Thomas Norton (153210 March 1584) was an English lawyer, politician, writer of verse, and playwright.

Official career

Norton was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the son of Thomas Norton and the former Elizabeth Merry. He was educated at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He became a secretary to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset. In 1555 he was admitted as a student at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

. He married Margery Cranmer, the daughter of Archbishop

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He is honoured as a Oxford Martyrs, martyr ...

and his wife

Margarete Margarete is a German feminine given name. It is derived from Ancient Greek ''margarites'' (μαργαρίτης), meaning "the pearl". Via the Latin ''margarita'', it arrived in the German sprachraum. Related names in English include Daisy, ...

, with whom he had no children. Margery died before 1568. In 1568, Thomas married Alice Cranmer, the daughter of Archdeacon Edmund Cranmer, the brother of the Archbishop of Canterbury, with whom he did have issue. Norton served in Parliament as the representative of Gatton. In 1562 he became M.P. for Berwick, and was active in politics. He became the unofficial leader of a group of about fifty members of the House of Commons, which G. R. Elton saw as the first semi-official opposition in Parliament. He was inspired by the religious views of his father-in-law, and was in possession of Cranmer's manuscript code of ecclesiastical law; this he permitted John Foxe to publish in 1571. He went to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

on legal business, in 1579. From 1580 to 1583 he frequently visited the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

as a commissioner to inquire into the status of these possessions. Norton was the first Remembrancer of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

, holding the office from 1570 until his death in 1584. Norton's

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

grew, and towards the end of his career he became a fanatic. Norton held several interrogation sessions 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 citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

using torture instruments such as the rack. His punishment of the Catholics, as their official censor from 1581 onwards, led to his being nicknamed "Rackmaster-General" and "Rackmaster Norton". Norton's

puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

ism made him objectionable to the English bishops; he was deprived of his office and thrown into the Tower. Francis Walsingham released him, but Norton's health was undermined, and in March 1584 he died in his house at Sharpenhoe,

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

Literature

From his eighteenth year Norton began to compose verse. With Jasper Heywood he was a writer of sonnets. He contributed to '' Tottel's Miscellany'', and in 1560 he co-authored, along with Thomas Sackville, the earliest English tragedy, '' Gorboduc'', which was performed before

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

in the

on 18 January 1561. ''Gorboduc'' was revised, as ''The Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex'' in 1570. Norton's early lyrics have mostly disappeared. His numerous anti-Catholic pamphlets include those on the rebellion of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

and on the projected marriage of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, to the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

. Norton also translated Calvin's ''Institutes'' (1561) and Alexander Nowell's ''Catechism'' (1570). ''Gorboduc'' was edited by William Durrant Cooper (Shakespeare Society, 1847), and Lucy Toulmin Smith in Karl Vollmöller's ''Englische Sprache-und Literatur-denkmale'' (1883).

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Thomas 16th-century English poets 16th-century English dramatists and playwrights 16th-century English male writers Writers from London 1532 births 1584 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English MPs 1558 English MPs 1563–1567 English MPs 1571 English MPs 1572–1583 Prisoners in the Tower of London English male dramatists and playwrights English male poets 16th-century English lawyers