Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk biography Thomas Howard, 3rd
Duke of Norfolk, was a powerful English noble and Tudor
politician in the first half of the 1500s. In May of 1513, he
became lord high admiral and lord deputy of Ireland in 1520. In
1536 he gained royal favor by successfully suppressing the
rebellion of Roman Catholics in Northern England, in what was
known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. In 1546, he was accused as an
accessory to treason committed by his son, Henry Howard, earl of
Surrey. He narrowly avoided execution after the death of Henry
VIII and in 1553 he was released and his dukedom was restored.
He played a role in the marriages of his two nieces, Anne Boleyn
and Katherine Howard, both wives of King Henry VIII.