Post by Agnes Howard on Aug 27, 2010 0:40:46 GMT 1
Name: Agnes Howard (nee Tilney)
DOB: 10 April 1477
Current Age: fifty five
Title: Lady. Dowager Duchess of Norfolk
Job: First Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Katherine
She removed herself by command of the King and
is no longer with the Queen.
Styled: "Your Grace"; "Madam"; "Lady Agnes"
PB by: Dame Judi Dench
Appearance:
Agnes is a most imposing figure of a woman. She stands only 5'4" but her perfect carriage creates the impression of someone much taller. Her hair - once auburn in color - has now become a mixture of lighter brown/blondes which suits well with her still vibrant blue eyes. Her brows are nicely arched and her most prominent features are her cheekbones. Her skin is clear and free of blemish and her mouth lends itself well to the shape of her face. As a widow, she prefers the darker jewel tones in fabric colors as they also provide a perfect foil for her complexion. She has no liking for the Gable Hoods so favored by the Queen and so wears the 'French Design" of cap and veil.
She keeps an agent who's sole duty is to keep her abreast of the fashions from the other Royal Courts and she is the beneficiary of regular dispatches of sketches and samples of trims and fabrics. She is a stickler on personal decoration - she is never ostentatious and quality over quantity is what she thinks defines good taste. For this reason she can and does over-shadow those women at Court that lavish too much detail on themselves.
Personality:
Agnes is tough as nails. Very few ever break through that rough exterior to see the woman beneath. She guards her heart and its emotions with strong determination and sheer force of will. She keeps her private person so well hid that many see her as cold and unfeeling, even heartless. Some say, that as she came from Gentry and married into her title, she is more NOBLE than those much higher by benefit of birth. She adheres to RANK and STATION at all times without exception. She knows full well her just dues and takes for granted that everyone else does too.
Weakness you ask? There is no time or place for such at Court! Yet, when she looks to her own self, she still feels the insecurities of a woman out of place - that any moment someone will yell "Impostor" and demand that she give up all that she has worked so hard to achieve. She would, however, be very forthcoming in telling you her strengths. She is extremely capable at managing - Anything and Anyone - she will roll up her sleeves and set to work. She runs the vast Households and Estates with a strong hand but dispenses justice with absolute fairness. Her late husband Thomas, the 2nd Duke of Norfolk, would oft say that she did more credit to his own sex than to her own, and that many a General would have ben proud to have her in their camp!
She takes great joy in life and gives thanks each morning that God allows her these things. A country girl in her youth she retains some of those pleasures and she is a good horsewoman. But the simple pleasures that can be comforting do not have the draw of Court. It is there that she comes into her own. Her exterior appearance hides a woman who loves music, dance, poetry. Her position allows for her to indulge her passion for collecting and she displays her 'treasures' about her homes and in her apartments at Richmond, Hampton, Whitehall, Greenwich.
She does not suffer fools gladly and can spot an interloper or false promise quicker than a blink. She is loyal to any that warrant it - as the Matriarch of the Howard Family she holds power and tis best to learn that early. She cannot be bribed. Her network of 'eyes' reaches wide and she will do anything to further the cause of the Howard's.
The current political climate has made things rather precarious tis true but she watches and waits sure of her timing. When Henry's eye began to stray from Mary to her sister Anne she narrowed her eyes and kept her own counsel. Anne was different and she did not think t'would be an easy 'reward' for the King! But she also knew disapointment in the ending of a match with Northumberland's son. A 'Mistress' and not a 'wife' was not how she say her granddaughter. But better her than another and so began the need to keep this within the grasp of the Howard's. She was firmly in the King's faction now.
Background:
Her Father Hugh Tilney was a landowner in the flatness of Lincolnshire. Farming vast tracks of wheat and barley. His marriage to Lady Alice Tailboys increased it twofold and soon children entered the picture. Daughter Agnes spent her early life in relative freedom until she turned ten and everything changed. She had been lucky in that her father had not fostered her out to another Noble family and so she was able to be taught at home.
Taught the things that a daughter of a noble house would learn from history, languages, to music and dance. More important was the subject of Rank and Station and she learned the difference between the social classes. Taught the housewifery skills that would allow her to manage estates if seemed that Agnes' parents had very high ambitions for their daughter. There was brother Phillip now in the service of Thomas Howard, the Earl of Surrey, and cousin Elizabeth Tilney as the Countess so to think that there would be a good match for Agnes was clear - for Surrey and his Countess had arranged marriages for almost all of their children into the most important families in England - a sure way of knowing that if help of any kind was ever need it would be provided.
The death of Surrey's wife Elizabeth in 1497 was a surprise but more so what occurred next. Now left with nine children the Earl was on the hunt for a replacement. Four months after her death Howard married his late wife's twenty year old cousin Agnes Tilney. Such a marriage was unusual, for Surrey had undertaken a marriage that brought very little dowery. But it proved successful as the union produced twelve more children.
Agnes was now Countess of Surrey and step-mother to:
Thomas born 1473 (3rd Duke of Norfolk)
Edward born 1476
Edmund born 1478 (father of Catherine Howard the 5th wife)
Henry born 1480
John born 1482
Charles born 1483
Muriel born 1486
Elizabeth born 1486/87
(marries Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire. Is the Mother of George, Anne and Mary.
Thereby making Anne (the 2nd wife) and Catherine (the 5th wife) 2nd cousins.)
This marriage also came at the time of Surrey's political fortune. In 1499, Henry VII summoned him to Court and then to accompany him to France in 1500. In 1501 he was sworn into the Privy Council and named Lord Treasurer. In 1502 he entered diplomatic negotiations with Ferdinand and Isabella for a marriage between Arthur, Prince of Wales and the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon. These proved successful and the marriage took place. In 1509 Henry VII dies and his son Henry became King (upon the death of Arthur). Agnes' biggest fortune was the defeat of The Scots by her husband at Flodden Field in 1513. Henry rewarded surrey by resurrecting the title of Duke of Norfolk in 1514 - Surrey's father, John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, had fought for Richard the III during the War of the Roses and therefore had forfeited the rights to his title to pass to the next generation when he died in 1485.)
Now a Duchess and mother of twelve as well as step-mother of nine Agnes nevertheless managed. She had a leading role in Society and her role at Court reflects her husbands success for she was appointed First Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Katherine. She stood as Godmother to their eldest daughter the Princess Mary, and was second only in position at Court to the King's sister the Princess Mary.
She is step-grandmother to the Boleyn children and will, if pressed, side with the King on matters relating to Anne. Of Mary Boleyn she holds a different position. That girl was silly and stupid to not have put away monies and asked for lands as 'reward' for her services for she ought to have known that it would never last.
She has a tenuous relationship with her step-son the current Duke of Norfolk (Thomas Howard) and wastes no time in thought on his wife Elizabeth. Norfolk thinks himself to be 'all powerful' and so, she believes, finds her own power base countering his - which amuses her to no end.
Her relationship to Queen Katherine was one of mutual like and trust and there is still a part of her heart that sorrows for her and she does not condone Henry's treatment of her - to deprive a mother of her child is not the actions of an Honorable Man - but Henry is not the Henry of ten years ago and she see's how this "great matter" has left its mark. The fact the Anne will not sleep with him no doubts accounts for most of his ..... discomfort .... but the dye has been cast and so now all must see it played out.
She is much abreast of all things political and invites those favorable to the Howard cause to private dinners where the wine is good and speech unheeded by the need for caution.