St Mary's Bottesford Phase V.II, Monument to Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland

By Bob Sparham

Henry Manners 2nd Earl of Rutland
Henry Manners 2nd Earl of Rutland
The Table Tomb of Henry Manners
The Table Tomb of Henry Manners

Henry Manners 2nd Earl of Rutland 1561

This very unusual tomb is a reflection of the religious changes and turmoil of the period. Henry VIII had three children, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, each of which followed one of the current strands of religious thought. Edward was brought up to be a strict Protestant who supported the second stage of the Reformation which was  iconoclasm, the destruction of the religious images, In St Mary’s (as in most English churches) these reforms took the form of whitewashing the Doom, the  wall paintings. burning the rood screen carvings and smashing most of the directly religious statues in the church. Edward VI’s sister Mary was a Catholic who unfortunately followed the brutal methods of her husband, King Philip of Spain in her attempts to suppress the Protestants, whilst the last of the Tudors Elizabeth followed her father and believed in a middle way, in a church which was Protestant but which followed some Catholic forms and ceremonies. One of the major points of dispute was the site of the communion which was taken either kneeling at the altar in the Catholic manner or sitting at a table in the centre of the Nave in the way of the Calvinists. The Earl and his Lady show their confusion at all this religious change and are shown lying not on the traditional altar tomb, but underneath the Protestant table, holding The Book of Common Prayer, in an attempt at compromise and to show their loyalty to the new Elizabethan settlement. Some facts about his life taken from his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography are:-

“He succeeded as second Earl of Rutland on his fathers death, 20th September 1543, was knighted by Henry VIII in 1544, and was one of the mourners at the King’s funeral. At Edward’s coronation he was bearers of the spurs. In 1547 he was nominated constable of Nottingham castle and warden and chief justice of Sherwood Forest, as a reward for conducting an expedition into Scotland. From May to August 1551 he was ambassador to France, He belonged like Northumberland , to the extreme reformed party in church matters, and was one of those who took part in the second debate on the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. On 16th May 1552 he became Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire probably because he was the Lord Protector Northampton close follower, and on Mary’s accession he was at once imprisoned in the Fleet prison as a supporter of Lady Jane Grey. Rutland, however soon came to terms with Mary’s Government after Lady Jane Grey’s and Northampton’s executions. He was made an admiral in 1556, and took part as Captain General in the French war of 1557 which resulted in the loss of Calais (and the breaking of Queen Mary’s heart!) After the Fall of Calais he was placed in command of the defence of Dover against possible French invasion”p935.

Henry Manners became a favourite of the new Queen, Elizabeth I, who in 1559 made him a Knight of the Garter, Lord Lieutenant of Rutland. On 24th Feb he was made Lord President of the North and in 1561 an ecclesiastical commissioner for the reforms of the Church of England that resulted in the Act of Settlement. He died in 1561.

This page was added on 01/01/2007.

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