Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Encyclopedia
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG
, Earl Marshal
(1473 – 25 August 1554) 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. After falling from favour in 1546, he was stripped of the dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower
, avoiding execution when the King died. He was released on the accession of Queen Mary
. He aided Mary in securing her throne, setting the stage for alienation between his Catholic family and the Protestant
royal line that would be continued by his great-niece, Queen Elizabeth
.
(1443–1524), and his first wife, Elizabeth
(d. 1497), the daughter of Frederick Tilney
and widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier. He was descended in the female line from Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
, the third son of King Edward I
. Both his father, then styled Earl of Surrey
and his grandfather, John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
fought for King Richard III
at the Battle of Bosworth
, in which the latter was killed. The family's titles were forfeited after the victory of King Henry VII
at Bosworth.
Howard's first marriage was politically advantageous. On 4 February 1495 he married Anne (1475–1510), the fifth daughter of King Edward IV
and the sister-in-law of King Henry VII. The couple had four children, none of whom survived to adulthood.
Howard was an able soldier, and was often employed in military operations. In 1497 he served in a campaign against the Scots under the command of his father, who knighted him on 30 September 1497. On 4 May 1513 he was appointed Lord Admiral, and on 9 September helped to defeat the Scots at the Flodden
. He was made a Knight of the Garter
after the accession of King Henry VIII, and became the King's close companion, with lodgings at court.
Howard's first wife Anne died in 1510, and early in 1513 he married Elizabeth
, the daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
and Eleanor Percy
, the daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland
.
On 1 February 1514 Howard's father was created Duke of Norfolk, and by letters patent issued on the same day Howard was created Earl of Surrey for life. Surrey was a member of the King's council before May 1516.
On 10 March 1520, Surrey was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
. After 18 months he was able to secure his recall to England. In June 1522 he escorted the Emperor Charles V
from England to northern Spain, and raided Brittany
on the return journey. In August and September 1522 Surrey led an Anglo-Burgundian force through northern France on a military expedition which had to be abandoned in October.
upon his father's resignation of the office, and on 21 May 1524 he succeeded his father as 3rd Duke of Norfolk. His liking for war brought him into conflict with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who preferred diplomacy in the conduct of foreign affairs. In 1523 Wolsey had secured to the Duke of Suffolk
the reversion of the office of Earl Marshal which had been held by Norfolk's father, and in 1525 the Duke of Richmond had replaced Norfolk as Lord Admiral. Finding himself pushed aside, Norfolk spent considerable time away from court in 1525–7 and 1528.
In 1526 Norfolk's niece Anne Boleyn
had caught the King's eye, and Norfolk's political fortunes revived with his involvement in the King's attempt to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon
annulled. By 1529 matters of state were being increasingly handled by Norfolk, Suffolk and the Boleyns, who pressed the King to remove Wolsey. In October the King sent Norfolk and Suffolk to obtain the great seal from the Cardinal. In November Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, but died before trial. Norfolk benefited from Wolsey's fall, becoming the King's leading councillor and applying himself energetically in the King's efforts to find a way out of his marriage to Queen Catharine. His loyalty and service to the King brought him ample rewards. He received grants of monastic lands in Norfolk and Suffolk, was employed on diplomatic missions, and was created a knight of the French Order of St Michael in 1532 and Earl Marshal of England on 28 May 1533. As Lord High Steward
, he presided at the trial of his niece, Queen Anne Boleyn, in May 1536.
Surrey's marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth, which had apparently been mutually affectionate at first, deteriorated in 1527 when he took a mistress, Elizabeth Holland (d. 1547/8), whom he installed in the Howard household. Elizabeth Howard formally separated from her husband in the 1530s. She claimed that in March 1534 the Duke ‘locked me up in a chamber, [and] took away my jewels and apparel', and then moved her to Redbourn
, Hertfordshire, where she lived a virtual prisoner with a meagre annual allowance of only £200. She also claimed to have been physically maltreated by the Duke and by household servants.
When the Pilgrimage of Grace
broke out in Lincolnshire
and the northern counties late in 1536, Norfolk shared command of the King's forces with the Earl of Shrewsbury
, persuading the rebels to disperse by promising them a pardon and that Parliament would consider their grievances. However when further rebellions erupted in January 1537 he carried out a policy of brutal retribution.
