Biography of Thomas Howard 1511-1537

On 30 Sep 1472 [his father] Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 29) and Elizabeth Tilney Countess of Surrey (age 28) were married. He the son of [his grandfather] John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk (age 47) and [his grandmother] Katherine Moleyns. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward I of England.

On 17 Aug 1497 [his father] Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 54) and [his mother] Agnes Tilney Duchess Norfolk (age 20) were married some four months after the death of his first wife. She by marriage Countess Surrey. She, Agnes, was a first cousin of his former wife Elizabeth Tilney Countess of Surrey for which he was given dispensation on 17 Aug 1497. The difference in their ages was 34 years. He the son of [his grandfather] John Howard 1st Duke of Norfolk and [his grandmother] Katherine Moleyns. He a great x 5 grandson of King Edward I of England.

Around 1511 Thomas Howard was born to Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 68) and Agnes Tilney Duchess Norfolk (age 34).

On 21 May 1524 [his father] Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk (age 81) died at Framlingham Castle, Suffolk [Map]. He was buried at Thetford Priory, Norfolk [Map] and subsequently reburied at the Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham [Map]. His son [his half-brother] Thomas (age 51) succeeded 3rd Duke Norfolk, 2nd Earl Surrey. Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk (age 27) by marriage Duchess Norfolk.

In 1535 [his brother-in-law] King James V of Scotland (age 22) was appointed 297th Knight of the Garter by King Henry VIII of England and Ireland (age 43).

In 1535 Thomas Howard (age 24) and Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox (age 19) were married in secret. She the daughter of Archibald Douglas 6th Earl Angus (age 46) and Margaret Tudor Queen Scotland (age 45). He the son of Thomas Howard 2nd Duke of Norfolk and Agnes Tilney Duchess Norfolk (age 58). She a granddaughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

In May 1536 the marriage of Thomas Howard (age 25) and [his wife] Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox (age 20) was discovered by King Henry VIII (age 44). She, Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox was next in line of the succession at the time of the discovery. Henry promptly enacted retrospective legislation and imprisoned both Thomas and Margaret in the Tower of London [Map]. Thomas was attainted and remained in the Tower of London [Map] until his death a year later.

Hall's Chronicle. Around Jun 1536. In the Parliament season Lord Thomas Howard (age 25) without the King's assent affianced the Lady [his wife] Margarete Douglas (age 20) daughter to the [his mother-in-law] Queen of Scottes (age 46)Margaret Tudor Queen Scotland and near to the King (age 44) for which presumptuous act he was attainted of treason, and an Act made for like offenders, and so he died in the Tower [Map], and she was long there as a prisoner.

18 Jul 1536. Attainder of Lord Thomas Howard 1536 28 Hen 8 c24 by which Thomas Howard (age 25) was attainted for having married the King's (age 45) niece [his wife] Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox (age 20) in secret thereby attempting to "interrupt ympedyte and lett the seid Succession of the Crowne" (she, Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox, was heir to the throne at the time). The Act sentenced Howard to death although it wasn't implemented.

On 01 Jan 1537 [his brother-in-law] King James V of Scotland (age 24) and Madeleine Valois (age 16) were married at Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral [Map]. She the daughter of King Francis I of France (age 42) and Claude Valois Orléans Queen Consort France. He the son of King James IV of Scotland and [his mother-in-law] Margaret Tudor Queen Scotland (age 47). They were third cousin once removed. He a grandson of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

On 17 Jul 1537 Janet Douglas Lady Glamis (age 39) was burned at the stake at Edinburgh Castle [Map] for conspiring against the [his brother-in-law] king's (age 25) life. Her son, John 7th Lord Glamis Lyon (age 16), was supposedly a witness to the burning.

Wriothesley's Chronicle. 31 Oct 1537. This yeare, on All Hallowe Even, the Lord Thomas Howarde (age 26), brother to the [his half-brother] Duke of Northfolke (age 64), died in prison in the Tower of London, and his bodie was caried to Thetforde, and there buried.

Allso the Ladie [his wife] Margarett Duglas (age 22), that had lyen in prison in the Tower of London for love betwene him and her, was pardoned by the King and sett agayne at her libertie; howbeit, she tooke his death very heavilie.¹

Note 1. In 1644 she married Matthew fourth Earl of Lennox (age 21), and became Conntess of Lennox, and mother of Darnley.

On 31 Oct 1537 Thomas Howard (age 26) died at the Tower of London [Map]. His body was released to his mother [his mother] Agnes Tilney Duchess Norfolk (age 60). He was buried at Thetford Priory, Norfolk [Map].

On 06 Jul 1544 Matthew Stewart 4th Earl Lennox (age 27) and [his former wife] Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox (age 28) were married. She by marriage Countess Lennox. She the daughter of [his former father-in-law] Archibald Douglas 6th Earl Angus (age 55) and [his former mother-in-law] Margaret Tudor Queen Scotland. He the son of John Stewart 3rd Earl Lennox and Isabel or Elizabeth Stewart Countess Lennox (age 49). They were third cousin once removed. He a great x 4 grandson of King Edward III of England. She a granddaughter of King Henry VII of England and Ireland.

On 07 Mar 1578 [his former wife] Margaret Douglas Countess Lennox (age 62) died.