During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, she faced many plots and threats to her throne.
But her most serious contender to deal with was Mary Queen of Scots.
The Catholic Scottish queen was championed by many inside of England and they wanted
her on the throne at the expense of the Protestant Elizabeth.
But when these plots were discovered, many people were sentenced to death and were executed
for their treason.
One man who was subject to execution on Tower Hill, the brutal public beheading spot in
London was the Queen’s second cousin Thomas Howard the 4th Duke of Norfolk.
But why was someone close to the Queen executed?
Join us today as we find out and remember to support our channel, please make sure to
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Thomas Howard was born on the 10th March 1536, and as a child he was given a brilliant Protestant
education and was taught by John Foxe who published the Book of Martyrs, which became
the second best selling book in the Tudor Period behind the bible.
His father Thomas Howard the 3rd Duke of Norfolk was a very influential Tudor courtier, and
he was prominent at Henry VIII’s court and was a key advisor to the King.
Also he was the uncle of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, and with this helped to manipulate
his family into a very prominent position of power inside of Tudor England.
As mentioned the 4th Duke Thomas, was Elizabeth I’s second cousin through her maternal grandmother.
But whilst he was a young man, Thomas Howard rose to the position of the Earl Marshal of
England, and was then made the Queen’s leftenant in the North.
With this it was a huge appointment and he was seen as a skilled military commander.
From February to July 1560, he was made the Commander of the English Army in Scotland,
and he negotiated the Treaty of Berwick and later the Treaty of Edinburgh.
He was a constant player at court, and was also present at court proceedings when evidence
of plots involving Mary Queen of Scots was presented by Regent Moray at York and was
the head of this commission.
However he was a man who was married 3 times and he lost all 3 of his wife, with them dying.
His first wife was Mary FitzAlan the daughter of the Earl of Arundel, and she died a year
after their marriage having given birth to a son.
His second wife was also an heiress named Margaret Audley and she was also rather powerful,
and the pair had a number of children.
But his third wife was the widow of the 4th Baron Dacres of Gillesland, but as mentioned
all of these marriages ended in his wife’s dying.
But Thomas Howard always desperate for power and influence then came up with a dangerous
plot to possibly marry Mary Queen of Scots.
He then became involved in something known as the Ridolfi Plot.
This was a plan hatched by Roberto Ridolfi in which Elizabeth I would be assassinated
and then replaced with Mary Queen of Scots as the Queen of England.
Ridolfi was an international banker that travelled between catholic countries to gather support.
Thomas Howard was proposed as a possible husband for Mary since she was imprisoned in 1568
in England.
This suited the Duke of Norfolk as he had big ambitions and he was worried that Elizabeth
I did not see his value as a courtier and a powerful landowner.
However as he wanted more power, he agreed to support a northern rebellion which would
occur against Elizabeth I.
The plan for him to marry Mary Queen of Scots was that the Catholic Queen of Scotland would
then be married to a cousin of Elizabeth and the wealthiest landowner in the country.
They together would have a very strong claim to the English throne.
A rebellion would rise up in the north to support the pair, however Thomas Howard the
4th Duke of Norfolk then lost his nerve.
Ridolfi had come up with a huge European plan to have a foreign invasion hit the shores
of England too lead by the Duke of Alba, who would form a rebellion and then murder Elizabeth
and then marry Mary to Thomas Howard.
It was believed that the Catholics in England would support this and give their support
to the plot, and despite being Protestant, Howard gave his consent to the plan.
But Howard as mentioned panicked, and the plan did fail and he was then informed on
and Elizabeth’s government discovered his plans to marry Mary Queen of Scots.
Elizabeth I was understandably furious with this, as she believed her cousin was trying
to have her assassinated and then thrown off the throne.
Thomas Howard’s servants were all taken to the Tower of London, as was the Duke of
Norfolk, and his servants being seen as lower class were then subject to torture.
It’s believed they may have been put on the rack, and under the immense pain and suffering
they confirmed that their master had been plotting to overthrow the Queen and her government.
Thomas Howard was himself held inside of the Tower of London and was brought to trial in
January 1572.
The evidence against him was compelling and it was clear he was complicit in an international
plot to kill the Queen and marry the woman who would take over.
However despite being a nobleman, the jury of 26 nobles found Thomas Howard the 4th Duke
of Norfolk guilty of treason.
He was condemned to die by the jury, and it was rumoured that he would be executed on
the final day of January and because of this the Tower of London and Tower Hill experienced
a huge flock of people desperate to see his execution on Tower Green.
He was spared being hanged, drawn and quartered and was allowed a simpler beheading which
was considered quicker and more straightforward and less painful.
It was said that Elizabeth was dithering about signing Thomas Howard death warrant as she
was torn between justice and the fact ‘Norfolk’s nearness of blood and his superiority of honour,’
troubled her, with the fact he was her cousin.
However she signed the death warrant on the 9th February, much later than it was believed
she would because of this debate.
Further debate took place as a new parliament gathered in May 1572, and they debated the
case for executing Norfolk.
Some stated that if the Queen failed to execute the Duke, then the Queen was saying that she
deemed the guilty verdict was incorrect, and was in a sense dishonouring the judgement
of her nobles and saying that she was above the law, and could do as she pleased.
Elizabeth continued to dither about Howard’s execution, but the Queen’s mind was finally
changed as she faced pressure from Parliament, and with this she ordered Howard’s execution.
In the meantime, Thomas Howard the 4th Duke of Norfolk may have believed that he would
have been spared and been given a royal pardon.
He remained inside of the Tower of London during this and he then on the 2nd June 1572
was summoned by the Constable of the Tower, and was informed that his execution would
take place within the hour.
He was told to ready himself, and he then prepared for his execution.
He had a long time to get his affairs in order, but then he was led by the Tower’s guards
out of the Tower, on the short walk north to Tower Hill.
It was on the public beheading spot that he would be executed.
The crowds lined the streets and he made his way up onto the scaffold.
He was confronted there by the executioner and the wooden block, and he then paid the
executioner before he made a speech to the crowd.
Final arrangements were made for his death, and then he was laid down on the block.
His head was taken off by the axeman who performed his killing swiftly, and then his head was
shown to the crowd.
Thomas Howard was the influential and powerful 4th Duke of Norfolk who was considered one
of the largest landowners inside of Elizabeth I’s England.
He was a man who despite being a protestant had large ambitions to become the ruler himself,
and by agreeing to marry Mary Queen of Scots and deposing his cousin Elizabeth I, he was
committing treason.
Elizabeth eventually would deal with Mary following the Babington Plot, as the Scottish
monarch was executed inside the walls of Fotheringhay Castle.
With this, the Queen stamped out her threat forever, and secured her safety on the throne
despite the criticism she got from this.
But it’s clear that she was unsure about the execution of Thomas Howard, and she took
a time to sign his death warrant and order the execution.
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