Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
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Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (March 10, 1536 — June 2, 1572) and 1st Earl of Southampton
Taught as a child by John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist, who remained a lifelong recipient of Howard's patronage, Howard was the son of the poet Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. His father predeceased him and so Thomas inherited the Dukedom of Norfolk upon the death of his grandfather, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk in 1554.
Norfolk was entrusted by Queen Elizabeth I of England with public office despite his family history and his prior support for the Catholic cause, although he claimed to be a Protestant.
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[edit] Marriages and Plots
[edit] First wife
Thomas Howard's first wife was Mary FitzAlan, heiress to the Arundel Estates after her father Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel's death. She died after a year of marriage having given birth to Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel. It is from this marriage that the present Duke of Norfolk takes his name of 'FitzAlan-Howard' and why his seat is in Arundel. Though her funeral effigy is there, Mary FitzAlan was never buried at Framlingham, but at the church of St. Clement Without, Temple Bar and then (under the direction of her grandson's will) at Arundel.
[edit] Second wife
Thomas next married another heiress, Margaret daughter of Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden. She also died young.
Margaret's children by her marriage to Norfolk were two boys and two girls. Both Mary and Margaret have their tomb effigies at St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham. [1]
[edit] Third wife
After Margaret's death, Thomas married Elizabeth Leyburne, widow of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre of Gillesland.
Norfolk made remarkable marriage plans whereby Elizabeth's three daughters by Dacre became the wives of the sons of his own first two marriages. In other words:
- Anne Dacre to Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel
- Mary Dacre to Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk
- Elizabeth Dacre to William Howard. They were ancestors of Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle.
[edit] Attempted fourth marriage, plots and death
Elizabeth I imprisoned Norfolk in 1569 for scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots.
Following his release, he perhaps (the strength of the evidence for his participation in the Ridolfi plot is doubted by some) participated in the Ridolfi plot with King Philip II of Spain to put Mary on the English throne and restore Catholicism in England and was executed for treason in 1572. He is buried at St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London.
Norfolk's lands and titles were forfeited, although much of the estate was restored to his sons. The title of Duke of Norfolk was restored, four generations later, to Thomas Howard.
[edit] In fiction
A very fictionalized version of the 4th Duke of Norfolk appears as a villain, played by Christopher Eccleston, in the film Elizabeth. Another version of the Duke is in the BBC mini-series The Virgin Queen, played by Kevin McKidd.
[edit] Further reading
- The marvellous chance: Thomas Howard, Fourth Duke of Norfolk, and the Ridolphi plot, 1570-1572 by Francis Edwards (1968) ISBN 0246644745
- Thomas Howard,: Fourth duke of Norfolk by Neville Williams (1965) AISN B0007DRE5Y
- Thomas Howard: Fourth Duke of Norfolk by The Benedictine Brethren of Glendalough, edited by William Cooke Taylor (2005) ISBN 142546159X
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by The Duke of Norfolk |
Earl Marshal 1554–1572 |
Succeeded by The Earl of Shrewsbury |
| Peerage of England | ||
| Preceded by Thomas Howard |
Duke of Norfolk 1554–1572 |
Succeeded by Thomas Howard (Restored 1660) |
| Baron Mowbray 1554–1572 |
Succeeded by Philip Howard |
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