Earl of Lancaster

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox nobility title The title of Earl of Lancaster was created in the Peerage of England in 1267. It was succeeded by the title Duke of Lancaster in 1351, which expired in 1361. (The most recent creation of the ducal title merged with the Crown in 1413.)

King Henry III of England created the Earldom of LancasterTemplate:Mdashfrom which the royal house of Henry IV was namedTemplate:Mdashfor his second son, Edmund Crouchback, in 1267. Edmund had already been created Earl of Leicester in 1265 and following the Second Barons' War and the death and attainder of the king's rebellious brother-in-law Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester<ref name=Weir2008>Template:Harvnb</ref> in 1265, the latter's lands, including most notably Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, had been awarded to him.

When Edmund's son Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, inherited the estates and title of his father-in-law Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, he became at a stroke the most powerful nobleman in England, with lands throughout the kingdom and the ability to raise vast private armies to wield power at national and local levels.<ref name=Jones2012p371>Template:Harvnb</ref> This brought himTemplate:Mdashand his younger brother Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster Template:Mdashinto conflict with their first cousin King Edward II, leading to Thomas's execution. Henry inherited Thomas's titles and he and his son Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, gave loyal service to Edward's sonTemplate:Mdash King Edward III.

History

Creation

After the supporters of Henry III of England suppressed opposition from the English nobility in the Second Barons' War, Henry granted to his second son Edmund Crouchback the titles and possessions forfeited by attainder of the barons' leader, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, including the Earldom of Leicester, on 26 October 1265. Later grants included the first Earldom of Lancaster on 30 June 1267 and that of Earl Ferrers in 1301. Edmund was also Count of Champagne and Brie from 1276 by right of his wife.<ref name="Weir2008"/> Henry IV of England would later use his descent from Edmund to legitimise his claim to the throne, even making the spurious claim that Edmund was the elder son of Henry but had been passed over as king because of his deformity.<ref name=Weir1995>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Edmund's second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the widow of the King of Navarre, placed him at the centre of the European aristocracy. Blanche's daughter Joan I of Navarre was queen regnant of Navarre and through her marriage to Philip IV of France was queen consort of France. Edmund's son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, gaining the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. His income was £11,000 per annumTemplate:Mdashdouble that of the next wealthiest earl.<ref name="Jones2012p371"/>

Thomas and his younger brother Henry served in the coronation of their cousin King Edward II of England on 25 February 1308; Thomas carried Curtana, the Sword of Mercy, and Henry carried the royal sceptre.<ref name=Jones2012p363>Template:Harvnb</ref> After initially supporting Edward, Thomas became one of the Lords Ordainers, who demanded the banishment of Piers Gaveston and the governance of the realm by a baronial council. After Gaveston was captured, Thomas took the lead in his trial and execution at Warwick in 1312.<ref name=Jones2012p375>Template:Harvnb</ref> Edward's authority was weakened by poor governance and defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn. This allowed Thomas to restrain Edward's power by republishing the Ordinances of 1311. Following this achievement Thomas took little part in the governance of the realm and instead retreated to Pontefract Castle.<ref name=Jones2012p390>Template:Harvnb</ref> This allowed Edward to regroup and re-arm, leading to a fragile peace in August 1318 with the Treaty of Leake. In 1321 Edward's rule again collapsed into civil war. Thomas raised a northern army but was defeated and captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but because he was Edward's cousin he was given a quicker death by beheading.<ref name=Jones2012p400>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Henry joined the revolt of Edward's wife Isabella of France and her lover Mortimer in 1326, pursuing and capturing Edward at Neath in South Wales.<ref name="Jones2012p400"/> Following Edward's deposition at the Parliament of Kenilworth in 1326 and reputed murder at Berkeley Castle,<ref name=Davies1999>Template:Harvnb</ref> Thomas's conviction was posthumously reversed and Henry regained possession of the Earldoms of Lancaster, Derby, Salisbury and Lincoln that had been forfeit for Thomas's treason. His restored prestige led to him knighting the young King Edward III of England before his coronation.<ref name=Jones2012p422>Template:Harvnb</ref> Mortimer lost support over the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton that formalised Scotland's independence, and his developing power in the Welsh Marches provoked jealousy from the barons. When Mortimer called a parliament to make his new powers and estates permanent with the title of Earl of March in 1328, Henry led the opposition and held a counter-meeting. In response, Mortimer ravaged the lands of Lancaster and checked the revolt. Edward III was able to assume control in 1330 but Henry's further influence was restricted by poor health and blindness for the last fifteen years of his life.<ref name=Waugh>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name=Lee1997p115>Template:Harvnb</ref>

Succession

Template:See also Henry's son, also called Henry, was born at the castle of Grosmont in Monmouthshire between 1299 and 1314.<ref name="Weir2008p77">Template:Harvnb</ref> According to the younger Henry's memoirs, he was better at martial arts than academic subjects and did not learn to read until later in life.<ref name=fowler26>Template:Harvnb</ref> Henry was coeval with Edward III and was pivotal to his reign, becoming his best friend and most trusted commander.<ref name="Jones2012p471b">Template:Harvnb</ref> Henry was knighted in 1330, represented his father in parliament and fought in Edward's Scottish campaign.<ref name=fowler30>Template:Harvnb</ref> After the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War, Henry took part in several diplomatic missions and minor campaigns and was present at the great English victory in the naval Battle of Sluys in 1340.<ref name=fowler34>Template:Harvnb</ref> Later, he was required to commit himself as hostage in the Low Countries for Edward's considerable debts. He remained hostage for a year and had to pay a large ransom for his own release.<ref name=fowler35>Template:Harvnb</ref>

In 1345, Edward III launched a major, three-pronged attack on France. The Earl of Northampton attacked from Brittany, Edward from Flanders, and Henry from Aquitaine in the south.<ref name="Jones2012p471b"/> Moving rapidly through the country, Henry confronted the Comte d'Isle at the Battle of Auberoche and achieved a victory described as "the greatest single achievement of Lancaster's entire military career".<ref name=fowler58>Template:Harvnb</ref> The ransom from the prisoners has been estimated at £50,000.<ref name=fowler61>Template:Harvnb</ref> Edward rewarded Henry by including him as a founding knight of the Order of the Garter.<ref name=McKisack>Template:Harvnb</ref> An even greater honour was bestowed on Lancaster when Edward created him Duke of Lancaster. The title of duke was relatively new in England, with only Cornwall being a previous ducal title. Lancaster was also given palatinate status for the county of Lancashire, which entailed a separate administration independent of the crown.<ref name=fowler173>Template:Harvnb</ref> There were two other counties palatine; Durham was an ancient ecclesiastical palatinate and Chester was crown property.