John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk

John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG (18 October 1444 – 14 January 1476), known as 1st Earl of Surrey between 1451 and 1461, was the only son of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Eleanor Bourchier. His maternal grandparents were William Bourchier, Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester.

John de Mowbray
Duke of Norfolk
Earl Marshal
Earl of Surrey
Arms of John de Mowbray,
4th Duke of Norfolk, KG
Born18 October 1444
Died14 January 1476
Noble familyMowbray
Spouse(s)Elizabeth Talbot
IssueAnne de Mowbray, Countess of Norfolk
FatherJohn Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
MotherEleanor Bourchier
Left: Lady Elizabeth Talbot, wife of John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk (1444–1476). On her kirtle she displays her paternal arms Gules, a lion rampant or a bordure engrailed of the last (Talbot) and on her mantle shows Gules three lions passant guardant or a label of three points argent (Brotherton, for Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, a younger son of King Edward I and ancestor of the Duke of Norfolk). Below is inscribed in Latin: Elizabeta nat(a) Talbot Ducissa Norfoltia ("Elizabeth born Talbot, Duchess of Norfolk"). Stained glass in Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, Suffolk

In 1451 the earldom of Surrey was revived for him. Mowbray was descended from a sister of the last earl of the previous creation.

In 1461 he succeeded his father as 4th Duke of Norfolk and hereditary Earl Marshal. He continued his father's efforts to possess Caister Castle, finally taking it in September 1469 after a siege. John Paston had inherited Caister from John Fastolf in 1459 and was in charge of defending it.[1] Although Paston had been in Mowbray's service for several years, Mowbray showed a notable ruthlessness in his conduct of the siege, in which one Daubenay, a long-standing Paston servant, was killed. Under pressure from the Church, Norfolk did at least grant the other defenders safe conduct. In 1476, within a day of Norfolk's death, the Paston family took Caister back again.

Norfolk was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1472. He died very suddenly, having apparently been in good health the day before.

He married Elizabeth Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and his second wife Lady Margaret Beauchamp. They had only one child, Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, and so the 1397 creation of the dukedom became extinct upon his death. Anne, who was only 3 years old when her father died, inherited the earldom and his extensive lands and wealth.[1]

The dukedom would be recreated in 1481 and again in 1483. The 1483 creation survives to the present day, despite two periods of forfeiture.[1]

Family tree

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Chisholm 1911, p. 743.
  • Tait, James (1894). "John Mowbray, third Duke of Norfolk". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 39. pp. 222–225. (the fourth duke is discussed at the end of his father's article)
  • Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Norfolk, Earls and Dukes of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 742–744.
Political offices
Preceded by Earl Marshal
1461–1476
Succeeded by
Peerage of England
Extinct
Title last held by
Thomas FitzAlan
Earl of Surrey
1451–1476
Extinct
Preceded by Duke of Norfolk
Earl of Nottingham

1461–1476
Earl of Norfolk
Baron Mowbray
Baron Segrave

1461–1476
Succeeded by