Lord High Constable of England
Encyclopedia
The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord Great Chamberlain
The Lord Great Chamberlain of England is the sixth of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Privy Seal and above the Lord High Constable...

 and above the Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...

. His office is now called out of abeyance
Abeyance
Abeyance is a state of expectancy in respect of property, titles or office, when the right to them is not vested in any one person, but awaits the appearance or determination of the true owner. In law, the term abeyance can only be applied to such future estates as have not yet vested or possibly...

 only for coronations. The Lord High Constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

 was originally the commander of the royal armies and the Master of the Horse
Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...

. He was also, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...

, president of the Court of Chivalry
Court of Chivalry
Her Majesty's High Court of Chivalry of England and Wales is a civil court in England. It has had jurisdiction in cases of the misuse of heraldic arms since the fourteenth century....

 or Court of Honour
Court of Honor
A court of honor is a semi-official or unofficial tribunal constituted to determine various questions of social protocol, breaches of etiquette, and other allegations of breaches of honor, or entitlement to various honors...

. 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 Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...

 to Milo de Gloucester, and was carried by his heiress to the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and Essex. There was a surviving male heir and still are heirs male but due to the power of the monarchy it was illegally given to the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...

; and on the attainder
Attainder
In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura is the metaphorical 'stain' or 'corruption of blood' which arises from being condemned for a serious capital crime . It entails losing not only one's property and hereditary titles, but typically also the right to pass them on to one's heirs...

 of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

 who was having an affair with his sister, it became merged in the crown. Since that point it has not existed as a separate office, except as a temporary appointment for the coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...

 of a monarch; in other circumstances the Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal
Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England...

 exercises the traditional duties of the office.

The Lacys and Verduns were hereditary constables of Ireland from the 12th to the 14th century; and the Hays, Earls of Erroll
Earl of Erroll
The Earl of Erroll is an ancient title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1453 for Sir William Hay.The subsidiary titles held by the Earl of Erroll are Lord Hay and Lord Slains , both in the Peerage of Scotland. The Earls of Erroll also hold the hereditary office of Lord High Constable...

, have been hereditary Lord High Constables of Scotland
Lord High Constable of Scotland
The Lord High Constable is a hereditary, now ceremonial, office of Scotland. In the order of precedence of Scotland, the office traditionally ranks above all titles except those of the Royal Family. The Lord High Constable was, after the King of Scots, the supreme officer of the Scottish army. He...

 from early in the 14th century.

Lords High Constable of England, 1139-1521

  • Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford
    Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford
    Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Brecknock was the son of Walter de Gloucester, who served as hereditary sheriff of that county between 1104 and 1121....

     1139-1143
  • Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford
    Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford
    Roger Fitzmiles, 2nd Earl of Hereford, was born some time before 1125 and, according to the Hereford Cathedral Book of Obits, died on 22 September 1155...

     1143-1155
  • Walter de Gloucester
    Walter de Gloucester
    Walter de Gloucester was an early Norman official of the King of England during the early years of the Norman conquest of the South Welsh Marches.-Titles:...

     1155-1159
  • Henry de Gloucester 1159-1164
  • Humphrey III de Bohun
    Humphrey III de Bohun
    Humphrey III de Bohun was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and general who served Henry II as Constable. He was the son of Humphrey II de Bohun and Margaret of Hereford, the eldest daughter of the erstwhile constable Miles of Gloucester. He had succeeded to his father's fiefs, centred on Trowbridge, by 29...

     1164-1176
  • Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford
    Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford
    Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford was an Anglo-Norman nobleman.He was Earl of Hereford and Hereditary Constable of England from 1199 to 1220.- Lineage :...

     1176-1220
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and 1st Earl of Essex
    Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford
    Humphrey de Bohun was 2nd Earl of Hereford and 1st Earl of Essex, as well as Constable of England. He was the son of Henry de Bohun, 1st Earl of Hereford and Maud of Essex.- Career :...

     1220-1275
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and 2nd Earl of Essex
    Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford
    Humphrey de Bohun , 3rd Earl of Hereford and 2nd Earl of Essex, was an English nobleman known primarily for his opposition to King Edward I over the Confirmatio Cartarum. He was also an active participant in the Welsh Wars and maintained for several years a private feud with the earl of Gloucester...

