Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham, KG (1536 – 14 December 1624), known as Lord Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I. He commanded the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588 and was chiefly credited with securing the victory that safeguarded England from invasion by the Spanish Empire. According to Britannica, "Although he was not as talented a seaman as his subordinates Sir Francis Drake and John Hawkins, Howard's able leadership contributed greatly to this important English victory."
Few details of Charles Howard's early life are known. He was born in 1536, and was the cousin of Queen Elizabeth. He was son of William Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Effingham (c. 1510–1573) and Margaret Gamage (d. 18 May 1581), daughter of Sir Thomas Gamage. He was a grandson of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. He was also the cousin of Anne Boleyn (Anne's mother was half-sister to Charles' father), and held several prominent posts during the reign of Anne's daughter, Elizabeth I.
It is believed that Charles Howard was taught French and some Latin at the house of his uncle, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk. He was also educated in penmanship, chivalric exercises, and some legal traditions. He served as a page to his cousin Thomas who later became the 4th Duke of Norfolk. He also fished and hunted fervently throughout his life.
In his childhood he was educated by John Foxe, the famous Protestant martyrologist and tutor in charge of the education of the children of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, a first cousin of Charles who was executed for treason in January 1547. During that time Howard lived with his cousins at Reigate Castle, one of the estates belonging to his uncle, the 3rd Duke of Norfolk.
Howard served at sea under his father's command as a youth. In 1552, he was sent to France to become well-educated in the French language, but was soon brought back to England at the request of his father because of questionable or unexpected treatment.
Early political career: 1558–1585
Howard went to the peace negotiations between England and France which led to the Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis of 1559. He personally informed Queen Elizabeth of its ratification.
He served as ambassador to France in 1559. In December 1562, he became the keeper of the Queen's house and park at Oatlands. In his early years he and five other gentlemen bore the canopy of state when Queen Elizabeth opened her second Parliament on 11 January 1563. He is recorded as having been a regular participant in jousts and tournaments, but despite his relationship to the Queen it is said that it took some time before he was able to gain any personal benefit from his situation.
Howard was also a member of the House of Commons, representing Surrey in the Parliament of 1563 and again in 1572.
In 1564 he became a member of Gray's Inn, and received his Master of Arts degree at Cambridge in 1571. This was not because he had any legal ambitions, but because it was the normal thing for men of his status to do.
He served as General of the Horse in 1569 and was involved that year in the suppression of the Catholic rebellion in northern England. He commanded a squadron of ships escorting the Queen of Spain on a state visit in 1570.
Howard was knighted in 1572, and then became Lord Howard of Effingham following his father's death in 1573. From 1576 to 1603 he was patron of a playing company, Nottingham's Men, later called the Admiral's Men.
On 3 April 1575, Howard was elected to the Order of the Garter to replace his cousin, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who had been executed in 1572. He was installed at Windsor on 8 May 1575.
Howard was named Lord High Admiral in 1585. The French ambassador wrote to Sir Francis Walsingham, saying Elizabeth's appointment of Howard was "a choice worthy of her virtue and prudence and very necessary for the Admiralty. I pray you tell her that the King [of France] has written to me by an express to thank her for having elected so good an admiral, from whom he hopes great things for the peace of his subjects".
Trial and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots: 1587
Howard regularly attended the Privy Council during the Babington Plot. He was named as one of the commissioners to try Mary, Queen of Scots but is not subsequently mentioned as one of those who sat on the trial. William Davison later alleged that Howard spoke to Elizabeth on 1 February 1587 "of the great danger she continually lived in" as there were rumours of new plots against her life and spoke of the stories that Mary had escaped from prison. Elizabeth was "moved by his lordship to have some more regard to the surety of herself and the state than she seemed to take" and finally made up her mind, telling Howard to send for Davison and Mary's death warrant. Howard then met Davison and informed him that Elizabeth was now "fully resolved" and ordered him to bring forth the warrant to be signed, "that it might be forthwith despatched and deferred no longer". Elizabeth would later blame Davison for breaking orders that no-one must be told of what had happened. The Privy Council met the next day and decided to take responsibility for the execution of Mary.
In early December 1587 orders were drawn up for Howard to take the English fleet to sea. On 21 December Howard's commission was signed, requiring Howard "according as there shall be occasion, and wherever and whenever he shall deem it fitting, to invade, enter, spoil and make himself master of the kingdoms, dominions, lands, islands, and all other places whatever belonging to the said Spaniards". He was furthermore given full authority over the navy and army at sea.
Between 15 December and 1 April 1588 he sat on the Privy Council only four times and attended court briefly every five or six days to meet with Walsingham. Writing on 27 January 1588, Howard believed the peace negotiations with Spain were a trap and expressed his dismay in a letter to Walsingham:I have made of the French King, the Scottish King, and the King of Spain, a Trinity that I mean never to trust to be saved by; and I would others were, in that, of my opinion. Sir, there was never, since England was England, such a stratagem and mask made to deceive England withal as this is of the treaty of peace. I pray God we have not cause to remember one thing that was made of the Scots by the Englishmen; that we do not curse for this a long grey beard with a white head, witless, that will make all the world think us heartless. You know whom I mean.