Thomas (Perche)

Thomas (around 1193 ; † May 20, 1217 at Lincoln ) was Count of Le Perche .

He was a son of Count Gottfried III. († 1202) and Mathilde (Richenza) of Saxony.

The Battle of Lincoln in 1217
(illustration from the Chronica Majora by Matthew Paris , 13th century)

Like his father, Thomas was a supporter of King Philip II of France in the fight against John Ohneland of England . With his stepfather, Enguerrand III. de Coucy , he fought victoriously in the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 .

In 1216 Thomas accompanied the French crown prince Ludwig the Lion to the British island to fight for the prince for the English crown. Thomas was entrusted by the prince in 1217 with the supreme command of an army, with which he succeeded the leading supporters of the child king Heinrich III. Lock in Lincoln Castle . The prince himself meanwhile took up the siege of Dover . Thomas did not manage to take Lincoln, which gave the enemy the time to bring up a relief army under the leadership of old William Marshal . In the ensuing battle in front of the city, Thomas was killed, allegedly by a fatal blow from a direct duel with William Marshal himself. The defeat of Lincoln put an end to Prince Ludwig's ambitions for the English crown, and in the same year he withdrew from the island back.

Thomas was married to Helisende von Rethel, a daughter of Count Hugo II von Rethel . Since they had no children, his uncle, Bishop Wilhelm von Châlons , followed him as Count of Le Perche.

Individual proof

1. ↑ Matthäus Paris , Chronica Majora , ed. by Henry Richards Luard in: Rolls Series 57 (1876), Vol. 3, pp. 21-22

Web link

• The Counts of Le Perche (French)

predecessor	Office	successor
Gottfried III.	Count of Le Perche 1202–1217	Wilhelm