Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk in the context of "Dukes of Norfolk"

Magdalene College (/ˈmɔːdlɪn/ MAWD-lin) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene.

Magdalene counted some of the most prominent men in the realm among its benefactors, including Britain's premier noble the Duke of Norfolk, the Duke of Buckingham and Lord Chief Justice Christopher Wray. Thomas Audley, Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII, was responsible for the refoundation of the college and also established its motto—garde ta foy (Old French: "keep your faith"). Audley's successors in the mastership and as benefactors of the college were, however, prone to dire ends; several benefactors were arraigned at various stages on charges of high treason and executed.

Thomas Howard, 5th Duke of Norfolk (9 March 1627 – 13 December 1677) was an English nobleman who from 1645 was deemed a lunatic. Born the eldest son of Henry Howard, 15th Earl of Arundel, Howard left England to study at Utrecht University at the start of the English Civil War. While visiting his paternal grandfather at Padua in 1645 he contracted a fever that damaged his brain. He was declared insane and confined in Padua with a physician caring for his needs. He became Earl of Arundel upon the death of his father in 1652.

Unable to coherently manage his English estates, the running of them was given over to his next eldest brother, Henry Howard, who acted in his place. In 1660 Henry successfully petitioned the House of Lords to have the attainted title Duke of Norfolk restored. Howard, as eldest son in a line descended from Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, became 5th Duke of Norfolk. He never returned to England, being kept at Padua until his death in 1677.

Duke of Norfolk is a title in the Peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the title refers to the county of Norfolk. The current duke is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk. The dukes have historically been Catholic, a state of affairs known as recusancy in England.

All past and present dukes have been descended from Edward I. The son of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey; the earl was descended from Edward III. As all subsequent dukes after Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk are descendants of the Earl of Surrey, this means they are also descended from Edward III.