Thomas Howard (1511-1537)
Lord Thomas Howard (* 1511 ; † October 31, 1537 ) was a member of the English nobility and belonged to the influential Howards family . His father was Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk . His mother Agnes Tilney was one of the most influential English nobles in her widowhood. His nieces Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were wives of King Henry VIII. Due to his forbidden love for the royal niece, Lady Margaret Douglas , he fell from grace and died in the Tower of London .
He should not be confused with his older half-brother of the same name, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk .
Life
Little is known of Thomas Howard's life before he came to the English court. There is evidence that he was childhood friends with the antiquarian John Leland, who was five years his senior and may have been some kind of teacher and companion to him. He is mentioned for the first time at court in 1533, for the coronation of his niece Anne Boleyn. Thomas Howard was also present at the christening of Princess Elisabeth . He was one of the bearers of the heavenly throne of the little princess. After his baptism, Thomas was often to be found at court, as the Howards under Queen Anne were highly favored by the king. During this time Thomas Howard met Lady Margaret Douglas , the king's niece and daughter of Queen Margaret Tudor of Scotland .
By the end of 1535, the two finally fell in love. There was a close emotional relationship between them, which was expressed in love poems and letters, among other things. It is not certain whether the two secretly married each other or whether they had given each other a vow that was binding in the eyes of the Church. Thomas' older half-brother of the same name pursued a targeted marriage policy in order to strengthen the influence of the Howards. These included, among other things, the marriage of his own daughter Mary Howard to Henry Fitzroy , the illegitimate son of Henry VIII, and the attempt to marry off his eldest son to the king's daughter Maria , who had been declared illegitimate . A connection between Lord Thomas Howard and Margaret Douglas would have suited Howard's ambitious plans, but there is no historical evidence that he encouraged his brother in his wooing.
In 1536, when Thomas Howard and Margaret Douglas finally decided to get married, the fate of the Howard family changed dramatically with the fall of Queen Anne Boleyn. There are indications that the king had tolerated the young couple's fall in love, possibly even encouraged them, up to this point. A marriage vow had not been sanctioned by him, since Margaret Douglas was at the first place in the line of succession and the Howards also descended from kings. Both Thomas Howard and Margaret Douglas were imprisoned in the Tower of London . On July 18, 1536, Parliament passed an official condemnation of Thomas Howard, a so-called Bill of Attainder . The wording stated that Thomas Howard "was led and seduced by the devil to lose sight of God and to disregard his duty as a subject, which he owed to the King, our dreaded Supreme Lord". It also said: "There is a suspicion and assumption that he maliciously and treacherously planned and intended to split this kingdom" and "to disrupt the succession to the throne and to reverse the existing act of succession".
In the same breath, parliament passed a law making the marriage of a member of the royal family without the consent of the monarch a crime. Although Howard was sentenced to death for his association with Margaret Douglas, Henry VIII did not sign the execution warrant. In late 1536, Margaret Douglas finally swore off her love for him, most likely to win back her uncle's goodwill. Thomas Howard died in the Tower on October 31, 1537, without having regained his freedom. Rumors said he was poisoned, but more likely he died of an illness. His mother was given permission to bury him, but "without pomp". He was buried in Thetford Abbey.
Literary work
Lord Thomas Howard was part of a literary circle at court with Margaret Douglas, Thomas Wyatt and Mary Howard Fitzroy. In the so-called Devonshire manuscript compiled by this circle is a collection of poems attributed to Thomas Howard. They are love poems to a woman, probably Margaret Douglas, for whose love the lyrical self has to endure hard blows of fate and curses the fate that separates him from his beloved.
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Some take no care wher they haue cure |
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It is not entirely clear how Thomas 'poems found their way out of the Tower and into this collection, especially since Margaret Douglas' handwriting could be identified in some of the works. One theory is that the poems were exchanged by messenger between Thomas and Margaret and then smuggled out of the Tower and included in the manuscript. Through her friend Mary Howard Fitzroy, the book finally came into the possession of Margaret Douglas, who passed it on to her sons Henry and Charles .
literature
- Joanna Denny: Katherine Howard - A Tudor Conspiracy. portrait, London 2005, ISBN 0-7499-5120-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Michael Riordan: Howard, Lord Thomas . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 28: Hooppell - Hutcheson. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X .
- ↑ Kimberly Schutte: A Biography of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515-1578). Niece of Henry VIII and Mother-in-law to Mary Queen of Scots. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY 2002, ISBN 0-7734-7199-5 , p. 243. (Studies in British History Vol 62)
- ↑ Kimberly Schutte: A Biography of Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox (1515-1578). Niece of Henry VIII and Mother-in-law to Mary Queen of Scots. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston, NY 2002, ISBN 0-7734-7199-5 , p. 239. (Studies in British History Vol 62)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Howard, Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Member of the English nobility |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1511 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 31, 1537 |