http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_de_Beauchamp,_11th_Earl_of_Warwick

Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG (c.14 February 1313 – 13 November 1369) was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. In 1348 he became one of the founders and the third Knight of the Order of the Garter.

Early life

He was born at Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England to Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and Alice de Toeni.

He served in Scotland frequently during the 1330s, being captain of the army against the Scots in 1337.

He was hereditary High Sheriff of Worcestershire from 1333 until his death (in 1369). In 1344 he was also made High Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire for life.

Victor at Crécy and Poitiers

Thomas Beauchamp fought in all the French wars of King Edward III: commanded at the Battle of Crecy: was guardian of the sixteen-year-old Black Prince: fought at Poitiers in 1356 and at the Siege of Calais (1346). He began the rebuilding of the Collegiate Church of Saint Mary, in Warwick out of money received from the ransom of a French Archbishop. He died of plague in Calais on 13 November 1369.

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Thomas Beauchamp, 3rd Earl of Warwick 1314-1369

Founder Member of the Order of the Garter 1348

Thomas's father died in 1315, while Thomas was only 2 years of age, so he was put in the custody and tuition of Hugh Le Despenser, but, upon the accession of Edward III, Warwick Castle and his other extensive possessions were granted to Roger, Lord Mortimer, afterwards Earl of March, until he should attain his majority. Before that event, however, he was armed by the King; and, as a special favour, admitted to the livery of his lands whilst still a minor. It may be that being a similar age to Edward III he formed a close friendship with the king. The Earl of March having, in 1337, received a grant of the benefit of his marriage, bestowed on him, his eldest daughter, the Lady Katherine Mortimer, having first obtained a Papal dispensation as they were related. In 1337 Thomas was the captain of the army against the Scots. Thomas received in June 1340 the sum of £1,000 as wages following the French campaign of 1339, which saw the withdrawal of the French army at Vironfosse, and in 1341 received £610 ‘for the time in which he was beyond the seas as a hostage for the king's debts’.

In 1342, Thomas was in the retinue of Henry, Earl of Lancaster in Scotland for the establishment of John Balliol as King, and, in 1344, was made Marshal of England until his death in 1369, following the death of the previous Marshal William Montague. Thomas in 1344 was made for life the sheriff of the counties of Warwickshire and Leicestershire. Thomas already held the shrievalty of Worcestershire through hereditary tenure. In 1346, he attended the King on his military expedition into France, and it is said that, upon landing at La Hogue, he attacked with only one esquire and six archers, a body of 100 Normans. After slaying sixty of them, he made way for the disembarkation of the English host. On 17 July 1346 he was in charge of the kings right flank with 2500 men ravaging the territory between the main army and the sea. Earl Thomas together with the Earl of Northampton led the crossing of the Somme at Blanche-Taque to secure the northern bank and allow the English army to cross. Earl Thomas was one of the chief commanders being appointed one of the 2 Marshals and who, under Prince Edward, led the vanguard on the right wing at the Battle of Crécy. In 1347, Thomas was at the Siege of Calais with a considerable retinue. In 1347 Thomas was give a ‘gift from the king’ of £1,366 11s 8d. In 1348 Edward III retained Thomas for life for a sum of 1,000 marks per year ‘for his fee for his stay with the king with 100 men-at-arms’.

An indenture dated at Westminster 10th July 1355, between the King and Prince Edward, stipulated that the Prince Edward's retinue would be paid by the king for 6 months in advance from the day of their embarkation for another campaign in France and should conisist of the Earls of Warwick, Suffolk, Oxford and Salisbury, Sir John de Lisle and Sir Reginald de Cobham, 433 men-at-arms and 700 archers, of whom 400 should be mounted and 300 on foot, as well as the men-at-arms and archers. During the campaign of 1355 Thomas led the Vanguard with Reginald De Cobham and spent the winter at La Réole on the Garonne. In January 1356 Thomas was part of a smaller force that advanced up the Garonne, almost to Agen. In 1356 Thomas again campaigned with Prince Edward and at the battle of Poitiers led the vanguard with the Earl of Oxford and was ordered by Prince Edward to move the bagage train across the Miosson and if there was any chance to escape with it at first light. The following day their movement was seen, triggering the start of the battle, and the Prince recalled them. The French advanced and the returning Warwick caught a French flank with his archers that caused the French to retreat. Thomas added greatly to his fame in the battle and obtained £8,000 as the ransom for William De Melleun, Archbishop of Seinz, whom he had captured. Thomas also gained £3,000 for the capture of the Bishop of Le Mans whom he had a three quarters share. After the battle Prince Edward asked him and Sir Reginald Cobham to find the captured King Jean, where he had to be rescued from captors arguing over his ransom. It was said that Thomas fought long and hard in the battle ‘that his hand was galled with the exercise of his sword and poll axe’.

During the truce with France, in 1362, Thomas spent 3 years on a crusade against the Lithuanians. For the crusade Thomas is said to have taken 300 horses for his attendants and train which was made up of knights, esquires, archers, friends and servants. At his return, Thomas brought, with him, the son of the Lithuanian king, whom he had baptized in London and, as his sponsor, gave him his own Christian name. In 1366, the Earl was despatched by the King into Flanders upon special service and, in 1366 office of Marshal was renewed.

In 1368 Edward III sent an army led by John, Duke of Lancaster and Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, which lay encamped near Calais but from a lack of provisions, many died of famine and pestilence. The Earl of Warwick, hearing that the French army was ready to give battle, at the head of a chosen band, to the coast of the enemy, who, who being surprised, fled with speed. Upon disembarking, he expressed himself indignant at the delay which had occurred in the attack, and mocked the Earls of Lancaster and Hereford for delaying and hastened, saying, "I will go on and fight before the English bread we have eaten be digested" and thereupon entered and wasted the Isle of Caux. On his return towards Calais, Thomas died on the 13 November 1369. Apparently having fallen sick with the pestilence, though rumours later emerged concerning his poisoning by Humphrey De Bohun. Thomas left "not behind him his equal in warlike qualities and fidelity to the King and Kingdom."

Thomas had drawn uop his will 2 months before his death in which he requested that he be buried in the collegiate church of Warwick, and bequeathed that his executors build a new choir in the same church. Thomas asked for masses to be sung for his soul and distribute alms for its health, ‘especially at Bordesley, Worcester and Warwick’. His body was taken to England and buried in the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Warwick, where a splendid tomb, with the effigies of himself and his wife, can still be seen today. The emblem of the bear and the ragged staff were first used by the Beauchamp family, who became earls of Warwick in 1268, as a badge or mark of identity in addition to their own coat of arms. At first the emblems seem to have been used independently. The bear alone appears on the tomb of Thomas Beauchamp I (died 1369), in the chancel of St Mary's Church in Warwick. Previous to his departure upon his last and fatal expedition, he made his will, dated at Chelsea, 6 September 1369.

By Katherine, his countess, he had seven sons and nine daughters. The sons were: Guy, who predeceased him, leaving three daughters; Thomas, who succeeded him as Earl of Warwick; Reyburn, who died without male issue; William, Baron of Abergavenny; Roger, who died without issue; John; and Jerome. The two last probably died young.

Memorials Of The Most Noble Order Of The Garter From Its Foundation To The Present Time, George Beltz, 1841