Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk

             In the year of our Lord, 1538, Frances Howard, Countess of Surrey, gave birth to her second child. Within the walls of Kenninghall Palace, Thomas Howard was born at precisely thirty-six minutes and seven seconds past two o'clock in the morning on October 10th, 1538. In attendance at this occasion was his father, Henry Earl of Surrey, renowned poet and soldier, and his grandfather, Thomas Lord Treasurer and Duke Norfolk. Also present at the earl's request was an Italian astrologer, sent for to read Thomas' future in the skies. The astrologer would tell of Henry's early death and a difficult and tragic life for Thomas. His prediction would become too true for the Howard family.
             Thomas Howard's parents, having met in London, were married at the age of fifteen. He would come to have three sisters, and older, Jane, and two younger, Katherine and Margaret. A brother, Henry, was born into the family in 1540. The Howards had an extensive family line and many ties to the Crown. His aunt, Catherine Howard, was married to King Henry VIII, until her beheading for adultery at the Howard home in Lambeth when Thomas was only four years old. Another of his aunts, Mary, Duchess of Richmond, was widowed by King Henry VIII's son, Henry Fitzroy. King Henry VIII himself was Thomas' godfather.
             Thomas lived the first nine years of his life at the place of his birth, Kenninghall Palace. There he was tutored by the scholar Hadrianus Junius, and learned many athletic, as well as, diplomatic skills. As the heir to the dukedom of Norfolk, he was required to learn many more skills than his siblings, and the genius of his sister Jane and brother Henry did not show itself in Thomas. Thomas did, however, become an expert at coursing rabbits during his first years at Kenninghall and wrote a treatise concerning the subject which was still being reprinted a century ago.
             Thomas' father, the Earl of Sur...

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Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 14:51, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/33581.html