long v-shaped formation wrapped around the south and east side of Boston parish. It has been incorporated into the Boroug ...
and
Boston, Lincolnshire
Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. Boston is north of London, north-east of Peterborough, east of Nottingham, south-east of Lincoln, south-southeast of Hul ...
and Eleanor, a daughter of Walter Tailboys. They had issue:
*
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham
William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham (c. 151012 January 1573) was an English diplomat and military leader. He served four monarchs, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, in various official capacities, most notably on diplo ...
*
Lord Thomas Howard
Lord Thomas Howard (1511 – 31 October 1537) was an English courtier at the court of King Henry VIII. He is chiefly known for his marriage (later invalidated by Henry) to Lady Margaret Douglas (1515–1578), the daughter of Henry VIII's si ...
(1511–1537)
* Richard Howard (died 1517)
* Dorothy Howard, married
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby KG (c. 10 May 1509 – 24 October 1572) was an English nobleman and politician. He reigned over the Isle of Mann until his death, and then was succeeded by his son.
Early life
At the age of thirteen, Edw ...
* Anne Howard, married
John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 14th Earl of Oxford (14 August 1499 – 14 July 1526) was an English peer and landowner.
By inheritance, he was Lord Great Chamberlain of England, and in June 1520, at the age of twenty, he attended King Henry VIII at the Field of t ...
[; ]
* Catherine Howard, married firstly,
Rhys ap Gruffydd
Rhys ap Gruffydd, commonly known as The Lord Rhys, in Welsh ''Yr Arglwydd Rhys'' (c. 1132 – 28 April 1197) was the ruler of the Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth in south Wales from 1155 to 1197 and native Prince of Wales.
It was believed that he ...
. Married secondly,
Henry Daubeney, 1st Earl of Bridgewater
Henry Daubeney – also known as, Dabney, 1st Earl of Bridgewater and 2nd Baron Daubeney (December 1493 – 8 April 1548) was an English peer who sat in the House of Lords.
Origins
He was the son and heir of Giles, 1st Baron Daubeney, KG (14 ...
.
* Elizabeth Howard (died 1536), married
Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex
Henry Radclyffe, 2nd Earl of Sussex, KG (also spelt "Radcliffe") (1507 – 17 February 1557) was a son of Robert Radclyffe, 1st Earl of Sussex and his wife Elizabeth Stafford, Countess of Sussex.
Marriages and children
He was first married to E ...
.
Note: Thomas Howard indeed had two living daughters named Elizabeth Howard and two living sons named Thomas Howard. It is unclear if he had two sons named Richard as well or if it was the same person. In the Dukes of Norfolk family tree, there is clearly a mistake. Richard Howard is there linked to Agnes Tilney (2nd wife of Thomas Howard), yet is said to born in 1487, which is impossible to be true, as at the time Thomas Howard was married to Elizabeth Tilney.
Footnotes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Attribution:
*
Further reading
* Harris, Barbara. "Marriage Sixteenth-Century Style: Elizabeth Stafford and the Third Duke of Norfolk," ''Journal of Social History,'' Spring 1982, Vol. 15 Issue 3;
* Head, David M. ''Ebbs & Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk'' (1995), 360pp; the standard scholarly biography of the third duke
Tucker, Melvin J., "The Life of Thomas Howard, earl of Surrey and second Duke of Norfolk (1964), 170pp' out of print but the only serious biography
External links
Dukes of Norfolk (Howard), Medieval Lands website by Charles CawleyFlodden: Scotland's Greatest Defeat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke Of
302
Barons Mowbray
*14
Thomas Howard, 02nd Duke of Norfolk
301
__NOTOC__
Year 301 ( CCCI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Postumius and Nepotianus (or, less frequently, year 1054 ...
People of the Wars of the Roses
Lord High Stewards
Lord High Treasurers of England
Earls Marshal
Garter Knights appointed by Richard III
People educated at Ipswich School
1443 births
1524 deaths
Male Shakespearean characters
Prisoners in the Tower of London
People educated at Thetford Grammar School
16th-century English politicians