As soon as the 3rd Duke was released, he dismissed Foxe, who soon went into exile in various European countries to escape anti-Protestant measures taken by Queen Mary, and reassigned the education of both Thomas and his brother Henry to the conservative and Catholic priest John White, who shortly afterwards was chosen to be the new Bishop of Lincoln. His father fell out of favour in part because he was a Catholic, and his grandfather, imprisoned for the same reasons that led to Surrey's execution, remained in the Tower throughout the reign of Edward VI, being released and pardoned in 1553 after the accession to the throne of the Catholic Queen Mary I. Although raised and educated as a Protestant along with his younger siblings, Thomas was Catholic like most of his family, which had remained loyal to Roman Catholicism during the Reformation. Despite losing his position as tutor of the Howard children six years later, Foxe remained an important recipient of Thomas's patronage for the rest of his life. After Surrey's death, Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond, took care of her nephews and employed John Foxe, the Protestant martyrologist to educate them. The 3rd Duke was saved from being executed because Henry VIII died the day before that appointed for the beheading, but he remained imprisoned in the Tower of London with most of his properties and titles forfeit to the Crown. Consequently, he ordered the arrest of both Surrey and his father on charges of treason and they were sentenced to death Surrey was executed in January 1547. The king was also convinced that the Howards planned to usurp the crown from his son, the future Edward VI. His father, being the eldest son and heir of 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was destined to become the future 4th Duke, but everything changed at the end of 1546 when Surrey quartered the royal arms of Edward the Confessor on his own coat of arms, incurring the fury of Henry VIII. His siblings were Jane, Henry, Katherine, and Margaret. His maternal grandparents were John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Trussell. His grandparents on his father's side were Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and Elizabeth Stafford. Thomas was born at Kenninghall, Norfolk on 10 March 1536, being the eldest son of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and his wife Lady Frances de Vere. (S.Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Frances de Vere, Thomas' parents

Likely to appeal to Anglophiles and history buffs, this is recommended. In an age when offenders were 'shown the rack,' or drawn and quartered while alive, early intelligence work was a bloody, barbaric business. Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, a spectacular terrorist plot was foiled when Guy Fawkes failed to decapitate the government by blowing up Parliament. When Elizabeth died, a succession crisis followed, ending with the ascent of Scotland's King James as the new ruler of England. Security for Elizabeth was complicated because she prided herself on her 'common touch,' mingling frequently with her subjects. Layers of intrigue were employed to entrap Mary, although William incurred the great displeasure of Elizabeth when he allowed Mary to be executed before the monarch gave the order (historians debate whether her tantrum was motivated by grief or guilt, or was simply a case of method acting). A major threat was posed by Elizabeth's cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. At the time, England was a Protestant enclave surrounded by a Catholic Europe. Narrated by Colin Tierney, this three-part PBS/BBC documentary describes an early secret service team-led by William Cecil and later his son Robert-who guarded Elizabeth, using stool pigeons, surveillance, forgery, and double agents. It was also a time of plots, during which Elizabeth I improbably managed to reign on England's throne for over 40 years (1558-1603).

Elizabethan England was a time of court intrigue, violence, warfare, and deeply divided loyalties.

Queen elizabeths secret agents