Sir Thomas Knyvett of Buckenham

Buckenham

Buckenham is a village in Norfolk, England, situated on the northern bank of the River Yare. The village is the location of the RSPB Buckenham Marshes nature reserve.Buckenham railway station serves the outlying communities and the RSPB reserve....

, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 (died on 10 August 1512) was a young English nobleman who was a close associate 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...

 shortly after that monarch came to the throne. According to Hall

Edward Hall

Edward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire....

's Chronicle, Knyvett was a frequent participant in the jousts and pageants

Procession

A procession is an organized body of people advancing in a formal or ceremonial manner.-Procession elements:...

 of the new king's glittering court.

When Henry declared war on France in 1512, Knyvett, along with Sir John Carew, was given command of the royal flagship, the Regent. With a number of court favourites commanding other vessels, a small fleet set sail for the coast of Brittany. On 10 August 1512 they engaged a slightly larger French fleet, and a violent melee ensued in 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...

. Knyvett's ship grappled with the French command vessel, and was engaged in boarding her when the French powder magazine blew up (some say it was deliberately ignited). The two vessels burst into flame. Knyvett and Carew both perished, along with the French captain and more than 1,700 men, both French and English.

Knyvett was married before July 1506 as her second husband to Lady Muriel Howard (died in childbirth Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

, 14 December 1512, interred 8 January 1513), by whom he had two children. She was the widow of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle and 4th Baron Lisle and the mother of Elizabeth Grey, 5th Baroness Lisle, who was once engaged to Charles Brandon, 1st 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...

. Lady Muriel was the daughter of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk

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...

 (1443–1524) and Elizabeth Tilney, and through the Howard connection, Knyvett was related to many of the great figures of English history (his brother-in-law, for example, was Thomas Boleyn

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire

Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, KG was an English diplomat and politician in the Tudor era. He was born at the family home, Hever Castle, Kent, which had been purchased by his grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn, who was a wealthy mercer. He was buried at St. Peter's parish church in the village of...

, father of Queen Anne, and grandfather of Queen Elizabeth I

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...

).

In fiction

On the TV 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...

, a fictionalized Sir Anthony Knivert is based on him and played by Callum Blue

Callum Blue

Daniel James Callum Blue , better known as Callum Blue, is an English film and television actor, best known for his roles on the Showtime series The Tudors and Dead Like Me as well as for his role as Zod in the American television series Smallville and British...

.