Philip Darcy, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth

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Philip Darcy, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth (according to another count also 3rd Baron Darcy ) (* 1352 ; † April 24, 1399 ) was an English nobleman, military man and judge.

Origin and heritage

Philip Darcy came from the old English Darcy family . He was the second son of Sir John Darcy and his second wife Elizabeth Meynell . After his father's death in 1356, his older brother John became the heir of their father's extensive estates. But since his brother was still a minor, the family estates were placed under royal administration while Philip and John grew up in the royal household. Most of the income from the family estates went to Queen Philippa and a smaller part to Isabella , the king's eldest daughter. However, the administrators operated such mismanagement that a review of the management was carried out in 1360. This burdened the administrators heavily. After the death of his older brother in 1362, Philip became heir to the estates, which were given to him in the autumn of 1373.

Military service

Like his father, Philip also entered the service of the Crown. As a youth he belonged to the army of John of Gaunt during the Hundred Years War from July to November 1369 , with which he devastated Picardy and the Caux . From July 1380 to April 1381 he was part of the army of the Earl of Buckingham , with whom he had invaded Brittany . Darcy was commissioned to receive on June 20, 1383 the tribute of the Count of Flanders to the English king. In April 1384 he was part of the retinue of John of Gaunt in Scotland. In August 1385 he accompanied King Richard II to Scotland. From 1385 to 1389, as admiral , he was in command of the English ships on the English east coast from the Thames estuary to the Scottish border. In February 1389 he should take part in the planned campaign of the king to Scotland, which then did not take place. In 1389 he is mentioned for the first time as a knight of the royal household, which is rather unusual for his position as crown vassal.

Activity as a politician and judge

Under Richard II Darcy was invited to all parliaments , but like his father and grandfather, he was not considered a Baron Darcy . This title was only subsequently awarded to him in 1903. He also held various local offices. Between 1377 and 1385 he was Justice of the Peace in Lindsey in Lincolnshire, to which he served occasionally as Justice of the Peace in the West Riding of Yorkshire and Northumberland . In addition, he was a member of various judicial commissions and was responsible several times for drawing up military contenders . In the mid-1390s, Darcy appeared to have withdrawn from the royal court. In September 1397 he swore to keep the laws that the next parliament would pass, but after that he withdrew from public life for good.

Marriage and offspring

Philip had married Elizabeth Gray († 1412), the second daughter of Sir Thomas Gray and his wife Margaret de Presfen from Heaton in Northumberland. He had several children with her, including:

After his death he was buried next to his father in Gisborough Priory . His heir became his John Darcy.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anthony Verduyn: Philip Darcy third Baron Darcy (1352-1399). 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
personal data
SURNAME Darcy, Philip, 4th Baron Darcy de Knayth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Darcy, Philip, 3rd Baron Darcy de Knayth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman, military man and judge
DATE OF BIRTH 1352
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1399