Edward Howard

Sir Edward Howard, KG (1476/1477 – 25 April 1513) was an English naval officer. He was the first of the Howards to win fame as an admiral, participating in his first naval battle while in his teens. He was in command during the Battle of Saint-Mathieu, which may have been the first sea battle fought by ships with cannons deployed through ports. He was killed shortly afterwards, leading an assault on galleys in the French fleet near Brest. Early life The son of Thomas Howard (later 2nd Duke of Norfolk) and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney, and a younger brother of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Howard's date of birth can be determined only approximately, and nothing is known of his early upbringing or education. He began his military career in August 1492 at the age of fifteen under Sir Edward Poynings at the siege of Sluys. In 1497 his father, then Earl of Surrey, was given a command in Scotland and took his sons Thomas and Edward with him. Surrey knighted both Thomas and Edward on 30 September 1497 at Ayton Castle after the signing of a treaty concluding an invasion by James IV of Scotland. In 1503 Howard was among those who escorted Margaret Tudor to Scotland for her marriage to King James IV. King Henry VII died on 21 April 1509. Howard played a prominent role in the tournament held to celebrate the coronation of the new King, Henry VIII, and was appointed the King's standard-bearer on 20 May 1509. Naval career