     1275-1298
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex
    Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford
    Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford was a member of a powerful Anglo-Norman family of the Welsh Marches and was one of the Ordainers who opposed Edward II's excesses.-Family background :...

     1298-1321
  • John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford and 4th Earl of Essex
    John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford
    John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford was born in St Clement's, Oxford to Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, a daughter of Edward I of England....

     1321-1335
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford and 5th Earl of Essex
    Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford
    Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford, 5th Earl of Essex was a Lord High Constable of England.- Lineage :...

     1335-1361
  • Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford and 6th Earl of Essex
    Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
    Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, KG was an important medieval English noble during the reign of King Edward III of England.- Lineage :...

     1361-1372

had a cousin alive who was not granted the titles due to him and his heirs.
  • Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester 1372-1397
  • Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham 1397-1399
  • Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland
    Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland
    Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, titular King of Mann, KG, Lord Marshal was the son of Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy and a descendent of Henry III of England. His mother was Mary of Lancaster, daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster, son of Edmund, Earl of Leicester and...

     1399-1403
  • Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG , an English nobleman, great grandson of King Edward III on his mother's side, was best known as a military commander in the Hundred Years' War and in the Wars of the Roses....

     1403-1455
  • Richard, Duke of York 1455-1456
  • Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG , an English nobleman, great grandson of King Edward III on his mother's side, was best known as a military commander in the Hundred Years' War and in the Wars of the Roses....

     1456-1460
  • John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
    John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester
    John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester KG , English nobleman and scholar, was the son of John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft and Joyce Cherleton, co-heiress of Edward Charleton, 5th Baron Cherleton. He was also known as the Butcher of England...

     1461-1467
  • Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers
    Richard Woodville , 1st Earl Rivers, KG was an English nobleman, best remembered as the father of Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV....

     1467-1469
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester
    Richard III of England
    Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

     1469-1470
  • John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
    John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford
    John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford , the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses...

     1470-1471
  • Richard, Duke of Gloucester
    Richard III of England
    Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

     1471-1483
  • Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
    Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, KG played a major role in Richard III of England's rise and fall. He is also one of the primary suspects in the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower...

     1483
  • Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley
    Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby
    Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby, KG was titular King of Mann, an English nobleman and stepfather to King Henry VII of England...

     1483-1485
  • Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
    Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham
    Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, KG was an English nobleman. He was the son of Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and the former Lady Catherine Woodville, daughter of the 1st Earl Rivers and sister-in-law of King Edward IV.-Early life:Stafford was born at Brecknock Castle in Wales...

     1485-1521


At this point, the office merged with the crown and was revived only for coronations. It was held at coronations by the following individuals:
  • Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset
    Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk
    Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, KG was an English nobleman of the Tudor period and the father of Lady Jane Grey.-Henry VIII's reign:...

    , 1547
  • Henry FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel 1553, 1559
  • Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester
    Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester
    Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, KG, Earl Marshal was an English aristocrat. He was an important advisor to King James I, serving as Lord Privy Seal....

     1603
  • George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
    George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...

     1626
  • Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
    Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
    Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG was an English military leader and a prominent supporter of constitutional monarchy.-Family background:...

     1661
  • Henry Fitzroy, 1st Duke of Grafton
    Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton
    Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton KG was the illegitimate son of King Charles II by Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine....

     1685
  • James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
    James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
    James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...

     1689
  • Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford
    Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford
    Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford KG was the son of William Russell, Lord Russell and his wife Lady Rachel Wriothesley...

     1702
  • John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu
    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu
    John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, KG, KB, PC , styled Viscount Monthermer until 1705 and Marquess of Monthermer between 1705 and 1709, was a British peer...

     1714
  • Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond and 2nd Duke of Lennox
    Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
    The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...

     1727
  • John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
    John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
    John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey...

     1761
  • Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
    Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
    Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...

     1821, 1831, 1838
  • Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
    Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife
    Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife KG, KT, GCVO, PC, VD , styled Viscount Macduff between 1857 and 1879 and known as The Earl Fife between 1879 and 1889, was a British Peer who married Princess Louise of Wales, the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Alexandra of...

     1902, 1911
  • Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe 1937
  • Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke
    Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke
    Field Marshal The Rt. Hon. Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, KG, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO & Bar , was a senior commander in the British Army. He was the Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War, and was promoted to Field Marshal in 1944...

    1953
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