The Howards Make a Comeback: the 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Henry VII

Image of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG D23922

August 22, 1485, the Battle of Bosworth Field, was the date when the world turned upside down for the Howard family. On that day, as the first Howard Duke of Norfolk lay dead on the field of battle in the company of the king under whom he had rendered faithful service and risen to great heights, the fortunes of the family appeared to have been ground into the dirt. Early reports from the battle stated that the Duke’s eldest son and heir, Thomas Earl of Surrey was also among the dead. This was not accurate, but the Earl was led from the conflict a prisoner. For most noble families this would have marked the end of their rise to power, but not so for the Howards. As Thomas moldered in the Tower of London in the first years of the Tudor era, he was planning his return to grace. A return, he knew, that depended on his ability to serve the new king well in many roles. The Earl orchestrated this return to power and influence using a carefully constructed affinity, or family-based political group, that was capable of being useful to the new king in all areas of his reign. (1) The primary areas of service emphasized by Howard were at court, in the military, in judicial matters, and as the King’s representative in the localities. Thomas Howard worked diligently to provide the king exemplary service in all of these areas. In return he and his affinity were well rewarded in terms of titles, offices, marriages and income. Thomas did not do this alone, his primary collaborator in the quest for preferment was the new king himself. In the aftermath of Bosworth, Henry VII worked to ensure a strong and solvent nobility. (2) Understanding the means by which Thomas Howard managed his rehabilitation and positioned himself and his family in the good graces of the monarch sheds further light on the court politics of the reign of Henry VII, a topic that has not been extensively examined by historians. (3)

Rising from the Ashes

The Howards were early, consistent, and enthusiastic supporters of the Yorkist regime. John Howard (Thomas’ father) was made the 1st Howard Duke of Norfolk by Richard III and not surprisingly he and his son Thomas, Earl of Surrey fought on Richard’s side at the Battle of Bosworth Field where John was killed. (4) In the aftermath, his son, Thomas, was taken prisoner and conveyed to the Tower of London.

The Battle of Bosworth Field by all rights should have marked the end of the Howard rise. The first Parliament of the Tudor era stripped Thomas of the title of Duke of Norfolk (which he should have inherited at his father’s death); he was removed from the Order of the Garter and he and his late father were both placed under attainder. (5) Howard remained in the Tower of London as a prisoner for the next three and a half years.

In early 1489, Henry VII decided that Howard was of far more use to him at liberty than in the Tower. (6) Parliament passed an act partially reversing the attainder on both Thomas and his father and permitting Thomas to assume the title of Earl of Surrey. Henry did not fully rehabilitate the Howards however, since the title of Duke of Norfolk was withheld. (7) It was clear that the Earl had significant work to do to convince the suspicious Tudor that he was trustworthy and of use to the nascent regime. From the point of his release, he began rebuilding his position and the affinity in earnest. This approach worked well for Surrey, in a series of four Parliamentary Acts between 1489 and 1495, he had most of his lands restored. (8)

Image of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG D38987

It appears that Howard began his rehabilitation by focusing on one of the most fundamental of the political structures in early Tudor England: the affinity, which can be defined as a “small group bound to each other by close ties, very often those of kinship, working together in matters of patronage, royal service, and local politics.”(9) With this affinity he laid the foundations for the creation of the spectacularly effective faction that was so prominent during the reign of Henry VIII.

The new Earl realized that in order to climb back up the ladder of preferment he was going to have to be of service to the regime on multiple levels, as was true for all early Tudor noblemen seeking to create an affinity and exercise influence. (10) Surrey had the military background that Henry VII needed and it was there that he provided his most consistent service. He understood though, that at the relatively advanced age of 46 he was unlikely to be able to personally participate in all of the ceremonials and entertainments staged to provide the magnificence that the new regime and court needed. Luckily for Howard he had a large number of children who were on the cusp of being old enough to be of real use in his endeavor. He saw to it that his sons were trained to provide service both at court and in the military. His eldest son Thomas was nearly sixteen years old, certainly ready to begin to make a mark on the court. He showed signs of some military ability and administrative competence, though he was not a flamboyant figure likely to rise as a boon companion to the Tudors. That role fell to his younger brother Edward who grew to combine an heroic approach to naval matters with a larger-than-life personality. (11) As young men both Thomas and Edward served in the king’s household as pages. (12) . In order to further augment the affinity, the Earl brought men who possessed the skills and personalities to appeal to the Tudor interests into its ranks through marriage. His daughter Elizabeth married the courtier and diplomat Thomas Boleyn in the late 1490s. (13) By July of 1506 Surrey matched his daughter Muriel with the up and coming young courtier Thomas Knyvett. (14) This small group formed the basis of Thomas Howard’s plan of rehabilitation.

