Luke de Tany (died 6 November 1282) was an English noble. He was once the Seneschal of Gascony and Constable of

Tickhill Castle Tickhill Castle was a castle in Tickhill, in South Yorkshire, England and a prominent stronghold during the reign of King John. Early history The gatehouse range, seen from the bailey The castle started as an 11th-century motte-and-bailey ea ...

and Knaresborough Castle. He served

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots (Latin: Malleus Scotorum), was King of England from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he was Lord of Ireland, and from 125 ...

during his

conquest of Wales The conquest of Wales by Edward I took place between 1277 and 1283. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian conquest of Wales,Examples of historians using the term include Professor J. E. Lloyd, regarded as the founder of the modern academ ...

by successfully capturing

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

in 1282. From Anglesey, de Tany sent a strong force over the

Menai Strait The Menai Strait () is a strait which separates the island of Anglesey from Gwynedd, on the mainland of Wales. It is situated between Caernarfon Bay in the south-west and Conwy Bay in the north-east, which are both inlets of the Irish Sea. The s ...

where they were defeated at the Battle of Moel-y-don.

Life

Towards the end of the

Second Barons' War The Second Barons' War (1264–1267) was a civil war in Kingdom of England, England between the forces of barons led by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort against the royalist forces of Henry III of England, King Hen ...

in England, Tany was a loyal follower of King Henry III. He served as Royal Constable of Tickhill and Knaresborough Castles. He executed several captured baronial rebels after a brief judicial process. In 1270 he took part in the

Crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

of Prince Edward. During the Crusade he served as admiral of the fleet. During the return journey from the Crusade, Tany travelled with Edward to Gascony in 1273. Whilst in Gascony, he was appointed to the office of Seneschal of Gascony. He was already Mayor of the town of Lalinde since 1267. His aggressive policies in Gascony led to many complaints, including a quarrel with Gaston of Béarn and the city of Bazas, where two of Tany's militiamen were killed in February 1274. Tany left in mid 1274 and returned to England. In 1278, Edward I sent two confidants, Otton de Grandson and Robert Burnell, to Gascony to investigate the charges against him. The investigation, which took place between May and September 1278, found that although Tany's rule was severe, he was not to be blamed for failure or corruption. He was replaced by Jean I de Grailly, as Seneschal of Gascony. During Edward's second campaign against Wales, Tany was appointed on 18 August 1282 commander of the English troops at Anglesey. He planned to lead an English army via a boat bridge over the Menai Strait to Gwynedd, in an attempt to form a second front at the back of the Welsh. On 6 November, Tany and his army crossed over the boat bridge, however they were attacked by the Welsh on the opposite side. In the ensuing battle of the Menai Strait, the English forces were driven back across the bridge. The boat bridge was destroyed leaving more than 300 killed or drowned, including Tany.

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References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tany, Luke de 1282 deaths Year of birth unknown 13th-century English nobility English military personnel killed in action Medieval English knights Seneschals of Gascony