Edward Howard (admiral)
Encyclopedia
Sir Edward Howard, KG
(1476/1477 – 25 April 1513), son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Surrey
(later 2nd Duke of Norfolk) and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney
, and a younger brother of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
. He was the first of the Howards to win fame as an admiral, participating in his first naval battle while in his teens. He was in command during the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, which may have been the first sea battle fought by ships with cannons deployed through ports. He was killed shortly afterwards, leading an assault on galleys in the French fleet near Brest.
at the siege of Sluys. In 1497 his father, then Earl of Surrey, was given a command in Scotland and took his sons Thomas and Edward with him. Although no major fighting took place, Surrey knighted both Thomas and Edward at Ayton Castle
in September 1502. In 1503 Howard was among those who escorted Margaret Tudor
to Scotland for her marriage to King James IV
.
King Henry VII
died on 21 April 1509. Howard played a prominent role in the tournament held to celebrate the coronation of the new King, Henry VIII
, and was appointed the King's standard-bearer
on 20 May 1509.
and the Ballad of Andrew Barton record that in the course of these seafaring operations he and his brother Thomas captured the ships of the Scottish adventurer Andrew Barton
.
When war with France broke out in April 1512, Howard was appointed Admiral of a fleet of 18 ships sent by the King to keep the seas between Brest
and the Thames
estuary. Howard seized vessels of various nationalities on the pretext that they were carrying French cargoes. At the beginning of June, he escorted to Brittany
the army which Henry was sending to France under the Marquess of Dorset
with the hope of recovering Guyenne
. Howard then raided Le Conquet
and Crozon
on the Breton coast. During June and July 1512 Howard effectively controlled the Channel
and is said to have captured more than 60 vessels. By August, a French fleet had assembled at Brest. Howard attacked, and in the ensuing Battle of Saint-Mathieu the two largest ships on either side, the Regent and the Marie de la Cordelière, were destroyed when the latter's magazine exploded. Although undefeated, the French retreated. On 10 October the King showed his appreciation by awarding Howard an annuity of 100 marks and the reversion of the office of Lord High Admiral
held by the Earl of Oxford
.
The French King
had Prégent de Bidoux bring 6 galleys from the Mediterranean in the late autumn of 1512, and by the end of March 1513 a sizeable French fleet had been mobilized. On 10 March 1513 the Earl of Oxford died, and Howard became Lord Admiral. On 19 March he sailed from the Thames, reaching Plymouth
on 5 April. Without waiting for his supply ships, he set out from Plymouth and found the French fleet, which retreated into Brest. Howard lost one ship on a hidden rock, and on 22 April was attacked by Bidoux's galleys, whose heavy guns sank another ship. On 25 April Howard decided to attack the galleys with his smaller boats known as row-barges. Howard led the attack on Bidoux's flagship in person. During the fighting he was forced over the side of the galley and drowned by the weight of his armour. Both his body and his silver whistle, the Lord Admiral's badge of office, were found three days later, and delivered to Bidoux at Le Conquet, who sent the armour as a trophy to Princess Claude
, the French King's daughter, and the whistle to Queen Anne
.
Demoralised by Howard's death and short of supplies, the English fleet retreated to Plymouth
, where Howard's brother Thomas
took command. The French were unable to exploit Howard's death, and after successful English campaigns in Picardy
and Scotland, a truce was agreed on in March 1514.
Howard had been elected to the Order of the Garter
in 1513, but died before being installed.
. As a younger son, he held only the manor of Morley in Norfolk, which he willed in reversion
to his stepson, Henry Parker
, after the termination of his widow's life interest.
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
(1476/1477 – 25 April 1513), son of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Surrey
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal , styled Earl of Surrey from 1483 to 1514, was the only son of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Katherine Moleyns...
(later 2nd Duke of Norfolk) and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney
Elizabeth Tilney
Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey was an English heiress and lady-in-waiting to two queens. She became the first wife of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey....
, and a younger brother of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...
. He was the first of the Howards to win fame as an admiral, participating in his first naval battle while in his teens. He was in command during the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, which may have been the first sea battle fought by ships with cannons deployed through ports. He was killed shortly afterwards, leading an assault on galleys in the French fleet near Brest.
Early life
Sir Edward Howard's date of birth can be determined only approximately, and nothing is known of his early upbringing or education. He began his military career in August 1492 at the age of fifteen under Sir Edward PoyningsEdward Poynings
Sir Edward Poynings KG was an English soldier, administrator and diplomat, Lord Deputy of Ireland under King Henry VII of England.-Early life:...
at the siege of Sluys. In 1497 his father, then Earl of Surrey, was given a command in Scotland and took his sons Thomas and Edward with him. Although no major fighting took place, Surrey knighted both Thomas and Edward at Ayton Castle
Ayton Castle
Ayton Castle is located to the east of Ayton in the Scottish Borders. It is north-west of Berwick upon Tweed, in the former county of Berwickshire. Built around a medieval tower house, the present castle dates largely from the 19th century. Ayton Castle is the caput of the feudal barony of Ayton...
in September 1502. In 1503 Howard was among those who escorted Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor
Margaret Tudor was the elder of the two surviving daughters of Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and the elder sister of Henry VIII. In 1503, she married James IV, King of Scots. James died in 1513, and their son became King James V. She married secondly Archibald Douglas, 6th Earl of...
to Scotland for her marriage to King James IV
James IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
.
King Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
died on 21 April 1509. Howard played a prominent role in the tournament held to celebrate the coronation of the new King, 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...
, and was appointed the King's standard-bearer
Standard-bearer
A standard-bearer is a person who bears an emblem called an ensign or standard, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used as a formal, visual symbol of a state, prince, military unit, etc.This can either be an occasional duty, often seen as an honour , or a...
on 20 May 1509.
