Biography of Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk 1497-1558

On 1st September 1532 Anne Boleyn [aged 31] was created 1st Marchioness Pembroke with Henry VIII [aged 41] performing the investiture at Windsor Castle [Map]. The Letter of Creation [Harley 303.1; see image] using the Latin 'marchionisse Penbrochie' i.e. "Marchioness of Pembroke". It isn't clear whether the Letter of Creation is a single page - we note the absence of any description of whether the title is to descend to her heir's, male, legitimate, otherwise. We also note the first letter contains Anne's emblem of a 'falcon on a stump' although Anne's falcon was white - age may have affected the colour of the Letter.

Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 55], Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 48], [her husband] Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk [aged 59], Eleanor Paston Countess Rutland [aged 37], Jean Dinteville, Archbishop Edward Lee [aged 50], Bishop John Stokesley [aged 57] were present.

Bishop Stephen Gardiner [aged 49] read the Patent of Creation.

[her daughter] Mary Howard Duchess Richmond and Somerset [aged 13] carried Anne's train replacing her mother Elizabeth Stafford Duchess Norfolk [aged 35] who had been banished from Court. Anne and Mary were cousins.

Charles Wriothesley [aged 24] attended.

Jean Dinteville: he was appointed Ambassador to England. Around 1532 Jean Dinteville posed for Holbein's painting The Ambassadors.

Archbishop Edward Lee: Around 1482 he was born to Richard Lee of Lee Magna. In 1531 he was appointed Archbishop of York. On 13th September 1544 he died.

Charles Wriothesley: On 8th May 1508 he was born to Thomas Wriothesley. After 24th November 1534 he was appointed Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary. On 25th January 1562 Charles Wriothesley died.

Calendar of State Papers of Spain. 21st January 1536. Wien, Rep. P.C., Fasc. 236, No. 3. Eustace Chapuys [aged 46] to the Emperor [aged 35].

The good Queen [deceased] breathed her last at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Eight hours afterwards, by the King's [aged 44] express commands, the inspection of her body was made, without her confessor or physician or any other officer of her household being present, save the fire-lighter in the house, a servant of his, and a companion of the latter, who proceeded at once to open the body. Neither of them had practised chirurgy, and yet they had often performed the same operation, especially the principal or head of them, who, after making the examination, went to the Bishop of Llandaff, the Queen's confessor, and declared to him in great secrecy, and as if his life depended on it, that he had found the Queen's body and the intestines perfectly sound and healthy, as if nothing had happened, with the single exception of the heart, which was completely black, and of a most hideous aspect; after washing it in three different waters, and finding that it did not change colour, he cut it in two, and found that it was the same inside, so much so that after being washed several times it never changed colour. The man also said that he found inside the heart something black and round, which adhered strongly to the concavities. And moreover, after this spontaneous declaration on the part of the man, my secretary having asked the Queen's physician whether he thought the Queen had died of poison, the latter answered that in his opinion there was no doubt about it, for the bishop had been told so under confession, and besides that, had not the secret been revealed, the symptoms, the course, and the fatal end of her illness were a proof of that.

No words can describe the joy and delight which this King and the promoters of his concubinate [aged 35] have felt at the demise of the good Queen, especially the earl of Vulcher [aged 59], and his son [aged 33], who must have said to themselves, What a pity it was that the Princess [aged 19] had not kept her mother company. The King himself on Saturday, when he received the news, was heard to exclaim, "Thank God, we are now free from any fear of war, and the time has come for dealing with the French much more to our advantage than heretofore, for if they once suspect my becoming the Emperor's friend and ally now that the real cause of our enmity no longer exists I shall be able to do anything I like with them." On the following day, which was Sunday, the King dressed entirely in yellow from head to foot, with the single exception of a white feather in his cap. His bastard daughter [aged 2] was triumphantly taken to church to the sound of trumpets and with great display. Then, after dinner, the King went to the hall, where the ladies were dancing, and there made great demonstration of joy, and at last went into his own apartments, took the little bastard, carried her in his arms, and began to show her first to one, then to another, and did the same on the following days. Since then his joy has somewhat subsided; he has no longer made such demonstrations, but to make up for it, as it were, has been tilting and running lances at Grinduys [Map]. On the other hand, if I am to believe the reports that come to me from every quarter, I must say that the displeasure and grief generally felt at the Queen's demise is really incredible, as well as the indignation of the people against the King. All charge him with being the cause of the Queen's death, which I imagine has been produced partly by poison and partly by despondency and grief; besides which, the joy which the King himself, as abovesaid, manifested upon hearing the news, has considerably confirmed people in that belief.