Serving the King

There is a mistaken notion that the court of the first Tudor was somehow a poor thing reflecting the king’s famous frugality. This however is not at all accurate. Henry VII spent a significant amount of money and expended a great deal of effort in order to create Ka magnificent court that would signal to both his own citizens and to foreign powers that the new dynasty was in place for the long run and was to be taken seriously. (15) Henry’s court was a place of music, dancing, jousting and the like, as well as the place where the serious business of government took place. It was a space in which a group that was calculating in its approach could rise high. The Earl of Surrey was determined that his family, both by birth and marriage, would be equipped to take part and to reap the rewards available through service in the court and close attendance on the king.

Portrait of Henry VII used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG 1505

One of the most important roles undertaken by nobles at court was to add to the magnificence on great state occasions. Certainly Henry VII used them in this way and Surrey’s inclusion is indicative of his continuing success at working his way back into the king’s good graces. One such occasion was the ceremonial entry into London of Katherine of Aragon, the Spanish Princess whom Henry had secured as a bride for his eldest son Arthur. Upon her arrival in England in the Fall of 1501, Henry was determined to greet the young bride-to-be with extraordinary ceremony and his nobles were enlisted in order to make this happen. (16) One of the most prominent of the peers taking part in the welcoming ceremonies was Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey. He was among the group that included such luminaries as the Duke of Buckingham, the Archbishop of York and the king’s second son Henry, Duke of York who extended a formal greeting to Katherine as she entered the capital city. (17) Surrey’s son-in-law, Thomas Boleyn was present at the wedding of the young couple. (18)

Unfortunately, the marriage between Arthur and Katherine was short-lived as Arthur died suddenly in April 1502. (19) Custom dictated that the bereaved parents not attend the funeral. Surrey was appointed as the principal mourner, a clear indication of his rehabilitation. He had been chosen for this most personal of tasks by the heart-broken king instead of the Duke of Buckingham who might have seemed, due to his higher rank, as the obvious choice. Buckingham, however, carried the taint of royal blood and the last thing that Henry VII wanted on display at the funeral of his heir was a man who might be seen by some as a plausible alternative to the current dynasty. (20)

Throughout the reign, tournaments served as a means for the monarch to showcase both his courtly magnificence as well as the martial skills of his younger courtiers. The first such event took place as a part of the coronation ceremonies and they reoccurred throughout the reign. (21) Often they were a part of the larger celebrations surrounding major events. Members of the Howard affinity took an active role in many of these entertainments, though for obvious reasons they were not a part of the initial one. In November of 1501, a great joust was held as part of the welcoming ceremony for Katherine of Aragon and Thomas, Earl of Surrey took part. (22) Toward the end of the reign, in May and June 1507, there were a series of jousts held to celebrate the betrothal of Henry VII’s youngest daughter, Mary, to the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The king, who had been unwell, was in attendance but the focus seems to have shifted to the younger generation, especially those coming to be associated with the young Prince Henry. In this group, members of the Howard affinity – specifically Edward Howard and Thomas Kynvett – played an important role. In the May joust Thomas Knyvett as well as Wiliam Hussey, Giles Capel, and Charles Brandon jousted as the challengers. (23) The joust held in June where both Edward and Knyvett participated was far more violent than usual and was designed to appeal to the youthful enthusiasm of Prince Henry and can be seen as a statement by this younger generation that the times were changing. (24) These jousts can be seen as the vindication of the planning done by the Earl of Surrey; these younger members of his family were serving the purpose he had intended.

