Richard Wingfield
Encyclopedia
Sir Richard Wingfield, of Kimbolton Castle
(c. 1456 – 22 July 1525) was an influential courtier
and diplomat
in the early years of the Tudor dynasty
of England
.
, Suffolk
to Sir John Wingfield (c. 1428 – 10 May 1481) and his wife Elizabeth FitzLewis (c. 1431-1497). He was the eleventh of twelve sons; and brother to Humphrey Wingfield
. His paternal grandparents were Sir Robert Wingfield
and Elizabeth Gousell. He was one of the major landowners in Huntingdonshire
and lived at Kimbolton Castle
.
Wingfield became a courtier during the reign of Henry VII of England
. He married Catherine Woodville sometime after 1495. She was daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
and Jacquetta of Luxembourg
, sister to Elizabeth Woodville
, sister-in-law to Edward IV of England
and widow of both Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
, and Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford
. The marriage made him an uncle-by-marriage to Queen consort Elizabeth of York
and her husband Henry VII.
He was made Lord Deputy of Calais
in 1511. With Sir Edward Poynings
and others he was sent in 1512 to arrange a Holy League between Pope Julius II
, the English king and other Europe
an sovereigns.
In 1514, Wingfield was sent to the Netherlands
in order to attempt the arrangement of a marriage between Archduke Charles of Austria
and Princess Mary Tudor
of England, to secure a dynastic alliance between the Tudors and the rising Habsburg
s. But Wingfield's mission failed, and Mary Tudor was married to Louis XII of France
in 1514. Wingfield was also occupied in discharging his duties at Calais, but in 1519 he resigned his post there and returned to England.
In 1520, Wingfield was appointed ambassador to the court of Francis I of France
. He is known to have helped in the arranging the meeting between Henry VIII of England
and Francis at the Field of the Cloth of Gold
. He twice visited Emperor Charles V in 1521 in an effort to convince him against declaring war on Francis I.
Henry VIII created him a Knight of the Garter in 1522. The future Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
was the only other Knight created during that year. Wingfield was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
in 1524. For his services Wingfield was granted lands throughout the Kingdom of England
, notably Kimbolton Castle
which was further expanded by him.
While on an errand to the Spanish court, Wingfield died at Toledo
on 22 July 1525. He is buried at St John de Pois in that city. His widow was later married first to Sir Nicholas Harvey of Ickworth
and secondly to Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby
.
er for some time. He married in about 1513, his second wife, Bridget Wiltshire, daughter and heiress of Sir John Wiltshire
of Stone Castle
and Isabella Clothall. They were parents to ten children:
Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950...
(c. 1456 – 22 July 1525) was an influential courtier
Courtier
A courtier is a person who is often in attendance at the court of a king or other royal personage. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...
and diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
in the early years of the Tudor dynasty
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Life
He was born at LetheringhamLetheringham
Letheringham is a sparsely populated civil parish in the Suffolk Coastal in Suffolk, England, on the Deben River.-Sights:St Mary is a tiny church, the remains of the tower and nave of a Priory church, and sits in a farmyard...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
to Sir John Wingfield (c. 1428 – 10 May 1481) and his wife Elizabeth FitzLewis (c. 1431-1497). He was the eleventh of twelve sons; and brother to Humphrey Wingfield
Humphrey Wingfield
Humphrey Wingfield was an English lawyer, Speaker of the House of Commons of England between 1533 and 1536.-Early life:He was the twelfth son of Sir John Wingfield of Letheringham, Suffolk, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John FitzLewis of West Horndon, Essex; Sir Richard Wingfield and Sir Robert...
. His paternal grandparents were Sir Robert Wingfield
Robert Wingfield
Sir Robert Wingfield of Letheringham, Suffolk was an English knight.-Family:He was son of a senior Sir Robert Wingfield and Elizabeth Russell. Sir Robert Wingfield of Letheringham, Suffolk (1403 - between 6 October 1452 and 21 November 1454) was an English knight.-Family:He was son of a senior...
and Elizabeth Gousell. He was one of the major landowners in Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, covering the area around Huntingdon. Traditionally it is a county in its own right...
and lived at Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950...
.
Wingfield became a courtier during the reign of Henry VII of England
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
. He married Catherine Woodville sometime after 1495. She was daughter to Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....
and Jacquetta of Luxembourg
Jacquetta of Luxembourg
Jacquetta of Luxembourg was the elder daughter of Peter I, Count of St Pol, Conversano and Brienne and his wife Margaret de Baux...
, sister to Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...
, sister-in-law to Edward IV of England
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
and widow of both Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower...
, and Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford
Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford
Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, 1st Earl of Pembroke, KG was the uncle of King Henry VII of England and the architect of his successful conquest of England and Wales in 1485...
. The marriage made him an uncle-by-marriage to Queen consort Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York
Elizabeth of York was Queen consort of England as spouse of King Henry VII from 1486 until 1503, and mother of King Henry VIII of England....
and her husband Henry VII.
He was made Lord Deputy of Calais
Lord Deputy of Calais
The town of Calais, now part of France, was in English hands from 1347 to 1558, and this page lists the commanders of Calais, holding office from the English Crown, called at different times Captain of Calais, King's Lieutenant of Calais , or Lord Deputy of Calais.-Terminology and...
in 1511. With Sir Edward Poynings
Edward Poynings
Sir Edward Poynings KG was an English soldier, administrator and diplomat, Lord Deputy of Ireland under King Henry VII of England.-Early life:...
and others he was sent in 1512 to arrange a Holy League between Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
, the English king and other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an sovereigns.
