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Authors: Desmond Seward
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possibly rule England for the future Edward VI, as Henry wanted; only one man was fit to do so and that was his father Norfolk. The outburst was reported to Seymour, giving him the ammunition he needed to confirm the king’s suspicions. Because the earl was descended from Edward III through his mother, Henry decided that he saw himself as the future King of England.
Surrey was arrested on 2 December 1546. He had just arrived at Whitehall when the Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, Sir Anthony Wingfield, asked him to come outside, saying he needed his help in persuading his father the duke to intercede in a lawsuit. When he left the room, Surrey was immediately grabbed by ‘halbardiers’ (Yeomen) who manhandled him on board a waiting boat that took him to the city. Here he was held at Ely Place and questioned by the Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesly. On 12 December, St Lucy’s Eve, he was marched from Ely Place through the city streets to the Tower.
Norfolk was sent to the Tower on the same day, stripped of his staff of office and his Garter badge. That evening, he wrote beseeching the king to remember all the good service he had done and not allow him to be destroyed by false accusations,insisting that he was at one with Henry in matters of religion and offering to surrender his estates. He also wrote to the council requesting permission to send for three books which he needed to help him sleep: St Augustine’s City of God , Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities and a work attacking papal pretensions. Learning of his arrest, the delighted folk of East Anglia rose and looted all the Howard houses in the area.
Summoned before the council Surrey’s sister, Mary Howard, told them he had urged her to ‘endear herself’ to the king and ‘rule him’, which was more or less what her family had tried to do through the late Queen Katherine Howard. The admission must have infuriated Henry, opening up a very sore wound. Yet there was no evidence of plots against the king’s life. The prosecution fell back on heraldry, arguing that Surrey had deliberately quartered royal arms as a discreet means of asserting his claim to the throne. Mary Howard helped to substantiate the accusation by her testimony that on the cap of maintenance bearing his crest her brother had set a coronet that looked like a closed (royal) crown, with the letters ‘HR’ which she thought must be the king’s cipher.
The prosecution’s case therefore rested entirely on showing that the Earl of Surrey’s intention of making himself King of England was proved by a coat of arms he had recently adopted. His father, to whom it must have seemed that Bosworth had come again, did not fail King Henry. On 12 January, the day before his son’s trial, he cravenly signed a totally untrue confession:
I have concealed high treason in keeping secret the false and traitorous act, most presumptuously committed by my son Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, against the King’s Majesty and his Laws in the putting and using of the arms of St Edward the Confessor, King of the realm of England before the Conquest, in his scutcheon or arms, which said arms of St Edward appertain only to the King of this realm and to none other person or persons, whereunto the said Earl by no means or way could make any claim or title, by me or any of mine or his ancestors. 8
Meanwhile, the earl attempted to break out of the Tower. Having first arranged for a dagger to be smuggled into his cell, he tried to squeeze through the garderobe (privy), a short tunnel over the moat, which was not far below. A servant was waiting for him in a boat on the Thames nearby. He had already begun climbing down the noisesome shaft when, unexpectedly, guards came into the room on a random inspection. Seeing that he was not in his bed, they ran to the privy and managed to catch him by his arm, after which he was dragged out and shackled. It was generally thought that had Surrey still been above ground, with his arms
Surrey was arrested on 2 December 1546. He had just arrived at Whitehall when the Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, Sir Anthony Wingfield, asked him to come outside, saying he needed his help in persuading his father the duke to intercede in a lawsuit. When he left the room, Surrey was immediately grabbed by ‘halbardiers’ (Yeomen) who manhandled him on board a waiting boat that took him to the city. Here he was held at Ely Place and questioned by the Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesly. On 12 December, St Lucy’s Eve, he was marched from Ely Place through the city streets to the Tower.
Norfolk was sent to the Tower on the same day, stripped of his staff of office and his Garter badge. That evening, he wrote beseeching the king to remember all the good service he had done and not allow him to be destroyed by false accusations,insisting that he was at one with Henry in matters of religion and offering to surrender his estates. He also wrote to the council requesting permission to send for three books which he needed to help him sleep: St Augustine’s City of God , Josephus’ Jewish Antiquities and a work attacking papal pretensions. Learning of his arrest, the delighted folk of East Anglia rose and looted all the Howard houses in the area.
Summoned before the council Surrey’s sister, Mary Howard, told them he had urged her to ‘endear herself’ to the king and ‘rule him’, which was more or less what her family had tried to do through the late Queen Katherine Howard. The admission must have infuriated Henry, opening up a very sore wound. Yet there was no evidence of plots against the king’s life. The prosecution fell back on heraldry, arguing that Surrey had deliberately quartered royal arms as a discreet means of asserting his claim to the throne. Mary Howard helped to substantiate the accusation by her testimony that on the cap of maintenance bearing his crest her brother had set a coronet that looked like a closed (royal) crown, with the letters ‘HR’ which she thought must be the king’s cipher.
The prosecution’s case therefore rested entirely on showing that the Earl of Surrey’s intention of making himself King of England was proved by a coat of arms he had recently adopted. His father, to whom it must have seemed that Bosworth had come again, did not fail King Henry. On 12 January, the day before his son’s trial, he cravenly signed a totally untrue confession:
I have concealed high treason in keeping secret the false and traitorous act, most presumptuously committed by my son Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, against the King’s Majesty and his Laws in the putting and using of the arms of St Edward the Confessor, King of the realm of England before the Conquest, in his scutcheon or arms, which said arms of St Edward appertain only to the King of this realm and to none other person or persons, whereunto the said Earl by no means or way could make any claim or title, by me or any of mine or his ancestors. 8
Meanwhile, the earl attempted to break out of the Tower. Having first arranged for a dagger to be smuggled into his cell, he tried to squeeze through the garderobe (privy), a short tunnel over the moat, which was not far below. A servant was waiting for him in a boat on the Thames nearby. He had already begun climbing down the noisesome shaft when, unexpectedly, guards came into the room on a random inspection. Seeing that he was not in his bed, they ran to the privy and managed to catch him by his arm, after which he was dragged out and shackled. It was generally thought that had Surrey still been above ground, with his arms
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