Anthony Denny

For the Irish priest, see Anthony Denny (priest).

Not a portrait of Sir Anthony Denny, but of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey.[citation needed]
Arms of Denny: Gules, a saltire argent between twelve crosses pattée or[1]

Sir Anthony Denny (16 January 1501 – 10 September 1549) was Groom of the Stool to King Henry VIII of England, thus his closest courtier and confidant. In 1539 he was appointed a gentleman of the privy chamber and was its most prominent member in King Henry's last years, having together with his brother-in-law, John Gates, charge of the "dry stamp" of the King's signature, and attended the King on his deathbed. He was a member of the Reformist circle that offset the conservative religious influence of Bishop Gardiner. He was a wealthy man, having acquired several manors and former religious sites distributed by the Court of augmentations after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.[2]

  1. ^ As seen impaled by Walsingham in Mereworth Church, Kent, see File:HeraldicEastWindow StLawrence'sChurch Mereworth Kent.jpg (Source: Councer 1962, pp. 48–62, esp. p.50 et seq)
  2. ^ Robert Hutchinson, The Last Days of Henry VIII: Conspiracy, Treason and Heresy at the Court of the dying Tyrant (Phoenix, 2006) pp. 152–159 ISBN 0-7538-1936-8