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Historical person

Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk

1477–1545

Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, born Agnes Tilney, was a powerful Tudor noblewoman and the second wife of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. As head of a large aristocratic household, she supervised the upbringing of several young female relatives, including Catherine Howard.

After Catherine became Henry VIII’s queen, investigators alleged that the duchess had concealed evidence of Catherine’s earlier relationships; Agnes was imprisoned in the Tower in 1541 but later pardoned. Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk died in Lambeth.

Alison Weir’s Katheryn Howard gives Agnes Howard, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, a decisive place in the queen’s early life. Katheryn grows up in Agnes’s large and loosely supervised household, where relationships and secrets develop beyond the effective control expected of a noble guardian. When Katheryn’s past becomes politically dangerous after her marriage to Henry VIII, the duchess’s household is scrutinised and Agnes’s earlier knowledge and concealment become part of the investigation.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Agnes Howard, Duchess of Norfolk (1 series)

Six Tudor Queens in Order

by Alison Weir 21 books 4.2(79,643)

The Six Tudor Queens sequence retells the lives of Henry VIII’s wives through six full-length novels. Twelve companion stories shift attention to relatives, servants, artists and courtiers affected by the same events, while Six Tudor Queens: Writing a New Story explains the project’s historical method. In the Shadow…

All books in this series