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Portrait of Sir Thomas Erpingham, based on a stained glass window

Sir Thomas Erpingham (1357-1428)

SIR THOMAS ERPINGHAM (1357-1428), soldier, born in 1357, was son of John Erpingham, who died on 1 Aug. 1370, and was buried in Erpingham church. The family claimed to have been settled at Erpingham from the time of the Conqueror,1 but the earliest to be lord of the manor of Erpingham was Robert, who lived in the middle of the thirteenth century. A later Robert de Erpingham, probably grandfather of Sir Thomas, represented Norfolk in the parliaments of 1333-4, 1335, and 1341.2 Sir John had, like his son, a house in Norwich, where he mainly resided.

Thomas, who was only thirteen years old at his father's death, was early trained in the profession of arms. In 1380 he was in the service of John of Gaunt, and by an indenture dated at York on 13 Sept. of that year he stipulated for £20 a year in time of peace and fifty marks in war for himself and a servant, together with the 'usual wages of the bachelors of his sort.'3 On 8 March 1381-2 he was appointed one of the commissioners to suppress rebellions in Norfolk, and on 21 Dec. following his name occurs in a similar commission for Middlesex. In January 1384-5 he was made commissioner of array in Norfolk in view of the anticipated French invasion, and he constantly served on commissions of the peace in the same county.4 In March 1386 he obtained letters of protection on setting out with John of Gaunt for Spain, and sailed from Plymouth on 7 July. In 1390 Erpingham accompanied John of Gaunt's son Henry, earl of Derby (afterwards Henry IV), on his expedition to Lithuania, sailing from Boston on 20 July; and in July 1392, when Henry started on his second journey to Lithuania, Erpingham again went with him. On 23 Sept. Henry sent home most of his followers from Danzig, but Erpingham remained with him, and accompanied him on his adventurous passage across Europe into Palestine. He received various payments from the duchy of Lancaster for his services, and was also granted lands near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

When Henry was banished in 1398 Erpingham was once more his companion in his travels abroad; he was with him at Paris in 1399 and witnesssed the agreement for mutual support and defence which Henry drew up with Louis, duke of Orleans, on 17 June.5 He landed with Henry at Ravenspur in July 1399, and on 30 Sept. he was appointed constable of Dover Castle. By the parliament that met on that day Erpingham was nominated one of the commissioners for receiving Richard II's resignation of the crown.6 On 5 Nov. he was made warden of the cinque ports, and soon after he was granted custody of the lands of Thomas, duke of Norfolk. In the following January he attended convocation to promise the king's help, and advocate some decided action, in putting down the Lollards.7 His selection for this task was singular, as he was himself inclined to lollardy, and was a friend of Sir John Oldcastle.8 In the same month Erpingham was associated with John Beaufort, first earl of Somerset, in the command against the degraded lords who had revolted against Henry IV; and at the end of the month he was one of the commissioners appointed to try the rebels. Before the end of 1400 he was elected K.G., and was made chamberlain of the king's household.

In November 1401 Erpingham was selected to accompany Henry's second son, Thomas, as one of his 'wardens,' to Ireland, landing at Dublin on 13 Nov. [see Thomas, Duke of Clarence, 1388?-1421]. He apparently remained in Ireland until Thomas's return in September 1403; in that year he was publicly reconciled with Henry le Despenser, the warlike bishop of Norwich, who had loyally stood by Richard II, and he is said to have procured the bishop's release from prison9. In January 1403-4 he appears as a member of Henry's privy council, on 9 July he is styled steward of the royal household, and by the parliament which met at Coventry in that year he was entrusted with the duties of marshal of England. On 8 Aug. 1405 he was granted Framingham and other manors in Norfolk, and on 11 July 1407 he was one of the commissioners selected to treat with France. He started on 25 July, and on the 28th an armistice was agreed upon to last until 8 Sept. He was also nominated to treat with the French envoys to England on 1 Dec. following, and on the 7th a truce was concluded to last for three months.10 On 28 Feb 1409 Prince Henry was appointed constable of Dover Castle and warden of the cinque ports in Erpingham's stead.

Henry V placed as much confidence in Erpingham as his father had done, and he took a prominent part in the Agincourt campaign. He crossed to Harfleur with twenty men-at-arms and sixty mounted archers in his retinue, and, after assisting at the siege and capture of Harfleur, he marched with Henry towards Calais. At the battle of Agincourt (25 Oct. 1415) Erpingham was put in command of the English archers. According to the 'Chronique de St Rémy,' where he appears as 'messire Thomas Herpinchem,' Erpingham addressed the archers, riding down their ranks and exhorting them to fight bravely: après ce qu il eult fait les ordonnances, [il] jecta un bastion contremont qu'il tenoit en sa main, et en après descendi à piet et se mist en la bataille du roy d'Angleterre, qui estait aussi descendu à piet entre ses gens et sa barrière devant luy.'11 The precise disposition of the archers on the field is not clear, but it is agreed that they played a decisive part in the battle.12

In July 1416 Erpingham was sent with John Wakering, bishop of Norwich, to Calais and Beauvais to treat with the king of France;13 but he was now nearly sixty years old, and this seems to have been his last important employment. He died on 27 June 1428. [...] He married, first, Joan, daughter of Sir William Clopton of Clopton, Suffolk; and, secondly, after 1409, Joan, (d. 1425), daughter of Sir Richard Walton, and widow of Sir John Howard. He left issue by neither wife, and his heir was Sir William Phelip, son of his sister Julian by her husband, Sir John Phelip. [...] Erpingham figures prominently in Drayton's 'Agincourt' and in Shakespeare's 'Henry V.'


—A. F. Pollard

1. Blomefield, History of Norfolk, vi. 412-413.
2. Official Return, i. 103, 107, 134.
3. £20 in 1380 had roughly the equivalent purchasing power of £15,330 in 2020; 500 marks was roughly equivalent to £255,500 in 2020. Source: Measuring Worth
4. Cal. Patent Rolls, 1381-5.
5. Douët d'Arcq, Pièces inédites sur le règne de Charles VI, i. 157-60.
6. Rotuli Parliamentorum iii. 416, 422).
7. Ramsay, Lancaster and York, i. 32.
8. Wylie, Henry IV, iii. 295.
9. Wylie, i. 110, 169, 177.
10. Monstrelet, Chroniques, i. 152; Wylie, iii. 95.
11. St. Rémy, Chroniques, i. 253.
12. Nicolas, Battle of Agincourt; Ramsay, Lancaster and York, i. 215, 219; Waurin, Chronicles (Rolls ser.), ii. 211, 212; Chroniques du Religieux de St. Denys (Collection de Documents Inédits), pp. 555-65.
13. Monstrelet, iii. 147.
14. 303a Chichele p. i.




      Excerpted from:

      Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. XXII (Supplement).
      Sidney Lee, Ed.
      New York: The Macmillan Co., 1909. 614-5.




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Index of Encyclopedia Entries:

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Prices of Items in Medieval England

Edward II
Isabella of France, Queen of England
Piers Gaveston
Thomas of Brotherton, E. of Norfolk
Edmund of Woodstock, E. of Kent
Thomas, Earl of Lancaster
Henry of Lancaster, Earl of Lancaster
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Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)

Edward III
Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England
Edward, Black Prince of Wales
John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall
The Battle of Crécy, 1346
The Siege of Calais, 1346-7
The Battle of Poitiers, 1356
Lionel of Antwerp, Duke of Clarence
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
Thomas of Woodstock, Gloucester
Richard of York, E. of Cambridge
Richard Fitzalan, 3. Earl of Arundel
Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March
The Good Parliament, 1376
Richard II
The Peasants' Revolt, 1381
Lords Appellant, 1388
Richard Fitzalan, 4. Earl of Arundel
Archbishop Thomas Arundel
Thomas de Beauchamp, E. Warwick
Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford
Ralph Neville, E. of Westmorland
Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
Edmund Mortimer, 3. Earl of March
Roger Mortimer, 4. Earl of March
John Holland, Duke of Exeter
Michael de la Pole, E. Suffolk
Hugh de Stafford, 2. E. Stafford
Henry IV
Edward, Duke of York
Edmund Mortimer, 5. Earl of March
Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Sir Henry Percy, "Harry Hotspur"
Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester
Owen Glendower
The Battle of Shrewsbury, 1403
Archbishop Richard Scrope
Thomas Mowbray, 3. E. Nottingham
John Mowbray, 2. Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Fitzalan, 5. Earl of Arundel
Henry V
Thomas, Duke of Clarence
John, Duke of Bedford
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury
Richard, Earl of Cambridge
Henry, Baron Scrope of Masham
William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk
Thomas Montacute, E. Salisbury
Richard Beauchamp, E. of Warwick
Henry Beauchamp, Duke of Warwick
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter
Cardinal Henry Beaufort
John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset
Sir John Fastolf
John Holland, 2. Duke of Exeter
Archbishop John Stafford
Archbishop John Kemp
Catherine of Valois
Owen Tudor
John Fitzalan, 7. Earl of Arundel
John, Lord Tiptoft

Charles VII, King of France
Joan of Arc
Louis XI, King of France
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy
The Battle of Agincourt, 1415
The Battle of Castillon, 1453



The Wars of the Roses 1455-1485
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The First Battle of St. Albans, 1455
The Battle of Blore Heath, 1459
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The Battle of Wakefield, 1460
The Battle of Mortimer's Cross, 1461
The 2nd Battle of St. Albans, 1461
The Battle of Towton, 1461
The Battle of Hedgeley Moor, 1464
The Battle of Hexham, 1464
The Battle of Edgecote, 1469
The Battle of Losecoat Field, 1470
The Battle of Barnet, 1471
The Battle of Tewkesbury, 1471
The Treaty of Pecquigny, 1475
The Battle of Bosworth Field, 1485
The Battle of Stoke Field, 1487

Henry VI
Margaret of Anjou
Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York
Edward IV
Elizabeth Woodville
Richard Woodville, 1. Earl Rivers
Anthony Woodville, 2. Earl Rivers
Jane Shore
Edward V
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Ralph Neville, 2. Earl of Westmorland
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Robert Neville, Bishop of Salisbury
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Margaret Beaufort
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Henry Bourchier, Earl of Essex
John Mowbray, 3. Duke of Norfolk
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John Howard, Duke of Norfolk
Henry Percy, 2. E. Northumberland
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Sir Andrew Trollop
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Robert Hungerford, Lord Moleyns
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Jack Cade's Rebellion, 1450


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Mary Tudor, Queen of France
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The Battle of the Spurs, 1513
Field of the Cloth of Gold, 1520
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The Siege of Boulogne, 1544

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John Russell, Earl of Bedford
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George Talbot, 4. E. Shrewsbury
Francis Talbot, 5. E. Shrewsbury
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William Paulet, Marquis of Winchester
Sir Francis Bryan
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John de Vere, 15th Earl of Oxford
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Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral
Edward Seymour, Protector Somerset
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Henry Pole, Lord Montague
Sir Geoffrey Pole
Thomas Manners, Earl of Rutland
Henry Manners, Earl of Rutland
Henry Bourchier, 2. Earl of Essex
Robert Radcliffe, 1. Earl of Sussex
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George Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon
Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter
George Neville, Baron Bergavenny
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Sir Anthony Browne
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Thomas Fiennes, 9th Lord Dacre
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Henry Norris
Lady Jane Grey
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Walter Haddon, L.L.D
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John Taylor
Sir Thomas Wyatt, the Younger

Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio
Cardinal Reginald Pole
Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester
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Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London
John Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester
John Aylmer, Bishop of London
Thomas Linacre
William Grocyn
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Cuthbert Tunstall, Bishop of Durham
Richard Fox, Bishop of Winchester
Edward Fox, Bishop of Hereford

Pope Julius II
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Pope Paul III
Pope Pius V

Pico della Mirandola
Desiderius Erasmus
Martin Bucer
Richard Pace
Christopher Saint-German
Thomas Tallis
Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent
Hans Holbein, the Younger
The Sweating Sickness

Dissolution of the Monasteries
Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536
Robert Aske
Anne Askew
Lord Thomas Darcy
Sir Robert Constable

Oath of Supremacy
The Act of Supremacy, 1534
The First Act of Succession, 1534
The Third Act of Succession, 1544
The Ten Articles, 1536
The Six Articles, 1539
The Second Statute of Repeal, 1555
The Act of Supremacy, 1559
Articles Touching Preachers, 1583

