Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel

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Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, Surrey & Norfolk (painting by PP Rubens )

Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel KG (born  July 7, 1585 in Finchingfield , Essex , † October 4, 1646 in Padua , Italy ) was an English nobleman during the reigns of King James I and Charles I. He held important offices and carried out many diplomatic missions on the European continent for the royal family. However, he became known to posterity less as a politician than as an art and antiquity collector.

Particularly noteworthy is his relationship with the Flemish painter Anthonis van Dyck , who came to England for the first time in 1620 at his instigation. After only one year he entered the service of Jacob I and accepted orders from the outstanding men of the court. Van Dyck was ennobled under Charles I.

Thomas Howard and his wife Alathea Talbot (painting by van Dyck )

Life

Howard was born in relative poverty as his family, the Howards, fell out of favor near the end of Queen Elizabeth's reign . He was the son of Philip Howard, 20th Earl of Arundel , and Anne Dacre, daughter of Thomas Dacre, 4th Baron Dacre . Howard did not know his father, as he was charged with treason before he was born and imprisoned in the Tower of London until his death in 1595 .

Under James I succeeded Howard United uncles, the Howard family again socially acceptable to make, Howard got back his titles in 1604 and parts of the land. The next year he married Lady Alathea Talbot, the youngest daughter of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury , and granddaughter of Bess of Hardwick . Lady Alethea's legacy consisted of vast estates in Nottinghamshire , Yorkshire and Derbyshire which included the city of Sheffield and formed the basis of the Howard's fortune. Despite the enormous income from the lands, Howard was heavily indebted due to his collecting activities.

From 1622 until his death he held the office of Earl Marshal , from 1640 to 1644 he was also Lord Steward of the Household . He established the tradition that the office of Earl Marshal is always exercised by a member of the Howard family, later it then became hereditary.

During the reign of Charles I, Howard served several times as envoy to continental courts, which sparked his interest in art. In 1642 he accompanied the English princess Maria Henrietta Stuart on her marriage to Wilhelm II of Orange to Holland. With the English Civil War already looming , Howard preferred not to return to England. He first lived in Antwerp , later moved into a villa near Padua , where he died in 1646. His eldest son, Henry Frederick Howard inherited the title of Earl of Arundel and became ancestor of the Dukes of Norfolk and the Barons Mowbray , the youngest son William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford , became ancestor of the Earls and Barons Stafford .

Peter Paul Rubens : Alathea Talbot, 1620

Howard made repeated petitions to the King asking for the Duke of Norfolk family title to be restored . In 1644 he was at least given the title of Earl of Norfolk , and it was not until his grandson Thomas Howard was given the title of Duke of Norfolk again.

Art collectors and sponsors

Howard commissioned several portraits of himself and his family from masters of the period such as Peter Paul Rubens , Jan Lievens and Anthonis van Dyck . He also bought works by Hans Holbein and Adam Elsheimer . Howard was also a patron of the draftsman and engraver Wenceslaus Hollar , whom he met on one of his trips in 1633 and brought to England.

The majority of Howard's collection of drawings (including by Leonardo da Vinci , Hans Holbein the Elder , Hans Holbein the Younger , Raphael , Parmigianino , Hollar and Dürer ) is now in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle . He bequeathed his collection of ancient statues - England's most important - to the University of Oxford . It is now in the Ashmolean Museum .

He sponsored the architect Inigo Jones , who accompanied him in 1613 on the honeymoon of Princess Elisabeth and Elector Friedrich V from the Palatinate to Heidelberg and on to Italy. There Jones studied the work of Italian architects and met with students of Palladio , whose teachings he made known in England.

In the 1630s Howard acquired a 283-page manuscript from Leonardo da Vinci . The so-called " Codex Arundel " is now in the holdings of the British Library under the call number Arundel 263 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel on thepeerage.com , accessed June 20, 2019.
  2. ^ A b Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, 416
  3. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 440

Web links

Commons : Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Philip Howard Earl of Arundel
1604-1646 		Henry Frederick Howard
Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey
1604-1646 		Henry Frederick Howard
New title created Earl of Norfolk
1644-1646 		Henry Frederick Howard
Office in Commission Earl Marshal
1622-1646 		Henry Frederick Howard
personal data
SURNAME Howard, Thomas, 21st Earl of Arundel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arundel, Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman, diplomat and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1585
PLACE OF BIRTH Finchingfield , Essex
DATE OF DEATH October 4, 1646
Place of death Padua