Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton KGThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
(21 December,1505 – July 30, 1550) (pronounced "Risly") was a
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
of the
Tudor periodThe House of Tudor was a prominent European royal house that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch Henry Tudor, descended paternally from the rulers of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth, and maternally from a legitimised branch of the English royal...
born in London to
William WrytheWilliam Wriothesley was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the second son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe; the younger brother of Thomas Wriothesley; and the father of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton.-Personal life:...
and Agnes Drayton. He married Jane Cheney and they had four children:
- William Wriothesley (born before September 12 1535 and died in August of 1537)
- Anthony Wriothesley (born & died an infant in 1542)
- Elizabeth Wriothesley (b.
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton KGThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
(21 December,1505 – July 30, 1550) (pronounced "Risly") was a
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
of the
Tudor periodThe House of Tudor was a prominent European royal house that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch Henry Tudor, descended paternally from the rulers of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth, and maternally from a legitimised branch of the English royal...
born in London to
William WrytheWilliam Wriothesley was an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He was the second son of Garter King of Arms, John Writhe; the younger brother of Thomas Wriothesley; and the father of Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton.-Personal life:...
and Agnes Drayton. He married Jane Cheney and they had four children:
- William Wriothesley (born before September 12 1535 and died in August of 1537)
- Anthony Wriothesley (born & died an infant in 1542)
- Elizabeth Wriothesley (b. abt. 1536 she died in 1554 and was buried 16 January, 1554 she married Thomas Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex before November 1, 1545.
- Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton was an English noble.Henry was the only surviving son of the 1st Earl and his wife Jane Cheney. His godparents were Henry VIII, Princess Mary, Charles Brandon, and Henry Fitzalan.After his father's death, he lived with his mother, Jane...
(Christened 24 April, 1545 – 4 October, 1581 married Mary Browne
Entering the service of Thomas Cromwell and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey at an early age, Wriothesley soon made himself very useful to his masters, and he was richly rewarded when the
monasteries were dissolvedThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, nunneries and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed...
, obtaining extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester. By may, 1530, he was a clerk of the signet.
Having been on errands abroad, he was made one of the king's principal secretaries in 1540 ( a position he held jointly with Sir Ralph Sadler), and was knighted in the same year; in spite of the fall of his patron, Thomas Cromwell, he rose higher and higher in the royal favour, and in 1542 it was said that he governed almost everything in England. He sought to bring about an alliance between England and
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
in 1543, and was created Baron Wriothesley of
TitchfieldTitchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stetching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market...
in 1544.
Having been
Lord Privy SealThe Lord Privy Seal or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
for a few months, he became
Lord ChancellorThe Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
in 1544, in which capacity he became notorious for his persecution of
Anne AskewAnne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic. She is the only woman on record to have been tortured in the Tower of London before being burnt at the stake.-Life:...
; some say that he operated the rack on which Askew was tortured. Certainly he was one of the executors of Henry's will, and in accordance with the dead king's wishes he was created Earl of Southampton on 16 February, 1547. However, he had been incautious enough to appoint four persons to relieve him of his duties as Lord Chancellor, and advantage was taken of this to deprive him of his office in March, when he also ceased to be a member of the
Privy CouncilA privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation on how to exercise their executive authority, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government...
.
Later he was readmitted to the Council, and he took a leading part in bringing about the fall of
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549.-Background:...
, but he had not regained his former position when he died. His successor in the earldom was his son, Henry.