Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Sir Robert Morley or Robert de Morley, 2nd Baron Morley (c. 1295 – 23, March 1360), was an English

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

and naval officer who served as

Admiral of the North The Admiral of the North also known as Admiral of the Northern Seas and Admiral of the Northern Fleet was a senior English Navy appointment. The Admiral was chiefly responsible for the command of the navy's fleet that operated in the North Sea ...

four times from (1339–42, 1348–49, 1350–51 and 1355–56) in the service of

King Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

. He inherited the title of

Earl Marshal of Ireland Marshal of Ireland or Earl Marshal of Ireland is a hereditary title originally awarded to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke in the Lordship of Ireland, which descended to Baron Morley. The title of Marshal, like that of Baron Morley, has been ...

through marriage to his first wife Hawise Le Marshal in 1316 and retained it until his death in 1360.

Naval career

Robert, Lord Morley was one of the most famous naval officers during the

Wars of Scottish Independence The Wars of Scottish Independence were a series of military campaigns fought between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The First War (1296–1328) began with the English invasion of ...

and the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantagen ...

. He was appointed Admiral of the

Northern Fleet Severnyy flot , image = Great emblem of the Northern Fleet.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Northern Fleet's great emblem , start_date = June 1, 1733; Sov ...

from 1339 to 1343. and commanded the fleet that was part of the English naval forces during the

Battle of Sluys The Battle of Sluys (; ), also called the Battle of l'Écluse, was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between England and France. It took place in the roadstead of the port of Sluys (French ''Écluse''), on a since silted-up inlet betwee ...

. On 26 August 1346 he was present at the

Battle of Crécy The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King PhilipVI and an English army led by King EdwardIII. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France du ...

. From 1348 to 1349 he was appointed joint Admiral of the North with Sir

Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny Walter Manny (or Mauny), 1st Baron Manny, KG (c. 1310 – 14 or 15 January 1372), soldier of fortune and founder of the Charterhouse, was from Masny in Hainault, from whose counts he claimed descent. He was a patron and friend of Froissart, ...

. From 1350 until 1351 appointed

for the third time. In 1355 he was appointed

Constable of the Tower of London The Constable of the Tower is the most senior appointment at the Tower of London. In the Middle Ages a constable was the person in charge of a castle when the owner—the king or a nobleman—was not in residence. The Constable of the Tower had a ...

. He was appointed for the fourth and last time Admiral of North and administration of the Northern Admiralty from 1355 to 1356. He died in Burgundy, France on 23 March 1360. Prior to the creation of a single Admiralty Office in 1414 that encompassed all of England. The English Navy was administered through geographical commands or regional Admiralties.

Earl Marshal of Ireland

In 1316 he inherited the title of

through his marriage to Hawise Le Marshal whose brother John Marshal, 2nd Baron Marshal died without a successor.Cokayne. p. 371. He retained the title for life until 1360.

Family

He was the only child of Sir William Morley, 1st Baron Morley, (1270–1300) and Cecily de Mohaut, (1273–1316).Burke. p. 370. His first marriage in 1316 was to Hawise Le Marshal, (1301–1329); who was the daughter of Sir William le Marshal, 1st Lord Marshal, Marshal of Ireland and Christian de Burgh. They had one son Sir William Morley, 3rd Baron Morley. His second marriage was to Joan de Tyes with whom he had two children; Joan de Morley and Sir John Morley. His later grandson was

Thomas Morley, 4th Baron Morley Thomas de Morley, 4th Baron Morley, KG (c. 1354 – 24 September 1416) was a baron in the Peerage of England, Lord of Morley, Hingham, Hockering, &c., in Norfolk, ''de jure'' Lord Marshall, hereditary Earl Marshal of Ireland, and a Privy ...

Footnotes

Bibliography

* Burke, John (1831). A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, extinct, dormant, and in abeyance. England. London: H. Colburn & R. Bentley. * Cokayne, George Edward (1887). Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. London: George Bell & Sons. * Rodger, N.A.M. (2004). The safeguard of the sea: a naval history of Britain. 660 to 1649. New York: W.W. Norton. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Morley, Robert Morley, 2nd Baron 14th-century English Navy personnel English admirals Barons Morley 1290s births 1360 deaths Year of birth uncertain