Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, PC (1473 – 25 August 1554) was a prominent English politician and nobleman of the Tudor era. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were beheaded, and played a major role in the machinations affecting these royal marriages. After falling from favour in 1546, he was stripped of his dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower of London, avoiding execution when Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547.
The Duke of Norfolk | |
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Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk by Hans Holbein the Younger, Royal Collection. | |
| Lord High Treasurer | |
| In office 4 December 1522 – 12 December 1546 | |
| Monarch | Henry VIII |
| Preceded by | Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk |
| Succeeded by | Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1473 |
| Died | 25 August 1554 (aged 80–81) Kenninghall, Norfolk |
| Resting place | Church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham, Suffolk |
| Spouse(s) | Anne of York (m. 1494 or 1495; died 1511) Elizabeth Stafford (m. 1513) |
| Children | Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Thomas Howard, 1st Viscount Howard of Bindon Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset Katherine Stanley, Countess of Derby |
| Parents |
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| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
He was released on the accession of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I, whom he aided in securing the throne, thus setting the stage for tensions between his Catholic family and the Protestant royal line that would be continued by Mary's half-sister, Elizabeth I.