Queen Elizabeth I
William Cecil, Lord Burghley
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Sir Francis Walsingham
Sir Nicholas Bacon
Sir Thomas Bromley

Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester
Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon
Sir Thomas Egerton, Viscount Brackley
Sir Francis Knollys
Katherine "Kat" Ashley
Lettice Knollys, Countess of Leicester
George Talbot, 6. E. of Shrewsbury
Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury
Gilbert Talbot, 7. E. of Shrewsbury
Sir Henry Sidney
Sir Robert Sidney
Archbishop Matthew Parker
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex
Penelope Devereux, Lady Rich
Sir Christopher Hatton
Edward Courtenay, E. Devonshire
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Thomas Radcliffe, 3. Earl of Sussex
Henry Radcliffe, 4. Earl of Sussex
Robert Radcliffe, 5. Earl of Sussex
William Parr, Marquis of Northampton
Henry Wriothesley, 2. Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3. Southampton
Charles Neville, 6. E. Westmorland
Thomas Percy, 7. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 8. E. Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9. E. Nothumberland
William Herbert, 1. Earl of Pembroke
Charles, Lord Howard of Effingham
Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk
Henry Howard, 1. Earl of Northampton
Thomas Howard, 1. Earl of Suffolk
Henry Hastings, 3. E. of Huntingdon
Edward Manners, 3rd Earl of Rutland
Roger Manners, 5th Earl of Rutland
Francis Manners, 6th Earl of Rutland
Henry FitzAlan, 12. Earl of Arundel
Thomas, Earl Arundell of Wardour
Edward Somerset, E. of Worcester
William Davison
Sir Walter Mildmay
Sir Ralph Sadler
Sir Amyas Paulet
Gilbert Gifford
Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague
François, Duke of Alençon & Anjou

Mary, Queen of Scots
Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell
Anthony Babington and the Babington Plot
John Knox

Philip II of Spain
The Spanish Armada, 1588
Sir Francis Drake
Sir John Hawkins

William Camden
Archbishop Whitgift
Martin Marprelate Controversy
John Penry (Martin Marprelate)
Richard Bancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury
John Dee, Alchemist

Philip Henslowe
Edward Alleyn
The Blackfriars Theatre
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Citizen Comedy
The Isle of Dogs, 1597

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Assize
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Praemunire


The Stuarts

King James I of England
Anne of Denmark
Henry, Prince of Wales
The Gunpowder Plot, 1605
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset
Arabella Stuart, Lady Lennox

William Alabaster
Bishop Hall
Bishop Thomas Morton
Archbishop William Laud
John Selden
Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford
Henry Lawes

King Charles I
Queen Henrietta Maria

Long Parliament
Rump Parliament
Kentish Petition, 1642

Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford
John Digby, Earl of Bristol
George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol
Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax
Robert Devereux, 3rd E. of Essex
Robert Sidney, 2. E. of Leicester
Algernon Percy, E. of Northumberland
Henry Montagu, Earl of Manchester
Edward Montagu, 2. Earl of Manchester

The Restoration

King Charles II
King James II
Test Acts

Greenwich Palace
Hatfield House
Richmond Palace
Windsor Palace
Woodstock Manor

The Cinque Ports
Mermaid Tavern
Malmsey Wine
Great Fire of London, 1666
Merchant Taylors' School
Westminster School
The Sanctuary at Westminster
"Sanctuary"


Images:

Chart of the English Succession from William I through Henry VII

Medieval English Drama

London c1480, MS Royal 16
London, 1510, the earliest view in print
Map of England from Saxton's Descriptio Angliae, 1579
London in late 16th century
Location Map of Elizabethan London
Plan of the Bankside, Southwark, in Shakespeare's time
Detail of Norden's Map of the Bankside, 1593
Bull and Bear Baiting Rings from the Agas Map (1569-1590, pub. 1631)
Sketch of the Swan Theatre, c. 1596
Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, by Hollar
Visscher's View of London, 1616
Larger Visscher's View in Sections
c. 1690. View of London Churches, after the Great Fire
The Yard of the Tabard Inn from Thornbury, Old and New London




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