Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 28.djvu/69

 Howard the insurgents, whom Surrey quickly subdued and hanged their leader in York. The care of the borders was now entrusted to Surrey, who was made lieutenant-general of the north, was placed on the commission of peace for Northumberland, and was appointed subwarden of the east and middle marches, which were under the nominal charge of Arthur, prince of Wales (ib. ii. 480). In the spring of 1492 he showed his vigilance by putting down a rising at Acworth, near Pomfret, so promptly that nothing is known of it save an obscure mention (Plumpton Correspondence, pp. 95-7).

Surrey was now reckoned the chief general in England, and though summoned southwards when Henry VII threatened an expedition against France, was chiefly employed in watching the Scottish border against the Scottish king and Perkin Warbeck. In 1497 James IV laid siege to Norham Castle, but retreated before the rapid advance of Surrey, who retaliated by a raid into Scotland, where he challenged the Scottish king to battle; but James did not venture an engagement, and bad weather forced Surrey to retire (, Chronicle, p. 480). Surrey's services received tardy recognition from Henry VII; in June 1501 he was sworn of the privy council, and was made lord treasurer. His knowledge of Scotland was used for diplomatic purposes, and in the same year he was sent to arrange the terms of peace with that country on the basis of the marriage of Henry VII's daughter Margaret to James IV. In 1503 he was at the head of the escort which conducted the princess from her grandmother's house of Colliweston, Northampton, to Edinburgh, where he was received with honour (, Collectanea, iv. 266, &c.) After this he stood high in the king's confidence, was named one of the executors of his will, and was present on all great occasions at the court. In October 1508 he was sent to Antwerp to negotiate for the marriage of Henry's daughter Mary with Charles, prince of Castile (, Letters and Papers, i. 444). It was not, however, till after twenty years of hard service that Henry VII, shortly before his death, made a restoration of his forfeited manors.

On the accession of Henry VIII, Surrey's age, position, and experience marked him out as the chief adviser of the new king and the most influential member of the privy council. In March 1509 he was one of the commissioners to conclude a treaty with France (, Spanish Calendar, i. No. 36). In July 1510 he was made earl marshal, and in November 1511 was a commissioner to conclude a treaty with Ferdinand the Catholic (ib. No. 59). But Surrey felt that, though he was valued by the young king, he did not become his trusted adviser, and he looked with jealous eyes on the rapid rise of Wolsey. He suspected Wolsey of encouraging the king in extravagance, and fostering his ambition for distinction in foreign affairs contrary to the cautious policy of his father. He consequently gave way to outbursts of ill-temper, and in September 1512, 'being discountenanced by the king, he left the court. Wolsey thinks it would be a good thing if he were ousted from his lodging there altogether' (, Calendar, i. No. 3443). But Henry VIII was wise enough to see the advantage of maintaining a balance in his council, and he knew the worth of a man like Surrey. When, in 1513, he led his army into France, Surrey was left as lieutenant-general of the north. He had to meet the attack of James IV of Scotland, which was so decisively repelled on Flodden Field (9 Sept. 1513), a victory due to the energy of Surrey in raising troops and in organising his army, as well as to the strategical skill which he showed in his dispositions for the battle (, Chronicle, p. 556, &c.) This is the more remarkable when we remember that he was then in his seventieth year. As a recognition of this signal service Surrey, on 1 Feb. 1514, was created Duke of Norfolk, with an annuity of 40l. out of the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and further had a grant of an addition to his coat of arms—on a bend in his shield a demi-lion, gules, pierced in the mouth with an arrow.

Though Norfolk had gained distinction he did not gain influence over the king, whose policy was completely directed by Wolsey on lines contrary to the wishes of the old nobility. Norfolk was opposed to the marriage of the king's sister Mary with Louis XII of France, and vainly tried to prevent it. To console him for his failure he was chosen to conduct Mary to her husband, and waited till he was in France to wreak his ill-humour by dismissing Mary's English attendants (, Reign of Henry VIII, i. 40). This act only threw Mary more completely on Wolsey's side, and so increased his influence. Norfolk must have felt the hopelessness of further opposition when, on 15 Nov. 1515, he and the Duke of Suffolk conducted Wolsey, after his reception of the cardinal's hat, from the high altar to the door of Westminster Abbey. He gradually resigned himself to Wolsey's policy, and the Venetian envoy Giustinian reports that he was 'very intimate with the cardinal' (, Four Years at the Court of Henry VIII, App. ii.) In February 1516 the Duchess of