Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (1473-25 August 1554) was Lord High Admiral of England from 1513 to 1525, Lord High Treasurer from 1524 to 1546, and Earl Marshal from 1524 to 1547 and from 1553 to 1554.
Biography[]
Thomas Howard was born in 1473, the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Elizabeth Tilney, and he participated in a 1497 campaign against Scotland. His father had him knighted after this campaign, and he later becmae a close companion of King Henry VIII of England, who made him Lord High Admiral in 1513; he helped to defeat the Scots at the Battle of Flodden that same year. In 1514, Howard was created Earl of Surrey for life. In May 1517, he quelled a riot in London with the use of his soldiers. In 1520, he was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, and he attempted to pacify Kildare and Ormond. In 1521, he was recalled from Ireland to lead the Royal Navy against France, and he inflicted damaging raids against the French coast. In July 1522, he burned Morlaix, and, in September, he laid waste the country around Boulogne. From 1524 to 1546, he served as Lord High Treasurer, and he came to be one of the nobles dominating affairs of state.
By 1539, however, Norfolk challenged the religious reforms of Thomas Cromwell, and Howard would bring down Cromwell after Cromwell's brainchild - the marriage of King Henry VIII to Anne of Cleves - failed. In 1542, many of Thomas Howard's family members were punished for Catherine Howard's sexual indiscretions, with Catherine being executed. Howard was appointed Lieutenant-General north of the River Trent in January 1541, and Captain-General for a campaign against the Scots in August 1542. From May to October 1544, he besieged Montreuil as King Henry besieged Boulogne, but he eventually raised the siege of Montreuil, left Boulogne garrisoned, and withdrew to Calais. The conservative Norfolk would find himself politically isolated due to his opposition to the reformed faith, and he was imprisoned in the Tower of London from 1547 to 1553, when Queen Mary of England released him. In 1554, he crushed a rebellion that occurred after Mary announced her marriage plans with King Philip II of Spain, and he died that same year.