tombs – Kirsten Claiden-Yardley

Tomb: Thomas Lord Audley

Who was Thomas Audley?

Thomas Audley began his career as a lawyer at the Inner Temple in London, and a minor official in Essex. He was elected to parliament as MP for Colchester in 1523 and quickly came to the attention of Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII. A number of appointments and offices followed and, by the end of 1527, he was a member of Wolsey’s household and a groom of the King’s chamber. Audley was elected to the House of Commons again in 1529 and was appointed Speaker of the Commons. During the following parliament (1529-36), he played a key role in ensuring that the legislation was passed to enable Henry VIII’s divorce from Katherine of Aragon. He was appointed Keeper of the Great Seal in May 1532 and, on 26 January 1533, he was appointed Lord Chancellor.

As one of Henry VIII’s newly promoted men who had risen through administrative skill rather than birth or military prowess, Audley was loyal to Henry and the protection of royal interests. However, he was also keen to uphold the authority of parliament and the letter of the law, at times bringing him into conflict with other men. He never rose to the dizzy heights of men such as Thomas Cromwell but his administrative and legal skills were valued. He was called upon by the privy council for his legal expertise (especially in matters of treason), was a point of contact for foreign ambassadors in London, and his house was sometimes used as a jail – Agnes, dowager duchess of Norfolk, was held there in December 1541 before being transferred to the tower of London. He presided over the trial of Anne Boleyn’s alleged lovers and acted as a legal advisor at her trial; he also interrogated Katherine Howard and others about her alleged infidelity. He kept his personal religious beliefs close to his chest but, as he worked closely with Cromwell, helped bring about the break with the Catholic church, and benefitted from the dissolution of the monasteries he is often seen as an evangelical. In reality, it seems more likely that he was driven by his desire to serve the King than by religious fervour.

His loyalty and hard work were rewarded in November 1538 when he was made Baron Audley of Walden and in May 1540 when he was elected to the Order of the Garter. He amassed a large fortune from humble beginnings and one of his daughters would go on to marry Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk. Unlike men like Wolsey and Cromwell, Audley never fell from royal favour and retired from public life only as a result of ill health.

Where was he buried?

Thomas Audley died in London on 30 April 1544. His was body was taken to Essex to be buried in the church of St Mary the Virgin in Saffron Walden, near to his home at Walden Abbey.

Tomb: Thomas Boleyn earl of Wiltshire

Who was Thomas Boleyn?

For many people, Thomas Boleyn is famous as the father of Anne Boleyn. However, this is to do him a great injustice. Thomas’ parents had invested in his education and social advancement (securing Eliabeth Howard, daughter of the earl of Surrey, as Thomas’ wife) and, when Henry VIII became king in 1509, Thomas was one of the young king’s favoured companions. He was made a knight of the Order of the Bath on the occasion of the King’s coronation, and regularly appeared at court. He was charming, athletic, skilled in aristocratic pursuits such as hunting and hawking, and he was a talented linguist. This made him both an ideal courtier and well suited to diplomatic work. He travelled abroad on numerous diplomatic missions, including time spent as resident ambassador in France. It was due to his diplomacy that he was able to obtain places for his daughters, Anne and Mary, at the French royal court. When his daughters returned to the English court and caught the attention of Henry VIII, Thomas rose rapidly in royal favour becoming first Viscount Rochford and then Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond. Anne’s marriage to Henry lifted her family to giddy heights but, with her death, it was returned largely to obscurity. Her father and mother were not implicated in the alleged crimes of their children but her mother died two years later, in 1538. Thomas died on 12 March 1539. Mary Boleyn died in 1543 and the remaining Boleyns, siblings of Thomas, showed no desire or talent for excelling at the royal court.

If you want to know more about Thomas Boleyn, I can recommend reading Lauren Mackay’s book Among the Wolves of Court.

Where is he buried?

