Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 2 Vol 3.djvu/279

 CLARENCE 259 account of his youth the Earl of Worcester was app. Deputy Steward; K.B., 12 Oct. 1399; K.G., circa 1400; Chief Gov. of Ireland, under the style of "Thomas of Lancaster," 1 401-13, though frequently absent. Lord High Adm. under the style of "King's Admiral," 1405-06; Member of the Council, 141 1. Constable of Hawarden Castle, Chester, and of Mohaut Castle, Flint, in reversion 2 Feb. 141 1/2, and in possession 27 Apr. 141 5. On 9 July 1412 he was cr. EARL OF AUMALE(^) AND DUKE OF CLARENCE.C") Lieut, of Aquitaine, 1412-13; High Steward of Chester, 141 5. He presided at the trial for treason, in 141 5, of Richard, Earl of Cambridge, and Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham.('^) Constable of the Army, 141 7; and Lieut. Gen. of the Army in France and Normandy, 1 41 7-2 1. He was in command at the siege of Rouen, which lasted 6 months and ended in its capture, 19 Jan. i4i8/9.("') He m., 141 1 (Papal Disp. to m. 10 Nov. 141 1), Margaret, widow of John (Beaufort), Marquess of Somerset [and of Dorset], da. of Thomas (de Holand), 2nd Earl of Kent, by Alice, da. of Richard (FitzAlan), Earl of Arundel. He i/. s.p. leg'tt., aged 31, being slain, while in command, by Sir John de la Croise, at the battle of Bauge, in Anjou,(°) 22 Mar. 1 420/1, when all his honours became extinct. Will dat. 10 July 1417, pr. 23 Nov. 1423, at Lambeth. (*) His body was conveyed to England, and bur. (near his father) in Canterbury Cathedral. («) His widow, who in 1428 desiring "to lead a celibate life and putting aside worldly pomps," was living hard by the Augustinian Monastery of St. Saviour's, London, d. 30 Dec. 1439, and was there bur. (f) See, ante, vol. i, p. 358. ('') It is difficult to conjecture why this title was selected, as the honour of Clare was in the hands of the York line of the Royal family. By the Inq.p. m. of this Duke, it appears that no particle of the Clare estates was held by him. C^) In the learned work of the late L. W. Vernon-Harcourt, Hn Grace the Steward and the trial of Peers, it is argued (pp. 190, 378-9, 402-7) that, though Thomas was Lord High Steward, he did not preside at this trial in that capacity. The author admits, however, that this trial was "the true source of the Court of the Lord High Steward" (p. 379). He holds it doubtful whether Thomas was appointed for life or in fee. {ex inform. J. H. Round). V.G. C) "And the Erie of Urmonde there lay bye, Next Clarance wyt a full fayre manye, And Cornewall, that comelye Knygte, He lay wyt Clarance both daye and nygte." V.G. (^) For the English nobles slain and taken prisoner in this defeat, see vol. i, p. 151, note " i," aVffl y7«fOT. V.G. (f) Royal IVilh, p. 230. (8) According to Sandford, p. 311, the following punning doggerel distich has been read for the Duke's epitaph: " Hie jacet in tumulo Tho., Dux Clar., nunc quasi nullus. Qui fuit in bello Clarus, nee Clarior ullus."