Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 28.djvu/71

 Howard  of Guienne. The troops, ill supplied with food, grew weary of waiting for Ferdinand and insisted upon returning home, in spite of Howard's efforts to persuade them to remain (, Calendar, i. No. 3451). Henry VIII invaded France next year. Sir Edward Howard fell in a naval engagement in March, and on 2 May 1513 Lord Thomas was appointed lord admiral in his stead. He was not, however, called upon to serve at sea, but fought under his father as captain of the vanguard at the battle of Flodden Field (September 1513), where he sent a message to the Scottish king that he had come to give him satisfaction for the death of Andrew Barton.

When his father was created Duke of Norfolk on 1 Feb. 1514, Lord Thomas Howard was created Earl of Surrey. In politics he joined with his father in opposing Wolsey, and was consoled, like his father, for the failure of his opposition to the French alliance by being sent in September 1514 to escort the Princess Mary to France. But Surrey did not see the wisdom of abandoning his opposition to Wolsey so soon as his father. There were stormy scenes sometimes in the council chamber, and on 31 May 1516 we are told that Surrey 'was put out, whatever that may mean' (, Illustrations, i. 21). His wife Anne died of consumption probably in the winter of 1512-13, and about Easter 1513 he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Edward Stafford, duke of Buckingham, by Lady Elinor Percy, daughter of the Earl of Northumberland. The girl, who was little more than fifteen, had already been betrothed to her father's ward, Richard Neville, afterwards fourth earl of Westmorland. The alliance with such families as those of Buckingham and Northumberland strengthened in Surrey the natural objection which he felt to Wolsey's power, and to the policy of depressing the old nobility, but the execution of Buckingham in 1521 taught him a lesson of prudence. When the trial of Buckingham took place, Surrey was in Ireland as lord-lieutenant, and it was said that he had been sent thither of set purpose that he might be out of the way when the nobles received that severe caution. In July 1520 Surrey entered upon the thankless task of endeavouring to keep Ireland in order. His letters contain accounts of attempts to pacify the rival factions of Kildare and Ormonde, and are full of demands for more money and troops.

At the end of 1521 Surrey was recalled from Ireland to take command of the English fleet in naval operations against France. His ships were ill-provisioned, and his warfare consisted in a series of raids upon the French coast for the purpose of inflicting all the damage possible. In July 1522 he burned Morlaix, in September laid waste the country round Boulogne, and spread devastation on every side, till the winter brought back the fleet to England. When, in December 1522, his father resigned the office of high treasurer, it was bestowed on Surrey, whose services next year were required on the Scottish border. The Duke of Albany, acting in the interests of France, was raising a party in Scotland, and threatened to cripple England in its military undertakings abroad. Surrey was made warden general of the marches, and was sent to teach Scotland a lesson. He carried out the same brutal policy of devastation as he had used in France, and reduced the Scottish border to a desert. But he did not venture to march on Edinburgh, and Albany found means to reach Scotland from France and gather an army, with which he laid siege to Wark Castle on 1 Nov.; but, when he heard that Surrey was advancing to its relief, he ignominiously retreated. This was felt to be a great victory for Surrey, and Skelton represented the popular opinion in his poem, 'How the Duke of Albany, like a cowardly knight, ran away.'

On 21 May 1524 Surrey, by his father's death, succeeded as Duke of Norfolk, but was still employed in watching Scotland and in negotiating with the queen regent, Margaret. In 1525 he was allowed to return to his house at Kenninghall, Norfolk, where, however, his services were soon needed to quell an insurrection which broke out at Lavenham and Sudbury against the loan which was necessitated by the expenses of the French war (, Chronicle, p.700). Norfolk's tact in dealing with the insurgents was successful, but the demand for money was withdrawn. Want of supplies meant that peace was necessary, and in August Norfolk was appointed commissioner to treat for peace with France. When the war was over, the great question which occupied English politics was that of the king's divorce. Norfolk was entirely on the king's side, and waited with growing satisfaction for the course of events to bring about Wolsey's fall. He and the Duke of Suffolk did all they could to increase the king's anger against Wolsey, and enjoyed their triumph when they were commissioned to demand from him the great seal. Norfolk was Wolsey's implacable enemy, and would be content with nothing short of his entire ruin. He presided over the privy council, and hoped to rise to the eminence from which Wolsey had fallen. He devised the plan of sending Wolsey to his diocese of York, and did not rest