Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury
Thomas Montagu | |
|---|---|
| 4thEarl of Salisbury | |
 Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury and his wife Lady Eleanor Holland (Wrythe Garter Book). On her mantle she displays her husband's arms (as displayed on his breastplate) impaling her paternal arms (Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent)Plantagenet with a bordure argent. | |
| Tenure | from 14 June 1409 |
| Predecessor | John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury |
| Successor | Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury |
| Other titles | 6th and 3rdBaron Montagu 5thBaron Monthermer Count of Perche |
| Years active | 1414–1428 |
| Born | 13 June 1388 |
| Died | 3 November 1428(aged 40) Meung-sur-Loire,France |
| Cause of death | Died of wounds |
| Buried | Bisham Abbey,Berkshire |
| Nationality | Kingdom of England |
| Residence | Bisham manor,Berkshire |
| Wars and battles | Hundred Years' War •Battle of Agincourt(1415) •Battle of Baugé(1421) •Battle of Cravant(1423) •Battle of Verneuil(1424) •Siege of Orléans(1428)† |
| Spouse(s) | Eleanor Holland Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk |
| Issue | Alice Montacute, 5th Countess of Salisbury |
| Parents | John Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury Maud Francis |
Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury,KG(13 June 1388 – 3 November 1428) ofBishaminBerkshire,was anEnglishnobleman and one of the most important English commanders during theHundred Years' War.
Origins[edit]
He was the eldest son ofJohn Montagu, 3rd Earl of Salisbury(died 1400), who was killed while plotting against KingHenry IVin 1400, and his lands forfeited. The lands were partly retrieved by Thomas in 1409, and fully in 1421. His mother wasMaud Francis,daughter of SirAdam Francis(bornc.1334),Mayor of London.
Career[edit]
Thomas was summoned toParliamentasEarl of Salisburyin 1409, although he was not formally invested as earl until 1421. In 1414, he was made aKnight of the Garter.In July 1415, he was one of the seven peers who triedRichard, Earl of Cambridgeon charges of conspiring against KingHenry V.Montagu then joined King Henry V inFrance,where he fought at the siege ofHarfleurand at theBattle of Agincourt.[2]Montagu fought in various other campaigns in France in the following years. In 1419 he held an independent command, and was appointed lieutenant-general ofNormandyand createdCount of Perche,[2]as part of Henry V's policy of creating Norman titles for his followers.
Although he was employed on some diplomatic missions, he took almost no part in politics[2]and spent most of the rest of his life as a soldier in France, leading troops in the various skirmishes and sieges that were central to that part of theHundred Years' War.In 1423, he was appointed governor of Champagne, and in 1425, he captured the city ofLe Mans.After a year in England, he returned to a position of command in 1428, and fought at thesiege of Orléans,at which he lost his life on 3 November of that year.[2]
Marriages and children[edit]
He married twice:
- Firstly, toEleanor Holland,a sister and eventual co-heiress ofEdmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent,and daughter ofThomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent.By Eleanor he had a daughter, his only legitimate child:Alice Montagu,who marriedRichard Neville,who later succeeded his father-in-lawjure uxorisas Earl of Salisbury.
- Secondly, toAlice Chaucer,daughter ofThomas Chaucerand granddaughter of the poetGeoffrey Chaucer.
Siblings[edit]
Richard Montacute,
Thomas Montacute, 4th Earl of Salisbury
Lady Anne Montacute who married Sir Richard II Hankford as his second wife, then Sir Lewis Johan as his second wife and thirdly John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter as his third wife. Lady Anne was the mother of Anne Hankford by her first marriage.
Lady Margaret Montacute
Lady Elizabeth Montacute
Sir Alan Buxhull II, Half Brother[3]
Illegitimate son[edit]
He had an illegitimate son John (or James) Montagu/Montacute, to whom he bequeathed his manor ofLuddesdownin Kent.[4]It is suggested in Collins Peerage[5]that he was the ancestor of the family of Montagu ofBoughton House,Northamptonshire (which uses the coat of arms andquarteringsof the Montagu Earls of Salisbury, butdifferencedby abordure sable), which includes Montagu, Duke of Montagu; Montagu, Earl of Manchester; Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, etc., whose earliest proven ancestor was Thomas Montagu (d. 1516) of Hemington, Northamptonshire, the grandfather of SirEdward Montagu(1530–1602), Lord Chief Justice, who purchased Boughton.
Death[edit]
On 27 October 1428, he was wounded during thesiege of Orléans,when the tower he was inside was hit by a cannonball. There are conflicting reports on the manner in which this wounded him;Enguerrand de Monstreletstates a piece of stone from the window 'carried away part of his face'. He died days later atMeung-sur-Loireon 3 November 1428.[6]
References[edit]
- ^Debrett's Peerage,1968, Montagu of Beaulieu (original form of), p. 788
- ^abcdKingsford 1911.
- ^"Another Victim: Maud Countess of Salisbury (D. 1424) | Mapping the Medieval Countryside".
- ^Hasted, Edward.'Parishes: Luddesdon', inThe History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3(Canterbury, 1797), pp. 367–374[1]
- ^Collins Peerage, Vol.II, p.42
- ^de Monstrelet, Enguerrand(1440s).The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet.p. 237.
- Hunt, William(1894)..InLee, Sidney(ed.).Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 38. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- Kingsford, C.L.(1911)..InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 78.
- de Monstrelet, Enguerrand(1440s).The Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet.Vol. VI. pp. 234–237.
External links[edit]
- 1388 births
- 1428 deaths
- 14th-century English nobility
- 15th-century English nobility
- Earls of Salisbury (1337 creation)
- Counts of Perche
- English generals
- People of the Hundred Years' War
- Knights of the Garter
- People from Bisham
- De Montagu family
- Barons Monthermer
- English military personnel killed in action
- Barons Montagu