Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

Henry Howard
Earl of Surrey
Spouse(s)	Frances de Vere
Issue Jane Howard Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk Margaret Howard Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Catherine Howard
Noble family	House of Howard
Father	Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Mother	Lady Elizabeth Stafford
Born	c. 1517 Hunsdon, Hertfordshire
Died	19 January 1547 (aged 29-30) Tower Hill, Tower of London, London

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, KG (1516/1517 – 19 January 1547), was an English aristocrat, and one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry. He was a first cousin of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, the second and fifth wives of King Henry VIII.

Born in Hunsdon, Hertfordshire, Henry Howard was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and his second wife, the former Lady Elizabeth Stafford (daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham), so he was descended from kings on both sides of his family tree: King Edward I on his father's side and King Edward III on his mother's side. He was reared at Windsor with Henry VIII's illegitimate son Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset, and they became close friends and, later, brothers-in-law upon the marriage of Surrey's sister to Fitzroy. Like his father and grandfather, he was a brave and able soldier, serving in Henry VIII's French wars as "Lieutenant General of the King on Sea and Land." He was repeatedly imprisoned for rash behaviour, on one occasion for striking a courtier, on another for wandering through the streets of London breaking the windows of sleeping people. He assumed the title Earl of Surrey in 1524 when his grandfather died and his father became Duke of Norfolk.

In 1532 he accompanied his first cousin Anne Boleyn, the King, and the Duke of Richmond to France, staying there for more than a year as a member of the entourage of Francis I of France. In 1536 his first son, Thomas (later 4th Duke of Norfolk), was born, Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery and treason, and the Duke of Richmond died at the age of 17 and was buried at one of the Howard homes, Thetford Abbey. In 1536 Surrey also served with his father against the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion protesting against the Dissolution of the Monasteries.