Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (autumn 1387 – 22 March 1421) was a medieval

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

prince and soldier, the second son of

Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

, brother of

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

, and heir to the throne in the event of his brother's death. He acted as councillor and aide to both. His father appointed him

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

in 1401. Thomas, who was only fourteen, landed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in November 1401, and spent much of the next eight years in Ireland.Otway-Ruthven p.341 He was nearly killed in a skirmish near Dublin in 1406. He seems to have been a conscientious Governor there, but was hampered in his efforts to keep the peace by the chronic shortage of money in Ireland.Otway-Ruthven p.343

Military career

During the wars of his elder brother

in France, Clarence fought in both the Siege of Caen and the Siege of Rouen (29 July 1418 – 19 January 1419), where he commanded the besieging force. After Henry had negotiated the

Treaty of Troyes The Treaty of Troyes was an agreement that King Henry V of England and his heirs would inherit the French throne upon the death of King Charles VI of France. It was formally signed in the French city of Troyes on 21 May 1420 in the aftermath of ...

, in which he became heir to the French throne, the king returned to England with his new wife Catherine. The Dauphin, the disinherited former heir, refused to accept the situation and organised continuing resistance, aided by a Scottish army led by John Stewart, Earl of Buchan. Following the King's instructions, Clarence led 4,000 men in raids through Anjou and Maine. This

chevauchée A ''chevauchée'' (, "promenade" or "horse charge", depending on context) was a raiding method of medieval warfare for weakening the enemy, primarily by burning and pillaging enemy territory in order to reduce the productivity of a region, in a ...

met with little resistance, and by Good Friday, 21 March 1421, the English army had made camp near the little town of Vieil-Baugé. The Franco-Scots army of about 5,000 also arrived in the Vieil-Baugé area to block the English army's progress; it was commanded by the Earl of Buchan and the new Constable of France, the Sieur de Lafayette; however, the English forces were dispersed, and, significantly, many of the English archers had ridden off in search of plunder or forage. On Easter Saturday, one of these foraging groups captured a Scots man-at-arms whom they brought before the Duke of Clarence. Clarence was keen to engage the enemy; however, he had a problem: the following day was Easter Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, when a battle would be unthinkable. A two-day delay was also deemed as out of the question.Brown. ''The Black Douglases: War and Lordship in Late Medieval Scotland, 1300–1455''. pp. 216–218Neillands. The Hundred Years War. p. 233, According to the chronicles of

Walter Bower Walter Bower (or Bowmaker; 24 December 1449) was a Scottish canon regular and abbot of Inchcolm Abbey in the Firth of Forth, who is noted as a chronicler of his era. He was born about 1385 at Haddington, East Lothian, in the Kingdom of Scot ...

, both commanders agreed a brief truce to celebrate Easter, but then joined battle that day.Macdougall. An Antidote to the English p. 65 Perhaps underestimating the size of the Franco-Scottish army, Clarence decided to launch a surprise cavalry-led attack rather than use his archers against the enemy. With only about 1,500 men-at-arms available, and virtually no archers, he charged the Franco-Scottish lines. The shock temporarily disordered the Franco-Scots, but soon Clarence and his knights were overwhelmed. Clarence was unhorsed by a Scottish knight, Sir John Carmichael, and finished off on the ground by Sir Alexander Buchanan, probably with a mace.

Burial

Clarence's natural son John accompanied the remains of his father from Baugé to Canterbury for their interment. This Sir John Clarence had a grant of lands in Ireland from Henry V and was buried in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

. The noble de Langlée family of France claimed him as their ultimate ancestor. Henry V was forced to return to France with a new army to retrieve the situation. Clarence's executors, as seen in a legal record of 1430, were John Colvylle, of Neuton, Cambs, knight; Henry Merston, of Westminster, clerk & his widow, Margaret, Duchess of Clarence, living in Bermondsey, Surrey.Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40 / 677; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no677/aCP40no677fronts/IMG_0116.htm; second entry, as defendants

Titles, honours and arms

Arms of Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence

Titles

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England. The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...

and Earl of Aumale (9 July 1412 – 22 March 1421); extinct upon his death

Honours

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved bathing (as a symbol of purification) a ...

(12 October 1399 – 22 March 1421) *

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the Georg ...

(1400 – 22 March 1421)

Offices held

Lord High Steward The Lord High Steward is the first of the Great Officers of State in England, nominally ranking above the Lord Chancellor. The office has generally remained vacant since 1421, and is now an ''ad hoc'' office that is primarily ceremonial and ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

(1399–1421) — he was the last permanent holder of this office, the highest in medieval England. *Chief Governor of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

(1401–1413) * Lord High Admiral (1405–1406) * Lieutenant of Aquitaine (1412–1413) *

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

(1415) *

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

of the Army (1417) *

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of the Army in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

(1417 and 1421)

Notes

References

* pages 102 & 123 * * Vol I pg 368 * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarence, Thomas, Duke Of 1387 births 1421 deaths 14th-century English people 15th-century English Navy personnel Peers created by Henry IV of England 201 English admirals English military personnel killed in action Heirs to the English throne Thomas, Duke of Clarence Knights of the Bath Knights of the Garter Lord High Admirals of England Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Male Shakespearean characters Sons of kings Children of Henry IV of England