Owing largely to the powerful position of his father Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Henry took a prominent part in court life, and served as a soldier both in France and in Scotland.

Henry was born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire,[1] being the eldest of five children of Thomas Howard, then Earl of Surrey, and his second wife Lady Elizabeth Stafford.

At the time of his birth, his father's political career was on the rise, fuelled in large part by the powerful position of Henry's paternal grandfather, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.

Howard received a careful education from the best tutors of the time; as a young boy he was making translations from Latin, Italian and Spanish into English.

[3] Like his father and grandfather, he was a soldier, serving in Henry VIII's French wars as Lieutenant General of the King on Sea and Land.

Howard was repeatedly imprisoned for rash behaviour: on one occasion for striking a courtier, and on another for wandering through the streets of London breaking the windows of houses whose occupants were asleep.

In October, Surrey accompanied his father in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace, a Catholic rebellion which had broken out in the north of England against the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

In the early 1530s, Anne Boleyn, Surrey's first cousin, promoted a marriage between him and Princess Mary, the King's only surviving daughter with his wife Catherine of Aragon.

The Duke of Norfolk was very enthusiastic about the match as it might give him greater political influence and put his family closer to the throne of England.

Surrey had with his wife two sons and three daughters: The Howards had little regard for the "new men" who had risen to power at court, such as Thomas Cromwell and the Seymour family.

[7] Howard himself branded Cromwell a "foul churl" and William Paget a "mean creature" as well as arguing that "These new erected men would by their wills leave no nobleman on life!

During the last years of Henry VIII's reign, the Seymours, and the King's last wife, Catherine Parr, supporters of Protestantism, gained greater power and influence at court while the Howards, who were conservatives, were left politically isolated.

Henry VIII, who was becoming increasingly ill, became convinced that the Howards were planning to usurp the Crown from his son, Prince Edward.

Henry VIII, very possibly influenced by the Seymours, supporters of Protestantism, believed that the earl and his father were going to usurp the Crown to reverse the Reformation and thus return the English Church to Roman jurisdiction.

The Privy Council made a decision not to inaugurate the new reign with bloodshed, but Howard remained a prisoner in the Tower of London for the next six years, with most of his titles and property forfeited to the Crown, until he was released and pardoned in August 1553 upon the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary I.

[citation needed] Surrey's son Thomas Howard, became heir to the dukedom of Norfolk in place of his father; he inherited the title upon the 3rd Duke's death in 1554.

[citation needed] Surrey was first buried in Church of All Hallows in Tower Street, although in 1614 his remains were moved to St Michael the Archangel's Church, Framlingham, Suffolk, where his spectacular painted alabaster tomb survives, richly decorated with the coats of arms and heraldic animals of the Howard and De Vere families.

Lady Frances, Surrey's wife, although she was buried at Framlingham after her death in 1577, her remains were subsequently placed alongside those of her husband in the new tomb.

My friend, the things that do attain The happy life be these, I find: The riches left, not got with pain, The fruitful ground; the quiet mind;

The mean diet, no dainty fare; True wisdom joined with simpleness; The night discharged of all care, Where wine the wit may not oppress;

The faithful wife, without debate; Such sleeps as may beguile the night: Content thyself with thine estate, Neither wish death, nor fear his might.