By Lizzy Drake
Photo 1: Framlingham Castle, the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk (Holly Stacey)
The Howard dynasty in Tudor times was a
highly rich and powerful one, but there was a time when their
precious heads were on the proverbial block before being given a
chance to prove themselves loyal to the 'new' Tudor crown. Having
been Yorkist and fought for Richard III where Henry Tudor took the
crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, the family was viewed with
suspicion, not in part for the fact that they had a Plantagenet
lineage and could, with the backing of loyal Howard and old Yorkist
ties, easily have attempted to take the crown for themselves. Thomas
Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, was stripped of his title and lands and
sent to the tower for three years. The former Duke was, however,
clever enough to know how to show his loyalties had changed, for when
an opportunity for escape from the tower came, he refused to take it.
Who knew that his family would land so close to the king in the form
of two queens. Or, perhaps, Thomas Howard had a keen sense of
destiny, for the years to come allowed him to show both his guile and
servitude in rising back to his position and beyond.
While Thomas Howard was in prison, his
family and heirs were still expected to serve the crown and country,
providing from their own pocket to help defend and serve it. The
Howard male children were educated in court and also taught to train
in combat for any upcoming threat. Thomas Howard II was also
betrothed to the queen's sister, Anne but because the alliance was so
threatening to the current monarchy, their vows were postponed until
1495, though it was the Queen who had to provide her sister and
husband 20 shillings a week (Denny, p.21). In 1503, Margaret Tudor
was escorted by the Howards to her groom, King James IV and then
later, both Thomas Howards travelled on an embassy to Flanders, an
obvious show of trust and by the time the crown passed to Henry VIII,
the Howards had managed to become an invaluable asset.
It proved a good move for Henry VII not
to have executed Thomas Howard, as he proved to be a superb ally both in
court politics and, in particular, in the battlefield. It was at the
Battle of Flodden (during Henry VIII's reign, and where the Scottish king lost his life) Howard truly proved his worth, fighting so valiantly, he earned back his family title of Duke of
Norfolk, while his son, also a Thomas Howard, took the title Earl of
Surrey (soon to be passed down to his own son, as Thomas Howard the elder was an
aged 70 years by this point and soon to be laid to rest).
Photo 2: portrait of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk
In fact, things were going so well for
the Howards by late 1513 that they had fortune enough to make many
repairs on their family estate at Framlingham Castle, rebuilding the
gatehouse and adding the coat of arms above it, putting up highly
decorative Tudor chimneys and the chambers adjoining the gatehouse to
accommodate the castle porter and staff. The coat of arms, still
visible today as visitors enter the castle, is highly chipped, but a
beautiful reminder of the seat of power the Howards held with the
Tudors from this upward turning point.
Photo 3: The Howard coat of arms on the new gatehouse built in 1513 (Holly Stacey)
The Howards adopted the motto, Sola
virtus invictia, 'Virtue alone invincible'. Their coat of arms
was 'red with a silver stripe between six silver crosses', with the
crest of a lion 'on a chapeau (Denny, p 20).” Though a contemporary
drawing of the Howard coat of arms for Henry Howard, earl of Surrey
(beautifully shown in the Framlingham Castle Guidebook), included the
cross with the three-pointed label in his arms which was Edward the
Confessor's emblem, in which claimed the royal ancestry. Evidently,
claiming to be royal blood was too dangerous to broadcast, especially
to a king who wanted to eliminate all potential rivals in an
increasingly dangerous court, although at the time, there was a power
struggle between the Seymours and the Howards. While the very ill
King Henry VIII was waning, the Seymours were concerned that the
Howards would make a bid for the throne by putting the rightful heir,
Edward, aside, and ascending though their Plantagenet bloodline;
something they were supposedly able to do should the king have no
heir, or as Britannica.com puts it:
'Returning to England in 1546, he found
the king dying and his old enemies the Seymours incensed by his
interference in the projected alliance between his sister Mary and
Sir Thomas Seymour, Jane’s brother; he made matters worse by his
assertion that the Howards were the obvious regents for Prince
Edward, Henry VIII’s son by Jane Seymour. The Seymours, alarmed,
accused Surrey and his father of treason and called his sister, the
Duchess of Richmond, to witness against him. She made the disastrous
admission that he was still a close adherent to the Roman Catholic
faith. Because Surrey’s father, the Duke of Norfolk, had been
considered heir apparent if Henry VIII had had no issue, the Seymours
urged that the Howards were planning to set Prince Edward aside and
assume the throne. Surrey defended himself unavailingly and at the
age of 30 was executed on Tower Hill. His father was saved only
because the king died before he could be executed
(britannica.com/biography/henry-howard-earl-of-surrey).'
Photo 4: Henry Howard (wiki photos)
The Howards created an amazing dynasty
for themselves and it was clear that they took family honour to the
absolute limit and coupled it with unparalleled ambition for power
cutting just shy of actually seizing the throne, though it does seem
evident that Henry Howard had this intent. Historians often dwell on
the two women who, through the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, found
themselves as Henry VIII's queens, and the other, who produced some
of his illegitimate children, but it may be said that without the
cleverness, patience and political acumen of Thomas Howard the elder and the younger,
neither would have worn their crown, nor indeed, would the family
have risen from the ashes like a phoenix of lore.
References:
deLisle, Leanda; Tudor, The Family
Story; Vintage Press, London 2014
Denny, Joanna; Katherine Howard, A
Tudor Conspiracy; Piatkus, 2005
Doran, Susan; The Tudor Chronicles
1485-1603; Metro Books, New York
Elton, G.R.; England Under the
Tudors; Routledge, 1991
English Heritage; Framlingham Castle
Online references:
http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/anne-boleyns-family-part-two-howards/
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Howard-Earl-of-Surrey
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Lizzy Drake has been studying Medieval and Tudor England for over 15 years and has an MA in Medieval Archaeology from the University of York, England. She has been writing for much longer but the Elspet Stafford Mysteries began her writing careen in the genre. The First Elspet Stafford book, A Corpse in Cipher - A Tudor Murder Mystery, is available now.
When not writing or researching, Lizzy can be found reading or gardening. She balances time between her two homes in Essex, UK and California.
You can follow her on Twitter (Lizzy Drake@wyvernwings)
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