By 1539 Norfolk was seriously challenging the religious reforms of the King's chief minister Thomas Cromwell. In that year the King sought to have Parliament put an end to diversity in religious opinion. On 5 May the House of Lords appointed a committee to consider questions of doctrine. Although he was not a member of the committee, on 16 May Norfolk presented six conservative articles of religion to Parliament for consideration. On 30 May, the Six Articles and the penalties for failure to conform to them were enacted into law, and on 28 June received royal assent.
On 29 June 1539, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cromwell dined with the King as guests of Archbishop Cranmer
. During a heated discussion about Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell charged Norfolk with disloyalty and Norfolk called Cromwell a liar. Their mutual hostility was now out in the open. Cromwell inadvertently played into Norfolk's hands by taking the initiative in the King's marriage to Anne of Cleves
. The King's disillusionment with Anne's physical appearance when he met her in January 1540 and his desire after the wedding had taken place to have the marriage annulled gave Norfolk an opportunity to bring down his enemy. On 10 June 1540 Cromwell was arrested at a Privy Council
meeting on charges of high treason
, and Norfolk personally 'tore the St George from his neck’. On 9 July 1540 Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. On 28 July 1540 Cromwell was executed, and on the same day the King wed Norfolk's niece Katherine Howard as his fifth wife. As a result of this marriage Norfolk enjoyed political prominence, royal favour, and material rewards for a time. However when Katherine's premarital sexual indiscretions and her alleged adultery with Sir Thomas Culpeper
were revealed to the King by Archbishop Cranmer, the King's wrath turned on the Howard family, who were accused of concealing her misconduct. Queen Katherine was condemned by a bill of attainder
and executed on 13 February 1542.Several other members of the Howard family were sent to the Tower
, including Norfolk's stepmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. However the French ambassador Marillac
wrote on 17 January 1541 that Norfolk had not only escaped punishment, but had apparently been restored to his 'full former credit and authority'.
Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant-General north of Trent
on 29 January 1541, and Captain-General in a campaign against the Scots in August 1542. In June 1543 he declared war on France in the King's name and was appointed Lieutenant-General of the army. During the campaign of May–October 1544 he besieged Montreuil, while the King captured Boulogne before returning home. Complaining of lack of provisions and munitions, Norfolk eventually raised the siege of Montreuil, and realizing that Boulogne could not realistically be held by the English for long, left it garrisoned and withdrew to Calais
, for which he was severely rebuked by the King.
, and Henry's last Queen, Katherine Parr, both of whom favoured the reformed faith, gained influence with the King while the conservative Norfolk became isolated politically. He attempted to form an alliance with the Seymours through a marriage between his widowed daughter, Mary Fitzroy and Hertford's brother Thomas Seymour
, but the effort was forestalled by the provocative conduct of his eldest son and heir, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
, who had displayed in his own heraldry the royal arms and insignia. On 12 December 1546 both Norfolk and Surrey were arrested and sent to the Tower. On 12 January 1547 Norfolk acknowledged that he had 'concealed high treason, in keeping secret the false acts of my son, Henry Earl of Surrey, in using the arms of St. Edward the Confessor, which pertain only to kings', and offered his lands to the King. Norfolk's family, including his estranged wife, his daughter Mary, and his mistress, Elizabeth Holland, all gave evidence against him. Surrey was beheaded on 19 January 1547, and on 27 January 1547 Norfolk was attainted by statute without trial. The dying King gave his assent to Norfolk's death by royal commissioners, and it was rumoured that he would be executed on the following day. He was saved by the King's death on 28 January and the Council's decision not to inaugurate the new reign with bloodshed. His estates fell prey to the ruling clique in the reign of Edward VI
, for which he was later partly compensated by lands worth £1626 a year from Queen Mary
.
Norfolk remained in the Tower throughout the reign of King Edward VI
. He was released and pardoned by Queen Mary in 1553, and in Mary's first parliament (October–December 1553), his statutory attainder was declared void, thereby restoring him to the dukedom. He was appointed to the Privy Council, and presided as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Duke of Northumberland
on 18 August. He was also restored to the office of Earl Marshal
and officiated in that capacity at Mary's coronation on 1 October 1553. His last major service to the Crown was his command of the forces sent to put down a rebellion
in early 1554 by a group of disaffected gentlemen who opposed the Queen's projected marriage to Philip II of Spain
.
