FitzGerald became the sole male representative of the Kildare Geraldines at the age of twelve, after his half-brother, Silken Thomas, the tenth earl, was executed at Tyburn in 1537 with five of his uncles [REF].
FitzGerald escaped Ireland with a few loyal servants and was protected from Henry VIII and his agents by both Francis I of France and Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire.