Thomas de Clifford, 6th Baron de Clifford, also 6th Lord of Skipton (c. 1363 – 1391) was a Knight of The Chamber, hereditary Sheriff of

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

, Governor of

Carlisle Castle Carlisle Castle is a medieval stone keep castle that stands within the English city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1093 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over ...

, and Warden of the West Marches.

Life

He was the son of

Roger de Clifford, 5th Baron de Clifford Roger de Clifford, 5th Baron de Clifford, ninth Lord Clifford, fifth Baron of Westmoreland (10 July 1333 – 13 July 1389), was the son of Robert de Clifford, 3rd Baron de Clifford (d. 20 May 1344), second son of Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de ...

. According to Dugdale, he was a knight of the king's chamber in 8 Richard II (1384-5). On 25 June 1386, Northampton, the herald, was allowed to carry a challenge from 'Thomas de Clifford, chivaler l'eisne Fitz-Rogeri, Sire de Clifford,' to Sir Bursigande, eldest son of 'le Sire Bursigande,' in France. According to Dugdale, Sir Thomas crossed the sea for this tournament in the following May. Rymer has preserved a document, dated 28 January 1387, in which the king licenses 'our very dear and loyal knight, Sir Thomas Clifford, to perform all manner of feats of arms' on the Scotch borders. He inherited his estates and titles on his father's death in 1380. He and two other English knights challenged three French knights to a tourney in the marches between Boulogne and Calais; and on 20 June 1390, he procured safe conduct through England for William de Douglas, who was coming to the English court with forty knights to a wager of battle with Clifford with reference to certain disputed lands. In 1384, he was granted the custody of Carlisle Castle for life jointly with John Neville, and in 1386 was appointed a warden of the west march. In September 1388, he was master of the king's horses. He was summoned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

by Writ from 6 December 1389. He was hereditary

High Sheriff of Westmorland Westmorland (sometimes spelled Westmoreland) in North West England was abolished in 1974 following Ted Heath's Local Government Act 1972. Westmorland became a part of Cumbria along with Cumberland, parts of Yorkshire and Lancashire, including the ...

from 1389 until his own death in 1391. His name occurs in the council minutes for 28 April 1390; and according to Dugdale, he received summonses to parliament in 1390-2. In 1391, Clifford was in the Baltic, and became involved in a brawl with Sir William Douglas, an illegitimate son of the

earl of Douglas This page is concerned with the holders of the forfeit title Earl of Douglas and the preceding feudal barons of Douglas, South Lanarkshire. The title was created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1358 for William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas, son ...

, in which Douglas was killed. Clifford, overcome by remorse, set off for Jerusalem and died in 1391 on an unidentified Mediterranean island. Dugdale gives the date of his death as 18 August 1391.

Family

He married before 1379 Elizabeth (died March 1424), daughter of

Thomas de Ros, 4th Baron de Ros Thomas Ros, 4th Baron Ros of Helmsley (13 January 1335 – 8 June 1384) was the son of William Ros, 2nd Baron Ros and Margery de Badlesmere. In 1364, he accompanied the king of Cyprus to the Holy Land; and was in the French wars, from 1369 to 1 ...

of Helmesley, by Beatrice, daughter of

Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford (24 September 1301 – 31 August 1372), KG, of Stafford Castle and Madeley Castle in Staffordshire, was an English nobleman and a notable soldier during the Hundred Years' War again ...

, KG, by whom he had issue. He was succeeded by his eldest son

John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford (c. 1389 – 13 March 1422), also known as John, Lord Clifford, 7th Lord of the Honor of Skipton, KG, was an English peer. He was killed at the siege of Meaux, France. Family John Clifford, born about 13 ...

. Lord Clifford is often styled in documents "King's kinsman".

Issue

, married

Lady Elizabeth Percy John Clifford, 7th Baron de Clifford (c. 1389 – 13 March 1422), also known as John, Lord Clifford, 7th Lord of the Honor of Skipton, KG, was an English peer. He was killed at the siege of Meaux, France. Family John Clifford, born about 138 ...

, daughter of

Henry 'Hotspur' Percy Sir Henry Percy (20 May 1364 – 21 July 1403), nicknamed Hotspur, was an English knight who fought in several campaigns against the Scots in the northern border and against the French during the Hundred Years' War. The nickname "Ho ...

by Elizabeth, daughter of

Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March Edmund de Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March and ''jure uxoris'' Earl of Ulster (1 February 135227 December 1381) was the son of Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March, by his wife Philippa, daughter of William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Catherine Gr ...

. * Maud Clifford married 1) John Neville, 6th

Baron Latimer The title Baron Latimer or Latymer has been created, by the definitions of modern peerage law, four times in the Peerage of England. Of these, one (of Snape) was restored from abeyance in 1913; one (of Braybrook) is forfeit; the other two (both ...

; 2)

Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge Richard of Conisbrough, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (20 July 1385 – 5 August 1415) was the second son of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York. He was beheaded for his part in the Southampton Plot, a conspiracy ...

References

;Attribution

Sources

*Richardson, Douglas, ''Plantagenet Ancestry'', Baltimore Md., 2004, p. 216. * {{DEFAULTSORT:de Clifford, Thomas De Clifford, 6th Baron 1363 births 1391 deaths 14th-century English nobility High Sheriffs of Westmorland

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

Barons de Clifford