| Humphrey of Lancaster | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Gloucester | |
 | |
| Born | 3 October 1390 |
| Died | 23 February 1447 (aged 56) Bury St Edmunds,Suffolk |
| Burial | 4 March 1447 |
| Spouse | Jacqueline of Hainaut (m. 1422,ann.1428) Eleanor Cobham (m. 1428–1431, ann.c. 1441) |
| Issue | Arthur of Gloucester (illegitimate) Antigone, Countess of Tankerville (illegitimate) |
| House | Lancaster |
| Father | Henry IV of England |
| Mother | Mary de Bohun |
Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (3 October 1390 – 23 February 1447) was an Englishprince, soldier and literarypatron.[1] He was, and styled himself as, "son, brother and uncle of kings", being the fourth and youngest son ofHenry IV of England, the brother ofHenry V, and the uncle ofHenry VI. Gloucester fought in theHundred Years' War and acted asLord Protector ofEngland during the minority of his nephew. A controversial figure, he has been characterised as reckless, unprincipled, and fractious, but is also noted for his intellectual activity and for being the first significant English patron ofhumanism,[2] in the context of theRenaissance.
Unlike his brothers, Humphrey was given no major military command by his father, instead receiving an intellectual upbringing. CreatedDuke of Gloucester in 1414, he participated in Henry V's campaigns during theHundred Years' War in France: he fought atAgincourt in 1415 and at the conquest ofNormandy in 1417–9. Following the king's death in 1422, Gloucester became one of the leading figures in theregency government of the infant Henry VI. He proved a rash, impulsive, unscrupulous and troublesome figure, he quarrelled constantly with his brother,John, Duke of Bedford and uncle,CardinalHenry Beaufort and went so far as to violently prosecute a dispute with theDuke of Burgundy, a key English ally in France, over conflicting claims to lands in theLow Countries.
Humphrey was the exemplar of the romantic chivalric persona. Mettled and courageous, he was a foil for the countessJacqueline of Hainaut, his first wife.[3] His learned, widely read, scholarly approach to the early renaissance cultural expansion demonstrated the quintessential well-rounded princely character. He was a paragon forEton College and an exemplar for theUniversity of Oxford, accomplished, diplomatic, with political cunning. Despite the errors in his public and private life and the mischief he caused in politics, Gloucester is also at times praised as a patron of learning and a benefactor to the University of Oxford. He was popular among the literary figures of his age for his scholarly activity and with the common people for his advocacy of a spirited foreign policy. For these causes, he was known as the "good Duke Humphrey".[4]
Gloucester never fully achieved his desired dominance in England, and his attempts to gain a foreign principality for himself were fruitless.[5] A staunch opponent of concessions in the French conflict and a proponent of offensive warfare, Gloucester gradually lost favour among the political community, and King Henry VI after the end of his minority, following defeats in France. The trial in 1441 ofEleanor Cobham, his second wife, under charges ofwitchcraft, destroyed Gloucester's political influence. In 1447, he was accused, probably falsely, of treason and died a few days later while under arrest.[4]
The place of Humphrey's birth is unknown, but he was named after his maternal grandfather,Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford. He was the youngest in a powerful quadrumvirate of brothers, who were very close companions; on 20 March 1413, Henry and Humphrey had been at their dying father's bedside.[6]Thomas,John and Humphrey had all beenknighted in 1399. They joined theOrder of the Garter together in 1400.
During the reign of Henry IV, Humphrey received a scholar's education, possibly atBalliol College, Oxford,[7] while his elder brothers fought on the Welsh and Scottish borders. Following his father's death he was createdDuke of Gloucester in 1414, andChamberlain of England, and he took his seat in Parliament. He became a member of thePrivy Council in 1415.
He joined Henry V's campaigns in France. Before embarking, the army camped at Southampton, where theEarl of Cambridge failed in theSouthampton Plot, which was an assassination plot against the king. Humphrey and his brother, the Duke of Clarence, led an Inquiry of Lords to try Cambridge andScrope for high treason on 5 August.
