Sir John Howard (c. 1366–1437), of Wiggenhall and East Winch, in Norfolk, England, was a landowner, soldier, courtier, administrator and politician. His grandson was John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, the great-grandfather of two queens, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the six wives of King Henry VIII.
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Origins
Born in about 1366, Howard was the son and heir of Robert Howard and Margaret Scales, daughter of Robert de Scales, Baron Scales and Katherine d'Ufford, a daughter and eventual heiress of Robert d'Ufford, Earl of Suffolk. His grandfather, John Howard (died 1364), had served as Admiral of the Northern Fleet from 1335 to 1337.
Career
By 1380 Howard was married to an heiress and had been knighted by March 1387, when he served at sea in the fleet commanded by Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel that fought the French and their allies at the Battle of Margate. In 1389, both his father and his father-in-law died, bringing him most of the paternal lands and those inherited by his wife, which he retained for life when she died in 1391. These estates gave him not only a considerable income but also local influence.
