Ralph Gray (Knight)

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Sir Ralph Gray of Chillingham (* around 1427, † 1464 ) was an English knight .

Life

Sir Ralph Gray was a son of Sir Ralph Gray of Wark and Elizabeth, daughter of Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh.

His family owned several estates and houses in Northumberland , including Wark, Chillingham, Heaton, and Doddington. In the beginning of 1450 Sir Ralph was Lieutenant of Roxburgh Castle and was on May 4, 1452 by King Henry VI. instructed to stop the attacks from the Scottish side under the leadership of the Earl of Douglas . Ralph Gray was Sheriff of Northumberland in 1455/56 and 1459/60 and received royal orders in 1458 to recruit archers in the county. According to two sources, Sir Ralph was a Knight of the Bath .

During the Wars of the Roses he fought first for the House of York in 1461 at the Battle of Towton and in 1462 together with William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings in the siege and conquest of Alnwick Castle . The castle was then given the responsibility of Ralph Gray as Constable of Alnwick . In the autumn of 1462 Sir Ralph stormed together with John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester Dunstanburgh Castle and in January 1463 they besieged and retook Alnwick Castle, which had previously been retaken by Lancaster's troops.

Sir Ralph was this time placed under the command of Sir John Astley , who was appointed Constable of Alnwick and Bamburgh Castle . Sir Ralph must have been so humiliated that he changed sides and in the spring of 1463 handed over Alnwick Castle and John Astley to the Lancaster troops under Margaret of Anjou .

In the 1464 battles at Hedgeley Moor and Hexham , Sir Ralph fought for Lancaster and had to flee after the defeat. He escaped north and met Sir Humphrey Neville , who had barricaded himself in Bamburgh Castle. In June the castle was besieged by the Yorkists under Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick , with King Edward IV assuring all defenders mercy and safe conduct upon surrender of the castle, only the two commanders, Sir Ralph Gray and Sir Humphrey Neville, were excluded from the pardon . But Sir Ralph was determined to defend the castle to the end. He was injured in the cannon fire and was taken prisoner after the castle fell.

He was taken to Doncaster and charged with high treason . The chair was John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester, notorious for his innumerable death sentences.

Sir Ralph was convicted and beheaded in Doncaster in July 1464.

Marriage and offspring

Sir Ralph Gray was married to Jaquetta

The couple has the following offspring:

  • Sir Thomas ∞ Margery, daughter of Ralph Greystoke, 5th Baron Greystoke
  • Sir Edward

and a daughter.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b John Burke: The Royal Families of England, Scotland and Wales, Vol. I , R. Churton London 1851
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition , Douglas Richardson 2011, ISBN 978-1-461-04520-5 , p. 259.
  3. ^ A b Harris Nicolas: Proceedings and Ordinances of the Privy Council of England, Vol.VI London 1837, pp. Xvii
  4. ^ A b c John Brand: The History and Antiquities of the Town and County of the Town Newcastle upon Tyne, Vol. II , B. White & Son London 1789, p. 424 / p. 426 / p. 428
  5. ^ A b c d Towton Battlefield Society
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h i James Bohn: The Chronicles of the White Rose of York, 2nd Edition , William Stevens London 1845, S. xxxvi / S. lxxxvii / S. lxxxviii / S. lxxxix / S. 104
  7. ↑ a b c d Richard III. Foundation Inc. ( Memento of the original from January 22nd, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.richard111.com
  8. ^ John Hodgson: A History of Northumberland, Part II, Vol. I , Edward Walker Newcastle upon Tyne 1827, p. 63
  9. ↑ a b c d Michael Hicks: Warwick the Kingmaker , John Wiley & Son 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-75193-0 , p. 241 / p.243 / p.246
  10. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Mary Ann Hookham: The Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou, Vol. II , Tinsley Brothers London 1872, p. 154 / p. 157 / p. 162 / p. 168 / p. 169
  11. ↑ a b c d e George Tate: The History of the Borough, Castle and Barony of Alnwick, Vol. I , Henry Hunter Blair Alnwick 1865, pp. 189–193 / p.246
  12. ↑ a b K.L.Clark: The Nevilles of Middleham: England's Most Powerful Family in the Wars of the Roses , The History Press 2016, ISBN 978-0-750-96955-0
  13. ↑ a b c Stevens G. Ellis: Defending English Ground: War and Peace in Meath and Northumberland 1460-1542 , Oxford University Press 2015, ISBN 978-0-199-69629-1 , p. 77.
  14. ↑ a b c James P. Carley & Felicity Riddy: Arthurian Literature XII , Boydell & Brewer 1993, ISBN 978-0-859-91397-3 , p. 140.
  15. ↑ a b J.G.Edgar: The Wars of the Roses , Harper Brothers New York 1873, p.155 / p.158 / p.159
  16. ↑ a b c d Terry Breverton: Richard III .: The King in the Car Park , Amberley Publishing Ltd. 2014, ISBN 978-1-445-62111-1
  17. ↑ a b Surtees Society: The Priory of Hexham, Vol. I , Andrews & Co. Durham 1864, S.cvii / S.lxi
personal data
SURNAME Gray, Ralph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gray, Sir Ralph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English knight
DATE OF BIRTH 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 1464
Place of death Doncaster