During the campaign, Humphrey gained a reputation as a commander. His knowledge of siege warfare, gained from his classical studies, contributed to the fall ofHonfleur.[6] During theBattle of Agincourt Humphrey was wounded; as he fell, the king sheltered him and withstood a determined assault from French knights.[8] For his services, Humphrey was granted offices including Constable ofDover,Warden of the Cinque Ports on 27 November and King's Lieutenant. His tenure in government was peaceful and successful. This period commenced with EmperorSigismund's peace mission, the only visit of a medieval emperor to England. According toHolinshed's Chronicles, Humphrey was the principal actor in a symbolic ceremony. He welcomed the emperor on the shoreline with a sword in his hand, "extorting" from Sigismund the renunciation of his prerogatives of dominion over the king of England before allowing him to land on the evening of 1 May 1416.[9] TheTreaty of "eternal friendship" signed at Canterbury on 15 August served only to anticipate renewed hostility from France.[10]
Upon the death of his brother in 1422, Humphrey becameLord Protector to his young nephew Henry VI, then a baby. He also claimed the right to the regency of England following the death of his elder brother,John, Duke of Bedford, in 1435. Humphrey's claims were strongly contested by the lords of the king's council and in particular his half-uncle, CardinalHenry Beaufort. Henry V's will, rediscovered atEton College in 1978, actually supported Humphrey's claims. In 1436Philip,Duke of Burgundy,attacked Calais. Duke Humphrey was appointed garrison commander. The Flemings assaulted from the landward but the English resistance was stubborn. Humphrey marched the army toBaillieul, taking the English to safety; he threatenedSt. Omer before sailing home.
Humphrey was consistently popular with the citizens of London and the Commons. He also had a widespread reputation as a patron of learning and the arts. His popularity with the people and his ability to keep the peace earned him the appointment of Chief Justice of South Wales. His unpopular marriage toEleanor Cobham became ammunition for his enemies. Eleanor was arrested and tried for sorcery and heresy in 1441 and Humphrey retired from public life. He was arrested on a charge of treason on 20 February 1447 and died atBury St Edmunds inSuffolk three days later. He was buried atSt Albans Abbey, adjacent to St Alban's shrine. Some suspected that he had been poisoned, though it is more probable that he died of a stroke.[11][12]
In each subsequent year, a petition was made to Parliament to rehabilitate 'Good Duke Humphrey', and by the end of the century his reputation had been restored.[13]
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He married twice but left no surviving legitimate progeny.
In about 1423 he marriedJacqueline, Countess of Hainaut and Holland (died 1436), daughter ofWilliam VI, Count of Hainaut. Through this marriage Gloucester assumed the title "Count of Holland, Zeeland andHainault", and briefly fought to retain these titles when they were contested by Jacqueline's cousinPhilip the Good (see:War of Succession in Holland). They had a stillborn child in 1424.[14] The marriage was annulled in 1428, and Jacqueline died (disinherited) in 1436.
In 1428 Humphrey married, secondly,Eleanor Cobham, his mistress, who in 1441 was tried and convicted of practising witchcraft against the king in an attempt to retain power for her husband. She was condemned to public penance followed by exile and life imprisonment. The marriage was without progeny.
By mistresses unknown Humphrey had two illegitimate children.[15][16] Eleanor Cobham was possibly the mother of one or both,[17] before their marriage. Due to their illegitimacy, they were unable to succeed to their father's titles. The illegitimate children were:
After inheriting the manor ofGreenwich, Gloucester enclosedGreenwich Park and from 1428 had a palace built there on the banks of the Thames, known asBella Court and later as thePalace of Placentia or La Pleasaunce. TheDuke Humphrey Tower surmounting Greenwich Park was demolished in the 1660s and the site was chosen for building theRoyal Observatory.[19] His name lives on inDuke Humfrey's Library, part of theBodleian Library inOxford University, and in Duke Humphrey Road onBlackheath, south of Greenwich. Duke Humphrey was a patron and protector of Oxford, donating more than 280 manuscripts to the university. The possession of such a library did much to stimulate new learning.
