Henry VIII's Last Victim
Read Henry VIII's Last Victim Online
Authors: Jessie Childs
CONTENTS
11. The Fury of Reckless Youth
15. My Foolish Son’s Demeanour
17. Condemned for Such Trifles
About the Book
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey was one of the most flamboyant and controversial characters of Henry VIII’s reign. A pioneering poet, whose verse had a profound impact on Shakespeare, Surrey was nevertheless branded by one contemporary as ‘the most foolish proud boy that is in England’. He was the heir of England’s premier nobleman, first cousin to two of Henry VIII’s wives – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard – and best friend and brother-in-law to the King’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. Celebrated for his chivalrous deeds both on and off the battlefield, Surrey became, at only twenty-eight, the King’s Lieutenant General in France. But his confident exterior masked insecurity and loneliness. A man of intriguing contradictions, Surrey was both law enforcer and law breaker, political conservative and religious reformer and his life, replete with drunken escapades, battlefield heroics, conspiracy and courtroom drama, sheds new light on the opulence and artifice of a dazzling, but deadly, age.
About the Author
Jessie Childs was born in 1976 and took a first in Modern History at Brasenose College, Oxford. She reviews for several national publications and lives in London.
Henry VIII’s Last Victim
is her first book. It won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography, 2007.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
1
. Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
2
. Elizabeth Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, artist unknown. (Reproduced by kind permission of His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle)
3
. The surviving wing of Kenninghall. (Photographed by the author, by kind permission of Mr and Mrs John Brown)
4
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
5
. Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
6
. Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond by Lucas Hornebolte. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
7
. Hunting scene, from
Le Livre de la Chasse de Gaston Phébus
. (Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 616, fo. 85v)
8
. Engraving of a game of real tennis, from
Illustrissimi Wirtembergici Ducalis Novi Collegii Quod Tubinge . . . Delineatio
. Ludwig Ditzinger sculpsit; Jo. Chrystoff Neyffer pinxit. (Permission British Library, 10261.e.3)
9
. Knights-in-training learning to joust, from the
Romance of Alexander
. (Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS Bodl. 264, fo. 82v [detail])
10
.
The Embarkation of Henry VIII at Dover
, artist unknown. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
11
. Antoine Macault presents his translation to Francis I from ‘Books I, II and III’ by Diodorus Siculus, c. 1532. French school. (Musée Condé, Chantilly, France, MS 721/1672, fo. 1; Lauros / Giraudon; / Bridgeman Art Library)
12
. Anne Boleyn, artist unknown. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
13
. Thomas Cromwell (slightly cropped) after Hans Holbein the Younger. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
14
. Henry VII and Henry VIII, cartoon for the
Whitehall Mural
by Hans Holbein the Younger. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
15
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
16
. Thomas Wyatt by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
17
. The first two stanzas of Surrey’s poem ‘O happy dames’, inscribed by his sister Mary into the Devonshire Manuscript. (Permission British Library, Add. MS 17492, fo. 55r)
18
. Mary, Duchess of Richmond by Hans Holbein the Younger. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
19
. Title-page of
The fourth boke of Virgill . . . by Henrye late Earle of Surrey
, published by John Day, 1554. (Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Pforzheimer Collection: PFORZ 510)
20
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by Hans Holbein the Younger. (Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Assis Chateaubriand, São Paulo, Brazil)
21
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, artist unknown. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
22
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by William Scrots. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
23
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, artist unknown. (Pierpont Morgan Library, New York)
24
. Henry VIII jousting before Catherine of Aragon in 1511, from
The Great Tournament Roll of Westminster
, artist unknown. (College of Arms, London)
25
.
