Two Gentleman Poets at the Court of Henry VIII: George Boleyn & Henry Howard by Bapst Edmond

Author:Bapst, Edmond [Bapst, Edmond]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MadeGlobal Publishing
Published: 2013-10-20T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

Discord Between the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk. Lord Surrey's Conduct Towards his Mother.

While Lord Surrey had been away from his family, first at Windsor and then in France, his parents had had serious quarrels that had caused many a scene. We have mentioned how the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk had never exactly formed an amicable couple; but in their first years of marriage the relationship between the spouses had at least been seemly1, the Duke's frequent absences helping him to stand his wife's difficult temper.

The situation became more delicate when he was called to assist in administering the Kingdom's domestic matters; as of 1523, he had almost continually to live close to the Duchess, and their mismatched personalities were sure to soon cause a breach.

Until around the middle of 1530, thanks to the Duke's adaptability, appearances were saved; this is when a sad family event caused an uproar. The Countess of Derby, second daughter of the Duke and Duchess, had died in March2; the widower, who had been married but a year, quickly aimed at a new wife. Seeing this, his father-in-law, who did not wish to lose the alliance with as rich and influential a Lord3, considered giving him his youngest daughter, Lady Mary Howard4. The Duchess was amenable to this. But Anne Boleyn, as we've said, had other plans for Lady Mary, reserving her for her royal lover's bastard, the Duke of Richmond. She let her will be known to the Duke of Norfolk, and the latter, not wishing to displease the favourite, quickly changed his mind on the matter and proposed to Lord Derby his sister, Lady Dorothy Howard5, rather than his daughter. Lord Derby found the substitution acceptable. The Duchess of Norfolk did not. She worked with all her strength to prevent it and, when she found herself beaten, cultivated a deep resentment. Incapable of keeping her feelings to herself, she relieved herself by speaking her mind to Anne, in "such strong language that she was in danger of voiding the Court6."

Until now, the Duchess had been deeply hostile to Catherine of Aragon; she resented this unfortunate Queen for having strictly applied English rules of precedence and declaring that at all Court events she had to walk behind her mother-in-law, the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. The narrow-minded young woman had taken this decision for a grave insult: she, the daughter of a Duke, bowing low before the daughter of a simple knight! Since then, she had not ceased to show herself as deeply embittered towards the Queen7. After her altercation with Anne, however, she suddenly forgot her bitterness, and without transition began to offer Catherine loud protestations of devotion8. In her exuberance of passion, she spoke so intemperately and so outrageously about the favourite that in the end, in May 1531, she was quite simply banished from Court9. The Duke of Norfolk approved this measure; we may even suppose him to have instigated it, for being a self-interested partisan of Anne's, he did

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