Agnes Tilney

Agnes Tilney (* around 1477; buried on May 31, 1545 ), after the marriage also Agnes Howard , was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk . She is the step-grandmother of the English queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard , who were both married to Henry VIII . She is the godmother of Elizabeth I , whose step-great-grandmother she was. As a member of the nobility , she was one of the most influential women of her time. After the death of her husband, she successfully resisted a second marriage and was thus able to independently dispose of the considerable wealth that her husband left her.

Early life

Agnes Tilney's family belonged to the lower nobility . Her father was Hugh Tilney of Lincolnshire. Her mother came from an influential Lincolnshire family . The connection to Thomas Howard, who later became the Duke of Norfolk, was ultimately due to her brother Philip. This was in the service of the heir to the Duke, who was married to Elizabeth Tilney, a cousin of Agnes Tilney. Thomas Howard married Agnes Tilney just four months after the death of his first wife. The marriage was considered unusual because Agnes Tilney brought little dowry . However, the Howard family had lost considerable influence after standing alongside Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth . had fought. The relationship between the Howards and the Tudors , who won the battle and subsequently ascended the English throne, remained tense for a long time.

Agnes Tilney's marriage coincided with a time when the Howard family was gradually regaining its former influence. A number of military successes by Thomas Howard contributed to this. The influence and importance of Agnes Tilney at the English royal court grew with the reputation of her husband. She managed to maintain this influence even after her husband's death. Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn as the second wife, whom he had executed for alleged high treason a few years after the marriage. The time in which Anne Boleyn was able to play the role of an English queen was extended through various marriages by the Howard family, to whom Agnes Tilney had been committed since she married. Agnes Tilney wore her train during Anne Boleyn's coronation and was godmother of her first child. Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII and daughter of Agnes Tilney's stepson Edmund Howard , grew up in the household of the dowager duke, but was not adequately prepared for an influential role at the English royal court. Catherine Howard was also executed in 1542. The reason for the execution was her extramarital relations, some of which had already begun in the household of the Dowager Duke Agnes Tilney. Agnes Tilney was arrested for her relationship with Catherine Howard and imprisoned in the Tower of London . However, unlike her stepson Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , she was released in 1543 .

Agnes Tilney died in May 1545 and was buried on May 31st.

literature

Joanna Denny: Katherine Howard - A Tudor Conspiracy , portrait, London 2005, ISBN 0-7499-5120-6 .