In Allington Castle, near Maidstone, Kent, Thomas Wyatt (Wiatt) was born to Henry and Anne Wyatt in 1503. Anne was the daughter of John Skinner of Reigate in Surrey. Though Henry Wyatt was of Yorkshire, he purchased Allington Castle about 1493. An adherent of the Lancastrian party, Henry was imprisoned and tortured by Richard III. He was saved from starvation by a cat that brought him pigeons. With the accession of Henry VII, he became knight of the Bath in 1509 and knight banneret in 1513. He held various court offices.

Henry Wyatt

Allington Castle

Thomas was a playmate and friend of Anne Boleyn and had an early love affair with her and long after his marriage was regarded as her lover. His relationship continued during the time that Anne served as Lady-in-Waiting to the then Queen Catherine of Aragon. Realizing Henry VIII's intentions with her, she broke off her relationship with Thomas. This relationship would later haunt him in his relationship with Henry VIII.

In 1516, Thomas was Sewer Extroaordinary to Henry VIII. It was in this year that Thomas entered St.John's College at the University of Cambridge where he was to graduate with a B.A. in 1518, whereupon he continued his education, receiving an M.A. in 1522.

St.John's College

About 1520, Thomas married Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of the third Lord Cobham in a marriage arranged by his parents. In 1521, their son, Thomas ("the Rebel") was born, along with a daughter, Anne. Thomas the Elder became very popular at court and carried out several foreign missions and also served in various official capacities in England.

Soon after the birth of his son, Thomas separated from his wife, Elizabeth, charging her with adultery. It was presumed that Thomas still held affection for Anne Boleyn. Also in 1521 Thomas was made Esquire of the Body, or the King's personal bodyguard.

In 1524, Thomas was appointed Clerk of the Jewel Office (a distinguished post relinquished by his father in favor of Thomas Cromwell).

In 1525 Thomas distinguished himself at the Christmas tournament.

Thomas accompanied Sir Thomas Cheney to France in 1526 on a diplomatic mission and in 1527, Thomas accompanied Sir John Russell to Venice, as well as the papal court in Rome. Between 1528-1530, Thomas served as High Marshal of Calais and in 1532 he served as Commissioner of the Peace in Essex. It was also in 1532 that Thomas accompanied King Henry and Anne Boleyn (then the king's mistress) to Calais. Thomas confessed to King Henry of his intimacy with Anne Boleyn and warned the king against marrying a woman of such blemished character. In 1533, Anne Boleyn married King Henry whereupon Thomas served in her coronation that following June, acting for his father as chief Ewerer, pouring scented water over the hands of Anne Boleyn.

Cromwell, intent upon an understanding with Charles V, which had been hindered by the Boleyn's, took it upon himself to ruin the then Queen Anne Boleyn. Cromwell had her spied upon and established a secret commission. She was accused of treason, adultery and incest alleging that over the past three years she had allowed five men to "violate her." The accused included her brother, George Rochford; Sir Francis Weston (of the King's privy Chamber); Mark Smeaton (a musician); Sir Henry Norris (Squire of the King's Bodyguard) and William Brereton of Cheshire. They all denied the charges but were found guilty and executed, while much of the evidence was secured under torture.

In 1534 Thomas was involved in an affray with the sergeant of London one of whom he killed. Thomas was imprisoned in Fleet Prison but released after one month. It is assumed that Elizabeth Darrell was his mistress when she was a member of the Exeter household, and who was afterwards alleged a traitor.

On 5 May 1536, Thomas was bound and fettered by Archers of the King's Bodyguard and was imprisoned in the Tower over a quarrel with the Duke of Suffolk and as a witness against Queen Anne. It was during this imprisonment that Thomas witnessed the beheading of Anne Boleyn on the 19th of May 1536. In response to this execution, Thomas wrote "V.Innocentia Veritas Viat Fides Circumdederunt me inimici mei", trans. "My enemies surround my soul". (see next column)

Anne Boleyn

Cromwell wrote to Wyatt's father that his life was to be spared on 11 May and, with no legal proceedings against him, he was released 14 June. His sister Mary attended Queen Anne on the scaffold.

In 1537, the then Lord Cobham (Elizabeth's brother), wrote complaining that Thomas Wyatt refused to make any financial provisions for his wife. Thomas was embarrassed financially that, in spite of his inheritance of his father's large fortune, his own lavish expenditures had consumed a large portion of the inheritance.

Still in the King's favor, and having the confidence of Cromwell, Thomas was given command against the rebels in Lincolnshire and was knighted for his service 18 March 1537 at Westminster. It was in 1537 that Thomas became the Sheriff of Kent and in April of the same year, he was appointed ambassador to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain.

