| Thomas of Woodstock | |
|---|---|
| Duke of Gloucester,Duke of Aumale,Earl of Buckingham andEarl of Essex | |
 | |
| Successor | Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham |
| Born | 7 January 1355 Woodstock Palace, England |
| Died | 8 or 9 September 1397 (aged 42) Pale of Calais |
| Spouse | Eleanor de Bohun |
| Issue Detail |
|
| House | Plantagenet |
| Father | Edward III of England |
| Mother | Philippa of Hainault |
Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 1355 – 8 or 9 September 1397)[3] was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of KingEdward III of England andPhilippa of Hainault. He led the rebellion of theLords Appellant against his nephew, KingRichard II, in 1388. In 1397, he was accused of treason and imprisoned; while awaiting trial, he was assassinated, presumably on Richard's orders.
Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 atWoodstock Palace inOxfordshire after two short-lived brothers, one of whom had also been baptised Thomas.[4] He marriedEleanor de Bohun in 1374,[5] was givenPleshey Castle in Essex, and was appointedConstable of the Realm, a position previously held by the Bohuns.[4][6] The younger sister of Woodstock's wife,Mary de Bohun, was subsequently married to Henry of Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, who later became KingHenry IV of England.
In 1377, at the age of 22, Woodstock was knighted[4] and createdEarl of Buckingham.[7] In 1378 his London home was broken into by a mob, which led to him getting a Charter for London government agreed the previous year revoked.[8] On 22 June 1380 he becameEarl of Essex in right of his wife.[9] In 1385, he received the titleDuke of Aumale, and at about the same time was createdDuke of Gloucester.[10]
Thomas of Woodstock was in command of a large campaign in northern France that followed theWar of the Breton Succession of 1343–1364. The earlier conflict was marked by the efforts ofJohn IV, Duke of Brittany, to secure control of theDuchy of Brittany against his rivalCharles of Blois. John was supported in this struggle by the armies of theKingdom of England, whereas Charles was supported by theKingdom of France. At the head of an English army, John prevailed after Charles was killed in battle in 1364, but the French continued to undermine his position, and he was later forced into exile in England.
John returned to Brittany in 1379, supported by Breton barons who feared the annexation of Brittany by France. An English army was sent under Woodstock to support his position. Due to concerns about the safety of a longer shipping route to Brittany itself, the army was ferried instead to the English continental stronghold ofCalais in July 1380.[11]
As Woodstock marched his 5,200 men east of Paris, they were confronted by the army ofPhilip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, atTroyes, but the French had learned from theBattle of Crécy in 1346 and theBattle of Poitiers in 1356 not to offer apitched battle to the English. Eventually, the two armies simply marched away. French defensive operations were then thrown into disarray by the death of KingCharles V of France on 16 September 1380. Woodstock'schevauchée continued westwards largely unopposed, and in November 1380 he laid siege toNantes and its vital bridge over theLoire towardsAquitaine.[12] However, he found himself unable to form an effective stranglehold, and urgent plans were put in place for Sir Thomas Felton to bring 2,000 reinforcements from England. By January, though, it had become apparent that the Duke of Brittany was reconciled to the new French kingCharles VI, and with the alliance collapsing anddysentery ravaging his men, Woodstock abandoned the siege.[12]
Returning to England in April 1381,[13] Thomas of Woodstock found that his brother,John of Gaunt, had married his wife's sister,Mary de Bohun, to John's own sonHenry. The relations between the brothers, hitherto somewhat strained, were not improved by this event; presumably, Thomas was hoping to retain possession of Mary's estates. Still, having taken part in crushing thePeasants' Revolt in 1381, Thomas became more friendly with John, and in 1385 was created Duke of Gloucester. However, this mark of favour did not prevent him from taking up an attitude of hostility to his nephew,Richard II.[6]
Thomas placed himself at the head of the party that was opposed to the royal advisers,Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk, andRobert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, whose recent elevation toDuke of Ireland had aroused discontent. Supported by those who were indignant at the extravagance and incompetence, real or alleged, of the king, Thomas was soon in a position of authority. He forced the dismissal and impeachment of Suffolk; was a member of thecommission appointed in 1386 to reform the kingdom and the royal household; and took up arms when Richard began proceedings against the commissioners. Having defeated de Vere at theBattle of Radcot Bridge in December 1387 the duke and his associates entered London to find the king powerless in their hands. Thomas, who had previously threatened his nephew with deposition, was only restrained from taking this extreme step by the influence of his colleagues; but, as the leader of the "Lords Appellant" in the "Merciless Parliament," which met in February 1388 and was packed with his supporters, he took revenge upon his enemies, which culminated in a successful rebellion in 1388 that significantly weakened the king's power.[6]
Richard II quickly regained control and eventually, in 1397, managed to dispose of the Lords Appellant. By 1396, Thomas and Richard were again at odds over policy. In 1397, Thomas was arrested at his home by the king himself and was imprisoned in Calais to await trial for treason.[6] During that time he was murdered by being smothered between two feather beds, probably by a group of men led byThomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and the knight SirNicholas Colfox, presumably on behalf of Richard II; parliament declared him guilty of treason and his estates forfeited.[6] These events caused an outcry among the nobility of England that is considered by many to have added to Richard's unpopularity.[citation needed]
Thomas was buried inWestminster Abbey, first in the Chapel of Saint Edmund and Saint Thomas in October 1397, and two years later reburied in the Chapel of Saint Edward the Confessor. His wife was buried next to him.[14]
Thomas marriedEleanor de Bohun (c. 1366–1399), the elder daughter and co-heiress (with her sisterMary de Bohun) ofHumphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341–1373).[15] Thomas of Woodstock and his wife Eleanor had issue as follows:
As he was attainted as a traitor, his dukedom of Gloucester was forfeit. The titleEarl of Buckingham was inherited by his son, who died in 1399 only two years after Thomas' own death. Thomas of Woodstock's eldest daughter, Anne, married into the powerful Stafford family, who wereEarls of Stafford. Her son,Humphrey Stafford was createdDuke of Buckingham in 1444 and also inherited part of thede Bohun estates.
The other part of these estates—including the Earldom of Hereford, which had belonged toMary de Bohun and had then become incorporated into the holdings of theHouse of Lancaster—became a matter of contention in the latter 15th century.
f. 139v
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gloucester, Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 130.Thomas of Woodstock Born: 7 January 1355 Died: 8 September 1397 | ||
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lord High Constable 1372–1397 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Justice of Chester 1388–1391 | Succeeded by |
| Peerage of England | ||
| New creation | Earl of Buckingham 1377–1397 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
