by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2017
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 15th-century drawing; Credit – Wikipedia
Born on October 3, 1390, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester was the youngest son and the fourth of the six children of King Henry IV of England and his first wife Mary de Bohun, who died before her husband became king. When Humphrey was four-years-old, his mother Mary died at the age of 25 giving birth to her last child.
Humphrey had five siblings:
- King Henry V of England (1386–1422), married Catherine of Valois, had one son King Henry VI of England
- Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence (1387–1421), married Margaret Holland, no issue
- John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford (1389–1435), married (1) Anne of Burgundy, no issue (2) Jacquetta of Luxembourg, no issue
- Blanche of England, Countess Palatine (1392–1409) married Ludwig III, Elector Palatine, had issue
- Philippa of England (1394–1430) married Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, no issue
Humphrey’s father King Henry IV, who usurped the throne from his first cousin King Richard II of England in 1399 and became the first Lancaster king, was the eldest surviving son of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of King Edward III of England) and his first wife Blanche of Lancaster. Nine-year-old Humphrey was knighted just before his father’s coronation and was made a Knight of the Garter the following year. A few months before he turned 13 years old, Humphrey saw his first battle action at the Battle of Shrewsbury where his father King Henry IV defeated a rebel army led by Henry “Harry Hotspur” Percy.
Humphrey received an excellent education and it is thought he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. He had a great love of learning, was a collector of books and manuscripts, and commissioned translations of classical works from Greek into Latin. When Humphrey died, he donated his collection of 281 manuscripts to the University of Oxford. The university built Duke Humfrey’s Library as a second story to the Divinity School to house his collection in 1450-80. Duke Humfrey’s Library still exists and it is the oldest reading room in the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.
Duke Humfrey’s Library; By Diliff – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38962983
In 1413, Humphrey’s father Henry IV died and his brother succeeded him as King Henry V. Humphrey was appointed Lord Great Chamberlain of England in 1413 and was created Duke of Gloucester and Earl of Pembroke in 1414. During his brother’s campaigns in France, Humphrey proved himself as a successful commander. During the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, Humphrey was wounded and was protected by his brother King Henry V who fought off a group of French knights.
In 1422, King Henry V, aged 35, died of dysentery, a disease that killed more soldiers than battle, leaving a nine-month-old son, King Henry VI, to inherit his throne. The baby king, seated in his mother’s lap, presided over Parliament on September 28, 1423, when the nobles swore loyalty to him. One of Henry V’s surviving brothers, John, Duke of Bedford, was appointed Regent and put in charge of the ongoing war in France. During Bedford’s absence, the government of England was headed by Henry V’s other surviving brother, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who was appointed Protector and Defender of the Realm.
Humphrey had two unsuccessful marriages. In February or March 1423, Humphrey married Jacqueline, Countess of Holland, Zealand, and Hainault. Jacqueline had been previously married to Jean, Dauphin of France who died in 1417. She then married Jean IV, Duke of Brabant, who mistreated her. Jacqueline fled to England and said she wanted her marriage annulled. She was an honored guest at the English court and was one of the godparents of the future King Henry VI. Jacqueline received an annulment of her marriage to Jean IV, Duke of Brabant from Antipope Benedict XIII before she married Humphrey. However, the annulment was not recognized by Pope Martin V who declared Humphrey and Jacqueline’s marriage void in 1428. Even after the death of Jean IV, Humphrey and Jacqueline did not remarry. Jacqueline returned to her homeland and married Frank II of Borssele.
Jacqueline, Countess of Holland, Zealand, and Hainault; Credit – Wikipedia
In 1428, Humphrey made a second marriage to his mistress Eleanor Cobham who had been a lady-in-waiting to Humphrey’s first wife. Eleanor consulted two astrologers Thomas Southwell and Roger Bolingbroke to predict the future and one of the predictions was that King Henry VI would suffer a life-threatening illness in July or August 1441. The astrologers were arrested for treason and heresy, and when they were interrogated, they named Eleanor as the instigator so she was also arrested and tried. Eleanor denied the charges but did admit to obtaining potions from Margery Jourdemayne, the Witch of Eye Next Westminster, who was convicted and burned as a witch. The two astrologers were also convicted, Southwell died at the Tower of London awaiting execution, and Bolingbroke was hanged, drawn, and quartered. Eleanor was also found guilty. She had to do public penance in London, divorce her husband, and was condemned to life imprisonment.
Illuminated miniature of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester and his second wife Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester from the Liber Benefactorum of St Albans by Thomas Walsingham, 1431; Credit – Wikipedia
Humphrey had two illegitimate children. Their mothers may have been unknown mistresses or it is possible that Eleanor Cobham was the mother of one or both. The descendants of his illegitimate daughter Antigone of Gloucester are the only known descendants of King Henry IV still living after 1471.
After Eleanor’s trial, Humphrey withdrew from public life, but in February 1447, he was summoned to a Parliament at Bury St. Edmunds. Humphrey had become the heir presumptive to the throne after the death of his older brother John, Duke of Bedford in 1435 and it was feared that if Henry VI left England, Humphrey could exercise his claim to be regent. Humphrey was hostile to the French while the English powers that be wanted peace. Humphrey was arrested and it appeared there would be a trial that would result in Humphrey’s disgrace or even a worse fate. However, there was no trial as five days later on February 23, 1447, Humphrey died, aged 57, at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England. There is some suspicion that some kind of foul play was involved, but most likely Humphrey had a stroke because he was in a coma for three days before he died. Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester was buried at the Abbey Church of St. Albans in Hertfordshire, England. Before his burial, his body was displayed to dispel rumors that there had been foul play involved in his death.
Plaque marking the grave of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; Credit – www.findagrave.com
After Humphrey’s death in 1447, thirty-two of his followers, including his illegitimate son Arthur of Gloucester, were arrested after being accused of holding a seditious meeting where they had agreed to kill King Henry VI and place Arthur’s father Humphrey on the throne. On July 8, 1447, Arthur and four others were tried and condemned to be hanged, disemboweled, beheaded, and quartered for plotting treason against the king. However, Arthur and the others were pardoned without further punishment. There is no trace of Arthur of Gloucester after the pardon.
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Works Cited
- “Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Sept. 2016. Web. 6 Nov. 2016.
- Jones, Dan. The Wars of the Roses. New York: Viking, 2014. Print.
- Plantagenet ancestry: A study in colonial and medieval families, 2nd edition .. N.p.: Douglas Richardson, n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2016.
- Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.
