Notes |
- Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of (1473-1554), English nobleman and court intriguer during the reign of Henry VIII. The eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk, he commanded the English vanguard at Flodden Field and was made earl when his father regained the family dukedom. On the death of his father he succeeded to the dukedom and became the most powerful peer in England. Norfolk led the party opposed to the policies of the lord chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He favored Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragón and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, who was Norfolk's niece. As Henry's pliant tool, however, he also presided at Anne's trial and execution in 1536. That same year he repressed the rebellion of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a protest against the confiscation of monastic properties, from which he profited handsomely. In 1540 Norfolk arrested Henry's secretary, Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, who had lost favor with the king. With the execution of his niece, Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, in 1542, Norfolk lost his influence at court. When his son, the poet Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, was arrested for treason, Norfolk was charged with complicity; and was condemned and attainted with his son. His son was executed in 1547, but the subsequent death of the king prevented Norfolk's execution. He remained a prisoner until the accession of Mary I in 1553, when his lands and titles were restored.
_____________________
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke had a son who was Earl of Surrey. His son was: Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of (1536-72), English soldier and politician, son of Henry Howard, earl of Surrey. Thomas inherited the dukedom from his grandfather the 3rd duke of Norfolk. In 1559 he commanded an English army sent to Scotland, and in 1568 he became president of the commission appointed by Elizabeth I, queen of England, to investigate the affairs of Mary, queen of Scots. The following year he was arrested and imprisoned, by order of Elizabeth, for plotting to marry Mary, who was at that time in his custody. After his release in 1570 he began negotiations with Philip II of Spain in regard to a plan for a Spanish invasion of England. The plot was discovered in 1571, and he was arrested and beheaded the following year.
"Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 96 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. (c) Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. All rights reserved.
|