Many of the noble courtiers under Henry were used in diplomatic missions; Henry VII held on to this style of diplomacy rather than fully embracing the new Renaissance model of the resident ambassador. Since his representatives would only be at the foreign court for a short period, it was important that they make a positive impression and be able to participate in the ceremonial aspects of court life. This requirement made the use of certain nobles the most appropriate choice. Henry entrusted the Earl of Surrey with several important diplomatic missions over the course of the reign. Between 1496 and 1501, the Earl was in the group that undertook the negotiations with James IV of Scotland that resulted in the union of that monarch with Henry VII’s eldest daughter Margaret. (25) The young princess traveled to her new life in the northern kingdom in 1503 and in her train was Thomas Boleyn. (26)

Image of woman thought to be Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland, used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG 1173

As the nobility has its origins as a martial caste, it is not surprising that one of the areas of their greatest service was within the military. This was an area in which the Howards were extraordinarily well suited to serve, due both to their long familial history and to more recent experience. (27) As it took most of the reign for Henry VII to firmly establish the new dynasty in England and he often felt under threat, he was particularly interested in nobles who could render effective military service. (28) Scotland continued to be a problem for the security of England and it was against that nation that the Earl and his son Thomas, Lord Howard made their great contributions and went a long distance toward securing their rehabilitation. Within ten weeks of his release from confinement in the Tower, Surrey was sent to the north in order to bring that notoriously difficult border area that had long been the center of Yorkist power under control. (29) That the Earl was entrusted with such a vital task is indicative of both the respect that Henry had for his military prowess and the trust that Howard had regained. In 1489, the North rose in protest against the subsidy that had been voted by Parliament in November 1487. In the face of the disturbance, Surrey was deployed to command the vanguard of the king’s army. The government forces had little trouble restoring order to the area. It was not long before Henry VII felt secure enough to return south leaving Surrey as one of the committee of three men who governed the area in his name. In 1492, there was another disturbance in the region that easily could have escalated into a full-scale rebellion. Surrey responded immediately with effective military force but then interceded on behalf of the offenders and successfully gained pardons for them. (30)

The area remained one of concern for the government. In March 1495 Surrey in his office of vice-warden of the western and middle Marches was commissioned to “muster and array all men at arms, habelers, bowmen, and able-bodied men between the Trent and the Tweed for the defense of the country against the Scots and other enemies.” (31) Later that same year he was on the Commissions of Array for the North, West, and East Ridings in Yorkshire. (32) In 1497 when the Pretender Perkin Warbeck, supported by James IV of Scotland, launched an invasion of England intended to displace the Tudors, Henry VII once again called upon Surrey to provide military leadership to repel the enemy. Surrey’s reputation was sufficiently formidable, as was the force of which he was placed at the head, that when the Scottish king heard of his approach he retreated northward back into Scotland. The Earl pursued him and captured Ayton Castle. (33)

It was of course Surrey’s military service in the next reign that completed the family’s quest for restitution. As a reward for winning the battle of Flodden, defeating and killing James IV of Scotland, the title of Duke of Norfolk was restored to him in 1514.

Providing service was one way in which Thomas Howard rehabilitated his family, another was by contracting useful marriages for his children, marriages that would make the affinity more valuable to the regime. In 1495, in the face of the invasion in support of the Pretender Warbeck, Henry VII was interested in procuring safe marriages for Anne and Katherine Plantagenet, the still unmarried sisters of his wife Elizabeth of York (and thus daughters of the Yorkist King Edward IV), that would be seen as respectable, but also would ensure that the women would not become the focus of an attempt to reinstate the Yorkist regime. He decided that the safest course was to match them with the heirs to two of the great noble houses. Katherine was married to Lord William Courtenay, the son of the earl of Devon and Anne married Thomas Howard, Lord Howard, the son and heir of the Earl of Surrey. Despite Anne’s exalted bloodline and ties to the royal family, she was nearly penniless and did not have an extended family that would be of use to the Howards. This marriage was a way in which the Earl demonstrated to the King the family’s loyalty to the new regime and their willingness to sacrifice their own interests in order to further the interests of the king.

Surrey matched his daughters Elizabeth and Muriel to young courtiers who brought little in the way of money or significant familial connections to the Howards. What Thomas Boleyn and William Knyvett did bring was the ability to participate in the lavish

entertainments of the court and a popularity with the King, and his son Henry, that the Earl did not possess.