The Duke died at Kenninghall
on 25 August 1554 and was buried at St. Michael's Church
at Framlingham
in Suffolk
. He was survived by two of the three children of his second marriage: his younger son, Thomas
created Viscount Howard of Bindon in 1559, and his daughter Mary, his eldest son and heir, Henry
, having been executed in 1547. Although there is debate on the topic, it appears that Norfolk had another daughter Katherine, who was briefly married to Norfolk's ward
, Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
, and died on 15 March 1530. The Duke's property passed into the hands of the Crown during the minority of his grandson and heir, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
.
. In A Man for All Seasons
(1966), he was played by Nigel Davenport
. In Anne of the Thousand Days
(1969), Peter Jeffrey
took the role. He went on to reprise the role in a 1996 BBC adaptation of Mark Twain
's 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper
. Mark Strong
portrayed Norfolk in the 2003 ITV feature Henry VIII. In the Showtime series The Tudors
(2007), he was played by Henry Czerny
. David Morrissey
played the Duke in the film The Other Boleyn Girl. D. L. Bogdan's novels Rivals in the Tudor Court and Secrets of the Tudor Court feature Norfolk as one of the central characters. Norfolk is also one of the characters in the Philippa Gregory
novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance
.
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...
, Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...
(1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
and Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
, two of the wives of 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 played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages. After falling from favour in 1546, he was stripped of the dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, avoiding execution when the King died. He was released on the accession of Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
. He aided Mary in securing her throne, setting the stage for alienation between his Catholic family and the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
royal line that would be continued by his great-niece, Queen Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
Early life
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of NorfolkThomas 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...
(1443–1524), and his first wife, Elizabeth
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....
(d. 1497), the daughter of Frederick Tilney
Frederick Tilney
Sir Frederick Tilney Lord of Ashwellthorpe, Norfolk, and Boston, Lincolnshire was the husband of Elizabeth Cheney, Lady Say and father of Elizabeth Tilney, Countess of Surrey...
and widow of Sir Humphrey Bourchier. He was descended in the female line from Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, Lord Marshal of England was the son of Edward I of England and Margaret of France.-Early life:...
, the third son of King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. Both his father, then styled Earl of Surrey
Earl of Surrey
The Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England, and has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror...
and his grandfather, John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk
John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman, soldier, and the first Howard Duke of Norfolk...
fought for King Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
at the Battle of Bosworth
Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
, in which the latter was killed. The family's titles were forfeited after the victory of 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....
at Bosworth.
Howard's first marriage was politically advantageous. On 4 February 1495 he married Anne (1475–1510), the fifth daughter of King Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
and the sister-in-law of King Henry VII. The couple had four children, none of whom survived to adulthood.
Howard was an able soldier, and was often employed in military operations. In 1497 he served in a campaign against the Scots under the command of his father, who knighted him on 30 September 1497. On 4 May 1513 he was appointed Lord Admiral, and on 9 September helped to defeat the Scots at the Flodden
Battle of Flodden Field
The Battle of Flodden or Flodden Field or occasionally Battle of Branxton was fought in the county of Northumberland in northern England on 9 September 1513, between an invading Scots army under King James IV and an English army commanded by the Earl of Surrey...
. He was made a Knight 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...
after the accession of King Henry VIII, and became the King's close companion, with lodgings at court.
Howard's first wife Anne died in 1510, and early in 1513 he married Elizabeth
Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk
Elizabeth Howard was the eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and the wife of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk...
, the daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...
and Eleanor Percy
Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham
Eleanor Percy, Duchess of Buckingham , also known as Alianore, was a daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland by his wife Lady Maud Herbert, herself a daughter of the first Earl of Pembroke. She married Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, who was beheaded in 1521 on false charges of...
, the daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, KG son of Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland and his wife Eleanor Poynings, daughter of Richard Poynings, Lord Poynings....
.
On 1 February 1514 Howard's father was created Duke of Norfolk, and by letters patent issued on the same day Howard was created Earl of Surrey for life. Surrey was a member of the King's council before May 1516.
On 10 March 1520, Surrey was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
. After 18 months he was able to secure his recall to England. In June 1522 he escorted the Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
from England to northern Spain, and raided 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...
on the return journey. In August and September 1522 Surrey led an Anglo-Burgundian force through northern France on a military expedition which had to be abandoned in October.
