Home > William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester

Paulet's political career began in 1529, when he became MP for Hampshire. In 1532, he accompanied King Henry VIIIHans Holbein the Younger Henry VIII ( 28 June 1491 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. He was the second monarch of the Tudor dynasty, succeeding his father, Henry VII. He is to CalaisThis article is about the French city. Alternate meanings: Boreads (mythical), Calais, Maine, Calais, Vermont Calais is a city in northern France, located at 50°57N 1°52E. It is in the departement of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sous-prefecture''., FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents., and the following spring, he accompanied the Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk ( 1473- 25 August, 1555), was a prominent Tudor politician. He was the son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. He was called Earl of Surrey before his succession to his father's dukedom in 1514. His eldest son was the to join King Francois I of France in a proposed audience with the PopeThis article is about the Catholic pope. See Pope (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word pope. The Pope is the Catholic bishop and patriarch of Rome, and ex officio supreme spiritual leader of what might be called the Catholic Communion (that is,, to discuss Henry's divorce with Catherine of Aragon. In 1536, he was granted the keepership of Pamber Forest , and was soon created Baron St John. He became steward of the bishopric of Winchester, and became a close associate of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and a friend of Thomas Cromwell. He was also Comptroller of the Royal Household , and held many other high positions.

In 1535 and 1536, he served as one of the judges for the trials of John Fisher, Sir Thomas More, and the alleged accomplices of Anne Boleyn; in 1535, he became Lord Chamberlain. He partially led the royal forces against the Pilgrimage of Grace, a rebellion that broke out in the autumn of 1536, and in 1537, he became Treasurer of the Household. In 1540, he became the master of Henry's Court of Wards and Liveries , a Knight of the Garter in 1543, and Governor of Portsmouth and Lord Steward of the Household in 1545. In 1546, he became Lord President of the Council, and in Henry's will, he was mentioned as one of the eighteen men who would serve as the council of regency during Henry's son's minority.

He continued his political maneuvers in 1550 by supporting the Earl of Warwick against the Duke of Somerset - in reward, he was given the Earldom of Winchester and Somerset's position of Lord Treasurer. When Lord Warwick was created Duke of Northumberland in 1551, Paulet received the Marquessate of Winchester. Six weeks later, he served as Lord Steward in Lord Somerset's trial.

It was said that Northumberland and Winchester "ruled the court" of the minor King Edward VI, and Winchester was accused of supporting Northumberland's attempts to change the order of succession to the English throne (mainly to secure Lady Jane Grey's position on the throne), although he actually strongly opposed it. In March 1554, after Mary I was crowned queen, she affirmed him in all of his positions, although he had been associated with Northumberland (who was eventually executed for treason). After Mary's death, he remained Lord Treasurer and many of his other positions, and even at an advanced age (in 1559, he was over seventy years old), he showed no signs of declining - he was Speaker of the House of Lords in 1559 and 1566. He remained in good standing with the English monarchs - Queen Elizabeth once joked, "for, by my troth, if my lord treasurer were but a young man, I could find it in my heart to have him for a husband before any man in England." Late in life, he opposed any outright support of Protestantism, as he feared it would cause a breach with strongly Catholic Spain.

Sir William Paulet died, a very old man, at Basing House in 1572, a house that he held to rebuild and fortify.