Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk

Also known as: Thomas Mowbraie duke of Norffolke / Thomas Mowbraie duke of Norfolke / Thomas Mowbraie earle marshall and of Notingham / Thomas Mowbraie earle of Notingham / Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Nottingham / Thomas duke of Norffolke / Thomas duke of Norfolke / Thomas earle of Notingham / duke of Norfolk / earle of Notingham / sir Thomas Moubraie · Family: England · Role: earl marshal · First appears: Richard II 29

Around 1385, Richard II made Thomas Mowbray earl marshal, and Thomas was described as the king’s lifelong playfellow and equal in age. Around 1387 he joined Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel and others in the English fleet’s victory over the Flemish fleet. In 1388 he stood with Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, Richard FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel, and Henry IV in charging officials with treason, while Richard II later named him among those procured to appeal nobles in Parliament.

Around 1397, Richard II commanded Thomas to apprehend Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, and Thomas caused Gloucester to be smothered or strangled at the princes In. He was later associated with Richard II, William Bagot, and John Holland, Duke of Exeter in an account of a secret meeting at Woodstock, while Edward Plantagenet, Duke of York rejected an allegation attributed to him. In 1398, Richard II raised him from earl marshal and earl of Nottingham to duke of Norfolk, granting him lands taken from attainted nobles; in the same period, Henry IV accused him of treason and challenged him to trial by battle. Thomas denied the charge, calling Henry IV a traitor and offering to defend the accusation with his body, but both men refused reconciliation, and Richard II banished Thomas permanently for having “sowen sedition in the relme by his words.”

Thomas left England, passed through Germany, and died at Venice in exile after sorrow and melancholy. In 1399, Ralph Neville, Earl of Westmorland obtained the office of earl marshal despite Thomas’s attorneys claiming it for him. Thomas was the father of Thomas Mowbray, Earl Marshal and John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk.