Editing Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (section)

==Downfall and death==
The Howards had little regard for the "new men" who had risen to power at court, such as [[Thomas Cromwell]] and the [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Seymour family]]. Surrey was less circumspect than his father in concealing this disdain. The Howards had many enemies at court.{{sfn|Childs|2007}} Howard himself branded Cromwell a "foul churl" and [[William Paget, 1st Baron Paget|William Paget]] a "mean creature" as well as arguing that "These new erected men would by their wills leave no nobleman on life!"{{sfn|Childs|2007|p=1}}  Norfolk's political intriguing against Cromwell took advantage of the King's failed marriage to [[Anne of Cleves]], of which Cromwell was the main promoter, and led to the latter's fall from grace and execution in July 1540. During the last years of Henry VIII's reign, the Seymours, and the King's last wife, [[Catherine Parr]], supporters of Protestantism, gained greater power and influence at court while the Howards, who were conservatives, were left politically isolated. Norfolk attempted to form an alliance with the Seymours through marriage of his daughter Mary to [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley|Thomas Seymour]],<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/13940|title=Howard, Thomas, third duke of Norfolk (1473–1554)|last=Graves|first=Michael A. R. |year=2008|orig-year=2004}}</ref> but such efforts were in vain due to Surrey's provocative behavior.

Henry VIII, who was becoming increasingly ill, became convinced that the Howards were planning to usurp the Crown from his son, [[Edward VI of England|Prince Edward]]. Surrey suggested that his widowed sister Mary should seduce the ageing king, her father-in-law, and become his mistress, to "wield as much influence on him as [[Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly|Madame d'Etampes]] doth about the [[Francis I of France|French King]]". Mary, outraged, said she would "cut her own throat" rather than "consent to such villainy".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Mistresses of Henry VIII |first=Kelly| last=Hart |edition=First |date=June 1, 2009 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mistressesofhenr0000hart/page/194 194]–197 |publisher=The History Press |isbn=978-0-7524-4835-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/mistressesofhenr0000hart|url-access=registration }}</ref> 

She and her brother therefore fell out, and Mary later gave testimony against Henry that helped lead to his trial and execution for treason. Surrey's family, including his mother, his sister Mary, and [[Elizabeth Holland|Bess Holland]], his father's mistress, testified against both Surrey and the Duke.{{sfn|Brigden|2008|p=105}} The matter came to a head when Surrey [[Quartering (heraldry)|quartered]] the [[attributed arms|royal arms]] of [[Edward the Confessor]] on his own coat of arms. [[John Barlow (diplomat)|John Barlow]] had once called Howard "the most foolish proud boy that is in England". Through his great-grandfather [[John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk]] (1483 creation), Surrey was a descendant of [[Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk]], the sixth son of King [[Edward I]], and the arms of the Howard ancestor, [[Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk]] (1397 creation), show that Surrey was entitled to bear Edward the Confessor's arms, but doing so was an act of pride, and provocative in the eyes of the Crown.<ref>''The Heraldic Charge Against the Earl of Surrey'', Peter R. Moore, ''English Historical Review'', Volume CXVI, pages 557 to 583, (2001).</ref>  Religious reasons were also one of the causes of Surrey's fall from grace. Henry VIII, very possibly influenced by the [[House of Seymour|Seymours]], supporters of Protestantism, believed that the earl and his father were going to usurp the Crown to reverse the Reformation and thus return the English Church to Roman jurisdiction.{{sfn|Weir|2001b|pp=434–435}}

In consequence, the King ordered Howard's imprisonment on a charge of treasonably quartering the royal arms, and also that of his father. They were sentenced to death on 13 January 1547. Surrey was [[Decapitation|executed]] on 19 January 1547.<ref>[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100543666 "Earl of Surrey Henry Howard", '' A Dictionary of British History'', (John Cannon, ed.), OUP, 2009] {{isbn|9780199550371}}</ref> On 27 January, the Howards, father and son, were attainted by statute. The Duke's execution was scheduled for the following day (28 January), but it did not take place because Henry VIII died in the early hours of that day. The [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] made a decision not to inaugurate the new reign with bloodshed, but Howard remained a prisoner in the [[Tower of London]] for the next six years, with most of his titles and property [[forfeiture (law)|forfeited]] to the Crown, until he was released and pardoned in August 1553 upon the accession of the Catholic Queen [[Mary I of England|Mary I]].{{CN|date=July 2023}} Surrey's son Thomas Howard, became heir to the dukedom of Norfolk in place of his father; he inherited the title upon the 3rd Duke's death in 1554.{{cn|date=November 2022}}