In 1514, Wingfield was sent to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in order to attempt the arrangement of a marriage between Archduke Charles of Austria
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
and Princess Mary Tudor
Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)
Mary Tudor was the younger sister of King Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. The latter was more than 30 years her senior. Following his death, which occurred less than two months after her coronation as his third wife, she married Charles Brandon,...
of England, to secure a dynastic alliance between the Tudors and the rising Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
s. But Wingfield's mission failed, and Mary Tudor was married to Louis XII of France
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
in 1514. Wingfield was also occupied in discharging his duties at Calais, but in 1519 he resigned his post there and returned to England.
In 1520, Wingfield was appointed ambassador to the court of Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
. He is known to have helped in the arranging the meeting between Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Francis at the Field of the Cloth of Gold
Field of the Cloth of Gold
The Field of Cloth of Gold is the name given to a place in Balinghem, between Guînes and Ardres, in France, near Calais. It was the site of a meeting that took place from 7 June to 24 June 1520, between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France. The meeting was arranged to increase...
. He twice visited Emperor Charles V in 1521 in an effort to convince him against declaring war on Francis I.
Henry VIII created him a Knight of the Garter in 1522. The future Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand I was Holy Roman Emperor from 1558 and king of Bohemia and Hungary from 1526 until his death. Before his accession, he ruled the Austrian hereditary lands of the Habsburgs in the name of his elder brother, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.The key events during his reign were the contest...
was the only other Knight created during that year. Wingfield was made Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is, in modern times, a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom that includes as part of its duties, the administration of the estates and rents of the Duchy of Lancaster...
in 1524. For his services Wingfield was granted lands throughout the Kingdom of England
Kingdom of England
The Kingdom of England was, from 927 to 1707, a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England...
, notably Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle
Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire, is best known as the final home of King Henry VIII's first queen, Catherine of Aragon. Originally a medieval castle but converted into a stately palace, it was the family seat of the Dukes of Manchester from 1615 until 1950...
which was further expanded by him.
While on an errand to the Spanish court, Wingfield died at Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
on 22 July 1525. He is buried at St John de Pois in that city. His widow was later married first to Sir Nicholas Harvey of Ickworth
Ickworth
Ickworth is a small village and civil parish in the St Edmundsbury district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located on the A143 around a mile and a half south-west of Bury St Edmunds, in 2005 its population was 30....
and secondly to Sir Robert Tyrwhitt of Kettleby
Ab Kettleby
Ab Kettleby is a village and civil parish within the Melton district of Leicestershire, England. It is north of Melton Mowbray, along the A606 road, and has a population of 501....
.
Family
His first wife Catherine died about 1509, and Wingfield was a widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
er for some time. He married in about 1513, his second wife, Bridget Wiltshire, daughter and heiress of Sir John Wiltshire
John Wiltshire
John Wiltshire was an Australian actor and producer who worked extensively in stage, radio and television, notably at the ABC. He produced some of Noel Coward's shows in Australia in 1940, helped establish the Mercury Theatre with Peter Finch and produced a number of films with Cecil Holmes...
of Stone Castle
Stone Castle
Stone Castle is a castle at Stone, near Bluewater in Kent, England. It was built between 1135 and 1140 on the site where William the Conqueror signed a treaty with the men of Kent in 1067.-History:...
and Isabella Clothall. They were parents to ten children:
- Charles Wingfield of Kimbolton Castle (1513 – 24 May 1540). He married Joan Knollys, a sister to Sir Francis KnollysFrancis Knollys (the elder)Sir Francis Knollys , of Greys Court, in Oxfordshire, KG was an English courtier in the service and favour of Henry VIII, Edward VI and Elizabeth I of England, and was a Member of Parliament for a number of constituencies....
and sister-in-law to Lady Catherine Carey. - Thomas Maria Wingfield of Stonley Priory. A Member of ParliamentMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. He married first widow Mrs. Margaret Sabyn and secondly Margaret Kerrye. - James Wingfield of Stone Castle (c. 1519-1587?). A politician first known for long-term service to Stephen GardinerStephen GardinerStephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...
, Bishop of WinchesterBishop of WinchesterThe Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
. - Lawrence Wingfield.
- Jane Wingfield. Married first Thomas Worlich of AlconburyAlconburyAlconbury is a village in the English county of Cambridgeshire.-Geography:It is in the district of Huntingdonshire and gives its name to RAF Alconbury. It is near to the point where a major north/south road, the A1, crosses the only major east/west road: the A14...
and secondly Francis Roe. - Mary Wingfield.
- Margaret Wingfield. She married first Sir Thomas NewmanThomas NewmanThomas Montgomery Newman is an American composer and conductor, best known for his many film scores. He is one of the more respected and recognized composers for modern film and has scored over fifty feature films in a career which spans nearly three decades.Newman has received a total of ten...
and secondly a son of the Moyle family. - Cecily Wingfield. She married into the Maidenhead family.
- Elizabeth Wingfield. She married into the Latimer family.
- Catherine Wingfield.