Talk about nine lives!! The third Duke of Norfolk was the highest peer in the land after the king (or queen), and managed to cheat death multiple times – even during the height of Henry’s paranoia. Born Thomas Howard in 1473, he somehow made it past eighty to die peacefully in his own bed.
In 1485, Howard and his father fought on the side of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. As we all know, Richard lost, and the new Henry VII threw them in the Tower and confiscated their titles and most of their properties…but spared them from death.
Over the years, the Howards worked to rehabilitate themselves…and since they were fierce soldiers, they had several opportunities. In 1489, Howard père was restored to the earldom of Surrey. 1497, the Howards led a campaign against the Scots, which put them in even greater favor, enough for Surrey to be named an executor of Henry VII’s will. In 1513, the new-ish king Henry VIII left the Howards behind when he went to invade France…and they fended off an invasion, decisively beating King James IV of Scotland in the Battle of Flodden, killing James and thousands of men. That last exploit saw the full restoration of their titles: Surrey became the Duke of Norfolk once again and our Thomas took on the now-subsidiary title of Earl of Surrey.
In 1524, Surrey succeeded his father as Duke of Norfolk. Two-ish years later, his niece Anne Boleyn caught the eye of Henry VIII…catapulting Norfolk to even greater power at Court – his daughter Mary even married Henry’s illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy. Although both of these power grabs fell apart, Norfolk bided his time and returned to full prominence when the King married another niece, Catherine Howard. On Catherine’s fall, Norfolk laid low for a bit, returning to court when Henry was happy with his sixth and final wife, Kathrine Parr. Norfolk’s conservatism put him at odds with the reformist party – and his own son Surrey (that old subsidiary title coming into play) rashly tried to position the Howards to take over the Council (or more) when Henry died…which got them both thrown into the Tower. Surrey was executed, and much as Norfolk tried to distance himself from his son he was scheduled to follow him to the block…but Henry died hours before that could happen.
Norfolk remained in the Tower for all of Edward VI’s reign, then was released and restored when Mary came to the throne in 1553. He repaid the favor by helping to quash Wyatt’s Rebellion, then died peacefully at his Kenninghall home. Against all odds….
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