Sir Thomas Clere(died 1545) was a successful poet at the court ofHenry VIII.He is commemorated in several poems byHenry Howard, Earl of Surrey,with whom he had a very close friendship. He was engaged toMary Shelton,a formermistress of the King's,in 1545,[1]but died before their love match could be made into a marriage.
Thomas Clere was the third son ofSir Robert Clere(c.1493 - 10 August 1529) ofOrmesby St. Margaret,Norfolk,and his wifeAlice,the daughter ofSir William Boleynand his wife Margaret Ormond (otherwise Butler), daughter and co-heiress ofThomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond.Alice was the sister ofThomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire,and the aunt ofKing Henry VIII'ssecond Queen,Anne Boleyn.Sir Thomas Clere was thus Queen Anne Boleyn's first cousin.[2]
His mother Alice Clere died in 1538, and left the family estates to his older brotherJohn Clere.She left Thomas "a salt of gold with a cover having a rose in the knop, and a pair of beads of gold" set with stones (a rosary) which had been gifts fromAnne Boleyn.[3]
Clere died on 14 April 1545 from wounds received at thesiege of Montreuilin 1544, fighting for theEarl of Surrey.[4]
Thomas Clere was buried in theChurch of St Mary at Lambethin Surrey. In his will, he made a bequest to his cousin Mary Shelton.[5]His monumental brass is currently in storage.[6]
His nephew, Robert Clere was killed at thebattle of Pinkiein 1547.
Footnotes
edit- ^Hart, Kelly (1 June 2009).The Mistresses of Henry VIII(First ed.). The History Press. pp.126–128.ISBN978-0-7524-4835-0.
- ^Richardson 2004,pp. 35, 179.
- ^Descriptive catalogue of ancient deeds in the Public Record Office,5 (London: HMSO, 1906), p. 255, A. 12173
- ^Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563,2 (Norwich, 1895), p. 267.
- ^Visitation of Norfolk in the Year 1563,2 (Norwich, 1895), p. 267.
- ^Thomas Clere memorial, IWM
References
edit- Bindoff, S.T. (1982).The House of Commons 1509-1558.Vol. III. London: Secker & Warburg.
- Block, Joseph S. (2006). "Shelton family (per. 1504–1558), gentry".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70835.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- Heale, Elizabeth (2004). "Shelton, Mary (married names Mary Heveningham, Lady Heveningham; Mary Appleyard) (1510x15–1570/71), contributor to manuscript miscellany".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68085.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- Herman, Peter C., ed. (1994).Rethinking the Henrician Era: Essays on Early Tudor Texts and Contexts.University of Illinois Press. pp.40–77.ISBN9780252063404.
rethinking the Henrician era.
- Ives, E. W. (2004). "Anne (Anne Boleyn) (c.1500–1536), queen of England, second consort of Henry VIII".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/557.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- Richardson, Douglas (2004).Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham.Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company Inc.ISBN9780806317502.
- Weir, Alison (1991).The Six Wives of Henry VIII.New York: Grove Weidenfeld.