With their extraordinary landholdings and huge patronage networks, the Howard family was, after royalty, the most powerful family in England during the 16th century. Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, served Henry VIII well as a government minister and a military commander. He also supplied his monarch with two of his wives: the duke’s nieces Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, both of whom were beheaded.

But the Howards also had an uncanny ability to fall foul of their rulers, with numerous members of the family imprisoned or executed. Factional politics was one of the reasons they endured periods of downfall, but their wealth also saw them commission some of the finest houses, portraits, art collections, and tombs during the 16th and 17th centuries. These included the houses Audley End and Arundel Castle; portraits by Holbein, William Scrots, and Rubens; ancient marbles; and spectacular tombs at the Church of St. Michael in Framlingham.

In this richly illustrated lecture Dr. Ridgway will discuss the Howard family’s many achievements, while also considering how some members of the family lost their heads while others kept them.

Dr. Christopher Ridgway has been Curator at Castle Howard since 1985. He has lectured on the estate and its history and collections all over the world and has published extensively. He is the chair of the Yorkshire Country House Partnership, a collaborative research project among the houses of the region; adjunct professor at the Centre for the Study of Historic Irish Houses and Estates at Maynooth University; and sits on the board of the Irish Heritage Trust. In 2019 Ridgway was awarded a UK Heritage Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award. His recent publications include Castle Howard and Brideshead, Fact, Fiction and In-Between (2011); The Morpeth Roll, Ireland Identified in 1841 (2013); George Howard, Lord Howard of Henderskelfe, A Life in Yorkshire and Beyond (2019); and "New Walls for Old Pictures," in Country House Collections: Their Past, Present, and Future (2021), jointly edited with Terence Dooley.

Curt DiCamillo is American Ancestors' Curator of Fine Art. As part of the Education team, he curates American Ancestors' large art collection, lectures around the world, and hosts the celebrated American Ancestors Art & Architecture webinar series.