Rise to power
On 4 December 1522 Surrey was made Lord TreasurerLord 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 Act of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third highest ranked Great Officer of State, below the Lord High Chancellor and above the Lord President...
upon his father's resignation of the office, and on 21 May 1524 he succeeded his father as 3rd Duke of Norfolk. His liking for war brought him into conflict with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who preferred diplomacy in the conduct of foreign affairs. In 1523 Wolsey had secured to the Duke of Suffolk
Charles 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...
the reversion of the office of Earl Marshal which had been held by Norfolk's father, and in 1525 the Duke of Richmond had replaced Norfolk as Lord Admiral. Finding himself pushed aside, Norfolk spent considerable time away from court in 1525–7 and 1528.
In 1526 Norfolk's niece Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
had caught the King's eye, and Norfolk's political fortunes revived with his involvement in the King's attempt to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
annulled. By 1529 matters of state were being increasingly handled by Norfolk, Suffolk and the Boleyns, who pressed the King to remove Wolsey. In October the King sent Norfolk and Suffolk to obtain the great seal from the Cardinal. In November Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, but died before trial. Norfolk benefited from Wolsey's fall, becoming the King's leading councillor and applying himself energetically in the King's efforts to find a way out of his marriage to Queen Catharine. His loyalty and service to the King brought him ample rewards. He received grants of monastic lands in Norfolk and Suffolk, was employed on diplomatic missions, and was created a knight of the French Order of St Michael in 1532 and Earl Marshal of England on 28 May 1533. As Lord High Steward
Lord High Steward
The position of Lord High Steward of England is the first of the Great Officers of State. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, except at coronations and during the trials of peers in the House of Lords, when the Lord High Steward presides. In general, but not invariably, the Lord...
, he presided at the trial of his niece, Queen Anne Boleyn, in May 1536.
Surrey's marriage to his second wife, Elizabeth, which had apparently been mutually affectionate at first, deteriorated in 1527 when he took a mistress, Elizabeth Holland (d. 1547/8), whom he installed in the Howard household. Elizabeth Howard formally separated from her husband in the 1530s. She claimed that in March 1534 the Duke ‘locked me up in a chamber, [and] took away my jewels and apparel', and then moved her to Redbourn
Redbourn
Redbourn is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, lying on Watling Street, 3 miles from Harpenden, 4 miles from St Albans and 5 miles from Hemel Hempstead. It has a population of around 6,000.-History:...
, Hertfordshire, where she lived a virtual prisoner with a meagre annual allowance of only £200. She also claimed to have been physically maltreated by the Duke and by household servants.
When the Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular rising in York, Yorkshire during 1536, in protest against Henry VIII's break with the Roman Catholic Church and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, as well as other specific political, social and economic grievances. It was done in action against Thomas Cromwell...
broke out in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
and the northern counties late in 1536, Norfolk shared command of the King's forces with the Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, 4th Earl of Waterford, 10th Baron Talbot, 9th Baron Furnivall, KG was the son of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury and Lady Catherine Stafford, daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham....
, persuading the rebels to disperse by promising them a pardon and that Parliament would consider their grievances. However when further rebellions erupted in January 1537 he carried out a policy of brutal retribution.
By 1539 Norfolk was seriously challenging the religious reforms of the King's chief minister Thomas Cromwell. In that year the King sought to have Parliament put an end to diversity in religious opinion. On 5 May the House of Lords appointed a committee to consider questions of doctrine. Although he was not a member of the committee, on 16 May Norfolk presented six conservative articles of religion to Parliament for consideration. On 30 May, the Six Articles and the penalties for failure to conform to them were enacted into law, and on 28 June received royal assent.
On 29 June 1539, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cromwell dined with the King as guests of Archbishop Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...
