Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 (21 December 1505 – 30 July 1550), known as The Lord Wriothesley between 1544 and 1547, was a politician of the Tudor period

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...

 born in London to William Wrythe

William Wriothesley

William Wriothesley or Wrythe 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:Wriothesley was probably born in...

 and Agnes Drayton.

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 dissolved

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

, obtaining extensive lands between Southampton and Winchester. By May, 1530, he was a clerk of the Signet

Clerk of the Signet

The Clerks of the Signet were English officials who played an intermediate role in the passage of letters patent through the seals. For most of the history of the position, four clerks were in office simultaneously....

.Until May, 1539, he was Henry's

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...

 ambassador in Brussels.

Having been on errands abroad, he was made one of the king's principal secretaries

Secretary of State (England)

In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I , the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary....

 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 Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in 1543, and was created Baron Wriothesley of Titchfield

Titchfield

Titchfield is a village in southern Hampshire, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market...

 in 1544.

Having been Lord Privy Seal

Lord Privy Seal

The Lord 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 Chancellor

Lord Chancellor

The 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 Askew

Anne Askew

Anne Askew was an English poet and Protestant who was condemned as a heretic...

; Askew alleged that he operated the rack on which she 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 Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

.

Later he was readmitted to the Council, and he took a leading part in bringing about the fall of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....

, but he had not regained his former position when he died. His successor in the earldom was his son, Henry.

He married Jane Cheney and they had four children:

1. William Wriothesley (born before 12 September 1535 and died in August of 1537)
2. Anthony Wriothesley (born and died an infant in 1542)
3. Elizabeth Wriothesley (b. abt. 1536 and died in 1554, was buried 16 January 1554; she married as his first wife Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
   Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex
   Thomas Radclyffe 3rd Earl of Sussex was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland during the Tudor period of English history, and a leading courtier during the reign of Elizabeth I.- Family:...
   
   , before 1 November 1545, without issue.
4. Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton
   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; he married Mary Browne