Edmund Dudley (c. 1462Gunn 2010 or 1471/147217 August 1510) was an English administrator and a financial agent of

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, ...

. He served as a leading member of the Council Learned in the Law, Speaker of the House of Commons and President of the King's Council. After the accession of

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

, he was imprisoned in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is sep ...

and executed the next year on a

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

charge. While waiting for his execution he wrote ''The Tree of Commonwealth''. Edmund Dudley was also the grandfather of

Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, (24 June 1532 – 4 September 1588) was an English statesman and the favourite of Elizabeth I from her accession until his death. He was a suitor for the queen's hand for many years. Dudley's youth was o ...

, a favourite of Henry VIII's daughter,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

Career

Edmund Dudley was the son of Sir John Dudley of Atherington, West Sussex and a grandson of

John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley John Sutton VI, 1st Baron Dudley, KG, (25 December 1400 – 30 September 1487) was an English nobleman, a diplomat, and councillor of King Henry VI. He fought in several battles during the Hundred Years War and the Wars of the Roses, as well as ...

. After studying at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, Dudley came under the notice of Henry VII, and is said to have been made a

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

lor at the early age of 23. In 1492, he helped to negotiate the Peace of Etaples with France and soon assisted the king in checking the lawlessness of the barons. He and his colleague Sir Richard Empson were prominent councillors of the Council Learned in the Law, a special tribunal of Henry VII's reign, which collected debts owed to the king, requested bonds as surety, and employed further financial instruments against high-born and wealthy subjects. Henry VII took a strong interest in these procedures and closely supervised the accounts of the two men. Dudley was elected MP for

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

, in 1491, and

knight of the shire Knight of the shire ( la, milites comitatus) was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistributio ...

for

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, in 1495. In 1504, he was chosen as Speaker of the House of Commons. While collecting the king's money, Dudley amassed a great amount of wealth for himself, which resulted in estates in

, Dorset, and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

. A 1509 inventory of his house in Candelwykstrete,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, gave the earliest reference to window curtains. When Henry VII died in April 1509, Dudley was imprisoned, and charged with the crime of

constructive treason Constructive treason is the judicial extension of the statutory definition of the crime of treason. For example, the English Treason Act 1351 declares it to be treason "When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King". This was su ...

. Dudley's nominal crime was that during the last illness of Henry VII he had ordered his friends to assemble in arms in case the king died, but the real reason for his charge was his unpopularity stemming from his financial transactions. He was

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and heredit ...

and made preparations to escape from the

. He gave up his plan, though, when parliament did not confirm his attainder, which led him to believe that he would be pardoned. However while in prison he declared a will.Will of Edmund Dudley, abstract in J.S. Brewer (ed.), ''Letter and Papers, Foreign and Domestic'' Henry VIII, I:1509–1514 (HMSO 1920)
pp. 323–330 (item 559).
(British History online) Dudley and his colleague Empson were executed on 17 August 1510 on

Tower Hill Tower Hill is the area surrounding the Tower of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is infamous for the public execution of high status prisoners from the late 14th to the mid 18th century. The execution site on the higher gro ...

. During his imprisonment, Dudley sought to gain the favour of King

by writing a treatise in support of absolute monarchy, called ''The Tree of Commonwealth''. It may, however, never have reached the king. Several manuscript editions survive: the earliest was possibly commissioned by Dudley's son,

John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jan ...

; while the second oldest was made by

John Stow John Stow (''also'' Stowe; 1524/25 – 5 April 1605) was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as ''The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles'', ''The ...

in 1563 for Dudley's grandson, Robert Dudley.

Marriages and issue

Edmund Dudley married twice: *Firstly in about 1494 to Anne Windsor, sister of

Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor (Wyndsore, Wyndesor) KB (1467–1543), was a Member of Parliament, English peer, and Keeper of the Wardrobe, knight banneret and military commander. Name In manuscript and printed sources dated before 1650 hi ...

, by whom he had a daughter: **Elizabeth Dudley (born c. 1500), who married William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton. *Secondly, between 1500 and 1503,Loades 1996 p. 8 to Elizabeth Grey (c. 1480–1525), a daughter of

Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Lisle Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Lisle (died 1492) was an English nobleman who was created Viscount Lisle in 1483, in recognition of his wife's descent. Origins Sir Edward Grey was a younger son of Sir Edward Grey (c. 1415–1457) (a son by his second ...

(died 1492). Three sons were born to this marriage: **

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1504Loades 2008 – 22 August 1553) was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady J ...

(150422 August 1553) **

Andrew Dudley Sir Andrew Dudley, KG (c. 1507 – 1559) was an English soldier, courtier, and diplomat. A younger brother of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, he served in Henry VIII's navy and obtained court offices under Edward VI. In 1547&n ...

(c. 1507–1559Löwe 2008) **Jerome Dudley (died after 1555), destined for the Church by his father, yet was mentally or physically incapacitated.

Notes

References

*Gunn, S.J. (2010)
"Dudley, Edmund (c.1462–1510)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edn. May 2010 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-06-11 * Loades, David (1996): ''John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553'' Clarendon Press *Löwe, J.A. (2008)
"Sutton, Henry (d. 1564?)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-06-11 *

External links

''The Tree of Common Wealth''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Edmund Speakers of the House of Commons of England

Edmund Edmund is a masculine given name or surname in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings an ...

15th-century births 1510 deaths Year of birth uncertain Executed English people Executions at the Tower of London Prisoners in the Tower of London People executed under Henry VIII People executed under the Tudors for treason against England Burials at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula English MPs 1504 15th-century English people People executed by Tudor England by decapitation English politicians convicted of crimes