. During a heated discussion about Cardinal Wolsey, Cromwell charged Norfolk with disloyalty and Norfolk called Cromwell a liar. Their mutual hostility was now out in the open. Cromwell inadvertently played into Norfolk's hands by taking the initiative in the King's marriage to Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
. The King's disillusionment with Anne's physical appearance when he met her in January 1540 and his desire after the wedding had taken place to have the marriage annulled gave Norfolk an opportunity to bring down his enemy. On 10 June 1540 Cromwell was arrested at a Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
meeting on charges of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
, and Norfolk personally 'tore the St George from his neck’. On 9 July 1540 Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled. On 28 July 1540 Cromwell was executed, and on the same day the King wed Norfolk's niece Katherine Howard as his fifth wife. As a result of this marriage Norfolk enjoyed political prominence, royal favour, and material rewards for a time. However when Katherine's premarital sexual indiscretions and her alleged adultery with Sir Thomas Culpeper
Thomas Culpeper
Sir Thomas Culpeper was a courtier of Henry VIII and the lover of Henry's fifth queen, Catherine Howard. He was born to Alexander Culpeper of Bedgebury, to the south of Maidstone in Kent, and his second wife, Constance Harper. He was the middle child and his older brother, also named Thomas, was a...
were revealed to the King by Archbishop Cranmer, the King's wrath turned on the Howard family, who were accused of concealing her misconduct. Queen Katherine was condemned by a bill of attainder
Bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...
and executed on 13 February 1542.Several other members of the Howard family were sent to the Tower
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, including Norfolk's stepmother, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. However the French ambassador Marillac
Charles de Marillac
Charles de Marillac was a French prelate and diplomat.-Career:De Marillac was, by the age of twenty-two, an advocate in parliament in Paris...
wrote on 17 January 1541 that Norfolk had not only escaped punishment, but had apparently been restored to his 'full former credit and authority'.
Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant-General north of Trent
River Trent
The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...
on 29 January 1541, and Captain-General in a campaign against the Scots in August 1542. In June 1543 he declared war on France in the King's name and was appointed Lieutenant-General of the army. During the campaign of May–October 1544 he besieged Montreuil, while the King captured Boulogne before returning home. Complaining of lack of provisions and munitions, Norfolk eventually raised the siege of Montreuil, and realizing that Boulogne could not realistically be held by the English for long, left it garrisoned and withdrew to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
, for which he was severely rebuked by the King.
Imprisonment and release
During the King's final years Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of HertfordEdward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Hache and 1st Earl of Hertford, KG was the son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, by his second wife Anne Stanhope....
, and Henry's last Queen, Katherine Parr, both of whom favoured the reformed faith, gained influence with the King while the conservative Norfolk became isolated politically. He attempted to form an alliance with the Seymours through a marriage between his widowed daughter, Mary Fitzroy and Hertford's brother Thomas Seymour
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley
Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG was an English politician.Thomas spent his childhood in Wulfhall, outside Savernake Forest, in Wiltshire. Historian David Starkey describes Thomas thus: 'tall, well-built and with a dashing beard and auburn hair, he was irresistible to women'...
, but the effort was forestalled by the provocative conduct of his eldest son and heir, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, KG, , known as The Earl of Surrey although he never was a peer, was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry.-Life:...
, who had displayed in his own heraldry the royal arms and insignia. On 12 December 1546 both Norfolk and Surrey were arrested and sent to the Tower. On 12 January 1547 Norfolk acknowledged that he had 'concealed high treason, in keeping secret the false acts of my son, Henry Earl of Surrey, in using the arms of St. Edward the Confessor, which pertain only to kings', and offered his lands to the King. Norfolk's family, including his estranged wife, his daughter Mary, and his mistress, Elizabeth Holland, all gave evidence against him. Surrey was beheaded on 19 January 1547, and on 27 January 1547 Norfolk was attainted by statute without trial. The dying King gave his assent to Norfolk's death by royal commissioners, and it was rumoured that he would be executed on the following day. He was saved by the King's death on 28 January and the Council's decision not to inaugurate the new reign with bloodshed. His estates fell prey to the ruling clique in the reign of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, for which he was later partly compensated by lands worth £1626 a year from Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
.
Norfolk remained in the Tower throughout the reign of King Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
. He was released and pardoned by Queen Mary in 1553, and in Mary's first parliament (October–December 1553), his statutory attainder was declared void, thereby restoring him to the dukedom. He was appointed to the Privy Council, and presided as Lord High Steward at the trial of the Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG 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 Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
on 18 August. He was also restored to the office of Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...
and officiated in that capacity at Mary's coronation on 1 October 1553. His last major service to the Crown was his command of the forces sent to put down a rebellion
Wyatt's rebellion
Wyatt's Rebellion was a popular uprising in England in 1554, named after Thomas Wyatt the younger, one of its leaders. The rebellion arose out of concern over Queen Mary I's determination to marry Philip II of Spain, which was an unpopular policy with the English...
in early 1554 by a group of disaffected gentlemen who opposed the Queen's projected marriage to Philip II of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
.
