Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton


The Earl of Southampton

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, miniature by Hans Holbein the Younger
Born21 December 1505
London
Died30 July 1550(1550-07-30) (aged 44)
Lincoln Place, London
Noble familyWriothesley
Spouse(s)Jane Cheney
IssueWilliam Wriothesley
Anthony Wriothesley
Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton
Elizabeth Wriothesley
Mary Wriothesley
Katherine Wriothesley
Anne Wriothesley
Mabel Wriothesley
FatherWilliam Wriothesley, otherwise Wrythe
MotherAgnes Drayton
Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton
Lord Chancellor
In office
21 April 1544 – 1547
Preceded byThomas Audley
Succeeded byThe Lord St John
Arms of Wriothesley: Azure, a cross or between four hawks close argent
Quartered arms of Sir Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton[a] (21 December 1505 – 30 July 1550[3]), KG was an English peer, secretary of state, Lord Chancellor and Lord High Admiral. A naturally skilled but unscrupulous and devious politician who changed with the times, Wriothesley served as a loyal instrument of King Henry VIII in the latter's break with the Catholic church. Richly rewarded with royal gains from the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he nevertheless prosecuted Calvinists and other Protestants when political winds changed.

  1. ^ a b Montague-Smith 1977, p. 410
  2. ^ Wells 2008
  3. ^ Pollard, Alfred Frederick (1900). "Wriothesley, Thomas (1505-1550)" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 63. London: Smith, Elder & Co.


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