Thomas of Woodstock

I mentioned yesterday that Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt, married Mary de Bohun, through whom he inherited the title Earl of Hereford, but that it almost didn't happen. That uncertainty was due to the machinations of Henry's uncle, Thomas of Woodstock.The last time we saw Thomas of Woodstock he was one of the Lords Appellant, working to curtail the administration of his nephew, Edward the Black prince's son King Richard II. In this he was opposing his older brothers, John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster and Edmund Langley Duke of York.Thomas was the youngest child of Edward III and Philippa of Hainault. He was born 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Palace (hence his surname). He was the second Thomas: there had been a son named Thomas earlier who did not survive long after childbirth. At 19 in 1374 he was married to Eleanor de Bohun, 11 years younger than he and the daughter of the 7th Earl of Hereford. Eleanor and her younger sister, Mary, were co-heiresses of their father.The…