Charles V

In the fall of 1538, Thomas was accused by Edmund Bonner in a letter to Cromwell that Wyatt was engaged in tratorous corespondence with the traitor, "Cardinal De La Pole" (Reginald Pole) and furthermore that he lived loosely and used disrespectful language to the King. Cromwell, a stauch friend of Wyatt, ignored the accusation. In April of 1539, Thomas was recalled to England but was dispatched to Flanders in December to join the emperor who was about to pay a visit to the king of France. In January of 1540, Wyatt was requested to procure from the French court the arrest of a Welshman named Brancetor, ally of Cardinal Pole, who had joined the household of the emperor and accompanied him to Paris. In this endeavor, Thomas failed, as Brancetor appealed to the emperor and the king of France for protection.

It was Thomas's failure to improve relations between Henry VIII and the emperor that led to Cromwell's fall. In 1540, Thomas returned to the Low Countrie and returned to England to accompany his great friend, Thomas Cromwell to the scaffold. Thomas retired to Allington where Elizabeth Darrell, Lady Poynings, Wyatt's son and daughter-in-law also lived.

Following Cromwell's execution, Bonner (now Bishop of London) and Simon Heynes renewed their charges against Thomas. Bonner, jealous of Thomas and anxious to take his place as Ambassador accused Wyatt of Lutheran sympathies. This time their charges were taken seriously and Thomas was charged with treason in 1541, taken bound and manacled to the Tower, which was very unusual for a man of his position. His castle, Allington was seized, together with his plate, armor and horses and other valuables. Again, Thomas was imprisoned in the Tower, receiving a royal pardon in 1542, probably in large part due to the intervention of Catherine Howard, Henry's new Queen, whose mother was a Culpepper, friend and neighbor of the Wyatt's of Kent. He was forced to confes his guilt and take back his wife, Elizabeth and live with her in a conjugal relationship.

Catherine and Culpepper (her lover) were both executed in 1542.

By the 27th of March, Thomas was again with the King at Dover and by the 10th of April was made captain of 300 light cavalry and ordered to protect Calais until the new fortifications were built. It was at this time that Thomas was described by the Spanish Ambassador, Marillac, as one of the richest gentlemen in England.

Having secured the King's favor, Thomas was appointed Knight of the Shire of Kent. Thomas added the estate of Boxley to his huge Kentish properties and received grants of land in Lambeth and elsewhere, exchanging some of his Kentish estates for land in Dorset and Somerset. He was made High Steward of the manor of Maidstone.

On the 12th of June 1541, Wyatt made his will bequeathing land in Dorset and Somerset to Elizabeth Darrell.

Early in 1542 was sent to Falmouth to conduct the imperial ambassador to London.

The heat of the weather and the fatigue of the journey brought on a violent fever, compelling him to halt at Sherborne in Dorset at the home of his friend, Sir John Horsey, where Thomas died of pneumonia 11 October 1542 at Sherborne. He was buried in the great Church at Sherborne where he is described as 'vir venerabilis.' The 'inquisitio post mortem,' dated 8 Jan. 1542-3, and enumerates vast estates in Kent.

Sherborne Church, Dorset, England

At the time of his death, Thomas, then aged just under 40, was living with his mistress, Elizabeth Darrell and their only child, Francis.

Thomas was seen as highly intelligent, witty, fearless of speech to the point of indiscretion, impulsive and unsteady and spoiled by an admiring father and friends. He was a man who had made enemies as easily as he had made friends. He was tall in stature with powerful muscles and sinews. His abundant hair, golden in yough, had been lost by degrees and he had become bald but wore a thick, long beard. (described by Leland)

A man of many languages, Thomas was 'one of the best translators of the Latin poets of the age in which he lived'. (Roger Asham)

Thomas's poetry was influenced by his visits to Rome, Venice, Ferrara, Bologna and Florence where he studied Italian literature. The Italian poet Petrarch had a great influence upon Thomas's works. Thomas's works fall into two divisions: the sonnets, rondeaus and lyric poems dealing with love and the satires and the version of the penitential psalms. The love poems probably date from the first imprisonment. Thomas became known as the "pioneer of the English sonnet".

Thomas wrote 250 poems in additions to the Penitential Psalms and is considered the best poet between Chaucer and Spencer. None of Thomas's poetry was published during his lifetime and it was not until 1557 that a number of his poems were published.

In Thomas's poems, we find a key word, "truth", found in over half of his poems, in which the word "truth" is closely allied with "trust" and "faith". Thomas presents us with his own truth, which is that truth and personal integrity are not to be relied upon in a world of power. We see Thomas in a world in which social relations may be false but words need not be false. In a world of truth vs service, neither withdrawal nor honest counsel are viable solutions.

In Thomas's personal ethics, he was a man of truth, proven by his letters to his son but in his poetry, he wrote from a concealed position. We see Thomas as dedicated to truth but living in a world in which neither innocense nor intelligence protect anyone from accusation and political disgrace and shame. We see Thomas as a man of innocence and truth and faith and yet subject to the unpredictable nature of man.