John Sheffield, 2nd Baron Sheffield , of Butterwick ( – 10 December 1568) was an English nobleman.

Early life

John Sheffield was born in Butterwick, Lincolnshire to Edmund Sheffield, 1st Baron Sheffield and Lady Anne De Vere, daughter of John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford.

Career

On 31 July 1549, following his father's murder in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

during Kett's Rebellion, Sheffield, then aged 11, succeeded to the barony. Sheffield became a ward of King Edward VI and in November 1550 was granted a privilege to marry freely when he became of age, without having to pay the usual fees or fines to the Court of Wards and Liveries. As a minor in the King's guardianship, Sheffield was granted an annual

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

of 49 pounds, 2 shillings and 6 pence. On 13 January 1559 Sheffield was made

Knight of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by King George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. Recipients of the Order are usually senior British Armed Forces, military officers or senior Civil Service ...

at the coronation 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. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. On 8 June 1559

granted Sheffield license take possession of his inherited lands and their profits from when he turned 21. Sheffield was admitted to

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

in 1561. On 17 November 1565, Sheffield was appointed as a commissioner to investigate a disagreement between the Archbishop of York and his tenants.

Personal life

In , Sheffield married Douglas Howard (then aged 17), daughter of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham, and Margaret Gamage. They had two children: # Elizabeth Sheffield (died November 1600) married Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormonde # Edmund Sheffield, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (7 December 1565 – 6 October 1646) married (1) Ursulla Tyrwhitt (2) Mariana Irwin

Death

Sheffield died on 10 December 1568 aged 30 of poor health. His will, dated December 1568, which left nothing to his widow Douglas Howard, was proved on 31 January 1589. After his death, Douglas Howard became the lover of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester and the

favourite A favourite was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In Post-classical Europe, post-classical and Early modern Europe, early-modern Europe, among other times and places, the term was used of individuals delegated signifi ...

. There were rumours that Howard and Dudley were engaged in an affair while Sheffield was alive, when Dudley visited Belvoir Castle in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

with

and were discovered, enraging Sheffield. The anonymous author of Leicester’s Commonwealth, the 1584 pamphlet attacking

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

, suggested that while Sheffield's official cause of death was of natural causes (illness), there were rumours his death was the result of foul play, possibly orchestrated by Leicester to remove the obstacle to his relationship with Howard:

''"Long after this, eicesterfell in love with the Lady Sheffield, whom I signified before, & then also had he the same fortune to have her husband die quickly with an extreme rheum in his head (as it was given out), but as other say of an artificial catarrh that stopped his breath."''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield, John Sheffield, 2nd Baron 1530s births 1568 deaths John 16th-century English nobility People from the Borough of Boston 2 Knights of the Bath Members of Gray's Inn