THE ROYAL FAMILIES OF ENGLAND
Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence
THOMAS PLANTAGENET, K.G., son of King HENRY IV., was created by his father, 9th July, 1411, Earl of Albemarle and DUKE OF CLARENCE. This martial and valiant prince being engaged in the wars of Henry V., fell at the battle of BAUGY in 1421, and as he died without legitimate issue,* HIS HONOURS became EXTINCT.
John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford
JOHN PLANTAGENET, third son of King Henry IV., by his first consort, the Lady Mary de Bohun, dau. and co-heir of Humphrey, Earl of Hereford, was created by his brother, King Henry V., by letter patent, dated 6th May, 1414, EARL OF KENDALL and DUKE OF BEDFORD, being designated previously “John de Lancaster.” The achievements of this eminent person form so prominent an era in the annals of the Plantagenets, and have been detailed so much at length by all our great historians, that it were idle to attempt more than a mere sketch of his most conspicuous actions, in a work of this description. His first public employment in the reign of his father, was that of Constable of England and Governor of the town and castle of Berwick-upon-Tweed. In the 3rd of Henry V., he was constituted Lieutenant of the whole realm of England, the king himself being then in the wars of France, and the next year he was retained by indenture, to serve in those wars, being appointed
* He had a natural son, SIR JOHN CLARENCE, called the “Bastard of Clarence,” who accompanied the remains of his gallant father from Baugy to Canterbury for their interment. This Sir John Clarence had a grant of lands in Ireland from King Henry VI., and according to Camden, he bore for arms, “ per chevron gu. and az. two lions adverse saliant and guardant or. in chief, and a fleur-de.lis, or. in base.
general of the king’s whole army, both by sea and land; whereupon he set sail, and encountering the French near Southampton, achieved a great naval victory over them. In the year ensuing, the king making another expedition into France, the duke was again constituted Lieutenant of the kingdom during his absence. In the 7th Henry V., he sailed with large reinforcements to the king in Normandy; and the next year, assisted at the siege of Melon, which held out fourteen weeks and four days, before it surrendered. Upon the accession of HENRY VI., the duke was constituted chief counsellor and protector to the king, then an infant, and appointed at the same time REGENT OF FRANCE. But all his splendid achievements, great, glorious, and gallant as they were, lie for ever obscured, beneath one dark deed of inhumanity, his treatment of the most undaunted of his foes--—the renowned JOAN OF ARC.
The prince, who, with his other honours, had been invested with the Garter, espoused first, Anne, daughter of John, Duke of Burgundy, and secondly, Jacqueline, daughter of Peter, of Luxemburgh, Earl of St. Paul, but as he had no issue, the Earldom of Kendall and Dukedom of Bedford became EXTINCT, at his decease in 1435. The duke’s remains were interred in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, at Roan, under a plain tomb of black marble. He was deeply lamented by the English people. He had ever borne the character of one of the first captains of his age, and the greatest general of his line. His widow Jacqueline of Luxemburgh, espoused, secondly, Sir Richard Wideville, and had, with other issue, Elizabeth Wideville, who m. first, Sir John Grey, of Groby, and after his decease in the second battle of St. Albans, became Queen Consort of King Edward IV.
Lewis XI. of France, says Banks, being counselled to deface the Duke of Bedford’s tomb, is said to have used the following generous expression:
“ What honour shall it he, either to us or you, to break this monument, and to rake out of the earth the bones of one, who, in his lifetime, neither my father, nor any of your progenitors, with all their puissance, were ever once able to make fly one foot backwards; that by his strength or policy, kept them all out of the principal dominions of France, and out of this noble Duchy of Normandy. Wherefore I say, first, God save his soul, and let his body rest in quiet; which, when he was living, would have disquieted the proudest of us all ; and as for his tomb, which, I assure you, is not so worthy as his acts deserve, I account it an honour to have him remain in my dominions.”