Thomas Mowbray, 2nd Earl of Nottingham

Thomas Mowbray, 2nd Earl of Nottingham (also Thomas II Mowbray or Thomas Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk ) (born September 17, 1385 , † June 8, 1405 in York ) was an English magnate who was executed as a rebel against the king has been.

Origin and youth

Thomas Mowbray came from the originally Anglo-Norman family Mowbray . He was the eldest son of his father Thomas Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham and his second wife Elizabeth Fitzalan († 1425). His father was a favorite of King Richard II , and young Thomas grew up in the household of the young Queen Isabella . The king granted him a pension when his father was sentenced to life in exile in 1397. The young Thomas accompanied the king in 1399 on his second campaign to Ireland . While the king was in Ireland, Henry Bolingbroke, exiled with Mowbray's father, ended up in England. He succeeded in gaining power, arresting the king on his return and making himself king as Henry IV . Mowbray's father died a little later in Venice . The new king confiscated the Mowbray estates, leaving the young heir unsecured. His father was stripped of the title Duke of Norfolk , which was still awarded in 1397 , so that Mowbray only inherited the titles Earl of Nottingham , Earl of Norfolk , Baron Mowbray and Baron Segrave . The office of Earl Marshal , which his father had held, was given to the Earl of Westmorland by the King on October 30, 1399 . Mowbray's mother initially received no Wittum from her husband's possessions and became impoverished, while the king gave parts of the Mowbray property to his own supporters. Finally, Mowbray's mother also received the Wittum to which she was entitled, but it was only three years later that the land was awarded to her. In December 1399, Mowbray asked the Privy Council for a higher pension. The Privy Council then granted him 350 marks a year , plus a one-off payment of over £ 58 for Christmas 1399. Mowbray asked that these funds come from his father's property in South Wales. His father had already planned these properties to provide for his heir when he had to go into exile.

Recovery of the Mowbray holdings

Before August 1400, Mowbray married Constance Holland, a daughter of John Holland, 1st Earl of Huntingdon , to whom he had been betrothed in 1391. At that time the parents had given the two bride and groom land property with an annual income of 300 marks, which, given the age of the two, were initially passed on to trustees, including Henry Bolingbroke, for management. Constance was a niece of Bolingbroke, who was now king, and to her he gave back a first portion of the Mowbray estates when he gave her, in lieu of £ 200 in cash, real estate in East Anglia which had previously belonged to the Mowbrays. In 1402 the king allowed more lands to be given to trustees for the still underage Mowbray. Mowbray himself was already making expenses that were covered by expectations of income from his possessions, but it was not until November 1, 1403 that the king gave him most of his father's inheritance. A few weeks later he gave him lands from the extensive inheritance of his great-grandmother Margaret Brotherton, Duchess of Norfolk , who had died in 1399. Through these two inheritances, Mowbray acquired properties with annual income of around £ 1500. The Epworth reign on the Isle of Axholme was excluded from the inheritance . Epworth had been one of his family's most important estates, but the king had already given the rule to his cousin Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York . In addition, Mowbray had to pay a fee of £ 1000 to come into inheritance. In the face of Owain Glyndŵr's rebellion , he was assigned to serve for a year with twenty men-at-arms and sixty archers in the Welsh Marches .

Rebellion and death

Mowbray did not see his possessions returned in full. He stayed in Chepstow Castle, Welsh, only until February or March 1404 and was back in England in the autumn of 1404. With that he had not served in the Welsh Marches for a whole year, as required. Mowbray had already offered his support to the conspirators Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and Archbishop Richard Scrope of York in February . Mowbray had no personal relationship with any of the rebels, but he knew of their plan to kidnap the Mortimer heirs Edmund and Roger from Windsor Castle . Mowbray's knowledge of the scheme was revealed, but the king pardoned him. On March 1, 1405 there was a dispute between Mowbray and Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick over their precedence in the Privy Council and in Parliament . As a minor, Mowbray had never been invited to parliament. If he was a member of the Privy Council, which is unclear, in the opinion of the King, as a minor, he had no right to contest the claim of Beauchamp, who was only a little older but of legal age. Despite this argument, the king was so convinced of Mowbray's loyalty that in April 1405 he appointed him in command of 20 men-at-arms and 120 archers who accompanied him to Wales.

Mowbray was a welcome supporter of the rebels because of his possessions in northern England. They raised the majority of their troops with which they wanted to overthrow the king in northern England. Mowbray was unable to win over members of his family for the rebellion. After Mowbray's involvement in the rebellion became known, the king informed the Privy Council of Derby on May 28, 1405 of his betrayal. Before the king himself could move to the north of England, the army raised by Archbishop Scrope and Mowbray was provided by an army of the Earl of Westmorland at Shipton Moor . Northumberland and other rebels had failed to unite their forces with those of Mowbray and Scrope. Westmorland offered Mowbray and Scrope to discuss their statement, which they had published in York. Mowbray reacted cautiously, but Scrope agreed to talk. While they were discussing their demands with Westmorland over a cup of wine, their army disbanded. Scrope and Mowbray were captured and imprisoned at Pontefract Castle . On June 8th, the king arrived in York and sentenced both to death by beheading. Neither the archbishop nor the minor Mowbray was granted grace. The Archbishop consoled Mowbray, who showed fear of death, and allowed him to climb the scaffold first . After the execution, his body was interred in the Franciscan Church of York. His severed head, on the other hand , was exhibited at Bootham Bar , a city gate to York, for two months before it was placed in the grave with his body.

Bootham Bar, a gate to York City, where Mowbray's severed head was on display

Why Mowbray joined the rebellion is unclear. In general, his relationship with Heinrich IV., Whose dispute with his father in 1397 led to the exile of both of them, is unresolved. Through his youth in Queen Isabella's household, Mowbray may have sympathized with Richard II, who was overthrown by Henry IV. On the other hand, Henry IV was quite generous towards him. Mowbray received the majority of his inheritance only piecemeal and with conditions, but still before he was officially of legal age. Mowbray's contemporaries could only explain his discontent by the fact that the king withheld the office of Earl Marshal from him. Granting this high office to a minor would have been exceptional, however. Ultimately, it appears that Mowbray was a stubborn adolescent with unrealistic expectations.

heritage

Mowbray's marriage to Constance Holland had been childless. Since no Bill of Attainder was issued despite his rebellion against him , she received a Wittum from his possessions until her death in 1437. She married John Gray for the second time in 1413 . Mowbray's heir became his younger brother, John Mowbray .

literature

• Rowena E. Archer: The Mowbrays, Earls of Nottingham and Dukes of Norfolk, to 1432 . British Library Document Supply Center, West Yorkshire, 1984, OCLC 863337952

Web links

• Rowena E. Archer: Mowbray, Thomas, second earl of Nottingham (1385-1405). 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

predecessor	Office	successor
Thomas Mowbray	Earl of Nottingham Earl of Norfolk 1399-1405	John Mowbray
Thomas Mowbray	Baron Mowbray Baron Segrave 1399-1405	John Mowbray