Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk

During the Tudor era, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was a well-known English politician and aristocrat. He had a significant part in the intrigues surrounding the weddings of two of King Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were executed by beheading. When Henry VIII passed away on January 28, 1547, he was still imprisoned in the Tower of London after losing favor in 1546 and losing his Dukedom. He was freed at the coronation of the Roman Catholic queen Mary I, whose ascension he helped secure. This sparked conflicts between his Catholic family and the Protestant royal dynasty, which Mary I's half-sister, Elizabeth I, would carry on.

Norfolk's connection with the king had already been harmed by Cromwell by the time of Anne's overthrow in 1536. Norfolk had to oversee Anne's trial and death when she was put on trial. He was a devout conservative who rose to prominence as Thomas Cranmer's and Oliver Cromwell's chief foes. After Cromwell was put to death, Norfolk rose to prominence and eventually overtook him as the second most powerful Englishman. But Catherine Howard, Henry's fifth wife, who was also Norfolk's niece, was tragically also executed. Norfolk was convicted of being an accomplice to treason and given the death penalty four years later, but Henry himself passed away before the punishment could be carried out.