The purpose for all of this service was to prove to Henry VII, that despite the family’s history of allegiance to the Yorkists, they were loyal to the new dynasty. The fruits of that loyalty were rewards, which the affinity accrued in significant amounts, both on a personal and professional level. The members of the group were rewarded with income-producing property and with court offices that brought them into close proximity to the King and afforded the intimacy that made further preferment easier to gain. (34)

The New King

Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey was determined to rebound following the defeat of the Yorkists at Bosworth Field. Following his release from custody in early 1489, he worked hard to create an affinity that would be of use to the Tudors. During the reign of Henry VII, the Earl himself was the primary beneficiary of his efforts, but much of his work paid rich dividends for his extended family in the next reign. Surrey’s focus on building an affinity that would carry the family into the next reign was matched by Henry VII’s desire to encourage the sons of his courtiers to develop a strong sense of loyalty and service centered on the person of his surviving son Henry. (35) Edward Howard and Thomas Knyvett became favoured companions of the Prince, sharing his love of joust and entertainment. However, Surrey’s eldest son Thomas, though of an age to play a significant role at court did not do so. Following his marriage to the King’s sister-in-law, Lord Howard spent most of his time at his estates, seemingly not a favourite courtier of Henry VII. (36)

Portrait of Henry VIII used with permission of the National Portrait Gallery, London. NPG 4690

It was obvious from the beginning that this new ruler was a far different man than his father had been, and it must have been clear to Surrey that he had laid his foundations for the success of his affinity in this reign well. He himself represented experience and continuity as well as military ability; his eldest son Thomas was emerging from his estates to provide a strong aristocratic voice on the Council; his younger son Edward was one of the new king’s boon companions and was developing a swash-buckling reputation in the navy. It was at this point that Surrey’s choice of sons-in-law also began to pay real dividends. Thomas Boleyn was a consummate diplomat and ingratiating courtier while Thomas Knyvett was widely acclaimed as one of the premier talents on the jousting field and followed Edward Howard into a heroic career in the navy. (37)

Like the king that he had opposed and then served so assiduously, Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey planned for the long-term when he undertook his quest for self-rehabilitation. Understanding what the new regime needed in nearly every field of endeavor, the Earl set out to structure his own career and construct his affinity in order to provide those services. In so doing he created a political juggernaut that would play a dominating role in the nation’s politics for the next half century.

Notes

1. One of the things I want to work out in this project is the distinction between an affinity, a group constructed essentially of an extended family, and a faction, a more politically organized group that may well have family at its core but is comprised of a more extended membership. An argument that I intend to make ultimately is that the 2nd Duke created an affinity, but it was only with the 3rd Duke that the Howards, for a short time at least, operated as the nucleus of a faction.

2. G.W. Bernard, “The Fortunes of the Greys, Earls of Kent, in the Early Sixteenth Century.” The Historical Journal 25:3 (Sept. 1982), 676.

3. S.J. Gunn, “The Structures of Politics in Early Tudor England,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 5 (1995): 62. Thomas Penn’s new study of Henry VII, The Winter King, goes someway to redressing this lack but not a great deal of attention is given to the workings of the court and its members.

4. John Martin Robinson, The Dukes of Norfolk: A Quincentennial History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), 9.

5.The text of the bill of attainder read in part: “Wherefore oure Soveraigne Lord, calleinge unto hys blessed remembraunce thys high and grete charge adjoined to jys Royall Majestie and Estate, not oblivious nor putting out of hys godly mind the unnaturall, mischevious and grete Perjuries, Treasons, Homicides and Murdres, in shedding of Infants blood with manie other Wronges, odious offences and abominacions ayenst god and Man, and in especiall oure Said Soveraigne Lord, committed and done by Richard, late Duke of Gloucester. . .” Quoted in S.B. Chrime, Henry VII, 63n. Michael Bennett, The Battle of Bosworth (Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1985), 13. See J.R. Lander, “Attainder and Forfeiture 1453 to 1509,” Historical Journal 4:2 (1961): 119-151 for a thorough discussion of the history and use of parliamentary attainder.

6. It is likely that one reason that Henry released Howard was in order to solidify the king’s position in the Howard stronghold of East Anglia. Michael Bennett, Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke, (Gloucester: Alan Sutton, 1987), 33.

7. Melvin J. Tucker, The Life of Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey and Second Duke of Norfolk, 1443-1524 (London: Mouton, 1964), 51.

