Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick ★

1310s–1330s

Born 14 February 1313 at Warwick Castle, son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and Alice de Toeni. High Sheriff of Worcestershire from 1333, and by 1337 captain of the English army against Scotland. Married Katherine Mortimer; they had six sons and ten daughters.

1340s–1350s

Marshal of England from 1343/44. Commanded the centre at Crécy in 1346, fought at the siege of Calais, became a founding Knight of the Garter in 1348, and commanded again at Poitiers in 1356.

1360s

Katherine died on 4 August 1369, and he died of the Black Death at Calais on 13 November 1369. They are buried together in St Mary's, Warwick.

Early Life and Family Background

Thomas de Beauchamp was born February 14, 1313, at Warwick Castle, son of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and Alice de Toeni. He held the hereditary post of High Sheriff of Worcestershire from 1333 until his death, and by 1337, at only twenty-four, was already captain of the English army against Scotland.

Military Prominence in the Hundred Years' War

Beauchamp's reputation as a commander became so fearsome that the French nicknamed him "the devil Warwick"; one chronicle records the Duke of Burgundy retreating under cover of darkness simply to avoid meeting him after he landed at Calais. He commanded the centre at the Battle of Crécy in 1346 — a victory that cost him his own younger half-brother — then took part in the siege of Calais through 1347, and commanded again at Poitiers in 1356, where he captured the Archbishop of Sens; the ransom is traditionally said, too simply, to have paid for his rebuilding of St Mary's Church in Warwick.

Edward III trusted him enough to appoint him guardian to the sixteen-year-old Black Prince, and he served as Marshal of England, the realm's highest military office, from 1343/44 until his death.

The Order of the Garter

In 1348 Beauchamp became the third founding Knight of the newly created Order of the Garter, a mark of Edward III's regard for his military record.

Marriage, Children, and Family Alliances

Thomas married Katherine Mortimer, daughter of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and the couple had six sons and ten daughters. Their son Thomas succeeded as 12th Earl of Warwick; their daughters married into the Stafford, Clifford, Strange, and Suffolk families, spreading Beauchamp influence widely; through his son William's daughter Joan the family's line would eventually lead to Anne Boleyn.

Later Life and Death

Katherine died on August 4, 1369; Thomas followed just three months later, dying at Calais on November 13, 1369, of the Black Death, at fifty-six. The couple were buried together in the chancel of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Warwick, whose rebuilding Thomas had begun.