Giles Thorndon
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Giles Thorndon ( 1388 – August 1477) was a senior official of the
English Crown This list of kings and reigning queens of the Kingdom of England begins with Alfred the Great, who initially ruled Wessex, one of the seven Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which later made up modern England. Alfred styled himself king of the Anglo-Sax ...
in the fifteenth century, who was noted for his long and loyal service to the
House of Lancaster The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancasterfrom which the house was namedfor his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267 ...
and for his troubled and unsuccessful career as
Lord Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, and chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Brit ...
.


Early career

He was born in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
shortly before 1390.Curry, Anne E. and Matthews, Elizabeth ''Concepts and Patterns of Service in the Later Middle Ages'' Boydell and Brewer 2000 p.91 Little is known of his family; there is no evidence that he was related to Roger Thornton, the long-serving mayor of Newcastle, who died in 1430. By his own account, he entered the household of the future King
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 (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...
in 1404, when he must still have been in his teens. He continued to serve the Prince after he became King and remained in the household of Henry VI. For several years he was the r''oyal sewer,'' i.e. the household official with responsibility for overseeing the kitchens. From these household duties, he was promoted to become a senior Crown servant. In 1434 he became constable of
Dublin Castle Dublin Castle () is a major Government of Ireland, Irish government complex, conference centre, and tourist attraction. It is located off Dame Street in central Dublin. It is a former motte-and-bailey castle and was chosen for its position at ...
and
Wicklow Wicklow ( ; , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; ) is the county town of County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the east of Ireland, south of Dublin. According to the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, it had ...
Castle,Patent Roll 13 Henry VI and for a time was also entrusted with the wardenship of
Cardigan Castle Cardigan Castle () is a castle overlooking the River Teifi in Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales. It is a Grade I listed building. The castle dates from the late 11th-century, though was rebuilt in 1244. Castle Green House was built inside the castl ...
. In 1437 he became Lord Treasurer of Ireland.


Ireland: the Butler–Talbot feud

Fifteenth-century Irish politics was dominated for almost thirty years by the
feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...
between the faction of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde, who served for many years as the
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 K ...
, on the one side, and the faction of Richard Talbot,
Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...
and
Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...
, backed by his brother
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot, KG (17 July 1453), known as "Old Talbot" and "Terror of the French" was an English nobleman and a noted military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He was t ...
, on the other side. As the feud grew more bitter, almost all Irish Crown officials were forced to declare themselves as supporters of either the Butler or the Talbot factions.Otway-Ruthven, A.J. ''History of Medieval Ireland'' Barnes and Noble 1993 pp.371–6 Thorndon, in his early years in Ireland, sought to act as a mediator between the rival factions. In 1442 he produced a memorandum on the state of Irish affairs, based, as he noted, on his thirty-eight years' experience of Crown service. At this time he was making every effort to be impartial, stressing that there were faults on both sides. What really mattered, as he pointed out, were the dire results of the feud. In particular, impartial justice could not be obtained from the Courts where the interests of one faction or the other were involved, Irish Exchequer officials were not collecting Crown
debts Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money Loan, borrowed or otherwise withheld from another party, the creditor. Debt may be owed by a sovereign state or country, local government, company, or an individual. Co ...
, and lavish grants of land to the supporters of whichever faction was in the ascendant had greatly depleted the Crown
revenues In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive revenue ...
. He proposed a number of remedies, including the strengthening of his own office and ensuring that the
Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer The Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer was the Baron (judge) who presided over the Irish Court of Exchequer. This was a mirror of the equivalent court in England, and was one of the four courts which sat in the building in Dublin which is still ...
was a trained lawyer (Irish Barons of the Court of Exchequer then often lacked any legal qualifications). In 1443 the Butler–Talbot feud seemed to be dying down, but in 1444 it flared up again. The immediate cause of the conflict was Thorndon's refusal to reappoint William Chevir, justice of the Court of King's Bench and a key ally of Ormonde, as his deputy. Thorndon now abandoned any effort to mediate and declared himself to be firmly on the Talbot side. He produced a string of complaints against Ormonde and Chevir, covering a wide range of examples of corruption, bribery, maladministration, and disobedience to the Crown. Ormonde responded by calling a meeting of the
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
at
Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...
, where he declared that Thorndon was deemed to have vacated his office and accused him of treasonable conspiracy with the quarrelsome and litigious Thomas FitzGerald, Prior of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at
Kilmainham Kilmainham (, meaning " St Maighneann's church") is a south inner suburb of Dublin, Ireland, south of the River Liffey and west of the city centre. It is in the city's Dublin 8 postal district. History Origins Kilmainham's foundation dates ...
. He also produced a monk called Thomas Talbot, who testified that Thorndon had threatened Ormond's life, allegedly saying that: "I wish to be the first to cut his head off".''Patent Roll 22 Henry VI'' Thorndon and Prior FitzGerald fled to England, where they charged Ormonde with
treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...
and (rather curiously) with
necromancy Necromancy () is the practice of Magic (paranormal), magic involving communication with the Death, dead by Evocation, summoning their spirits as Ghost, apparitions or Vision (spirituality), visions for the purpose of divination; imparting the ...
, but the Privy Council, which was only concerned to end the feud, was unsympathetic to their complaints. No action was taken against Ormonde, and the Prior was permanently deprived of office in 1447: the Council's proposal that the Earl and the Prior settle their differences through
trial by combat Trial by combat (also wager of battle, trial by battle or judicial duel) was a method of Germanic law to settle accusations in the absence of witnesses or a confession in which two parties in dispute fought in single combat; the winner of the ...
was vetoed personally by King Henry VI, who persuaded them to agree to a
truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...
. Thorndon, as far as is known, did not return to Ireland, although his later marriage to Jane d'Artois, widow of Lord Gormanston, suggests that he remained in contact with some of his former colleagues there.


Last years

Despite his unhappy experiences in Ireland, it was clearly felt by the Crown that Thorndon had acquired useful knowledge of the governance of the country: in 1458 he was confirmed in office as Treasurer of Ireland. Unsurprisingly, he preferred to appoint a deputy to act in his place. He retired to
Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...
in 1460, shortly before the downfall of the Lancastrian dynasty, which he had served so long and loyally. The New
Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, th ...
regime, which was generally in favor of reconciliation with its former opponents, left him in peace: whether he maintained contacts with the exiled Henry VI or his queen,
Margaret of Anjou Margaret of Anjou (; 23 March 1430 – 25 August 1482) was Queen of England by marriage to King Henry VI from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471. Through marriage, she was also nominally Queen of France from 1445 to 1453. Born in the ...
, is unknown. During the brief
Readeption of Henry VI The Readeption was the restoration of Henry VI of England to the throne of England in 1470. Edward, Duke of York, had taken the throne as Edward IV in 1461. Henry had fled with some Lancastrian supporters and spent much of the next few years i ...
in 1470-1, he seems to have played no political role, probably because of his great age. He died in August 1477, aged almost ninety.


Marriage

He married, sometime after 1450, when they were both rather advanced in years, Jane d'Artois, the dowager Lady Gormanston; she was the daughter of the prominent
Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...
-born military commander and landowner Sir Jenico d'Artois and his first wife Joan Taaffe of Liscarton, and widow of Christopher Preston, 3rd Baron Gormanston. ''Journal of the Co. Kildare Archaeological Society 1902'' Reprinted 2013 pp.355–6


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorndon, Giles 15th-century Irish politicians People from Newcastle upon Tyne 1477 deaths Year of birth uncertain