Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre

Thomas Fiennes, 9th Baron Dacre (* 1517 ; † June 29, 1541 ) was an English peer who was executed under Henry VIII .

Origin and family environment

Thomas Fiennes came from the old Anglo-Norman noble family Fiennes, who in the 15th century married the heir to the Anglo-Norman dynasty of the Barons Dacre (of the South), who since 1321 had the hereditary title of baron due to a Writ of Summons Dacre had held. To distinguish it from another line of the House of Dacre, this line was unofficially called of the South .

Thomas Fiennes was the grandson and heir of Thomas Fiennes, 8th Baron Dacre , who died in 1533 , as his father had died before his grandfather. He himself was born in 1517 to the late Thomas Fiennes and Joan Sutton, daughter of Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley .

Life

In 1534, with the death of his grandfather at the age of seventeen, he inherited the title of Baron Dacre and became lord of the Herstmonceux castle . For two years he was part of the jury that sat in court over Anna Boleyn . For the next two years he was also a jury member in the proceedings against Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy , and John Hussey, 1st Baron Hussey of Sleaford , for their involvement in the Pilgrimage of Grace , and against Henry Pole, 1st. Baron Montagu , and Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter , on the Exeter Conspiracy .

He was one of the young noblemen who, under the leadership of Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk , solemnly overtook Anne of Cleves , the fourth wife of Henry VIII , on New Year's Eve 1539/40 .

execution

On the night of April 30, 1541, Lord Dacre left his castle with a number of young noblemen to hunt in secret in the park of Nicholas Pelham. On the way there, the hunting party, consisting of Dacre and seven companions, split into two groups, which then invaded Pelhams Park separately. A part that Dacre did not belong to was discovered by Pelham's game rangers. A tussle broke out in which a game warden was injured so badly that he died a few days later.

As a result, the entire society was charged with murder, although the part of society to which Lord Dacre had belonged was so blatantly innocent that the Privy Council hesitated for a long time before ordering the prosecution against them as well, probably under pressure from the king. Heinrich finally decided that the young man had to die and his “strict will” did not bring his councilors to this decision without a long and stormy debate. The criminal case was heard on June 27, 1541 in the Court of King's Bench before Lord Chancellor Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden . Fiennes initially applied for acquittal, but was then persuaded by judges who had an eye on Dacre's property to plead guilty and submit to the king's mercy in order to save his life and property. The court then recommended the accused at the king's mercy. However, the king had made a commitment and ordered Fiennes to be thrown into the Tower and executed on Tower Hill the next day . The next day the king postponed the 11 a.m. execution until the afternoon. The execution of Fiennes and three of his companions then took place on June 29, 1541 in Tyburn . Fiennes was buried in St. Sepulcre Church in Snow Hill, his lands were confiscated and his title was forfeited.

Fiennes left a son and daughter from his wife, Mary Nevill , daughter of George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny . The expired title was returned to his son Gregory (1539–94) in 1558.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, Article Dacre
2. ^ ^{A b} Dictionary of National Biography . Volume XVIII, page 432, Smith, Elder and Co, London 1889
3. ↑ Froude: History of England. Volume IV, page 120
4. ^ Dictionary of National Biography. Volume XVIII, page 433, Smith, Elder and Co, London 1889
5. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, addendum to Article Dacre
6. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Peerage Page, Article Dacre (fo the South)
7. ^ Dictionary of National Biography. Volume XVIII, page 428, Smith, Elder and Co, London 1889

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Fiennes	Baron Dacre 1533-1541	Title revoked. Restituted to Gregory Fiennes in 1558