Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk

Agnes Tilney (c. 1477; buried on May 31, 1545 ), after the marriage and Agnes Howard, was the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. She is the step-grandmother of the English queens Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, both of whom were married to Henry VIII. She is the godmother of Elizabeth I, whose step- great-grandmother she was. As members of the nobility it was among the most influential women of her time. They successfully resisted a second marriage after the death of her husband and was thus able to independently have the considerable fortune that her husband left her.

Early life

Agnes Tilneys family belonged to the gentry. Her father was Hugh Tilney of Lincolnshire. Her mother came from an influential family from Lincolnshire. The connection to Thomas Howard, later the Duke of Norfolk owes ultimately her brother Philip. This was in the service of the Duke heir, who was married to Elizabeth Tilney, a cousin of Agnes Tilney. Thomas Howard married Agnes Tilney four months after the death of his first wife. The marriage was regarded as unusual as Agnes Tilney brought little dowry. The Howard family, however, had lost considerable influence after. At the Battle of Bosworth on the side of Richard III had fought. The ratio of the Tudors, who were victorious in battle and subsequently ascended the English throne, remained tense for a long time to the Howards.

Agnes Tilneys marriage falls in the period in which the Howard family gradually regained her former influence. This was due in a series of military victories by Thomas Howard. The influence and importance of Agnes Tilney at the English royal court grew with the reputation of her husband. She was able, even after the death of her husband maintain this influence. Henry VIII married a second wife, Anne Boleyn, whom he put to death a few years after marriage for alleged treason. The time in which Anne Boleyn was able to assume the role of an English Queen, was extended by the Howard family, Agnes Tilney felt obligated since their intermarriage by different marriages. Agnes Tilney wore their train during Anne Boleyn's coronation and was godmother to her first child. Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII and daughter of Agnes Tilneys stepson Edmund Howard, grew up in the household of the Duke 's widow, was there but not sufficiently prepared for an influential role at the English court. Catherine Howard was also executed in 1541. Execution ground was their extramarital relationships, which had partly begun in the household of the Duke 's widow Agnes Tilneys. Agnes Tilney was arrested on the basis of their relations to Catherine Howard and imprisoned in the Tower of London. However, it was 1543 different from her stepson Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk released.

Agnes Tilney died in May 1545 and was buried on 31 May.