The Underhill family would
be ideally positioned to benefit from the changes taking place at this time.
At least one indication of
the religious shifts and changes occurring was shown through Edward Underhill
(1512-1579), son of Thomas Underhill and Ann Wynter who were the last in
their family lines to remain Catholic. Edward Underhill traded life as a
country man for that of a courtier and soldier. He served as a man-at-arms
under Sir Richard Cromwell in the Siege of Landrecy in Hainault. Sir Richard
would later procure a nomination for Edward Underhill to serve as one of 200
men-at-arms to attend King Henry VIII during his campaign in France. Edward
Underhill was also among the first members of the band of Gentleman Pensioners
that King Henry VIII revived in 1539. Much like members of the House of Shirley
from whom members of the Underhill family leased Ettington, members of the
Underhill family too played an important role militarily and in defense of
England. Somewhat unlike the Shirley’s who leased property to the Underhill’s,
Edward Underhill had to sell his estate at Honingham in 1545 to pay his
expenses as pensioner. This shows how the Underhill’s while certainly
prominent, were less well established than other families. Belying his origins
and his Catholic parents, Edward Underhill would develop a reputation during
the reign of King Edward VI for seeking out Catholics and placing them in jail. [iii]
One particular instance was recounted how he arrested the Vicar of Stepney and
carried him to Croydon before the archbishop.
An exchange between Edward Underhill
and the Archbishop was recounted as follows:
Underhill: My Lord, methings you are too
gentle unto so stout a papist.
Archbishop: We have no law to punish them.
Underhill: No law? My Lord. If I had your
authority, I would be so bold to unvicar him, or minister some sharp punishment
unit him. If ever it comes to their turn, they will show you no such favor.
Archbishop: Well, if God so provide, we
must abide it.
Underhill: Surely, God will never thank
you for this, but rather take the sword from such as will not use it upon his
enemies.[iv]
Members of the Underhill family
like many others throughout England, found themselves emerged in the great
turmoil following the death of Edward VI. There was concern that if Mary I were
allowed to ascend, that she would bring Roman Catholicism back to England and
reverse reforms taken under her father King Henry VIII. This was the first time
that the Dudley family enters our narrative. John Dudley, the 1st
Duke of Northumberland amassed significant political influence and was regarded
by some as the de facto ruler of
England during the waning years of the reign of Edward VI. Anticipating the
threat that Mary I posed, Dudley worked to position his heirs to someday be
king. In April 1553, John Dudley’s son Guilford married the fifteen year old
Lady Jane Grey. Having been a minor at the time, Edward VI had no legal
standing to change the order of succession decided by his father and sanctioned
by Parliament. As Edward VI neared death a “Devise for the Succession” [v]
was formed. Mary and Elizabeth were both declared illegitimate heirs and Lady
Jane Grey and her sisters named heirs to the throne. This devise had the
opposite effect intended. Lacking popular support from the English people who
saw this as a Protestant grab for Power,[vi]
the preference to have a Catholic queen over a Protestant usurper was made
clear in events to follow.
Edward VI died on July 6,
1553, and four days later Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England. She
took residence in the Tower of London according to custom. Mary, on hearing of
Edward’s demise, left her residence at Hunsdon and made her way to London where
she was declared the rightful Queen by Parliament. Lady Jane and her husband
Guilford were subsequently imprisoned. John Dudley was executed August 22,
1553. A trial for Jane and Guilford took place on November 13, 1553, and they
too were found guilty and sentenced to death.
Meanwhile, Thomas Wyatt and
his compatriots, feeling threatened by the eminent marriage of Queen Mary to
the Roman Catholic Prince Phillip of Spain, sought to overthrow Queen Mary I
and place Elizabeth on the throne. He was joined by Henry Great, 1st
Duke of Suffolk who raised a force of 140 men. Over 3,000 men in total were
gathered and poised to take London. After several abortive attempts attempting
to enter the city and take the Tower himself, Wyatt surrendered, was tried, and
executed with around 90 rebels.
Wyatt’s Rebellion imperiled
Jane and Guilford Dudley. Philip and his councilors persuaded Mary to execute
Jane and remove future threat of unrest. Guilford was publicly executed the
morning of February 12, 1554, and the same day Jane was privately executed on
the Tower Green. A week later Jane’s father Henry, Duke of Suffolk, was also
executed for his part in the Wyatt Rebellion.
Figure #1: Imprisonments and Executions in the Lady Jane Gray Affair
-
John
Dudley 19 Jul 1553 - 22 Aug 1553, executed
-
Edward
Underhill 4 Aug 1553 – imprisoned
-
Guilford
Dudley – 12 Feb 1554, Tower, executed
-
Lady
Jane Grey, - 12 Feb 1554, Tower, executed
-
Elizabeth
I, 18 Mar 1554 – 22 May, imprisoned Tower of London, moved to Woodstock
Elizabeth I was also
threatened by the rebellion and was brought to court and interrogated. On March
18, 1554 she too was imprisoned in the Tower of London. Debate ensued about
whether she should be tried and executed to eliminate the threat she posed to
the crown. Robert Dudley, the son of the late Duke John Dudley was imprisoned
in the Tower of London. Following the death of King Edward VI, Robert Dudley
went into the countryside to raise support for Queen Jane. He was captured by
the townsmen of King’s Lynn and sent before Mary at Framlingham Castle. From
there he was condemned to death and imprisoned in the Tower. However, his
brother-in-law Henry Sidney and his mother secured his release with the help of
Spanish nobles aligned with Philip. Dudley and Elizabeth would maintain close
ties following their three months of confinement together in the Tower of
London.[vii]
These were perilous times
for nobles and gentry throughout England and Underhill’s were not exempted. The
same Edward Underhill who during the reign of King Edward VI was known for
seeking out Catholics and placing them in jail, [xviii]
would find himself directly implicated in the Dudley and Lady Jane Grey plot.
