#audley end

[thedayaftereveryday]

Audley End ….. Saffron Waldon UK 🇬🇧

@thedayaftereveryday

[thefolliesgeorges]

Audley End House and Gardens, UK, September 2023

[careerinruins]

Kirby Hall, Gretton, Northamptonshire, another historic property I used to manage.

Kirby Hall is a stunning Grade I listed country house near the town of Corby. One of the great Elizabethan houses of England, Kirby Hall was built in 1570 for Sir Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwick. In 1575, Sir Christopher Hatton of Holdenby purchased the property, he was Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I.

It is a leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house in the East Midlands of which I have been fortunate enough to have managed, including Wollaton Hall, Hardwick Hall and parts of Audley End.

It is open to the public and is managed by English Heritage.

[collywobble-fairies]

Audley End conservatory. October 2022.

[travelingue]

Audley End and the Howards: the power of destructive thinking

When James I landed himself on the aristocracy of his new realm, he expected to be entertained in style.  In those days, hospitality in England's grand houses was extended free of charge to the court - but not always freely.

The archives of the dukes of Bedford record the following conversation in 1606 between the peer and his wife:

"Terrible news, darling: the king wants to stay here again!" "But it's only been nine months since he and his Scottish gang trashed the hall!” “... and raided the cellar." "The housekeeper was out for months after James personally requested her services: we're now left holding the baby. Can't you tell him we're full?" "You don't say no to the king, darling.  We must grin and bear it.  But we can lose the key to the cellar." "Good idea.  And this time, we'll assign a footman to his service." "What good will that do?  No one is safe from his Majesty's attention." "I know.  But the footman is not going to get pregnant, is he?"

There was one noble family, however, who had an open-door policy with James.

Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and his wife not only welcomed the king and his freeloading retinue: the Howards erected the grandest of all grand Jacobean houses in England specifically for their pleasure.

The family almost ruined themselves by building Audley End. But they also rose to great heights. The house encapsulates the fate of a family possessed of a remarkable talent for both currying favour with monarchs and pissing them off.

A previous post of mine dealt with the Howard clan's rise in the late Middle-Ages. I will focus here on the Tudor-early Stuart period. 

By the early 1500s the Howards were dukes of Norfolk, a particularly juicy title.  Since elder sons also often inherited the name Thomas, for the purposes of clarity here I'll give each successive Howard a number from no. 1 to 4.

Howard no. 1 (b. 1473)

This scion (officially know as Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk) succeeded his father as Lord High Chancellor in the 1520s. Basically he ran England while young Henry VIII jousted, hunted and fornicated.

The weight of responsibility is evident in this portrait by Holbein:

In due course Howard’s niece caught the royal eye.

 "That Anne of yours sure is pretty,” Henry told him. “Clever as well!" "So they say, Sire." "But is she pure?" "As driven snow, Sire.  Why do you ask?" "I want to marry her.  Then you and I would be family!"

Howard was gobsmacked.

"Nothing would please me more, Sire.  But isn't there a teensy problem?" "What’s that?” "You're already married?" "Oh don't you worry about that: Thomas Cromwell has a plan."

On hearing the name Cromwell, Howard bridled.  Why that son of a blacksmith could have the king's ear was a mystery.  But on the whole it was great news and Howard relayed it to his wife that evening.

"Are you sure we can depend on that ruffian?" Elizabeth Howard said. "Oh, the king is dead keen on Anne Boleyn!" "No, I'm talking about Cromwell." "I hate the jumped-up squirt too.  But he’s a canny operator.  If he can get a divorce for the king, all the better for us."

Everything went according to plan... until Henry accused his new wife (pictured above) of adultery.  He was very angry, at everyone.

Cromwell was out of favour for a bit, but he managed to blame Howard: "It's the duke is who sold you on that strumpet.  I just carried out your Majesty’s wishes."

Howard only saved his skin by presiding over the kangaroo court that sent his niece to the scaffold.

A few years later Henry, who was going through wives at a rapid clip, began to hunt for a fifth one. Howard spotted an opportunity. 

