Earldom of Lancaster
Arms of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, 1st Earl of Leicester: Royal arms of King Henry III with a label of three points of France for difference
Creation date	30 June 1267 (1267-06-30)
Created by	Henry III of England
Peerage	Peerage of England
First holder	Edmund Crouchback
Last holder	Henry of Grosmont
Subsidiary titles	Earl of Leicester
Extinction date	23 March 1361 (1361-03-23)
Seat(s)	Lancaster Castle

The title of Earl of Lancaster was created in the Peerage of England in 1267. It was succeeded by the title Duke of Lancaster in 1351, which expired in 1361. (The most recent creation of the ducal title merged with the Crown in 1413.)

King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the royal house of Henry IV was named—for his second son, Edmund Crouchback, in 1267. Edmund had already been created Earl of Leicester in 1265 and following the Second Barons' War and the death and attainder of the king's rebellious brother-in-law Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester^[1] in 1265, the latter's lands, including most notably Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, had been awarded to him.

When Edmund's son Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, inherited the estates and title of his father-in-law Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln, he became at a stroke the most powerful nobleman in England, with lands throughout the kingdom and the ability to raise vast private armies to wield power at national and local levels.^[2] This brought him—and his younger brother Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster—into conflict with their first cousin King Edward II, leading to Thomas's execution. Henry inherited Thomas's titles and he and his son Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, gave loyal service to Edward's son— King Edward III.

History

Creation

After the supporters of Henry III of England suppressed opposition from the English nobility in the Second Barons' War, Henry granted to his second son Edmund Crouchback the titles and possessions forfeited by attainder of the barons' leader, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, including the Earldom of Leicester, on 26 October 1265. Later grants included the first Earldom of Lancaster on 30 June 1267 and that of Earl Ferrers in 1301. Edmund was also Count of Champagne and Brie from 1276 by right of his wife.^[1] Henry IV of England would later use his descent from Edmund to legitimise his claim to the throne, even making the spurious claim that Edmund was the elder son of Henry but had been passed over as king because of his deformity.^[3]

Edmund's second marriage to Blanche of Artois, the widow of the King of Navarre, placed him at the centre of the European aristocracy. Blanche's daughter Joan I of Navarre was queen regnant of Navarre and through her marriage to Philip IV of France was queen consort of France. Edmund's son Thomas became the most powerful nobleman in England, gaining the Earldoms of Lincoln and Salisbury through marriage to the heiress of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln. His income was £11,000 per annum—double that of the next wealthiest earl.^[2]

Thomas and his younger brother Henry served in the coronation of their cousin King Edward II of England on 25 February 1308; Thomas carried Curtana, the Sword of Mercy, and Henry carried the royal sceptre.^[4] After initially supporting Edward, Thomas became one of the Lords Ordainers, who demanded the banishment of Piers Gaveston and the governance of the realm by a baronial council. After Gaveston was captured, Thomas took the lead in his trial and execution at Warwick in 1312.^[5] Edward's authority was weakened by poor governance and defeat by the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn. This allowed Thomas to restrain Edward's power by republishing the Ordinances of 1311. Following this achievement Thomas took little part in the governance of the realm and instead retreated to Pontefract Castle.^[6] This allowed Edward to regroup and re-arm, leading to a fragile peace in August 1318 with the Treaty of Leake. In 1321 Edward's rule again collapsed into civil war. Thomas raised a northern army but was defeated and captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge. He was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered but because he was Edward's cousin he was given a quicker death by beheading.^[7]

Henry joined the revolt of Edward's wife Isabella of France and her lover Mortimer in 1326, pursuing and capturing Edward at Neath in South Wales.^[7] Following Edward's deposition at the Parliament of Kenilworth in 1326 and reputed murder at Berkeley Castle,^[8] Thomas's conviction was posthumously reversed and Henry regained possession of the Earldoms of Lancaster, Derby, Salisbury and Lincoln that had been forfeit for Thomas's treason. His restored prestige led to him knighting the young King Edward III of England before his coronation.^[9] Mortimer lost support over the Treaty of Edinburgh–Northampton that formalised Scotland's independence, and his developing power in the Welsh Marches provoked jealousy from the barons. When Mortimer called a parliament to make his new powers and estates permanent with the title of Earl of March in 1328, Henry led the opposition and held a counter-meeting. In response, Mortimer ravaged the lands of Lancaster and checked the revolt. Edward III was able to assume control in 1330 but Henry's further influence was restricted by poor health and blindness for the last fifteen years of his life.^[10][11]

