Sir Nicholas Throckmorton

Sir Nicholas Throckmorton 1515-71, English diplomat. A relative of Catherine Parr, the last wife of Henry VIII, he became a staunch Protestant and gained the favor of the young Edward VI, who knighted him in 1547. He supported, for a time, the claims of Lady Jane Grey to the throne, and in 1554 he was tried for complicity in the rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt . Although acquitted, he was kept in the Tower until 1555. Upon Elizabeth I's accession (1558) he was made ambassador to France, where he championed the cause of the Huguenots. While in France he negotiated with Mary Queen of Scots and, despite religious differences, became her personal friend. In 1565, Throckmorton was sent to Scotland to attempt to prevent Mary's marriage to Lord Darnley, and in 1567 he tried to secure the release of the imprisoned Scottish queen. A supporter of the proposed match between the duke of Norfolk and Mary, he came under Elizabeth's suspicions. He was imprisoned in 1569 for his supposed complicity in the rebellion of the northern English Roman Catholics, but he was soon released. Throckmorton's daughter Elizabeth married Sir Walter Raleigh.

Throckmorton, Sir Nicholas (1516–71). Diplomat. Of gentry stock from Coughton Court (War.), Throckmorton was related to Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's last wife, and joined her household. From 1545 until 1563 he was in most parliaments and was in favour during the reign of Edward VI, being a zealous supporter of the reformed religion. In Mary's reign he was accused of complicity in Wyatt's rebellion but was acquitted: he did not serve in Mary's parliaments of 1555 or 1558. With the accession of Elizabeth, Throckmorton's career prospered and he represented her at the court of France (helping to negotiate the treaty of Troyes). He was next employed in Scottish affairs but his sympathy for Mary, queen of Scots, caused him to fall into disfavour. His reputation as a ‘machiavellist’ and his equivocal conduct at the accession of Mary may have led to mistrust and he did not achieve high office.

J. A. Cannon