Duke Humphrey was also a patron of literature, notably of the poetJohn Lydgate and of John Capgrave. He corresponded with many leading Italian humanists and commissioned translations of Greek classics into Latin. His friendship with Zano Castiglione, Bishop of Bayeux, led to many further connections on the Continent, includingLeonardo Bruni,Pietro Candido Decembrio andTito Livio Frulovisi. Duke Humphrey also patronised theAbbey of St Albans.
Together with his second wife, Eleanor, he commissioned ahanap, a drinking goblet, possibly as their wedding cup. This hanap, known as the Wreathen Cup, was used when they hosted dinners at La Pleasance and their London residence,Baynard's Castle. It found its way into the possession of his kinswoman,Lady Margaret Beaufort, who bequeathed it to her confessor, Dr Edmund Wilford, ofOriel College, Oxford. He exchanged it for another piece of silver left by Lady Margaret to her foundation atChrist's College, Cambridge, where it remains. How it reached Lady Margaret is unclear, but a fellow of the college has conjectured that it came through her husband,Thomas Stanley, who had custody of Eleanor during her imprisonment and was involved in liquidating Humphrey's estate.[20]
Duke Humphrey's Walk was the name of an aisle inOld St Paul's Cathedral near to what was popularly believed to be Duke Humphrey's tomb, though, according to W. Carew Hazlitt, it was, in reality, a monument toJohn Lord Beauchamp de Warwick (died 1360). This was an area frequented by thieves and beggars.[21] The phrase "to dine with Duke Humphrey" was used of poor people who had no money for a meal, in reference to this.[22]Saki updates the phrase by referring to a "Duke Humphrey picnic", one without food, in his short story "The Feast of Nemesis". In fact, Humphrey's tomb is in the Abbey of St Albans (the cathedral): it was restored by HertfordshireFreemasons in 2000 to celebrate the millennium.[23]
InShakespeare's History plays, the portrayal of Humphrey is notable for being one of the most unambiguously sympathetic: in the War of the RosesTetralogy, he is one of only a handful of historical personages to be portrayed in a uniformly positive light. He appears as a minor character inHenry IV, Part 2 andHenry V, but as a major character in two others: his conflict with Cardinal Beaufort is portrayed inHenry VI, Part 1, and his disgrace and death following his wife's alleged sorcery is depicted inHenry VI, Part 2. Shakespeare portrays Humphrey's death as a murder, ordered byWilliam de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and QueenMargaret of Anjou.
The 1723 playHumphrey, Duke of Gloucester byAmbrose Philips revolves around the life of Gloucester. In the originalDrury Lane production he was played byBarton Booth.
Margaret Frazer's 2003 historical mystery,The Bastard's Tale, revolves around the events surrounding Gloucester's arrest and death.[24]
| Ancestors of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester |
|---|
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Cadet branch of theHouse of Plantagenet Born: 3 October 1390 Died: 23 February 1447 | ||
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Vacant New creation Title last held by Thomas of Woodstock | Duke of Gloucester 16 May 1414 – 23 February 1447 | Vacant Extinct Title next held by Richard |
| Vacant New creation Title last held by John Hastings | Earl of Pembroke 16 May 1414 – 23 February 1447 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Justice in eyre south of theTrent 27 January 1416 – 23 February 1447 | Succeeded by |
| Vacant | Lord Protector ofEngland forHenry VI 5 December 1422 – 6 November 1429 With:John, Duke of Bedford | Vacant Title next held by Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports 27 November 1415 – 23 February 1447 | Succeeded by |
