'John Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk' (
12 September,
1415 –
6 November,
1461)was an important player in the
Wars of the Roses.
He was the son of
John Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk and
Lady Katherine Neville. He held the office of
Earl Marshal from
1432, when he inherited the title of 3rd
Duke of Norfolk.
At the beginning of the War of the Roses in
1450 he supported
Richard, Duke of York, the leader of the
Yorkist faction. However, in
1459, he swore allegiance to the
Lancastrian Henry VI. He then quickly changed sides back to the Yorkists. This sort of treachery was by no means unusual during the
Wars of the Roses.
In February
1461 he fought for the defeated Yorkists in the
Second Battle of St Albans. In March
1461 (Richard, Duke of York now being dead) he was one of those who asked the Duke’s son the Earl of March to become
Edward IV and
later that month his intervention at the
Battle of Towton was decisive. The battle took place in a snow storm between 80,000 men. Neither side could get an advantage until about midday Norfolk entered the battle on the Yorkist’s right flank. The Lancastrians then began to slowly fall back. As Earl Marshal Mowbray then officiated at Edward IV’s coronation.
Marriage and issue
He married
Eleanor Bourchier, daughter of
William Bourchier, Count of Eu and
Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Buckingham. She was the sister of his successor as
Justice in Eyre,
Henry Boruchier. They had one child,
John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk.
References
★ Weir, Alison. ''Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy''. London, UK.: The Bodley Head, 1999.
★ Birth and death dates
stirnet.com Accessed May 24, 2007