Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton

Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG was an English peer, secretary of state, Lord Chancellor and Lord High Admiral. A naturally skilled but unscrupulous and devious politician who changed with the times, Wriothesley served as a loyal instrument of King Henry VIII in the latter's break with the Catholic church. Richly rewarded with royal gains from the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he nevertheless prosecuted Calvinists and other Protestants when political winds changed.

21 December 1505

Born on the same birth day (21 December): András Schiff • Freddy Sanchez • Jan Łukasiewicz • Kaitlyn Dever • Ray Romano • Thomas Sankara • Tom Payne (actor)

Born in the same month (December 1505): Christine of Saxony • Philipp von Hutten