Whilst the sorrow and indignation of the English last, it will be, in my opinion, the fit moment for urging the present Pope to proceed against this King, and apply the requisite remedy to so many evils. The measure would be most opportune just now; for these people, thinking, as they actually do, that because the good Queen is dead, no further proceedings can be instituted against them, would be greatly astonished, and taken, as it were, by surprise. They fancy, moreover. that the Pope on his own account, and for what personally concerns him and the Church, will not dare to stir and provoke war, especially as a good portion of Germany and other countries is in the same predicament as this King is. Yet, though the Queen is no longer alive, it is due to her memory and to the honour of her royal relatives to have it declared that she actually died Queen of England. It is, moreover, important to proceed at once to the execution of the sentence in what relates to the Princess, and dissolve and annul this second marriage, which certainly has not become more valid and legitimate through the Queen's death. Another declaration would be necessary on the part of the Pope, namely, that the King could not marry this woman, nor any other, during the Queen's life, according to the rules and prescriptions of civil right, unless the Pope himself had granted a dispensation.

It would indeed seem as if these people entertained some hope of making the Pope lean to their side, for only three days ago Cromwell said at dinner (a plainne table) that possibly within a very few days one might see in England a legate and an ambassador from the Pope, who would come to confirm all their former doings. And yesterday an order was issued for the curates and other preachers to abstain from preaching anything either against or in favour of the existence of purgatory, images, the worship of saints, and other doubtful theological questions. Perhaps by this and other means they hope to cajole His Holiness and send him to sleep until Your Majesty has actually left Rome,—which in my opinion, would he a great and irreparable evil; and I fancy that the courier who has taken to France the news of the Queens decease has been instructed to proceed afterwards to Rome in haste, and prevent, if he can, the publication of the ecclesiastical censures.

There has been some rumour here that this King intended going personally to his daughter, the Princess, or sending some high personage to condole with her, and that on that ground the news of her mother's death would be kept from her as long as possible. I hear, however, that nothing of the sort is the case. Four days after the Queen's demise the governess herself went straight to the Princess, and most unceremoniously, without the least preparation, announced to her the sad event. I myself had previously written to the Princess a letter of condolence, and sent it to one of her maids in waiting with instructions to put it into her hands the moment her mother's death should be notified to her. This was done; and I must say that the Princess received such consolation and comfort through it that soon after she herself wrote to me a very good and well penned answer, in which, after thanking me immensely for the invaluable good I have done her, she begged me to let the King know that, unless she were immediately removed from the house and company in which she was, she should consider herself as good as lost; and that, following my advice, she would in the midst of her tribulations do her best to show that courage and constancy of which I had spoken to her, and at all events prepare for death.

In the evening of the day on which the Queen's death was notified to her, the Princess begged her governess to write a letter to the King, asking for the physician and apothecary who had attended on her, rather, as I imagine, to make inquiries and hear the particulars of her last illness, than because she herself wanted their services. To which request of the Princess the King answered, that her complaint, if any, was not the result of illness, but merely of natural affliction, and therefore that she needed no physician nor apothecary at all. The Princess then wrote to me, praying, among other things, that I should solicit and procure the personal attendance of those two officials on the plea that she was really unwell, and could not do without them which I did forthwith, as Your Majesty must have heard.

