Sir Henry PLANTAGENET 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Leicestershire [7461] ¹⁷⁵⁹

   FamilySearch ID: LD91-Q66. Find a Grave ID: 87259055.

  General Notes:

Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281 \endash 22 September 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216\endash 1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307\endash 1327), his first cousin.

Origins
He was the younger son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester, a son of King Henry III by his wife Eleanor of Provence. Henry's mother was Blanche of Artois, Queen Dowager of Navarre.

Henry's elder brother Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, succeeded their father in 1296, but Henry was summoned to Parliament on 6 February 1298/99 by writ directed to Henrico de Lancastre nepoti Regis ("Henry of Lancaster, nephew of the king", Edward I), by which he is held to have become Baron Lancaster. He took part in the Siege of Caerlaverock in July 1300.

Petition for succession and inheritance
After a period of longstanding opposition to King Edward II and his advisors, including joining two open rebellions, Henry's brother Thomas was convicted of treason, executed and had his lands and titles forfeited in 1322. Henry did not participate in his brother's rebellions; he later petitioned for his brother's lands and titles, and on 29 March 1324 he was invested as Earl of Leicester. A few years later, shortly after his accession in 1327, the young Edward III of England returned the earldom of Lancaster to him, along with other lordships such as that of Bowland.

Capture and custody of the King
On the Queen's return to England in September 1326 with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Henry joined her party against King Edward II, which led to a general desertion of the king's cause and overturned the power of Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester, and his namesake son Hugh the younger Despenser.

He was sent in pursuit and captured the king at Neath in South Wales. He was appointed to take charge of the king and was responsible for his custody at Kenilworth Castle.

Full restoration and reward
Henry was appointed head of the regency council for the new king Edward III of England,[3] and was also appointed captain-general of all the king's forces in the Scottish Marches. He was appointed Constable of Lancaster Castle and High Sheriff of Lancashire in 1327. He also helped the young king to put an end to Mortimer's regency and tyranny, also had him declared a traitor and executed in 1330.

Loss of sight
In about the year 1330, he became blind (Prestwich states Henry was going blind around 1329).

Later life and death
Henry spent the last fifteen years of his life at Leicester Castle. There he founded a hospital for the poor and infirm in an extension of the castle bailey. It became known as the Newarke, and Henry was buried in the hospital chapel when he died in 1345. The king and queen attended his funeral. His son Henry of Grosmont, first Duke of Lancaster, had his father's remains moved to the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, which he had built when he enhanced his father's foundation.

Nickname
According to Jean Le Bel, he was nicknamed Wryneck, or Tors-col in French, possibly due to a medical condition. Froissart repeated that statement in his Chronicles.

Succession
He was succeeded as Earl of Lancaster and Leicester by his eldest son, Henry of Grosmont, who subsequently became Duke of Lancaster.

Issue
He married Maud Chaworth, before 2 March 1296/1297.

Henry and Maud had seven children:
1. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, (about 1300\endash 1360/61)
2. Blanche of Lancaster, Baroness Wake of Liddell, (about 1305\endash 1380) married Thomas Wake, 2nd Baron Wake of Liddell
3. Maud of Lancaster, (about 1310\endash 1377); married (1) William de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster (died c.1333) and (2) Ralph de Ufford, Justiciar of Ireland (died 1346), and had descendants by both.
4. Joan of Lancaster, (about 1312\endash 1345); married John de Mowbray, 3rd Baron Mowbray and had descendants
5. Isabel of Lancaster, Abbess of Amesbury, (about 1317-after 1347)
6. Eleanor of Lancaster, (about 1318\endash 1371/72) married (1) John De Beaumont, 2nd Baron Beaumont and (2) 5 Feb 1344/5, Richard FitzAlan, 3rd Earl of Arundel and had descendants.
7. Mary of Lancaster, (about 1320\endash 1362), who married Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy, and was the mother of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland and had descendants.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry,_3rd_Earl_of_Lancaster

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Title Of Nobility: 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Leicestershire,,. ¹⁷⁶⁰

2. Title Of Nobility: Lord Dagworth,,. ¹⁷⁶⁰

3. He worked as a Constable of Lancaster Castle and High Sheriff of Lancaster in 1327 in Lancaster, , Lancashire, England. ¹⁷⁶⁰

4. Henry served in the military on 20 June 1347 in La Roche-Derrien, , Bretagne, France: Battle Of La Roche-Derien. ¹⁷⁶⁰ The Battle of La Roche-Derrien was one of the battles of the Breton War of Succession; it was fought on 20 June 1347 during the night between Anglo-Breton and Franco-Breton forces. Approximately 4,000\endash 5,000 French, Breton and Genoese mercenaries (the largest field army ever assembled by Charles of Blois) laid siege to the town of La Roche-Derrien in the hope of luring Sir Thomas Dagworth, the commander of the only standing English field army in Brittany at the time, into an open pitched battle.

Henry married Matilda DE CHAWORTH [7462] [MRIN: 5661], daughter of Sir Patrick DE CHAWORTH VI, Lord Of Kidwelly [7699] and Isabella DE BEAUCHAMP [7700]. (Matilda DE CHAWORTH [7462] was born on 2 February 1282 in Kidwelly, , Carmarthen, Wales,¹⁷⁵⁹ died on 3 December 1322 in Mottisfont, , Hampshire, England ¹⁷⁵⁹ and was buried on 3 December 1322 in Mottisfont, , Hampshire, England ¹⁷⁵⁹.)