Thomas was born on 10 March 1536 (although some sources cite his birth in 1538)[1][2] at Kenninghall, Norfolk, being the first or second of five children of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his wife Lady Frances de Vere.

Henry, who was increasingly unwell, became convinced that Surrey and his father planned to usurp the crown from Edward in order to reverse the Reformation and return the English Church to papal jurisdiction.

[5] The Duke's execution was scheduled for 28 January but did not take place because Henry VIII died in the early hours of the same day, 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 property and titles forfeit to the Crown.

[6] After Surrey's death, his sister Mary Howard, Dowager Duchess of Richmond, took over the care of his children and John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist was employed to be their tutor, at the suggestion of Lord Wentworth.

A short time later, he joined his brother Henry and continued his education at the London home of the Catholic Priest John White, who in March 1554 was elected Bishop of Lincoln.

In early 1554, the new Earl of Surrey accompanied his grandfather in leading the forces that suppressed the Wyatt's Rebellion, led by a group of Protestant knights who opposed Queen's projected marriage to Philip II of Spain.

Howard had been preparing over the previous months to gradually take charge of the vast family inheritance received, although because he was still a minor at the time of his grandfather's death, guardianship of the new Duke was left in the hands of Queen Mary.

Bassingbourne Gawdy, one of the lawyers in charge of the succession to Howard's estates, rode post haste to London with letters for Lord Chancellor Gardiner and returned as speedily as he could to Norwich.

The escheator of Norfolk held a formal inquisition to survey the great Howard inheritance, of fifty-six manors, and 'many other considerable estates', which passed for the present into the hands of the Crown, until Thomas came of age.

In November 1559, Howard was appointed Lieutenant-General of the North, a position previously held by Henry Neville, 5th Earl of Westmorland, Norfolk's cousin, and which the Duke reluctantly accepted, probably seeing it as a means of distancing himself from the disputes he had with some members of the court.

By his side were placed a man of military experience, James Croft, and the diplomat and politician Sir Ralph Sadler, both with vast knowledge of Scottish political affairs.

His duty was to provide forces for the defence of the town against a possible French attack, to open up communications with the leader of the Congregation, James Hamilton, Duke of Châtellerault and cautiously aid them in their measures against the regent.

[9] Norfolk was the principal commissioner at the conference held in York in October 1568 to hear evidence against Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been a prisoner in England since she fled Scotland in May of that same year after being defeated at the Battle of Langside and abdicating under duress.

The evidence included the casket letters, which came to light during the investigations carried out in relation to Mary's alleged involvement in the murder a year earlier of her second husband Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley.

Because the English monarch had no direct heirs, having never married, Mary's claim to the throne, who was Catholic, represented a serious threat to the continuity of the Protestant religious policies enacted by the Elizabethan government.

[15] Norfolk saw in this proposal not only the means to solve the succession crisis which had plagued England ever since Elizabeth's accession, given her reluctance to marry and produce an heir, but also an opportunity for his own social aggrandisement.

Mary sent Norfolk a gift of a pillow embroidered with the Stewart family motto Virescit vulnere virtus (courage grows strong at a wound) and her coat of arms.

Mary, grateful for the gift, wrote to Norfolk in December 1569 that she "I took the diamant from my lord Boyd, which I shall kepe unseene about my neck till I give it agayn to the owner of it and me both.".

After initial successes, Westmorland and Northumberland retreated northward and finally dispersed their forces, fleeing into Scotland when Elizabeth sent an army under Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex, to quell the rebellion.

Thomas' intention to marry Mary, although objectionable to Elizabeth, was not a sufficient reason to charge him with treason, and also at that time there was insufficient evidence against Howard since he was not directly involved in the revolt in the north.

[17] Shortly after Howard was released Roberto Ridolfi, an Italian merchant and banker who lived in London at the time, contacted the Duke to negotiate his participation in the eponymous plot to free Mary, put her on the English throne and thus restore Catholicism in England.

Howard had already come into contact with Philip II of Spain regarding a proposed invasion of England with troops commanded by Fernando Alvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, who was based in the Spanish Netherlands.

Browne grew suspicious of the bag's weight, opened it, and discovered gold to the value of 600 pounds sterling from the French ambassador, destined for Scotland on Mary's behalf, and ciphered letters.

[6] Norfolk initially denied all charges against him, but later admitted a degree of involvement in the transmission of money and correspondence to Mary's Scottish supporters and her participation in the Ridolfi plot.

The Queen continued to resist re-signing the order, until her opinion suddenly changed when she encountered strong parliamentary pressure calling for the executions of both Norfolk and Mary.

On Saturday, 31 May, the Crown's spokesmen in the Commons persuaded the lower house, with great difficulty, to postpone petitioning the Queen to execute the Duke until the following Monday (2 June), 'in hope to hear news before that time'.

[10] At sunrise on 2 June 1572, Norfolk was led to a specially erected scaffold on Tower Hill, accompanied by Foxe and by Alexander Nowell, Dean of St Paul's.

Howard said the final prayer "Lord into your hands I commend my spirit", the last words Jesus Christ said on the Cross before dying, according to the Gospel of Saint Luke,[21][10] and then, before a silent crowd, which had been urged not to shout out to avoid 'frighting' his soul, the Duke's head was severed with a single stroke.

Thus Margaret was a first cousin of Mary FitzAlan and in order for the marriage to be valid under Catholic canon law, a dispensation had to be requested from Pope Paul IV, due to the close relationship between Thomas' first wife and Audley.

[23] Margaret brought as dowry to her marriage with Howard the entirety of the extensive properties that she had inherited from her father in Essex, including the magnificent Audley End residence.