Succession

Henry's son, also called Henry, was born at the castle of Grosmont in Monmouthshire between 1299 and 1314.^[12] According to the younger Henry's memoirs, he was better at martial arts than academic subjects and did not learn to read until later in life.^[13] Henry was coeval with Edward III and was pivotal to his reign, becoming his best friend and most trusted commander.^[14] Henry was knighted in 1330, represented his father in parliament and fought in Edward's Scottish campaign.^[15] After the outbreak of the Hundred Years' War, Henry took part in several diplomatic missions and minor campaigns and was present at the great English victory in the naval Battle of Sluys in 1340.^[16] Later, he was required to commit himself as hostage in the Low Countries for Edward's considerable debts. He remained hostage for a year and had to pay a large ransom for his own release.^[17]

In 1345, Edward III launched a major, three-pronged attack on France. The Earl of Northampton attacked from Brittany, Edward from Flanders, and Henry from Aquitaine in the south.^[14] Moving rapidly through the country, Henry confronted the Comte d'Isle at the Battle of Auberoche and achieved a victory described as "the greatest single achievement of Lancaster's entire military career".^[18] The ransom from the prisoners has been estimated at £50,000.^[19] Edward rewarded Henry by including him as a founding knight of the Order of the Garter.^[20] An even greater honour was bestowed on Lancaster when Edward created him Duke of Lancaster. The title of duke was relatively new in England, with only Cornwall being a previous ducal title. Lancaster was also given palatinate status for the county of Lancashire, which entailed a separate administration independent of the crown.^[21] There were two other counties palatine; Durham was an ancient ecclesiastical palatinate and Chester was crown property.

Earls of Lancaster

Earl	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death
Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster and Leicester[22]		16 January 1245 London son of Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence	(1) Aveline de Forz 1269 0 children (2) Blanche of Artois 21 September 1271 4 children Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster John of Lancaster, Lord of Beaufort Mary of Lancaster	5 June 1296 Bayonne, Gascony aged 51
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester[23]		c. 1278 Grismond Castle, Monmouthshire son of Edmund Crouchback and Blanche of Artois	Alice de Lacy, 4th Countess of Lincoln 28 October 1294 – Divorced 1318 0 children	22 March 1322 Pontefract, Yorkshire Executed by order of Edward II of England aged 43–44
Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester[12]		1281 Grosmont Castle, Monmouthshire son of Edmund Crouchback and Blanche of Artois	Matilda de Chaworth 7 children Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster Blanche of Lancaster, Baroness Wake of Liddell Maud of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster Joan of Lancaster, Baroness Mowbray Isabel of Lancaster, Prioress of Amesbury Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel Mary of Lancaster, Baroness Percy	22 September 1345 Leicestershire aged 63–64
Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, 4th Earl of Lancaster and Leicester[12]		c. 1310 Grosmont Castle, Monmouthshire son of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster	Isabel de Beaumont 1334 2 children Maud, Countess of Leicester Blanche, Duchess of Lancaster	23 March 1361 Leicester Castle, Leicestershire Black Death aged 50–51
Blanche, 5th Countess of Lancaster and Leicester[a][24]		25 March 1345 Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire daughter of Henry of Grosmont	John of Gaunt 19 May 1359 7 children Philippa, Queen of Portugal John of Lancaster Elizabeth of Lancaster, Duchess of Exeter Edward of Lancaster John of Lancaster Henry IV Bolingbroke, King of England Isabel of Lancaster	12 September 1369 Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire Black Death aged 23

Family tree