Naval career
Between June and August 1511 Howard was paid over £600 to fit out ships for the conveying of 'merchant aventurers', and both HolinshedRaphael Holinshed
Raphael Holinshed was an English chronicler, whose work, commonly known as Holinshed's Chronicles, was one of the major sources used by William Shakespeare for a number of his plays....
and the Ballad of Andrew Barton record that in the course of these seafaring operations he and his brother Thomas captured the ships of the Scottish adventurer Andrew Barton
Andrew Barton
Sir Andrew Barton served as High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland. Notorious in England and Portugal as a 'pirate', Barton was a seaman who operated under the aegis of a letter of marque on behalf of the Scottish crown, and is therefore more widely described as a privateer...
.
When war with France broke out in April 1512, Howard was appointed Admiral of a fleet of 18 ships sent by the King to keep the seas between Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
and the Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
estuary. Howard seized vessels of various nationalities on the pretext that they were carrying French cargoes. At the beginning of June, he escorted to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
the army which Henry was sending to France under the Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset, KG, KB was an English peer, courtier, soldier and landowner, the grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, briefly Queen of England.-Early life:...
with the hope of recovering Guyenne
Guyenne
Guyenne or Guienne , , ; Occitan Guiana ) is a vaguely defined historic region of south-western France. The Province of Guyenne, sometimes called the Province of Guyenne and Gascony, was a large province of pre-revolutionary France....
. Howard then raided Le Conquet
Le Conquet
Le Conquet is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.-Geography:Le Conquet is a fishing port in the northwest of Brittany...
and Crozon
Crozon
Crozon is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.Crozon is located on the Crozon peninsula on the west coast of Finistère. It is bordered by the communes of Camaret-sur-Mer to the west, Roscanvel to the northwest, Lanvéoc to the north, Landévennec to the...
on the Breton coast. During June and July 1512 Howard effectively controlled the Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and is said to have captured more than 60 vessels. By August, a French fleet had assembled at Brest. Howard attacked, and in the ensuing Battle of Saint-Mathieu the two largest ships on either side, the Regent and the Marie de la Cordelière, were destroyed when the latter's magazine exploded. Although undefeated, the French retreated. On 10 October the King showed his appreciation by awarding Howard an annuity of 100 marks and the reversion of the office of Lord High Admiral
Lord High Admiral
Lord High Admiral can refer to:* Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom * Lord High Admiral of Scotland* Lord High Admiral of the Wash* Lord High Admiral of Sweden-See also:...
held by the Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford , the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses...
.
The French King
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
had Prégent de Bidoux bring 6 galleys from the Mediterranean in the late autumn of 1512, and by the end of March 1513 a sizeable French fleet had been mobilized. On 10 March 1513 the Earl of Oxford died, and Howard became Lord Admiral. On 19 March he sailed from the Thames, reaching Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 5 April. Without waiting for his supply ships, he set out from Plymouth and found the French fleet, which retreated into Brest. Howard lost one ship on a hidden rock, and on 22 April was attacked by Bidoux's galleys, whose heavy guns sank another ship. On 25 April Howard decided to attack the galleys with his smaller boats known as row-barges. Howard led the attack on Bidoux's flagship in person. During the fighting he was forced over the side of the galley and drowned by the weight of his armour. Both his body and his silver whistle, the Lord Admiral's badge of office, were found three days later, and delivered to Bidoux at Le Conquet, who sent the armour as a trophy to Princess Claude
Claude of France
Claude of France was a princess and queen consort of France and ruling Duchess of Brittany. She was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany....
, the French King's daughter, and the whistle to Queen Anne
Anne of Brittany
Anne, Duchess of Brittany , also known as Anna of Brittany , was a Breton ruler, who was to become queen to two successive French kings. She was born in Nantes, Brittany, and was the daughter of Francis II, Duke of Brittany and Margaret of Foix. Her maternal grandparents were Queen Eleanor of...
.
Demoralised by Howard's death and short of supplies, the English fleet retreated to Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, where Howard's brother Thomas
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...
took command. The French were unable to exploit Howard's death, and after successful English campaigns in Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
and Scotland, a truce was agreed on in March 1514.
Howard had been elected to the Order of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
in 1513, but died before being installed.
Marriages and issue
Howard's first wife was Elizabeth Stapleton, widow of Sir William Calthorpe and Sir John Fortescue. She died on 18 February 1505. Before January 1506 he married Alice (d. 1518), the daughter and heir of William Lovel, Lord Morley, and Eleanor, Baroness Morley, and widow of Sir William Parker. She was 10 or 12 years Howard's senior, and held the barony of Morley in her own right. There were no children of the marriage. When Howard wrote his will in January 1513 he left bequests to two unnamed bastard sons, commending one to the care of the King, and the other to the care of his friend Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 1st Viscount Lisle, KG was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond and was slain by Richard III in person at...
. As a younger son, he held only the manor of Morley in Norfolk, which he willed in reversion
Reversion (law)
A reversion is a type of "remainder" interest created when incomplete ownership in property is alienated subject to a condition subsequent. Upon the fulfillment of the condition subsequent, the incomplete possessory rights cease to exist and exclusive ownership returns to the holder of the...
to his stepson, Henry Parker
Henry Parker
Sir Henry Watson Parker, KCMG was Premier of New South Wales. He fitted into colonial society and politics in the pre-responsible government era, but his style was not suited to the democratic politics that began to develop in 1856.-Biography:Parker was the son of Thomas Watson Parker of Lewisham,...
, after the termination of his widow's life interest.