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Howard, family prominent in English history. Its head is the duke of Norfolk and earl marshal of England; other titles held by members of the family have been the earldoms of Northampton, Arundel, Nottingham, and Carlisle. The Howards trace their ancestry to Sir William Howard or Haward of Norfolk, who lived about 1260-1308 and was made a justice of the common pleas in 1297. His descendant, John Howard, was made 1st duke of Norfolk by King Richard III in 1483. Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, was England's most powerful peer during the reign of Henry VIII; two of his nieces, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, were married to Henry. After Thomas Howard, 4th duke of Norfolk, was beheaded (1572) for treason under Queen Elizabeth I, the Howards were deprived of the dukedom, but it was restored to them in 1660. See Boleyn, Anne; Howard, Catherine; Norfolk, John Howard, 1st Duke of; Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of; Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of; Norfolk, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of; Nottingham, Charles Howard, 1st Earl of.