"Liz, don't you think our other niece, Catherine, would be perfect for him." "Hmm...  Haven’t we been here before?" his wife frowned. "But now Cromwell is out of the way: it's my chance for a comeback." "Cromwell's execution should be a warning: the most dangerous thing you can do is try to ingratiate yourself with a tyrant." "Don't worry," Howard said.  "It'll work this time."

So the king married Catherine Howard (pictured here with a proper Instagram pout.)

You guessed it: he soon accused her of adultery and had her executed.  The Howards had flogged damaged goods, AGAIN!

Several family members were sent to the Tower.  The ageing duke only saved his life by risking it in battle against the French.

Howard no. 2 (b. 1516)

Known to Debrett's as Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, the son of the disgraced duke was first cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

You would expect him to understand the need for the family to keep a low profile – especially as they were Catholics and the country was turning increasingly Protestant.

But that Howard was a poet.  As you can tell from his innocent eyes (portrait above) his lyrical soul rose far above the sordid realities of Tudor politics. 

As a man of taste, he thought it would be cool to adopt designs from the coat of arms of Edward the Confessor, a saintly medieval king, for the family's heraldry. 

This is what Henry VIII thought of this usurpation of royal symbols: 

Howard no. 2 and his father were stripped of their titles and convicted of high treason.  The 30-year-old son was beheaded in 1547. 

The father sought forgiveness by giving all his remaining lands to Henry.  He too would have been executed but for the death of the king a few days later.

For now Howard no. 1 remained in the Tower.had no choice but to lie low.  That did him a power of good.  When Mary Tudor, a Catholic, became queen in 1553 he got his dukedom, lands and freedom back. He died in his sleep aged 80.

Howard no. 3 (b. 1536)

The eldest son of the dead poet, that Howard (aka Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk) was born under a lucky star. 

He had just turned 18 when his rehabilitated grandfather died, passing his title and wealth on to him.

And Howard no. 3 spent most of his shortened adult life during the reign of Elizabeth I.  She was the daughter of Anne Boleyn who, you will remember, was a Howard.  The queen and the young duke were cousins! 

True, Elizabeth was Protestant and the Howards were not. 

But she wanted to avoid Europe's bloody wars of religion: being Catholic was fine as long as you kept your faith quiet, and there is no record of Howard no. 3 feeling strongly about transubstantiation.

Unlike her awful father, Elizabeth exercised power with restraint.  She did not overspend or overstretch. To this day she remains the best monarch England ever had.  And she was family.  What could possibly go wrong for Thomas Howard?

Enter Mary, Queen of Scots.

Another Catholic cousin of Elizabeth's, Mary was hounded out of Scotland in 1567.  She fled south of the border, where she become a magnet for every Papist plotter. Elizabeth had to lock her up.

Some zealot then had the bright idea to spring her from jail and put her on the throne with Howard no. 3, who was recently widowed, as her husband.

When Elizabeth got wind of the scheme, she pretended to believe Howard's denial of involvement.

But the truth was out and in 1569 she reluctantly sent him to the Tower to meditate on the meaning of loyalty.

Months later supporters of Mary launched a full-blown insurrection, which Elizabeth duly crushed.  Hundreds of rebels were executed, but the imprisoned Howard had a good alibi.

Once again, being forced to lie low in the Tower didn't do the family any harm. Two years later, though, Howard was out. 

A man with a foreign accent approached him with yet another idea. "Last time around you English Catholics lacked support from abroad. Now the Spanish army is ready to invade. If you guys do your bit, Elizabeth is dead and Mary on the throne in three weeks.  Are you with us?"

How do you think Howard reacted?  Did he say:

a) "Guys, GUYS.  Get real.  This is crazy.  And I'm a duke with a lot to lose.  I’m 30, the age when my stupid father got himself executed.  I've got off lightly so far because the queen likes me.  I don't want to push my luck."

 Or b) "Sure! Count me in."

You got it right.  After the new conspiracy was unmasked, Elizabeth wanted to spare her cousin.  But she couldn't be seen to be soft on traitors. Howard no. 3 was tried and beheaded at the Tower.

Howard no. 4 (b 1561)

We're now back where we started.  The son of the executed duke, Howard no. 4 (Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, as mentioned in the introduction) had a lot to prove.

