Lord High Constable
The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. His office is now called out of abeyance for coronations alone (and theoretically for trials by combat). The Lord High Constable was originally the commander of the royal armies and the Master of the Horse. He was also, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal, president of the Court of Chivalry or Court of Honour. In feudal times, martial law was administered in the court of the Lord High Constable. The constableship was granted as a grand serjeanty with the Earldom of Hereford by the Empress Maud to Milo de Gloucester, and was carried by his heiress to the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and Essex. Through a coheiress of the Bohuns it descended to the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham; and on the attainder of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of King Henry VIII it became merged in the crown. The Lacys and Verduns were hereditary constables of Ireland from the 12th to the 14th century; and the Hays, Earls of Erroll, have been hereditary Lord High Constables of Scotland from early in the 14th century.
Lord High Constables of England, 1139-1521Milo de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford 1139-1143Roger de Gloucester, 2nd Earl of Hereford 1143-1155Walter de Gloucester, 3rd Earl of Hereford 1155-1159Henry de Gloucester 1159-1164Humphrey de Bohun 1164-1176Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford 1176-1220Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and 1st Earl of Essex 1220-1275Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and 2nd Earl of Essex 1275-1298Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex 1298-1321John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford and 4th Earl of Essex 1321-1335Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford and 5th Earl of Essex 1335-1361Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford and 6th Earl of Essex 1361-1372Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 1372-1397Humphrey Plantagenet, 2nd Earl of Buckingham 1397-1399Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford 1399-1403Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham 1403-1460Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham 1460-1483Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley 1483-1485Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham 1485-1521 At this point, the office merged in the crown, and was only revived for coronations. It was held at coronations by the following individuals: - Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, 1547
- Henry FitzAlan, 18th Earl of Arundel 1553, 1559
- Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester 1603
- George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham 1626
- Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland 1661
- Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton 1685
- James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde 1689
- Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford 1702
- John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu 1714
- Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox 1727
- John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford 1761
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington 1821, 1831, 1838
- Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife 1902, 1911
- Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1937
- Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke 1953
|
|
