Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, walked out of the Tower of London alive when every other supporter of Richard III was executed. This survival was not an accident of war but a calculated gamble that would define his entire career. Born in 1443 at Stoke-by-Nayland in Suffolk, Howard was the only surviving son of John Howard, who would become the 1st Duke of Norfolk. His early education at Thetford Grammar School prepared him for a life of service, but the political landscape of the Wars of the Roses was far more dangerous than any classroom. When the Earl of Warwick rebelled against King Edward IV in 1469, Howard chose the King's side, a decision that cost him his freedom and his health. He took sanctuary at Colchester when Edward IV fled to Holland, only to rejoin the royal forces upon the King's return. The Battle of Barnet on the 14th of April 1471 left Howard severely wounded, yet he survived to be appointed an esquire of the body in 1473. His survival at Barnet was the first of many narrow escapes that would see him serve four monarchs, from Edward IV to Henry VIII, while his contemporaries were often executed for their loyalty to the wrong side.
The Price of Loyalty to Richard
The death of Edward IV on the 9th of April 1483 marked the beginning of a perilous chapter for the Howard family. Thomas Howard and his father John threw their support behind Richard III, a move that would eventually cost them everything. Thomas bore the Sword of State at Richard's coronation and served as steward at the coronation banquet, signaling his unwavering commitment to the new king. Both men were granted lands and an annuity of £1000, while Thomas was created Earl of Surrey and sworn to the Privy Council. The Howards were instrumental in suppressing a rebellion by the Duke of Buckingham in the autumn of 1483, yet their loyalty was tested at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. There, Thomas was wounded and taken prisoner, while his father John was killed. The aftermath was brutal; Thomas was attainted in the first Parliament of the new King, Henry VII, stripped of his lands, and committed to the Tower of London. He spent the next three years behind bars, a prisoner of the very man whose throne he had once helped secure. His survival was a testament to his political acumen, as he refused an opportunity to escape during the rebellion of the Earl of Lincoln in 1487, a decision that likely convinced Henry VII of his loyalty.The Executive Triumvirate of Henry VII
Henry VII restored Thomas Howard to the earldom of Surrey in May 1489, though most of his lands were withheld, and sent him to quell a rebellion in Yorkshire. He remained in the north as the King's lieutenant until 1499, living with his family at Sheriff Hutton Castle. In 1496 or 1497, he was given a command against invading Scots, taking his sons Thomas and Edward with him. On the 30th of September 1497, at Ayton Castle, Surrey knighted both of them on the same day the treaty of Ayton was signed at the nearby church. His rise continued when he was recalled to court in 1499 and accompanied the King on a state visit to France in 1500. By 1501, he was appointed a member of the Privy Council and made Lord High Treasurer on the 16th of June. Alongside Richard Foxe, Bishop of Winchester, and William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, Howard formed the King's executive triumvirate. He was entrusted with significant diplomatic missions, including negotiations for Katherine of Aragon's marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1501. In 1503, he conducted Margaret Tudor to Scotland for her marriage to King James IV, though Margaret found Howard rude and overbearing, resented his monopolization of her new husband, and the journey was fraught with tension.