The day before yesterday I forwarded to her the letter which Your Majesty had written to the Queen, her mother, as well as another from the Queen Regent of Flanders, both of which arrived too late. The letters, however, have been of great consolation to the Princess, as she herself wrote to me half an hour ago; for since her mother's death she writes oftener than before, for no other purpose, as I imagine, than to give a proof of that courage and firmness which I am continually recommending to her. I must add that her good sense, incomparable virtues, and unheard-of patience under the circumstances, enable her to bear with fortitude the loss of a mother whom she loved and cherished as much, perhaps more than any daughter ever did;—the Queen, her mother, having always been her principal refuge in all her tribulations.

Great preparations are being made for the burial of the good Queen, and according to a message received from Master Cromwell [aged 51] the funeral is to be conducted with such a pomp and magnificence that those present will scarcely believe their eyes. It is to take place on the 1st of February; the chief mourner to be the King's own niece [aged 18], that is to say, the daughter of the duke of Suffolk [aged 52]; next to her will go the Duchess, her mother; then the wife of the duke of Norfolk [aged 39], and several other ladies in great numbers. And from what I hear, it is intended to distribute mourning apparel to no less than 600 women of a lower class. As to the lords and gentlemen, nothing has yet transpired as to who they are to be, nor how many. Master Cromwell himself, as I have written to Your Majesty, pressed me on two different occasions to accept the mourning cloth, which this King offered for the purpose no doubt of securing my attendance at the funeral, which is what he greatly desires; but by the advice of the Queen Regent of Flanders (Mary), of the Princess herself, and of many other worthy personages, I have declined, and, refused the cloth proffered; alleging as an excuse that I was already prepared, and had some of it at home, but in reality because I was unwilling to attend a funeral, which, however costly and magnificent, is not that befitting a Queen of England.

The King, or his Privy Council, thought at first that very solemn obsequies ought to be performed at the cathedral church of this city. Numerous carpenters and other artizans had already set to work, but since then the order has been revoked, and there is no talk of it now. Whether they meant it in earnest, and then changed their mind, or whether it was merely a feint to keep people contented and remove suspicion, I cannot say for certain.

On 15th October 1537 the future Edward VI was christened by Bishop John Stokesley [aged 62] at the Chapel Royal in Hampton Court Palace [Map]. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer [aged 48] performed the Baptismal Rites, and was appointed Godfather. [her husband] Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk [aged 64] and Queen Mary I of England and Ireland [aged 21] were Godparents.

King Edward VI of England and Ireland was created Duke of Cornwall, 1st Earl Chester.

Henry Bourchier 2nd Earl Essex 3rd Count of Eu carried the Salt. Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk [aged 53] was Godfather and supported the Marchioness of Exeter. Richard Long [aged 43] was knighted. Thomas Cromwell 1st Earl Essex [aged 52], Philip Boteler [aged 45], John de Vere 15th Earl of Oxford [aged 66] and John Gage [aged 57] attended. Mary Scrope [aged 61] carried Lady Mary's train. Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex [aged 54] carried a covered basin. Robert Radclyffe 1st Earl of Sussex carried the canopy.

Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset [aged 37] helped his young niece the future Elizabeth I to carry the Crisom. Henry Courtenay 1st Marquess Exeter [aged 41] supported his wife Gertrude Blount Marchioness of Exeter [aged 34] to carry the child. Thomas Boleyn 1st Earl Wiltshire and Ormonde [aged 60] bore a taper of virgin wax. William Fitzalan 11th or 18th Earl of Arundel [aged 61] carried the train of the Prince's robe. Christopher Barker proclaimed the Prince's titles.

Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset was created 1st Earl Hertford.

Nicholas Carew [aged 41], Francis Bryan [aged 47], Anthony Browne [aged 37] and John Russell 1st Earl Bedford [aged 52] surrounded the font.

Henry Knyvet of Charlton Wiltshire [aged 27], Edward Neville [aged 66], Thomas Seymour 1st Baron Seymour [aged 29], Richard Long and John Wallop [aged 47] carried the canopy.

Arthur Hopton [aged 48], Bishop Robert Parfew aka Warton and Bishop John Bell attended.

William Fitzwilliam 1st Earl of Southampton [aged 47] was created 1st Earl of Southampton. Mabel Clifford Countess Southampton [aged 55] by marriage Countess of Southampton.