The Siege of Boulogne
engraved by James Basire from the Cowdray House mural. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
26
. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Arundel Portrait after William Scrots. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
27
. Henry VIII by Cornelis Matsys. (The Royal Collection © 2006 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II)
28
. William Paget (slightly cropped) attributed to the Master of the Stätthalterin Madonna. (National Portrait Gallery, London)
29
. Thomas Wriothesley, artist unknown. (Reproduced by kind permission of Lord Montagu of Beaulieu)
30
. Edward Seymour, artist unknown. (Reproduced by kind permission of the Marquess of Bath, Longleat House)
31
. John Dudley, artist unknown. (Reproduced by kind permission of Viscount De L’Isle from his private collection at Penshurst Place)
32
. Anthony Denny, artist unknown. (Private Collection. Photograph: Photographic Survey, Courtauld Institute of Art)
33
. Richard Southwell by Hans Holbein the Younger. (Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy; / Bridgeman Art Library)
34
. Extract from the charges drawn up by Lord Chancellor Wriothesley against the Earl of Surrey and Duke of Norfolk, with annotations by Henry VIII. (The National Archives, SP 1/227, fo. 123r)
35
. Heraldic drawing entitled ‘Howard Earle of Surry, for which he was attainted’. (Permission British Library, Harl. MS 1453, fo. 69r)
36
. Arms of Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk. (Permission British Library, Cotton MS Julius C VII, fo. 238r)
37
. Detail of Surrey’s tomb at St Michael’s Church, Framlingham. (Photographed by the author, by courtesy of Reverend Graham Owen and the Framlingham Parochial Church Council)
38
. The Tower of London by Anthonis van den Wyngaerde. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)
39
. The west wall of St Thomas’ Tower, the Tower of London, photographed during re-presentation work in 1992. (Crown Copyright: Historic Royal Palaces; reproduced by permission of Historic Royal Palaces under licence from the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office)
40
. Surrey’s tomb at St Michael’s Church, Framlingham. (Photographed by the author, by courtesy of Reverend Graham Owen and the Framlingham Parochial Church Council)
41
. The family of the Earl of Arundel by Philip Fruytiers, 1643. (Reproduced by kind permission of His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle)
Endpapers: Procession of the Knights of the Garter, from the
Liber Niger
, c. 1534, DOC 25. (Reproduced by kind permission of the Dean and Canons of Windsor)
p. 227: Map of the Pas de Calais by Nicholas de Nicolay, 1558, from
Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
by Abraham Ortelius. (Permission British Library, Maps C.2.C.9, fo. 15v)
Genealogy of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Henry VIII’s Last Victim
The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
Jessie Childs
O what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!
The courtier’s, soldier’s, scholar’s, eye, tongue, sword,
Th’expectancy and rose of the fair state,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
Th’observed of all observers, quite, quite, down!
Hamlet, Act 3, scene 1, lines 153–7
PROLOGUE
ON THE NIGHT
of Sunday, 21 January 1543 the prostitutes of Bankside, a red-light district in Southwark, were out in force. A new session of Parliament was due to open the following day and, as the prostitutes were forbidden from working ‘after the sun is gone to rest’ while Parliament was sitting, this was their last legal night of trade for quite some time. Hordes of women dressed in gaudy concoctions of silk and taffeta clustered round the Boar’s Head, the Unicorn and the other ‘bawdy houses’ of the suburb, a tumult of colour against the buildings, which were painted white to distinguish them from more reputable establishments. As the night progressed, many went inside to seek refuge by the hearth, but some were prepared to brave the harsh riverine draughts and work the route along the South Bank of the Thames.
Soon after midnight it seemed as though their forbearance might be rewarded as a few specks of candlelight were spied edging across the river. At this time of night, long past the London curfew, it could mean only one thing. As the boats drew closer, it became apparent that about half a dozen restless young men were on board. But they had no intention of alighting. Instead they took out their stonebows
fn1
and began to fire at their targets on the bank. The women rapidly dispersed and soon the gang grew bored and rowed back to the steps north of the river. It had been a busy night. Earlier on they had rampaged through the streets and alleys of London, shouting obscenities at anyone foolish enough to outstay the curfew and smashing the windows of smart
merchant dwellings and even some churches. Back on dry land after their whorebashing, the vandals continued to terrorise the neighbourhood until two o’clock, when they returned to their lodging, the inn of one Mistress Milicent Arundel in St Lawrence Lane, Cheapside.