See also

Family of Thomas + and Mary BRAOSE

Husband: Thomas + (1300-1338)
Wife: Mary BRAOSE (c. 1305- )
Marriage 1335

Husband: Thomas +

Name: Thomas +
Sex: Male
Father: Edward I + (1239-1307)
Mother: Marguerite of FRANCE (1275-1318)
Birth 1 Jun 1300 Brotherton, Yorkshire, England
Occupation Earl of Norfolk
Title Earl of Norfolk
Death 4 Aug 1338 (age 38)
Burial Abbey Bury, St.Edmonds, Suffolk, England

Wife: Mary BRAOSE

Name: Mary BRAOSE
Sex: Female
Father: -
Mother: -
Birth 1305 (est)

Note on Husband: Thomas +

Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, Lord Marshal of England (1 June 1300 – 4 August 1338) was the son of Edward I of England and Margaret of France.

 

Thomas was born at the Manor House in Brotherton. His mother was staying at Pontefract Castle and was following a hunt when she went into labour. He was born in the main house, later demolished in the 1930s due to disrepair, although the new 17th century wing still exists. He was named in honour of Thomas à Beckett, since his mother had prayed to him during her pregnancy.[1]

 

Edward quickly rushed to the queen and the newborn baby and had him presented with two cradles. His brother Edmund was born in the year after that. They were overseen by wetnurses until they were six years old. Like their parents, they learned to play chess and riding horses. They were visited by nobles and their half-sister Mary of Woodstock, who was a nun. Their mother often accompanied Edward on his campaigns to Scotland, but kept herself well-informed on their well-being.[2]

 

His father died when he was 7 years old. Thomas's half-brother, Edward, became king of England. The Earldom of Cornwall had been intended for Thomas, but Edward instead bestowed it upon his favourite, Piers Gaveston, in 1306. When he was 10 years old, his brother Edward II of England assigned him and another brother, Edmund, the estates of Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk who had died without heir in 1306.

 

In 1312 he was titled "Earl of Norfolk" and on 10 February 1316 he was created Lord Marshal of England. While his brother was away fighting in Scotland, he was left Keeper of England. Thomas was known for having a hot and violent temper. He was one of the many victims of the unchecked greed of Hugh the younger Despenser, who stole some of the young earl's lands. He allied himself with Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March when they invaded England in 1326, and stood as one of the judges in the trials against both Despensers. When his nephew Edward III reached his majority and took the government into his own hands Thomas became one of his principal advisors. It was in the capacity of Lord Marshal that he commanded the right wing of the English army at the Battle of Halidon Hill on 19 July 1333.

 

[edit] Marriage and issueHe married first, probably in 1319, Alice Hayles, daughter of Sir Roger Hayles and Alice Skogan. She was supposed to have been a great beauty. Her father was the coroner of Norfolk, a title that held a different meaning in the 14th century than it does today; his post demanded that he collect and protect revenues for the king. Thomas and Alice had three children:

 

Edward of Norfolk (c. 1320–1334)

Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk (c. 1320–1399)

Alice of Norfolk (1324–1352)

Alice Hayles died in 1330, when a chantry was founded for her soul in Bosham, Sussex. Thomas was married again c. 28 March 1335 to Mary Braose, widow of Ralph de Cobham, Lord Cobham. He died in September 1338, and was buried in the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. Thomas' descent passed to the Mowbray family and ultimately the Howard Dukes of Norfolk, from whom descended two of the wives of Henry VIII of England, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

 

[edit] Titles, styles, honours and arms[edit] ArmsAs Earl of Norfolk, Thomas had use of the coat of arms of the kingdom, differenced by a label argent of three points.[3]