The constableship was granted as agrand serjeanty with the Earldom of Hereford by theEmpress Matilda toMiles of Gloucester, and was carried by his heiress to the Bohuns,earls of Hereford andEssex. They had a surviving male heir, and still have heirs male, but due to the power of the monarchy the constableship was irregularly given to the Staffords,Dukes of Buckingham; and on theattainder ofEdward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in the reign ofHenry VIII, it became merged into the Crown.[1] Since that point it has not existed as a separate office, except as a temporary appointment for thecoronation of a monarch or in the event of atrial by combat (albeit only onepro tempore appointment was made in such circumstances, in 1631, and the trial subsequently did not take place);[3] in other circumstances the Earl Marshal exercises the traditional duties of the office.[1][4]
A cousin was alive who was not granted the titles due to him and his heirs: Gilbert de Bohun, died 1381
1373–1397:Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (5th surviving son of KingEdward III and husband ofEleanor de Bohun, elder daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford)
^Archives, The National."The Cabinet Papers".www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. HM Government. Archived fromthe original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved6 July 2023.
1 Office is either vested in the Crown, or vacant.Status is currently debated. 2 There is debate around whether these offices constitute Officers of the Crown.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lord High Constable".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press..svg)
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