[[File:Markenfield Hall gatehouse - geograph.org.uk - 804852.jpg|thumb|right|The gatehouse at Markenfield Hall]] '''Thomas Markenfield''' (1532–1592) was an English 16th-century landowner who took part in the 1569 Rising of the North.
== Northern Rebellion == He was the son of Thomas Markenfield of Markenfield Hall (died 1550) and Margaret Norton. Thomas Markenfield was a Catholic who spent some years abroad. He married Isabel Ingleby.
When, in September 1568, a conference was held at York to discuss Mary, Queen of Scots, and the Casket Letters, Markenfield, Richard Norton, and other English supporters of Mary, made plans to assassinate Regent Moray at Northallerton. Mary herself did not approve of the scheme.<ref>Krista Kesselring, ''The Northern Rebellion of 1569: Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 49: William Murdin, ''Collection of State Papers'' (London, 1759), p. 51.</ref><ref>Wilfred Hammond, ''Catholic Nobles and the Elizabethan State, 1558-1588: Northern Affinities and the Politics of Religion'' (Boydell & Brewer, 2025), p. 170.</ref>
In August 1569, Roger Cholmeley of Brandsby travelled to Wingfield Manor to meet Mary, Queen of Scots. He wrote a letter to his friend Thomas Markenfield describing the visit and invited him to his "poor house at Brandsbye". The letter was intercepted and passed to William Cecil.<ref>Joseph Bain, ''Calendar of State Papers Scotland'', vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1900), p. 672 no. 1130.</ref>
With Richard Norton and Thomas Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, Markenfield discussed the need to overturn the Protestant state in England.<ref>Krista Kesselring, ''The Northern Rebellion of 1569: Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 48, 53–54, 57, 62.</ref> Markenfield went abroad in November 1569 to recruit support for the rebellion. He was not included in a pardon issued for some of the rebels on 22 November.<ref>Krista Kesselring, ''The Northern Rebellion of 1569: Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 77–78.</ref>
== Exile == Markenfield sought refuge in Scotland with the laird of Buccleuch at Branxholme Castle. At the end of January 1570, the Spanish ambassador Guerau de Espés heard that the Earl of Westmorland and Markenfield were free in Scotland with 600 horsemen, but the Earl of Northumberland was confined at Lochleven Castle.<ref>Martin Hume, ''Calendar State Papers Spain, Simancas'', 2 (London: HMSO, 1894), p. 232 no. 177: Arthur Clifford, ''Sadler State Papers'', 2 (Edinburgh, 1809), pp. 101, 117.</ref>
After taking ship from Scotland, Markenfield lived at Antwerp with other fugitives from the rebellion.<ref>Krista Kesselring, ''The Northern Rebellion of 1569: Faith, Politics and Protest in Elizabethan England'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 93.</ref> He received a Spanish pension of 18 crowns monthly.<ref>Martin Hume, ''Calendar State Papers Spain, Simancas'', 2 (London: HMSO, 1894), p. 414 no. 347 fn.</ref>
According to Richard Verstegan, Thomas Markenfield was found dead in his lodging at Brussels in 1592. Verstegan wrote that Markenfield was found on the bare floor of a miserable cottage.<ref>Charles Nicholl, ''The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe'' (Jonathan Cape, 1992), p. 282: Anthony G. Petti, [https://issuu.com/tcrs/docs/volume52 "Letters of Richard Verstegan", ''Publications of the Catholic Record Society'', 52] (London, 1959), pp. 72, 74, 96.</ref>
Markenfield features as "Martinfield" in the ''Ballad of the Earl of Westmorland''.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [https://markenfieldhall.com/history-2/the-rising-of-the-north/ The rising of the North: Markenfield Hall]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Markenfield, Thomas}} Category:People of the Rising of the North Category:People from Ripon Category:English rebels Category:1532 births Category:1592 deaths Category:16th-century English people