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Thomas Stukley
Thomas Stucley (c. 1525 – 4 August 1578) was an English mercenary who fought in France, Ireland and at the Battle of Lepanto before being killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578. He was a Catholic recusant and a rebel against the Protestant Elizabeth I.
He was a younger son of Sir Hugh Stucley (1496–1559) lord of the manor of Affeton, in the parish of West Worlington in Devon, head of an ancient gentry family, a Knight of the Body to King Henry VIII and Sheriff of Devon in 1545. His mother was Jane Pollard, daughter of Sir Lewis Pollard (c.1465–1526), lord of the manor of King's Nympton, Devon, Justice of the Common Pleas, and his wife Anne Hext.
It has been alleged that he was instead an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII. Details of any wives or children he may have had are imprecise.
Stucley's early mentors were Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and then the Bishop of Exeter, in whose household he held a post. He was present at Boulogne during the siege of 1544–45, and again in 1550 on the surrender of the city to the English. From 1547 to 1550, he was a standard-bearer at Boulogne, and then entered the service of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. After his master's arrest in 1551 a warrant was issued against him, but he succeeded in escaping to France, where he served in the French army.
His military talents brought him to the attention of Henri III de Montmorency, and he was sent to England with a letter of recommendation from Henry II of France to his supposed half-brother Edward VI of England. On his arrival he proceeded on 16 September 1552 to reveal the French plans for the capture of Calais and for a descent upon England, the furtherance of which had, according to his account, been the object of his mission to England. John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland evaded the payment of any reward to Stucley, and sought to gain the friendship of the French king by pretending to disbelieve Stucley's statements.
Stucley, who may well have been the originator of the plans adopted by the French, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for some months. Having run through his brother's inheritance, he was prosecuted for debt on his release in August 1553 and was compelled to become a soldier of fortune once more. This was not his only financial difficulty: once, claiming a legacy, he broke into the late testator's house and searched the coffers, in defiance of a court injunction. In another episode, he was imprisoned in the Tower at the suit of an Irishman he had robbed.
He returned to England in December 1554 in the train of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, after obtaining an amnesty against his creditors' suits, possibly thanks to the Duke of Suffolk. His credit temporarily improved upon his marriage to Anne Curtis, granddaughter and heir of Sir Thomas Curtis, but he was reputed to squander £100 a day and to have sold the blocks of tin with which his father-in-law had paved the yard of his London house. Within a few months, a warrant for his arrest was issued on a charge of uttering false money and he fled abroad again, deserting his wife, to enter the service of the duke of Savoy. He then fought on the victorious side at the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557.
In 1558, Stucley was summoned before the council on a charge of piracy, although he was again acquitted owing to insufficient evidence, and managed to retain the favour of Queen Mary I of England. On the death of his wife's grandfather at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign he came into money, and he accommodated himself to the Protestant succession and became a supporter of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. In 1561, he was given a captaincy at Berwick, where he lived sumptuously; during the winter, he made firm friends with the Gaelic nobleman Shane O'Neill of Ulster, upon the latter's visit to court at London. In 1562, he obtained a warrant permitting him to bring French ships into English ports although England and France were only nominally at peace.
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Thomas Stukley
Thomas Stucley (c. 1525 – 4 August 1578) was an English mercenary who fought in France, Ireland and at the Battle of Lepanto before being killed at the Battle of Alcácer Quibir in 1578. He was a Catholic recusant and a rebel against the Protestant Elizabeth I.
He was a younger son of Sir Hugh Stucley (1496–1559) lord of the manor of Affeton, in the parish of West Worlington in Devon, head of an ancient gentry family, a Knight of the Body to King Henry VIII and Sheriff of Devon in 1545. His mother was Jane Pollard, daughter of Sir Lewis Pollard (c.1465–1526), lord of the manor of King's Nympton, Devon, Justice of the Common Pleas, and his wife Anne Hext.
It has been alleged that he was instead an illegitimate son of King Henry VIII. Details of any wives or children he may have had are imprecise.
Stucley's early mentors were Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and then the Bishop of Exeter, in whose household he held a post. He was present at Boulogne during the siege of 1544–45, and again in 1550 on the surrender of the city to the English. From 1547 to 1550, he was a standard-bearer at Boulogne, and then entered the service of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. After his master's arrest in 1551 a warrant was issued against him, but he succeeded in escaping to France, where he served in the French army.
His military talents brought him to the attention of Henri III de Montmorency, and he was sent to England with a letter of recommendation from Henry II of France to his supposed half-brother Edward VI of England. On his arrival he proceeded on 16 September 1552 to reveal the French plans for the capture of Calais and for a descent upon England, the furtherance of which had, according to his account, been the object of his mission to England. John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland evaded the payment of any reward to Stucley, and sought to gain the friendship of the French king by pretending to disbelieve Stucley's statements.
Stucley, who may well have been the originator of the plans adopted by the French, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for some months. Having run through his brother's inheritance, he was prosecuted for debt on his release in August 1553 and was compelled to become a soldier of fortune once more. This was not his only financial difficulty: once, claiming a legacy, he broke into the late testator's house and searched the coffers, in defiance of a court injunction. In another episode, he was imprisoned in the Tower at the suit of an Irishman he had robbed.
He returned to England in December 1554 in the train of Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, after obtaining an amnesty against his creditors' suits, possibly thanks to the Duke of Suffolk. His credit temporarily improved upon his marriage to Anne Curtis, granddaughter and heir of Sir Thomas Curtis, but he was reputed to squander £100 a day and to have sold the blocks of tin with which his father-in-law had paved the yard of his London house. Within a few months, a warrant for his arrest was issued on a charge of uttering false money and he fled abroad again, deserting his wife, to enter the service of the duke of Savoy. He then fought on the victorious side at the Battle of St. Quentin in 1557.
In 1558, Stucley was summoned before the council on a charge of piracy, although he was again acquitted owing to insufficient evidence, and managed to retain the favour of Queen Mary I of England. On the death of his wife's grandfather at the beginning of Elizabeth's reign he came into money, and he accommodated himself to the Protestant succession and became a supporter of Sir Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester. In 1561, he was given a captaincy at Berwick, where he lived sumptuously; during the winter, he made firm friends with the Gaelic nobleman Shane O'Neill of Ulster, upon the latter's visit to court at London. In 1562, he obtained a warrant permitting him to bring French ships into English ports although England and France were only nominally at peace.