Sir Henry Green,
JP ( 1347 – 1399) was a courtier and councillor to king
Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
of England.
Ancestry
Born in Northamptonshire, he was the son of
Sir Henry Green, a lawyer and
Chief Justice of the King's Bench
The Lord or Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the courts of England and Wales.
Until 2005 the lord chief justice was the second-most senior judge of the English a ...
, by his second marriage to Katherine Drayton, daughter of Sir John Drayton of Drayton.
Career
Green inherited
Drayton House in Northamptonshire at his father's death in 1370.
[Magnolia Plantation and Gardens By Derek Fell. Giibs Smith. 2009] He became a JP in 1380 and MP for
Huntingdonshire
Huntingdonshire (; abbreviated Hunts) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England, which was historically a county in its own right. It borders Peterborough to the north, Fenland to the north-east, East Cambridgeshire to the e ...
in 1390, for
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
in 1394 and 1397 and finally in the autumn of 1397 he became MP for
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. He also served in France with John of Gaunt.
He became a close confidant of King Richard II. Along with Sir
John Bussy and Sir
William Bagot he was appointed one of the eccentric Richard's 'continual councillors' who gained an unsavoury reputation. At one point they advised the king to confiscate the lands of the exiled
Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford.
When Bolingbroke returned from exile in 1399 to reclaim his inheritance, the three councillors decided flight was the best option. Bussy and Green sought sanctuary in
Bristol Castle
Bristol Castle was a Norman castle established in the late 11th century on the north bank of the River Avon in Bristol. Remains can be seen today in Castle Park near the Broadmead Shopping Centre, including the sally port.
Built during the ...
but were delivered up to Bolingbroke on 28 July 1399, who had them beheaded the following day. Bagot was spared and eventually
pardoned.
All three continual councillors (referred to as "caterpillars") feature in Shakespeare's historical play ''
King Richard II
Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...
'', generally listed as "Bushy, Baghot and Green". Green also appears in the anonymous Elizabethan play ''
Thomas of Woodstock''.
Family
He married Maud (or Matilda) Mauduit, daughter and heiress of Thomas Mauduit, by whom he had several children, including;
* Ralph, his heir
* Eleanor, m. Sir John Fitzwilliam (d. 5 July 1417).
Notes
References
*
*
Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300–1500American Historical Society. 1n. History, genealogical-biographical, of the Danielson and allied familiesWillement’s roll of arms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Green, Henry
Date of birth unknown
Year of birth uncertain
1340s births
1399 deaths
English MPs January 1390
Executed people from Northamptonshire
People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation
English politicians convicted of crimes
English MPs 1394
English MPs January 1397
English MPs September 1397
English justices of the peace