Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk (
22 March 1366 –
22 September 1399) was an
English nobleman.
On
10 February 1382, he succeeded his brother
John as
6th Baron Mowbray and
7th Baron Segrave, and soon afterwards was created
Earl of Nottingham, a title that had also been created for his elder brother. Three years later he was appointed
Earl Marshal of England, and in that capacity he fought against the
Scots and then against the
French.
Lord Nottingham was one of the
Lords Appellant to
King Richard II who deposed some of King Richard's court favorites in
1387. The King's uncle,
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, was imprisoned at Calais, where Nottingham was Captain. When Gloucester was killed in
1397, it was probably at the King's orders and probably with Nottingham's involvement. A few weeks later he was created
Duke of Norfolk. His aged grandmother, the Countess of Norfolk, was still alive; she was created Duchess of Norfolk for life. When she died the next year he also became
3rd Earl of Norfolk.
Later, in
1398, Norfolk quarrelled with
Henry of Bolingbroke, 1st Duke of Hereford (later King Henry IV), apparently due to mutual suspicions stemming from their roles in the conspiracy against the Duke of Gloucester. The King banished them both. After Hereford returned and usurped the throne, Norfolk was stripped of the Dukedom of Norfolk, though he retained his other titles. He died of the plague in
Venice, on
22 September 1399.
The matter of Norfolk's quarrel and subsequent banishment is depicted at the beginning of
Shakespeare's Richard II.
Norfolk had no children by his first wife,
Elizabeth le Strange, suo jure 3rd Baroness Strange, daughter and heiress of
John le Strange, 2nd Baron Strange. He had two sons by his second wife,
Lady Elizabeth FitzAlan, daughter of
Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel: Thomas, later 4th Earl of Norfolk; and
John, later 5th Earl of Norfolk, later restored as 2nd Duke of Norfolk.
