Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton

Thomas Wriothesley, painted by Hans Holbein around 1535

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton , KG (born December 21, 1505 in London , † July 30, 1550 in Lincoln Place, London) was an English nobleman , Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor . As a talented but unscrupulous and devious politician, he always adapted himself to the political situation and acted as a loyal servant to King Henry VIII in his break with the Catholic Church . Although Wriothesley had benefited from the dissolution of the English monasteries , he still persecuted Calvinists and other dissident Protestants when politics changed.

Early years

Thomas Wriothesley was born on December 21, 1505 in London as the son of William Wriothesley, whose ancestors had written the name "Wryth", and Agnes Drayton, the daughter and heiress of James Drayton. Thomas had two sisters, Elizabeth (* 1507) and Anne (* 1508) and a brother, Edward (* 1509). Thomas' father and uncle were the first family members to spell the surname as "Wriothesley".

After Wriothesley was first taught at St. Paul's School in London, he was admitted to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1522 , where he studied law with Stephen Gardiner . Although he did not graduate, he and Gardiner remained friends. In 1524, at the age of 19, he came to the court, where Thomas Cromwell became aware of him. He became Clerk of the Signet Gardiners, who was Henry VIII's secretary at the time, a post that Wriothesley held for several years, later in the service of Cromwell.

Career at court

As members of the royal secretariat, Thomas Wriothesley and William Brereton were involved in securing the annulment of the king's marriage to Catherine of Aragon and in securing Anne Boleyn's royal position, which is why they were sent to get members of the aristocracy to agree in writing to the annulment . His services were richly rewarded after the dissolution of the monasteries by receiving large estates between Southampton and Winchester that had once belonged to Beaulieu and Titchfield Abbeys.

In 1538 he was promoted to a Knight Bachelor and was from 1539 to 1540 and from 1542 to 1544 as Knight of the Shire for Hampshire member of the House of Commons .

Until May 1539, Wriothesley was Henry VIII's ambassador to Brussels . When Anna von Kleve was due to come to England at the end of 1539 , he led the escort. Wriothesley continued to support the Catholic faction around Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , but only when it was of use to him at court. In 1540 he succeeded and on the recommendation of Cromwell along with Sir Ralph Sadler Secretary of State and part of the King's Privy Council . While Sadler was the king's private secretary, Wriothesley took on purely political tasks. Due to his noble descent, however, he easily dominated the commoner Sadler. In 1540 Wriothesley contributed to the overthrow of his previous patron Cromwell, who was executed on July 28, 1540, and soon won his position of power for himself.

From 1542 Wriothesley had power over most of England. He was a member of the council of Stephen Gardiner , which decided the arrest of the Dukes of Norfolk and his son Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey , and supported Gardiner's raids against Lutheran views. The aim was to find all Protestants in the royal household, especially possible Calvinists. Even Archbishop Cranmer was intimidated by them, but was protected by the king. With the rise of the Conservatives, Wriothesley had to vacate his place as royal secretary in January 1544 in favor of the open Catholic Sir William Petre .

On January 1, 1544 he was raised to Baron Wriothesley , of Titchfield, and thereby became a member of the House of Lords . When Lord Audley died on April 22, 1544, Lord Wriothesley was made Lord Chancellor at a time when Gardiner's influence was waning. In 1545 the king accepted him as a Knight Companion in the Order of the Garter . As Lord Chancellor, he became notorious for having the Protestant Anne Askew tortured and allegedly even torturing herself. The Catholic faction at court suspected that Queen Catherine Parr herself adhered to the Protestant faith and raised the king's children in this faith. Anne Askew denied any contact with the Queen, but Wriothesley managed to get the King to sign Catherine's arrest warrant. However, when he wanted to have her arrested in the presence of the king, the king angrily refused the plan, since he had already reconciled with his wife. The reformists were already more numerous than the Catholics at this point, Wriothesley lost influence and could no longer prevent the Protestant Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford , from making the will of the king according to his will.

Under Edward VI.

Wriothesley was one of the executors of Henry VIII's will and was made Earl of Southampton on February 16, 1547 by the will of the late King . In addition, he was a member of the Regency Council, which during the minority of Edward VI. ruled together. Wriothesley was one of the few members of the council who opposed the rise of the king's uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, to lord protector. In March he was removed from office as Lord Chancellor and also lost his seat on the Privy Council.

He later became part of the Privy Council again and contributed significantly to the overthrow of Edward Seymour, but had not regained his former position on his death on July 30, 1550. The heir to his title was his son Henry.

Marriage and offspring

Thomas Wriothesley married Jane Cheney († September 15, 1574) at the latest in 1533, the daughter and heiress of William Cheney, lord of Chesham Bois in Buckinghamshire , and Emma Walwyn. The marriage has three sons and five daughters:

• William Wriothesley (died young);
• Anthony Wriothesley (died young);
• Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton (April 21, 1545 - October 4, 1581), ⚭ Mary Browne;
• Elizabeth Wriothesley (buried January 16, 1555), ⚭ Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex ;
• Mary Wriothesley († December 1561), ⚭ (1) Richard Lyster, ⚭ (2) William Shelley of Michelgrove;
• Katherine Wriothesley, ⚭ Sir Thomas Cornwallis;
• Anne Wriothesley, who was engaged to Sir Henry Wallop, who died before the wedding;
• Mabel Wriothesley, ⚭ Walter Sandys.

Web links

• Southampton, Earl of (E, 1547-1667) at Cracroft's Peerage

Individual evidence

1. ^ GE Cokayne: The Complete Peerage edited by Geoffrey H. White. XII (Part I) . St. Catherine Press, London 1953, pp. 122 .
2. ^ GR Elton: The Tudor Revolution in Government . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1953, pp. 308 ff .
3. ^ Alison Weir: Henry VIII: King and Court . Jonathan Cape, London 2001, p. 311 .
4. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 51.
5. ^ Alison Weir: Henry VIII: King and Court . Jonathan Cape, London 2001, p. 455 .
6. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 23.
7. ^ Alison Weir: Henry VIII: King and Court . Jonathan Cape, London 2001, p. 503 .
8. ^ GE Cokayne: The Complete Peerage edited by Geoffrey H. White. XII (Part I) . St. Catherine Press, London 1953, pp. 125-166 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Audley	Lord Chancellor of England 1544–1547	William Paulet
New title created	Baron Wriothesley 1544-1550	Henry Wriothesley
New title created	Earl of Southampton 1547-1550	Henry Wriothesley