8. J.R. Lander, “Attainder and Forfeiture, 1453 to 1509,” Historical Journal 4:2 (1961), 136-37; M.A. Hicks, “The Last Days of Elizabeth Countess of Oxford,” The English Historical Review 101:406 (Jan. 1988), 136-137.

9. S.J. Gunn, “The Structures of Politics in Early Tudor England,” Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6th ser. 5 (1995): 77.

10. Ibid., 79.

11. Melvin J. Tucker, The Life of Thomas Howard, 93.

12. David Head, The Ebbs and Flows of Fortune: The Life of Thomas Howard, Third Duke of Norfolk, (Athens and London: The University of Georgia Press, 1995), 20.

13. This marriage produced Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII.

14. On July 9, 1506 the following was issued: “Pardon to Thomas Knyvett of London… and Muriel his wife, Viscountess Lisle, late the king’s widow and late the wife of John Grey, Viscount Lisle, who held of the king in chiefe, for intermarrying without liscence.” Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VII, 1485-1495 and 1494-1509. 2 volumes (London: His Majesty’s Stationer’s Office, 1914-1916. reprint 1970), 2:465.

15. S.J. Gunn, “The Courtiers of Henry VII,” English Historical Review 108:426 (January, 1993): 23.

16. Sydney Anglo provides an extraordinarily detailed description of the pageants staged by the city of London on this occasion in his Spectacle, pp. 57ff.

17. Penn, Winter King, 56-57.

18. Eric Ives, The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn, (Oxford: Blackwell, 2004), 4.

19. Gairdner, Letters and Papers, I:182, 184.

20. Penn, Winter King, 85-86.

21. Sydney Anglo, Spectacle, Pageantry and Early Tudor Policy, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969). 16ff.

22. Penn, Winter King, 62-65.

23. Ibid., 286.

24. Ibid., 291-294.

25. Joseph Bain, ed. Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved In Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, London. 4 vols. (Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1881-1888), IV:1496, 1678.

26. Ives, Life and Death, 4.

27. It was in the navy that the family first made a significant impact on the military history of the nation. As early as 1335 John Howard, Lord Howard became Admiral of the North Seas initiating the long tradition that culminated with Lord Howard of Effingham’s part in the defeat of the Spanish Armada during the reign of Elizabeth I. However, this element of Howard expertise did not come to the fore until the reign of Henry VIII. In 1512, Edward Howard was made Lord Admiral and following his and Thomas Knyvett’s deaths fighting the French that same year, the position was taken by his elder brother Thomas, Earl of Surrey (later the 3rd Duke of Norfolk). Robinson, The Dukes of Norfolk, 2; Tucker, The Life of Thomas Howard, 100.

28. T.B. Pugh, “’The Indenture for the Marches’ Between Henry VII and Edward Stafford (1477-1521), Duke of Buckingham.” English Historical Review 71:280 (July, 1956): 437.

29. Tucker, The Life of Thomas Howard, 54; Michael Bennett, “Henry VII and the Northern Rising of 14389,” English Historical Review 105:414 (Jan. 1990), 34.

30. Bennett, “Henry VII and the Northern Rising of 1489,” 34-48.

31. Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VII, 1485-1495 and 1494-1509. 2 volumes (London: His Majesty’s Stationer’s Office, 1914-1916. reprint 1970), 2:32; Joseph Bain, (ed.). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved In Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, London. 4 vols. (Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1881-1888), IV:608.

32. Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VII, 2:52.

33. Agnes Conway, Henry VII’s Relations with Scotland and Ireland, (New York: Octagon, 1972). 112-113.

34. Calendar of the Close Rolls, Preserved in the Public Record Office Prepared Under the Suuperintendence of the Keeper of Public Records. Henry VII, 1485-1500, (London: Her Majesty’s Stationer’s Office, 1955), I:1209,II:254, 244, 503, 569; Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry VII, 1: 314; 2:62, 114, 239; Bain, Joseph (ed.). Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved In Her Majesty’s Public Record Office, London. 4 vols. (Edinburgh: H.M. General Register House, 1881-1888), IV:1562.

35. Penn, The Winter King, 286.

36. Head, The Ebbs and Flows, 21.

37. Head, The Ebbs and Flows, 26; Tucker, The Life of Thomas Howard, 92-93.