Edmund Dudley (c. 1462[1] or 1471/1472[2] – 17 Au- wealth.[1] It may, however, never have reached the king. gust 1510) was an English administrator and a financial Several manuscript editions survive: the earliest was pos- agent of King Henry VII. He served as Speaker of the sibly commissioned by Dudley’s son, John Dudley, Duke House of Commons and President of the King’s Council. of Northumberland; while the second oldest was made by After the accession of Henry VIII, he was imprisoned in in 1563 for Dudley’s grandson, Robert Dud- the Tower of and executed the next year on a ley.[1] treason charge. While waiting for his execution he wrote The Tree of Commonwealth. Edmund Dudley was also the grandfather of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, 2 Marriages and issue a favorite of Henry VII’s granddaughter, . Edmund Dudley married twice:

1 Career • Firstly in about 1494 to Anne Windsor, sister of Andrew Windsor, 1st Baron Windsor, by whom he Edmund Dudley was the son of Sir John Dudley of Ather- had a daughter: ington, and a grandson of John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley. • After studying at Oxford, and at Gray’s Inn, Dudley came Elizabeth Dudley (born c.1500), who married [4] under the notice of Henry VII, and is said to have been William Stourton, 7th Baron Stourton. made a privy councillor at the early age of 23. In 1492, he • Secondly, between 1500 and 1503,[4] to Elizabeth helped to negotiate the Peace of Etaples with France and Grey (c. 1480–1525), a daughter of Edward Grey, soon assisted the king in checking the lawlessness of the 1st Viscount Lisle (d.1492). Three sons were born barons. He and his colleague Sir were to this marriage: prominent councillors of the Council Learned in the Law, a special tribunal of Henry VII’s reign, which collected • John Dudley, 1st debts owed to the king, requested bonds as surety, and (1504[4]–22 August 1553) employed further financial instruments against high-born • (c. 1507–1559[5]) and wealthy subjects. Henry VII took a strong interest in • these procedures and closely supervised the accounts of Jerome Dudley (d. after 1555), destined for the two men.[1] the Church by his father, yet was mentally or physically incapacitated.[1] Dudley was elected MP for Lewes, in 1491, and knight of the shire for , in 1495. In 1504, he was chosen as Speaker of the House of Commons. While collecting the king’s money, Dudley amassed a great amount of wealth 3 Notes for himself, which resulted in estates in Sussex, Dorset, and Lincolnshire. When Henry VII died in April 1509, [1] Gunn 2010 Dudley was imprisoned, and charged with the crime of [2] Loades 1996 pp. 1–2 constructive treason. Dudley’s nominal crime was that during the last illness of Henry VII he had ordered his [3] Loades 1996 p. 11 friends to assemble in arms in case the king died, but [4] Loades 1996 p. 8 the real reason for his charge was his unpopularity stem- ming from his financial transactions. He was attainted [5] Löwe 2008 and made preparations to escape from the Tower of Lon- don. He gave up his plan, though, when parliament did not confirm his attainder,[3] which led him to believe that 4 References he would be pardoned. Dudley and his colleague Empson were executed on 17 August 1510 on Tower Hill. • Gunn, S.J. (2010): “Dudley, Edmund (c.1462– During his imprisonment, Dudley sought to gain the 1510)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, favour of King Henry VIII by writing a treatise in sup- online edn. May 2010 (subscription required) Re- port of absolute monarchy, called The Tree of Common- trieved 2010-06-11

1 2 5 EXTERNAL LINKS

• Loades, David (1996): John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553 Clarendon Press ISBN 0-19-820193-1

• Löwe, J.A. (2008): “Sutton, Henry (d. 1564?)", Ox- ford Dictionary of National Biography, online edn. Jan 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010- 06-11

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

5 External links

• The Tree of Common Wealth 3

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text

• Edmund Dudley Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Dudley?oldid=668562168 Contributors: Shsilver, Deb, Charles Matthews, Lord Emsworth, Velella, FeanorStar7, Zirk, FlaBot, Str1977, Jaraalbe, TexasAndroid, Peterkingiron, Vancouveriensis, Formeruser-82, NicholasJB, Nlu, West Virginian, SmackBot, Bluebot, BrownHairedGirl, Joseph Solis in Australia, Adam sk, CmdrObot, Cydebot, Alaibot, Sirmylesnagopaleentheda, Waacstats, JCBettger, Unoquha, Danicalove79, Muro Bot, Boleyn, MarmadukePercy, Good Olfactory, Addbot, Maurits, Dougbateman, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, AnomieBOT, Buchraeumer, Plucas58, RjwilmsiBot, Orbinon, Emaus- Bot, Look2See1, Lobsterthermidor, ClueBot NG, Helpful Pixie Bot, VIAFbot, Nimetapoeg, ArmbrustBot, Caleb D Phillips, KasparBot and Anonymous: 18

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