John Astley (ca. 1507 – 1596,
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
),
also seen as Ashley, was an English courtier,
Marian exile, and
Master of the Jewel Office. He was a Member of Parliament on many occasions.
Family connections
He was connected to the Boleyn family through his mother Anne Wood, sister of
Elizabeth Boleyn, Lady Boleyn who was married to
James Boleyn. His father was Thomas Astley of
Hillmorton
Hillmorton is a suburb of Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, around south-east of Rugby town centre, forming much of the eastern half of the town. It is also a Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, ward of the B ...
, Anne being his second wife. His older brother was Thomas Astley of
Writtle
Writtle is a village and civil parish west of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It has a traditional village green complete with duck pond and a Norman church, and was once described as "one of the loveliest villages in England, with a ravishing va ...
, and a younger brother, Richard Astley of
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...
(died 1601), a groom of the privy chamber, also found a role in the royal Jewel House. Richard Astley's daughter Mary married Stephen Pears or Pearce, a keeper of the Royal Wardrobe at
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace was a Tudor royal residence on the River Thames in England which stood in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Situated in what was then rural Surrey, it lay upstream and on the opposite bank from the Palace of Westminste ...
.
Career
In 1545, John Astley married Katherine Champernown, later known as
Kat Ashley
Katherine Ashley (née Champernowne; – 18 July 1565), also known as Kat Ashley or Astley, was the first close friend, governess, and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I of England.
Sh ...
. At this point Katherine was governess to
Princess Elizabeth. Astley in Elizabeth's household met
Roger Ascham
Roger Ascham (; 30 December 1568)"Ascham, Roger" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 617. was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his pr ...
, who became a friend; he prompted Ascham's work ''A Report of Germany'' on the
Emperor Charles V
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (as Charles I) from 1516 to 1556, and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy (as Charles II) fr ...
, and is mentioned as a dinner-party guest in the introductory section of ''The Scholemaster'' (1570).
In 1554 he was in
Padua
Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...
. On the accession of Elizabeth he returned to England, and in December 1558 was appointed Master of the Jewel House and Treasurer of Her Majesty's jewels and plate. An
inventory of the jewels and plate made by Astley in 1574 has been published. His wife Kat was appointed chief gentlewoman of the privy chamber (she died in 1565), and he was also one of the grooms of the chamber.
He obtained from the crown a grant of the mastership of the game in
Enfield Chase
Enfield Chase is an open space in the London Borough of Enfield, North London. Historically, the name applied to a large common occupying the western part of the ancient parish of Enfield, extending from Monken Hadley in the west to Bulls ...
and park, with the office of steward and ranger of the manor of
Enfield. Accompanying Elizabeth on her visit to the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1564, he was created M.A. In or about 1568 the queen granted him a lease in reversion of the
castle
A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
and manor of
Allington, Kent, and he also had an estate at
Otterden. He bought
Maidstone Palace and had work done to the front of the building. In 1595,
Edward Cary joined him as master of the jewel house, where Cary then took over the office duties. Astley died August 1, 1596 at age 89 and is buried at All Saints' Church.
In Parliament
He represented various constituencies in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
:
*
Chippenham
Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
in 1547.
*
West Looe in March 1553.
[
* ]St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...
in 1555.[
* ]Cricklade
Cricklade is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in north Wiltshire, England, midway between Swindon and Cirencester. It is the first downstream town on the Thames. The parish population at the 2011 census was 4,227.
History
Cricklade ...
in 1559.[
* Boroughbridge in 1563.
* ]Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...
in 1571 and 1572.
* Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...
in the parliaments of 29 October 1586 and 4 February 1589.
Works
Astley was the author of a work on horsemanship. It harked back to his days as a Gentleman Pensioner under Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
, and relayed the doctrine of the Italian riding schools, as he and other Gentleman Pensioners had understood it, particularly on training the horse to respond to the hand. Astley was on friendly terms with Thomas Blundeville, whose translation two decades earlier of the ''Ordini di cavalcare'' of Federico Grisone was the first treatise on horsemanship to be published in English, and part of which had been dedicated to him. According to Smith, this is the first translation into English of the '','' "On horsemanship", of Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...
.
Astley may also have been the author of the first English translation of ''Il cavallerizzo'' by Claudio Corte, also entitled ''The Art of Riding,'' although this is more usually attributed to Thomas Bedingley.
Published works
*''The Art of Riding, set foorth in a breefe treatise, with a due interpretation of certeine places alleged out of Xenophon, and Gryson, very expert and excellent horsemen; wherein also the true vse of the hand by the said Grysons rules and precepts is speciallie touched; and how the author of this present worke hath put the same in practise; also what profit men may reape thereby; without the knowledge whereof, all the residue of the art of riding is but vaine. Lastlie, is added a short discourse of the chaine or cauezzan, the trench, and the martingale: written by a gentleman of great skill and long experience in the said art'' (London: Henrie Denham, 1584)
*(authorship dubious)''The Art of Riding, conteining diverse necessary Instruction, Demonstrations, Helps and Corrections, apperteining to Horsemanship, not heretofore expressed by anie other author; written at large in the Italian Toong, by Master Claudio Corte, a man most excellent in this Art. Here brieflie reduced into certeine English Discourses to the benefit of Gentlemen desirous of such knowledge'' (London, 1584)
*''Epistle to Roger Ascham'', prefixed to Ascham's ''The Affairs of Germany in the Reign of the Emperour Charles...'', 1552
Family
By his first wife Katherine, daughter of Sir John Champernowne of Devonshire, he had no issue. His second wife was Margaret, daughter of Thomas Lord Grey (a son of Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset (22 June 1477 – 10 October 1530) was an English peer, courtier, soldier and landowner of the House of Grey.
Early life
Grey was the third son and heir of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1455–1501) ...
), by whom he had a son, afterwards Sir John Astley, two other sons, and three daughters. His daughter Bridget Astley married Norton Knatchbull.
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astley, John
1500s births
1595 deaths
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
16th-century Protestants
English MPs 1547–1552
English MPs 1553 (Edward VI)
English MPs 1555
English MPs 1559
English MPs 1563–1567
English MPs 1571
English MPs 1572–1583
English MPs 1586–1587
English MPs 1589
Court of Elizabeth I
Writers on horsemanship
Masters of the Jewel Office
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Cricklade
Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Lyme Regis