John Gray, Earl of Tancarville
John Gray, Count of Tancarville (also John Gray ) KG (* between 1384 and 1391; † March 22, 1421 at Baugé ) was an English nobleman, military and diplomat.
origin
John Gray was born the second son of Sir Thomas Gray (1359-1400) and his wife Joan Mowbray, a daughter of John Mowbray, 4th Baron Mowbray . His father was a knight with estates at Heaton Moor in Durham and Wark-on-Tweed in Northumberland . John was a grandson of Thomas Gray († 1369), the author of the Scala chronica . His brothers included the older brother Sir Thomas Gray of Heton and William Gray († 1436), who became Bishop of London and later of Lincoln.
Rise in the wake of Prince Harry
Gray may have served Sir Henry "Hotspur" Percy at Denbigh Castle in April 1403 . Presumably he fought like his older brother in the wake of Harry, Prince of Wales in the fight against the rebellion of Owain Glyndŵr in Wales. For this he was granted an annual pension of 20 marks as an Esquire in March 1408 and a further pension of 40 marks in August 1409.
Career in the Hundred Years War
Rise and fight at Azincourt
In September 1411, Gray took part in the campaign of Sir Gilbert de Umfraville in support of Duke John of Burgundy . In 1413 he was back in the service of the king as a knight. In May 1414 he was one of the commanders of the army gathered at Dover under Richard Wydeville . The army finally set out from Southampton to France on August 11, 1415 under the leadership of Henry V. Gray was one of the knights who were sent to Harfleur as a scout after the landing . He then took part in the conquest of the city and on October 25 at the Battle of Azincourt . There he was able to capture Charles d'Artois, Count of Eu . As a reward, he received the lands of his older brother Thomas Gray, who was executed on August 6, 1415 as a co-conspirator of the Southampton Plot .
Participation in the conquest of Normandy
In May 1416 he took part in the expedition of John of Bedford as Knight Banneret , during which they defeated a French fleet at Harfleur on August 15. In 1417 he took part in the conquest of Normandy under Henry V with 40 men in arms and 120 archers. In September he took part in the siege of Caen and on October 30th he became the commander of the castle and town of Mortagne . On November 20, 1417 he received the castle and rule of Tilly in the later Calvados department . In the spring and summer of 1418 he served under Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in the conquest of the Cotentin Peninsula and in August in the siege of Rouen by Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury . Presumably he was the one John Gray who in November 1417 brought the captured conspirator John Oldcastle von Powis to London for his conviction. On October 26, 1418 he became a member of the delegation that was supposed to start negotiations with the French Dauphin Karl . On January 31, 1419 he was raised to Count of Tancarville . The king appointed him chamberlain of Normandy. He also authorized him to accept capitulations from cities in France. From February to August 1419 Tancarville was in command of Mantes , then he accompanied the king on his advance on Paris. From February 23, 1419 he belonged again to an English negotiating delegation, which finally from March 26 on the marriage of the king with Catherine , a daughter of King Charles VI. negotiated by France. In November 1419 the king accepted him into the Order of the Garter . On January 20, 1420, Tancarville became governor of Harfleur. The king gave him other dominions in France, including Montereau . In July 1420 he took part in the siege of Melun .
In March 1421 he took part in the campaign of Thomas, Duke of Clarence in Maine and Anjou , in which he fell like Clarence in the Battle of Baugé . His body was reportedly brought back to Welshpool by Welsh Sir Gruffudd Vaughan , where he was buried.
Marriage and inheritance
Tancarville had married Joanna Charlton (1400-1425) in 1419, the eldest daughter of the Marcher Lord Edward Charlton, 5th Baron Charlton von Powis and his first wife Alianore. With her he had a son:
- Henry Gray, Earl of Tancarville (1420–1450)
His young son became his heir. A few days before Tancarville's death, his father-in-law Baron Charlton had also died, and his wife and her younger sister now inherited his estate in Wales. The county of Tancarville was lost in the 1440s when France retook Normandy. Tancerville's grandson was eventually promoted to Baron Gray of Powys. In 1695, the title Earl of Tankerville was recreated for Edward Gray, a descendant in the female line of John's older brother Thomas Gray of Heaton .
Web links
- Anne Curry: Gray, Sir John, Count of Tancarville (1384x91–1421). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
- Sir John Gray, 1st Comte de Tancarville, on thepeerage.com , accessed May 16, 2016.
Individual evidence
- ^ Dictionary of Welsh Biography: Powis, lords of GRAY or GRAY. Retrieved May 21, 2016 .
- ^ Dictionary of Welsh Biography: Vaughan, Sir Gruffudd. Retrieved May 21, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gray, John, Earl of Tancarville |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Gray, John; Gray, Sir John; Tancerville, John Gray, 1st Earl of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English nobleman, military man and diplomat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | between 1384 and 1391 |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 22, 1421 |
| Place of death | at Baugé |