Book One: To Save The Duke: Lord John Howard

Matrilineality Pays off

Matrilineality Pays off

Matrilineality paid off Lord John Howard when his father, Sir Robert Howard married the second daughter of Lord Thomas de Mowbray, Lady Margaret married what was called "unequally yoked marriage, but for all intended reasons the two people married anyway, and Lady Margaret eldest sister, Lady Elizabeth only produced daughters from the marriage she had with Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk and with the death of her great-great-grandnephew, Lord John de Mowbray, Lady Margaret's son, Lord John Howard due to the fact he was the First Duke of Norfolk's grandson through his second daughter,Lady Margaret de Mowbray was the perfect candidate to inherit the Dukedom of Norfolk, just like his great-great-great-grandmother, Lady Margaret did when her father, Lord Thomas of Brotherton died and she became Countess of Norfolk, but the title didn't pass onto her daughter, Lady Elizabeth De Seagrave but rather to her son, Lord Thomas de Mowbray, and with no male heirs left through the first Duke of Norfolk.

The Dukedom of Norfolk reverted back to the First Duke's second daughter, Lady Margaret Howard and her son, Lord John Howard was next in line to inherit as because he was a devout Yorkist to both the late King Edward IV and the newly crowned King Richard III of England.

King Richard III created him Duke of Norfolk (Third Creation) in 1483 and his son, Lord Thomas Howard became Earl of Surrey and they attended the coronation of King Richard III and Queen Isabel Neville in 1483.

Lord John Howard was born in 1425 and in 1483 he was 58 years old and all of his children had married into some of the most prominent families, his eldest son, Lord Thomas Howard married Lady Elizabeth Tinley on April 30,1472 and in their son, Lord Thomas Howard was born in 1473,to be followed by his eldest daughter, Lady Elizabeth in 1480, and his son, Lord Edwin Howard in 1478 and they all played a prominent role in English history.

Lady Elizabeth Howard was only five years old when her grandfather was killed by the usurper, Henry Tudor in 1485, and her brother, Lord Thomas fought side by side with their father on the field of Bosworth field, and only Lord Thomas Howard sworn allegiance to the newly crowned King Henry VII, was Lord Thomas Howard created 2nd Duke of Norfolk.

Lord Thomas Howard was created Duke of Norfolk by King Henry VII's son, King Henry VIII in 1514, and his daughter, Lady Elizabeth Howard married Sir Thomas Boleyn in 1598, and they have three living children, Lady Mary Boleyn in 1500, Lady Anne who goes onto marry King Henry VIII in 1533, and gives birth to the greatest Queen that ever rules England, Queen Elizabeth I of England, (September 7, 1533 to March 24, 1603) and with her name ushered in a era called The Elizabethan Era.)

Lady Mary Boleyn marries Lord William Carey and they have two children, Lady Catherine Howard and Lord Henry Carey, Baron Hudson, sadly their only son, Lord George married Lady Jane Parker, but they have no children.

Lady Matilda is there the day that King Richard III creates Lord John Howard, Duke of Norfolk (Third Creation) in 1483 and his mother, Lady Margaret has remarried Sir John Grey of Ruthin,and she dies in 1459.

By his side is Queen Anne Neville and Lady Margaret Chedworth who is now Duchess of Norfolk, as Lady Catharine Moleyn had died before he had become Duke of Norfolk, but her son, Lord Thomas would go on to become the 2nd Duke of Norfolk.

By this time, King Richard III has declared by writ that all of his late brother's children are illegitimate and both King Edward V and his brother, Prince Richard, Duke of York had disappeared and they presumably murdered by King Richard III, but why would King Richard III murder his own nephews, when there was a more sinister person standing behind the scene and that person was Lady Margaret Beaufort the mother of Henry Tudor.

King Henry VI had deliberately married his first cousin twice removed to his half brother, Lord Edmund Tudor to preserve the line of Prince John of Gaunt and it worked with the birth of his half-nephew, Henry Tudor who was also his third cousin,as they shared the same great-great-great-grandfather, Prince John of Gaunt.

Lady Margaret Beaufort feared for the life of her only child, Henry who was the posthumous child of Lord Edmund Tudor and after a period of time sent him to live in Brittany where he lived safely.

Lady Margaret Beaufort was said to have received a vision by God that her son would one day become King of England and she held fast to that vision, but she had to protect her only child born out of her three marriages.

Two years before the final Battle at Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor proclaimed himself King of England and Lo-behold it came true when Henry Tudor killed Richard III on Bosworth field on August 22, 1485 and his step-father, Lord Stanley placed the crown of England on his step-sons head.

King Henry VII makes good with his promise to marry the undoubted heiress of King Edward IV of England, Princess Elizabeth of York, and only after she gives King Henry VII a son and heir, Prince Arthur in 1486, is she crowned Queen of England with much pomp and circumstance, but remarkably King Henry VII is much like King Edward I and he never takes a mistress and after his beloved Queen, Elizabeth passes away on her 32nd birthday, he never remarried as he can't find any other bride who can compare to the qualities that Queen Elizabeth of York had while she was alive.

Queen Elizabeth of York leaves him with his heir, King Henry VIII and with two fair daughters,Princess Margaret who marries into Scotland and Princess Mary who marries Lord Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

Lord John Howard received the Dukedom through his mother, Lady Margaret de Mowbray.

Who says that  matrilineality  doesn't pay off as it did in the case of Lord John Howard and through his granddaughter, and his great-granddaughter, Queen Anne Boleyn comes his great-great-granddaughter,Queen Elizabeth I of England.

Lady Matilda watches Lord John Howard become Duke of Norfolk in the presence of King Richard III, his son, Lord Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, and his second wife, Lady Margaret and their daughter, Lady Katherine.

Lady Matilda doesn't want to spoil the joy of the day, but she knows what is going to happen and she quietly exits all the festivities with a heavy heart and she retrieves out into the garden at Greenwich Palace.