Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk

Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal (22 March 1367 or 1368 – 22 September 1399) was an English peer. As a result of his involvement in the power struggles which led up to the fall of Richard II, he was banished and died in exile in Venice.

Family
Mowbray was the second son of John de Mowbray, 4th Baron Mowbray, and Elizabeth de Segrave, suo jure Lady Segrave, daughter and heiress of John de Segrave, 4th Baron Segrave, by Margaret, daughter and heiress of Thomas of Brotherton, son of Edward I. He had an elder brother, John de Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham, and three sisters, Eleanor, Margaret and Joan (for details concerning his siblings see the article on his father, John de Mowbray, 4th Baron Mowbray).

Career


In April 1372, custody of both Thomas and his elder brother, John, was granted to Blanche Wake, a sister of their grandmother, Joan of Lancaster.

On 10 February 1383, he succeeded his elder brother, John Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham, as Baron Mowbray and Segrave, and was created Earl of Nottingham on 12 February 1383. On 30 June 1385 he was created Earl Marshal for life, and on 12 January 1386 he was granted the office in tail male. He fought against the Scots and then against the French. He was appointed Warden of the East March towards Scotland in 1389, a position he held until his death.

He was one of the Lords Appellant to King Richard II who deposed some of the King's court favourites in 1387. The King's uncle, Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, was imprisoned at Calais, where Nottingham was Captain. When Gloucester was killed in 1397, it was probably at the King's orders and probably with Nottingham's involvement. On 29 September 1397 he was created Duke of Norfolk.

In 1398, Norfolk quarrelled with Henry of Bolingbroke, 1st Duke of Hereford (later King Henry IV), apparently due to mutual suspicions stemming from their roles in the conspiracy against the Duke of Gloucester. Before a duel between them could take place, Richard II banished them both. Mowbray left England on 19 October 1398. While in exile, he succeeded as Earl of Norfolk when his grandmother, Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk, died on 24 March 1399. Hereford returned to England in 1399 and usurped the crown on 30 September 1399; shortly afterward, on 6 October 1399, the creation of Mowbray as Duke of Norfolk was annulled by Parliament, although Mowbray retained his other titles.

He died of the plague at Venice on 22 September 1399.

Marriages and issue
He married firstly, after 20 February 1583, Elizabeth le Strange (c. 6 December 1373 – 23 August 1383), suo jure Lady Strange of Blackmere, daughter and heiress of John le Strange, 5th Baron Strange of Blackmere, by Isabel Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, by whom he had no issue.

He married secondly Elizabeth Arundel (c.1372 – 8 July 1425), widow of Sir William Montagu, and daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel, by Elizabeth Bohun, daughter of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, by whom he had two sons and three daughters:


 * Thomas de Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk.


 * John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk.


 * Elizabeth Mowbray, who married Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk.


 * Margaret Mowbray, who married firstly Sir Robert Howard, by whom she was the mother of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and secondly Sir John Grey of Ruthin, Derbyshire.


 * Isabel Mowbray; married firstly Sir Henry Ferrers, son of 5th Baron Ferrers of Groby, and secondly James Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley.

Shakespeare
Mowbray's quarrel with Bolingbroke and subsequent banishment are depicted in the opening scene of Shakespeare's Richard II. Thomas Mowbray (as he is called in the play) prophetically replies to King Richard's "Lions make leopards tame" with the retort, "Yea, but not change his spots." Mowbray's death in exile is announced later in the play by the Bishop of Carlisle.

Ancestry
Ancestors of Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk