Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury

Sir Thomas Montagu and his first wife Eleanor Holland (from the Wrythe Garter Book , Buccleugh manuscript)

Coat of arms of Thomas Montagu

Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury KG ( Latinized also Thomas Montacute ) (* 1388 ; † November 3, 1428 near Orléans ) was an English nobleman. He is considered one of the most capable generals of the English in the Hundred Years' War .

His first marriage was to Eleanor Holland (* 1386; † after 1413), the second daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent . With her he had a daughter, Alice Neville , who would inherit his titles after his death. When his wife Eleanor died around 1413, around 1424 he married Alice Chaucer , the granddaughter of Geoffrey Chaucer . This marriage remained childless.

Under Henry V Montagu rose to field marshal , whose successor the Regent of France John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford , made him commander in chief of the English land forces in France. After many successes, Bedford used him in 1428 in a major offensive in the Loire Valley . During the siege of Orléans he was seriously injured by a cannonball and died a few days later. With him the English lost the last experienced general in this war. His successor John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury , only stood for the expulsion of the English from France.

Web links

• Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury on thepeerage.com , accessed August 12, 2015.

predecessor	Office	successor
John Montacute	Earl of Salisbury 1421-1428	Richard Neville (de iure uxoris) for Alice Montacute