Thomas Scales, 7th Baron Scales (9 October 1399 – 20 July 1460) was an English nobleman and one of the main English military commanders in the last phase of the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...

. The son of Robert de Scales, 5th Baron Scales (–1402), he succeeded his brother Robert de Scales, 6th Baron Scales (died July 1419) as baron. Thomas distinguished himself in France, against Jack Cade and in many other places. He was rewarded with a grant of £100 a year during his life and the privilege of a 200-tonne ship to transport goods wherever he saw fit (excluding

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

). 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 ...

from 1445 to 1460. Scales was an important man of considerable wealth. This is alluded to in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Henry VI, Part 3 ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas ''Henry VI, Part 1, ...

'': King Edward IV's brothers George and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

complain to Edward about his bestowal of Scales' heiress (one of the wealthiest in England) on his Queen's brother, instead of one of them.

Family

Thomas Scales was born on 9 October 1399 at Middleton, Norfolk, and was baptized there. He was the second son of Robert de Scales, 5th Baron Scales (–1402), and Elizabeth Bardolf (d. 1441), daughter of William Bardolf, 4th Baron Bardolf. Thomas inherited the barony of Scales after the death of his brother Robert, 6th Lord Scales (1397–1419).

Military commander

Cannons abandonded by Thomas Scalles at Mont Saint-Michel

In 1422, Scales crossed the Channel to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, and served as a lieutenant of John, Duke of Bedford. By 1423, Scales was captain of Verneuil. From 1424 to 1425, he fought alongside John Fastolf to recapture the fortress at

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. He was captured at the Battle of Patay in 1429 and later ransomed. In 1434, he commanded an assault against the French-held Mont-Saint-Michel in

, which ended in failure and led Scales to abandon his cannons behind him (since then displayed inside the city). According to a recruitment roll now at the National Army Museum, he commanded a corps of 728 archers (some with fire-tipped arrows) and about 50 infantry at the siege of Saint-Denis. In 1439, to cut off Mont-Saint-Michel, at the end of the French bridge in English-held territory, he founded the citadel of Granville. In 1442 Granville was taken by surprise by the French defenders of the Mont. In the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses, known at the time and in following centuries as the Civil Wars, were a series of armed confrontations, machinations, battles and campaigns fought over control of the English throne from 1455 to 1487. The conflict was fo ...

Scales fought for Lancaster, and as such appears in Shakespeare's '' Henry VI, Part 2''. On 20 July 1460 Scales was murdered,Philip Morant, ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex'' having, as commander of the Tower of London, turned its weapons against the city which was supporting the Yorkist Earl of Salisbury in besieging the Tower.

Residences

Thomas held Rivenhall in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

; Newsells and Barkway in Hertfordshire; and Ilsington, Middelton, Lynne, Hardwicke, Rongeton, Tylney and Clenchwarton in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

.Feudal Aids 1284-1431

Coat of arms

Gules, six escallops argent

Marriage

Thomas married Ismayne Whalesburgh (aka EsmaniaSuffolk Feet of Fines aka Ismaine, aka Emma Whalseborough) in Paris in November, 1424. They had two children: * Thomas Scales (died in infancy) * Elizabeth de Scales Woodville, Baroness Scales (died 2 September 1473), married Henry Bourchier, second son of Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex and his wife

Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex (1409 – 2 October 1484) was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and like him a great-grandchild of ...

who died in 1458, then Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers as her second husband.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Sir Thomas Scales, 7th Lord Scales, Seneschal of Normandy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scales, Thomas de Scales, 7th Baron 1399 births 1460 deaths People of the Wars of the Roses People of the Hundred Years' War Knights of the Garter Male Shakespearean characters 7 People from King's Lynn and West Norfolk (district)