The lost tomb of Henry VIII: design, appearance and fate

_{Image: St George’s Chapel, Windsor; Andrewkbrook1, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons}

Henry VIII was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on 16th February 1547. However, although he is one of the most recognisable figures of English history there is no large, elaborate tomb. Instead, Henry and Jane Seymour’s final resting place is marked with a plain marble slab installed in 1837 by William IV. The slab also records the burial of Charles I and a child of Queen Anne in the same vault. However, in 1547, Henry VIII had a partially complete tomb which has since been lost. Tantalisingly, there are no known contemporary drawings of the tomb, or drawings from the decades before it was lost. Documentary sources are focused only on particular elements of the tomb/construction process or ambiguously dated. For extra complication, the design and construction took place over nearly 20 years with at least three sculptors being employed by Henry VIII – are some of the sources we rely on actually describing earlier versions of the tomb?

5 difficult to access Tudor tombs (and how to find out more about them)

Parish churches across England house a wealth of historic memorials. Most of these can be freely accessed by visitors (although, it is advisable to check in advance whether the church is unlocked on a daily basis! This is especially important at the moment as some churches remain closed due to Covid-19). However, some memorials are, for various reasons, harder to access. So, here are 5 Tudor memorials that present more of a challenge for members of the public…

5 – Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire

The memorial to Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire (and mother of Anne, Mary and George Boleyn) is not too hard to get access to but you do have to know where it is! It was only recently rediscovered under a carpet meaning that its location is not yet as widely known as other Tudor memorial. It is also fairly easy to miss as it is a large but non-descript floor ledger that refers to her by her maiden name.

Tomb: Edward Stafford, earl of Wiltshire

Who was Edward Stafford?

One of the lesser known Tudor noblemen, Edward Stafford was well-connected by birth but made little mark on the political scene and died before he was thirty. His father, John Stafford was the third son of Humphrey Stafford, duke of Buckingham (d. 1460 at the Battle of Northampton) and Ann Neville, daughter of the earl of Westmorland. His mother, Constance Greene, was the only daughter and heiress of Henry Green of Drayton, a Warwickshire based gentleman. From the Greenes, Edward would inherit extensive lands in Northamptonshire.

Edward was born on 7 April 1470; his father died in May 1473 and his mother in March 1474/5 leaving him orphaned at just four years of age. Responisbility for his governance and tuition was given to his grandmother Anne, dowager duchess of Buckingham. He was present at the coronations of both Richard III in 1483, where he carried the Queen’s crown, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth of York in 1487. He helped defeat the rebel army at the Battle of Blackheath on 17 June 1497 and hosted Henry VII at Drayton in 1498, but otherwise his career seems to have been undistinguished. He secured a suitable marriage to Margaret Grey, daughter of Viscount Lisle, but they had no surviving children. Edward died in March 1498/9, at the age of 29.

Tomb: Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk

Who was the 3rd duke of Norfolk?

The eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk, and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney, the 3rd duke of Norfolk is one of the more prominent of the supporting cast of political figures at the Tudor royal court. Like his father he was long lived (1473-1554) but he is most associated with the reign of Henry VIII. During his career he was a soldier, royal councillor and, after his father’s death, duke. The royal offices that he held included Lord Admiral, Lord Treasurer, and Lord Steward. He came close to death in 1545 when he and his son, Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, were arrested for treason and attainted by statute (declared guilty without trial). Surrey was executed whilst Norfolk was saved only by Henry VIII’s death and spent Edward VI’s reign in the Tower of London. His lands in Norfolk were given to Princess Mary Tudor and, when Lady Jane Grey declared herself queen, members of Norfolk’s affinity were among the first to give their support to Mary. On her accession, Queen Mary released and pardoned Norfolk, however, he enjoyed his freedom for just a year before his death.

Tomb: John, Lord Cheyney (Cheyne/Cheney)

View across the nave of Salisbury Cathedral looking north-west. The Cheyney tomb is on far right of the image.

Where is the tomb?

It is located in Salisbury Cathedral, under the arcade on the north side of the nave and just west of the crossing.

