Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of definition of Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of, 1391–1447, English nobleman; youngest son of Henry IV Henry IV, 1367–1413, king of England (1399–1413), eldest son of John of Gaunt and grandson of Edward III; called Henry of Bolingbroke. He founded the Lancastrian dynasty.
..... Click the link for more information. and Mary de Bohun. He was well educated and had a great interest in humanist scholarship. After the accession of his eldest brother as Henry V Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV .

Early Life

Henry was probably brought up under the care of his uncle, Henry Beaufort .
..... Click the link for more information. , Humphrey was created (1414) duke of Gloucester and earl of Cambridge. He served in Henry's French campaigns and was wounded at the battle of Agincourt (1415). In 1420–21 he remained in England as regent during Henry's absence.

In 1422, when Henry was succeeded by his infant son, Henry VI Henry VI, 1421–71, king of England (1422–61, 1470–71).

Reign

Early Years

The only son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois , he became king of England when he was not yet nine months old.
..... Click the link for more information. , Gloucester claimed the regency. However, Parliament disregarded this claim, which was based on Henry V's will, and made Gloucester's older brother, John of Lancaster, duke of Bedford Bedford, John of Lancaster, duke of, 1389–1435, English nobleman; third son of Henry IV of England and brother of Henry V. At the death (1422) of his brother and succession of his 9-month-old nephew, Henry VI, Bedford was designated as regent of France and
..... Click the link for more information. , protector of the realm. Since Bedford was occupied in France, Gloucester was given the title of protector during his absences, but he had to share his authority with a council of magnates. Gloucester's ensuing struggle for power against his uncle, Henry Beaufort Beaufort, Henry (bō`fərt), 1377?–1447, English prelate and statesman.
..... Click the link for more information. , forced Bedford to return from France several times to reconcile them.

Gloucester married (c.1422) Jacqueline Jacqueline, 1401–36, countess of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland (1417–33). The daughter and heiress of William IV, duke of Bavaria and count of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland, and of Margaret of Burgundy, Jacqueline was passed over for the succession to the
..... Click the link for more information. of Hainaut but abandoned (1425) her after their disastrous military expedition to Hainaut. A papal decree of 1428 invalidated that marriage and permitted him to marry his mistress, Eleanor Cobham, but he was severely criticized.

Henry was crowned king of England in 1429 and king of France in 1431, and Beaufort's ascendancy henceforth increased. After the death of Bedford in 1435, Gloucester became heir presumptive, but his influence with the young king waned as he advocated continuing the unsuccessful war in France. When Eleanor, Gloucester's wife, was imprisoned in 1441 for sorcery against the king, Gloucester's political importance was practically ended. In 1447, William de la Pole, 4th earl of Suffolk (see under Pole Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was

William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339).
..... Click the link for more information. , family), who had succeeded Beaufort as the king's chief adviser, had Gloucester arrested for treason. The duke fell sick and died in custody.

Gloucester was known as "Good Duke Humphrey," probably because of his patronage of scholars and men of letters. He corresponded with the leaders of the new Italian humanism, had translations made from the Greek classics, and collected a considerable library. His gift of books to Oxford Univ. formed the nucleus later restored and developed by Sir Thomas Bodley Bodley, Sir Thomas, 1545–1613, English scholar and diplomat, organizer of the Bodleian Library at Oxford Univ. He was a Greek scholar and teacher at Oxford, and in 1584 he was elected to Parliament.
..... Click the link for more information. into the Bodleian Library. However, in matters of state he lacked determination, flitting from one project to another and following through with none. Unable to appear decisive, he thus antagonized all by his assertions of power.

Bibliography

See biography by E. F. Jacob, The Fifteenth Century (1961).