The Duke died at Kenninghall
Kenninghall
Kenninghall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 878 in 369 households as of the 2001 census.For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland....
on 25 August 1554 and was buried at St. Michael's Church
St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham
St Michael the Archangel in Framlingham, Suffolk, known affectionately as St Mike's, is a Church of England church dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel. It was the burial site of the House of Howard. The church was declared a Grade I listed building in 1966.-History:The Church of Saint Michael...
at Framlingham
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal District of Suffolk, England. Commonly referred to as "Fram" by the locals, it is of Anglo-Saxon origin and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a population of 3,114 at the 2001 census...
in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
. He was survived by two of the three children of his second marriage: his younger son, Thomas
Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon
Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon , was an English peer and politician. He was the youngest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Lady Elizabeth Stafford. He served as Custos Rotulorum of Dorset and Vice-Admiral of Dorset. In 1559 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Howard...
created Viscount Howard of Bindon in 1559, and his daughter Mary, his eldest son and heir, Henry
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry Howard, KG, , known as The Earl of Surrey although he never was a peer, was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry.-Life:...
, having been executed in 1547. Although there is debate on the topic, it appears that Norfolk had another daughter Katherine, who was briefly married to Norfolk's ward
Ward
Ward may refer to:* A Watchman as in Watch and Ward* Ward , someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian* USS Aaron Ward, a series of U.S...
, Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby
Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby was an English nobleman.At the age of thirteen, Edward received the titles and estates of his father, the 2nd Earl of Derby, and King Henry VIII took responsibility for bringing him up until he was of age...
, and died on 15 March 1530. The Duke's property passed into the hands of the Crown during the minority of his grandson and heir, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was an English nobleman.Norfolk was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Norfolk's patronage...
.
Ancestry
Fictional portrayals
Norfolk has been portrayed several times in film. In the 1970 BBC miniseries The Six Wives of Henry VIII, the role was played by Patrick TroughtonPatrick Troughton
Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
. In A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons (1966 film)
A Man for All Seasons is a 1966 film based on Robert Bolt's play A Man for All Seasons about Sir Thomas More. It was released on December 12, 1966. Paul Scofield, who had played More in the West End stage premiere, also took the role in the film. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann, who had...
(1966), he was played by Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
. In Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 costume drama made by Hal Wallis Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film tells the story of Anne Boleyn...
(1969), Peter Jeffrey
Peter Jeffrey
Peter Jeffrey was a British actor with many roles in television and film.Jeffrey was born in Bristol, the son of Florence Alice and Arthur Winfred Gilbert Jeffrey. He was educated at Harrow School and Pembroke College, Cambridge but had no formal training as an actor...
took the role. He went on to reprise the role in a 1996 BBC adaptation of Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
's 1881 novel The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper
The Prince and the Pauper is an English-language novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada before its 1882 publication in the United States. The book represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction...
. Mark Strong
Mark Strong
Mark Strong is an English actor, with a body of work in both films and television. He has performed in films as varied as Body of Lies, Syriana, The Young Victoria, Sherlock Holmes, RocknRolla, Stardust, and Kick-Ass...
portrayed Norfolk in the 2003 ITV feature Henry VIII. In the Showtime series The Tudors
The Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
(2007), he was played by Henry Czerny
Henry Czerny
- Career :Czerny received formal training at the National Theatre School in Montreal. After graduating in 1982, he went on to perform onstage across Canada, from Ottawa's National Arts Centre to Edmonton's Citadel Theatre and the Stratford Festival. By the late 1980s, he had established himself as...
. David Morrissey
David Morrissey
David Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
played the Duke in the film The Other Boleyn Girl. D. L. Bogdan's novels Rivals in the Tudor Court and Secrets of the Tudor Court feature Norfolk as one of the central characters. Norfolk is also one of the characters in the Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
novels The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel by British author Philippa Gregory which was first published in 2006. It is a direct sequel to her previous novel The Other Boleyn Girl, and one of the additions to her six-part series on the Tudor royals...
.
See also
- Dukes of Norfolk family treeDukes of Norfolk family treeThe following chart is a family tree of the Dukes of Norfolk, who were members of the Plantagenet, Mowbray and Howard families. It shows how every Duke of Norfolk was a descendant of King Edward I of England....