Was it always in this location?

No. The tomb was originally placed in the Beauchamp chantry chapel (constructed in the 15th century for Bishop Richard Beauchamp). Between 1789 and 1792 the cathedral was closed and James Wyatt employed to demolish the remains of the bell tower, level the churchyard, demolish two porches, and remove the medieval chantry chapels from the east end. Inside, medieval stained glass was removed; the medieval wall paintings and vaulting decoration either removed or whitewashed over; the east end cleared and levelled; and the medieval memorials were relocated from the Lady, Beauchamp and Hungerford chapels – most of them were neatly lined up under the nave arcades.

‘Tabulae’ or tables – the medieval precursors to heritage interpretation

Visit any historic site or town today and you can reasonably expect to find some form of heritage interpretation board. But you might not realise that visitors and pilgrims to the churches of medieval Europe would have found historical information displayed in a similar manner.

Interpretation boards inside Carfax Tower, Oxford

Normally referred to as tabulae or ‘tables’, these were texts written on parchment and attached to boards that were then placed around the church. They were intended to be read by literate visitors or used as an aide memoire by members of the religious community when showing people around the church. A popular topic for these boards was the history of the church or monastery – many of these were of course foundation myths! An example of this time of tabula is the Magna tabula Glastoniensis which is held in the collections of the Bodleian Library – catalogue entry here. It consists of six parchments leaves mounted on a wooden frame and recounts extracts of the history of Glastonbury and the saints said to be buried there.

Tombs: Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk

Unlike some of the noblemen I have written about, we don’t actually have a surviving tomb for Thomas Howard, 2nd duke of Norfolk. However, we know quite a bit about two tombs that were erected to him, and a third tomb that he designed before his death.

Who was Thomas Howard?

Thomas Howard was one of the leading political figures of late-15th and early-16th century England (with a slight hiatus when he was imprisoned after the Battle of Bosworth). He was born in 1443 and lived under the rule of six kings. The most notable single event in his career was probably the Battle of Flodden in 1513 when he led the English army that inflicted a crushing defeat on the Scots, killing King James IV and most of the leading Scottish nobility. He has tended to be overshadowed by his more famous son, Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, and by his granddaughters – Queen Anne Boleyn and Queen Catherine Howard. I recently wrote a biography of the 2nd duke which was published by Pen & Sword.

Tomb number 1

We know from Thomas Howard’s will (dated May 1520) that he had drawn up an indenture for a tomb on 31 August 1516. This was most likely him setting his affairs in order when he was suffering from a severe bout of illness in the summer of 1516. A letter written to the earl of Suffolk on 31 May had said that the Duke of Norfolk ‘was not likely to continue long.’ Norfolk set aside £133 6s 8d for the making of tomb which was to be placed before the high altar at Thetford Priory. Designs for the tomb, which was to include images of Norfolk and his second wife. Agnes Tilney, had been produced by the duke, Master Clerk (Larke) the master of the King’s works at Cambridge and, Wastell, a freemason of Bury, Norfolk. However, despite Norfolk’s carefully laid plans, this tomb was never erected.

Tomb: Henry Fitzroy, duke of Richmond

The tomb of Henry Fitzroy in St Michael’s church, Framlingham

Who was Henry Fitzroy?

Henry Fitzroy was the second child, and eldest son, of Henry VIII – the result of the king’s affair with 18/19 year old Elizabeth Blount. Although illegitimate, Fitzroy was a person of importance at the royal court and received multiple titles and appointments. When he was 6 years old, he was made a Knight of the Garter; created earl of Nottingham, and duke of Richmond and Somerset; made Lord Admiral; and appointed as the warden-general of the Scottish marches. Between 1525 and 1529, he lived in Yorkshire – dividing his time between Sheriff Hutton and Pontefract – the traditional base of the royal representatives in the north. A number of potential foreign matches were suggested but came to nothing. In August 1529, he was summoned to parliament and, despite his young age, attended sessions where he was treated as an adult.