Edward Underhill had a son
during the brief reign of Lady Jane Grey and Lady Jane herself served as
godmother. His son was named Gylford in honor of Lady Jane’s husband Lord
Guilford Dudley.[xix]
That same month Edward Underhill published a ballad attacking Lady Mary that
would get him into a great deal of trouble. This action would gain Edward
Underhill the title, “the Hot Gospeller.” On August 4, 1553, Edward Underhill
was arrested and sent to the Tower of London where he was questioned. For him
to be at the Tower of London around the same time that Duke John Dudley,
Guilford Dudley, and Lady Jane Grey were all located there, all who would
ultimately face their execution, spoke to the severity of the situation. Something of a reprieve came when he was sent
to Newgate prison, where he would be one of the first felons sent there for
reasons of religion.
Underhill had his defenders
though. His godfather Sir William Herbert, the 1st Earl of Pembroke
who supported the Calvinistic cause came to his defense.[xx] Despite this effort, it was not until the
middle of September when Underhill was released on bail through interference of
the Earl of Bedford. Once being released he was fully restored by the Queen. [xxi],[xxii]
His salary as a gentleman pensioner was resumed without deduction from the time
of his arrest.[xxiii] Much of this story was recounted in even
greater detail in the Autobiographical
Anecdotes of Edward Underhill, One of the Band of Gentlemen Pensioners.[xxiv]
Edward Underhill would
retain his place among the gentlemen pensioners and defend Queen Mary during
Wyatt’s insurrection on February 6-7, 1553. He attended her later in Winchester
on July 1555 to meet Philip of Spain. During the winter of 1549-1550 Edward
Underhill was sent as controller of the ordnance under Lord Hutingdon to defend
Boulogne along with 6,000 other men. [xxv]
Two last references to Edward are known, including burial of his wife at St.
Botolph’s Aldgate on April 14, 1562, and other reference made on May 12, 1562,
when Edward Underhill was employed as “master of the common hunt” to suppress a
disturbance in the city of London. [xxvi]
Through service to several
successive monarchs of England starting with King Henry VIII and moving
forward, members of the Underhill family rose to higher and higher positions of
significance. And even despite the notoriety that figures like Edward Underhill
experienced, he too came around and distinguished himself in service to the
crown. One figure who would eclipse the accomplishments and honors of those who
came before was another son of Thomas Underhill and Ann Wynter, who would
become known as Sir Hugh Underhill (1519-1593).[xxvii]
[i]
Starkey, David. "Elizabeth :
Woman, Monarch, Mission ."
Elizabeth : The
Exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. Susan Doran (ed.). London : Chatto and Windus,
2003. ISBN 0701174765.
[ii]
The English archæologist's handbook By Henry Godwin Published by Parker, 1867
(Scribner, 1881), p.64.
[vi]
Behind the mask: the life of Queen Elizabeth I By Jane Resh Thomas. p.48. Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt, 1998.
[viii]
Thomas or William, accounts of name differ. http://books.google.com/books?ei=-UmsTLeaNMKC8gbNrd2OCA&ct=result&id=TlNnAAAAMAAJ&dq=underhill+sampford+courtenay&q=underhill+
[xviii]
History of England
from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth By James Anthony Froude
(Scribner, 1881), p.64.
[xix]
History of England
from the fall of Wolsey to the death of Elizabeth By James Anthony Froude
(Published by Scribner, 1881).
[xxi]
Lives of the queens of England ,
from the Norman conquest By Agnes Strickland, Elisabeth Strickland (Published
by Bell & Daldy, 1868).
[xxiii]
Lives of the queens of England ,
from the Norman conquest By Agnes Strickland, Elisabeth Strickland (Published
by Bell & Daldy, 1868) p.199.
[xxiv]
Excerpt is re-published in Narratives of the Days of the Reformation: Chiefly
from the Manuscripts of John Foxe the Martyrologist: With Two Contemporary
Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer By John Gough Nichols Published by Kessinger
Publishing, 2006.
[xxv]
Narratives of the Days of the Reformation: Chiefly from the Manuscripts of John
Foxe the Martyrologist: With Two Contemporary Biographies of Archbishop Cranmer
By John Gough Nichols Published by Kessinger Publishing, 2006.
[xxvi]
Dictionary of national biography by
Leslie Stephen, George Smith, Sidney Lee, Edgar Trevor Williams, Robert Blake,
Christine Stephanie Nicholls, Helen M. Palmer, L. G. Wickham Legg, John
Reginald Homer Weaver, Henry William Carless Davis Published by Smith Elder,
1909. p.29-30
No comments:
Post a Comment