Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth
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Nicholas St Lawrence, 4th Baron Howth (c. 1460 – 1526) was a leading Irish nobleman, soldier and statesman of the early Tudor period, who held the office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland.[1]
He was born about 1460, eldest son of Robert St Lawrence, 3rd Baron Howth and his first wife Alice White, daughter of Nicholas White, and heiress of the manor of Killester. His stepmother Joan Beaufort was a cousin of King Henry VII, to whom Nicholas, unlike most of the Anglo-Irish nobility, reminded steadfastly loyal. The date of his father's death and his own succession to the title is uncertain but it was probably before 1487.[2]
Lambert Simnel
The pretender Lambert Simnel appeared in Ireland in 1487, claiming to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, nephew of Edward IV, to whom he bore a striking resemblance, and thus to be the rightful King of England. Warwick's claim to the English Crown was far stronger than that of Henry VII, who had only a tenuous claim to the throne through his mother (The real Earl of Warwick was kept a close prisoner in the Tower of London until his execution for treason in 1499). Simnel gained the support of most of the Anglo-Irish nobility, notably the powerful 8th Earl of Kildare, and was crowned as "King Edward VI" at Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin 1487. Nicholas, however, no doubt mindful of his own family's close connection to the Tudor dynasty, warned Henry VII of the impending invasion.[1] Following Henry's triumph at the Battle of Stoke Field, Nicholas was rewarded with a substantial grant of money (this was noteworthy in itself as Henry, throughout his reign, was notorious for his parsimony) and the confirmation of his right to the Lordship of Howth.[1]
The King, however, could not resist playing a joke by inviting Howth and ten other Irish nobles (nearly all of whom had received a royal pardon for their share in the rebellion), to a banquet at Greenwich in 1489 where, to their great embarrassment, they were waited on at table by Lambert Simnel, who had also been pardoned and made a kitchen boy (he was later promoted to the office of Falconer).
Howth attended the sessions of the Irish Parliament held in 1490 and 1493.[1] He succeeded his father as one of the Knights of the Brotherhood of Saint George, a short-lived standing army entrusted with the defence of Dublin and the surrounding counties.[3]
Battle of Knockdoe
Despite their differences over the Simnel rebellion, Howth became a close ally of Kildare (who like Simnel, and most of the Irish nobility, had received a pardon from Henry VII), and he later challenged Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond to a duel on Kildare's account. He also quarrelled with Sir James Butler, Ormonde's cousin, who predicted, wrongly, that Nicholas' stout and bullish nature would end with his violent death.[4] Kildare and Howth fought together at the notoriously bloody Battle of Knockdoe in 1504 between the forces of the Crown and the Burkes of Connaught.[5] Howth is credited with arguing for the immediate attack which resulted in a victory for the Crown's forces, against the advice of more cautious colleagues who urged that they retreat or try to negotiate.[1]