Importantly, Elizabeth had not gone too hard on the Howards. They had only been relegated from the premiership to the championship (from dukes to earls, to be titularly exact). The young Howard was given a chance to redeem the family name as an admiral.

In the late 1580s he had a good war against the Spanish Armada.  You can see him above in all his naval glory.  Howard was given plum jobs.  Things were looking up again.

When Elizabeth I died childless in 1603, the aforementioned King James was headhunted from Scotland to succeed her.  The idea was to reconcile the two nations and realise the old Arthurian dream of a great British realm.

James said all the right things during the interview and accepted the job.  But as you can tell from his shifty eyes below, being a new Arthur was not really his priority. 

When he heard about clinching the throne of a major European power, he saw that as an opportunity to live the high life.

Howard no. 4, who was then in his prime, spotted an opportunity to complete the reversal of the family fortunes. 

Encouraged by his wife, he set about indulging the king's prodigal ways. If parliament was reluctant to tax people, there were other ways to fund his lifestyle, such as creating and selling titles.

And if not enough cash was coming in, so what?  Howard told the king: "Being hard up is painful enough.  If you had to deprive yourself on top of that, life would be intolerable!"

Building a prodigy house was part of the strategy.  Located about an hour north of London (a hour by car, I mean, not in a seventeenth-century coach) Audley End is magnificent: the panelled halls lined with paintings by masters could fit several tennis courts.

And what the visitor sees today is only a third of the initial building!

The house achieved its purpose: showing the king how to spend money you did not have.

It proved a judicious investment.  In 1614, Howard was entrusted with the Crown's finances.

Reclaiming the job of Lord High Chancellor for the family, he found ever more inventive ways to fleece taxpayers and line his own pockets.

The Howard couple were settling into a luxurious life of royally sanctioned rapine when their daughter dropped in at Audley End to consult them about her future.

"I want to marry Robert Carr," Frances Howard said. "Any thoughts?" "But he's the king's favourite, darling!  How will James react if his boyfriend marries our daughter?  Have you thought of that?" "Of course," Frances sighed.  "Jim knows I'm screwing Bob.  He doesn't care.  It's just male rivals he minds." "OK but there's another teensy problem." "What that?" "You're already married.  To the earl of Essex, remember?" "Oh him!  Everyone knows he's impotent.  I've been spiking his tea with bromide since our wedding day.  Getting an annulment will be no problem." "Are you really ready to take a virginity test, darling?" "Dear parents: trust a clever 20-year-old to pass important exams!"

Frances had all the answers ready.  There was no stopping her.

She fluttered her eyelids at the king, making clear that both she and Carr would remain available to him after the wedding.  James was sold.

The virginity test was quickly despatched: Frances insisted on veiling her face; whoever spread her legs before the Church commission was declared intact on her behalf.

One obstacle remained on the road to marital bliss: Carr's mentor loudly insisted that Frances Howard was not a suitable wife for his protégé.

James tried to silence the killjoy with a foreign embassy, a posting way above his status as a minor poet (Thomas Overbury, pictured above). Shockingly, he turned down the offer. 

The mentor was sent to the Tower for his temerity and the nuptials went ahead.   The Howards were truly back: sitting pretty at the heart of government, their daughter married to the royal favourite.

This is when Frances went back to her parents with another idea: from his cell, the mentor was still calling her a fraud and a whore; he needed shutting up for good; she knew apothecaries who could provide poison and Tower guards willing to administer it.

At this point, the parents could have said one of two things:

a) "This is crazy.  This Overbury guy is a nobody and we're on top.  Let's not push our luck."

b) "Sure: go ahead and kill him."

You can guess the rest: the mentor died, and was soon found to have been poisoned.  The Howards had their fingerprints all over it.  Newssheets had material for a year or two.  Howard no. 4 tried to ride out the storm, but in the end he had to go.

In 1618 investigators found he had embezzled Crown funds. King James was shocked to find corruption in his court.   The couple went to prison and the power of the clan was destroyed. 

Eventually Audley End was taken over by other aristocrats.  They knocked the house down to a more manageable size.

[schoolcollege]

[thunderstruck9]

Edward Bawden (British, 1903-1989), The Temple of Concord, Audley End. Watercolour, 48.2 x 64.1 cm.

[charlesreeza]