In January 1547, a nobleman was marched the scaffold on Tower Hill. His crime? Not raising a rebellion,

not conspiring against the king, but adjusting his coat of arms. This was Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey,

poet, soldier, and son of England's most powerful duke. He would become the final person executed during the reign

of Henry VIII. The king himself died just nine days later. So why did Surrey die? The answer isn't

about treason. It's about power, fear, and a dynasty built on paranoia. So grab your cup of coffee

or your water and let's talk about Henry the 8th's

final victim with Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey. We'll also talk about the Duke of Norfolk

and the whole Howard family. Let's get into it.

Hey friend, welcome back to the channel for the Renaissance English History podcast.

I am your host, Heather.

I've been podcasting on Tudor England since 2009 with my show, which makes it the original

Tudor History podcast.

Today, of course, we are discussing Howard.

So there's a book by Jesse Childs called Henry the Eighth's Last Victim

that talks about the life of Henry Howard, and that is the main source that I used for this video.

Let's get started with the very tenuous nature of the Tudor dynasty. From the moment Henry

the 7th took the crown in 1485, the tutors lived with a

constant sense of insecurity. Henry the 7th's claim to the throne was, frankly, weak. He won it

in battle, not by birthright. And while he worked to secure his dynasty through marriage and

diplomacy, there were plenty of

people with better bloodlines, especially the plantagenet descendants that were still alive living

in England. They were the descendants of the Duke of Clarence, the brother of Edward the 4th.

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