Thomas FitzGerald, 10th Earl of Kildare (1513-1537), better known as Silken Thomas, was an Anglo-Irish nobleman who would lead the Kildare rebellion. In revenge for the imprisonment of his father in the Tower of London, Silken Thomas would renounce his allegiance to Henry VIII and engage in open rebellion against the Crown. Despite controlling most of the Pale, Dublin Castle held out and Silken Thomas’s attempted siege would lead to his army being routed. FitzGerald’s effort to obtain a pardon would fail, and he would be executed at Tyburn alongside his five uncles on 3 February 1537, at the age of 24.
Writings
Letter To John Rothe (1536)