Thomas Lygon

• General Notes
  • August 1422 marked the end of the reign of Henry V. Disease, probably dysentery he contracted in the field, felled the monarch who united England against France. He left behind a brilliant empire that soon faded into a century of darkness. To the throne ascended a baby who, at the death of Charles VI two months later, they proclaimed King of France. Thomas Lygon [450560.2], the second son of Thomas Lygon and Joan Bracy, was born about the same time as Henry VI and their lives would be intertwined.
    Henry VI, both physically and mentally limited, was influenced by his protectors, the princes of the House of Lancaster. Political intrigue, seemingly the perpetual state of English affairs, was no less apparent during Henry’s reign. Tempers among the factions ran hot and treachery, malice, and vengeance were all about.
    While both Henry VI and Thomas were young boys, England attempted to expand her influence in France south of the Loire. English archers could prevail against armies six times their number and Charles VII, who many considered the true French king, could find no way to defeat the Islanders. That is until St. Michael appointed a liberator. Undoubtedly both Henry and Thomas heard the reports of a supernatural maiden of the remote French hamlet of Domrémy, Joan of Arc. Joan’s valor, compassion, and purity have not since been equaled. Henry and Thomas would have been about ten on 29 May 1431 when Joan of Arc, bound upon a pyramid of firewood called out her last word, “Jesus.” An English soldier standing nearby said “We are lost. We have burned a saint.” Indeed they were. Joan’s influence and inspiration survived her and the French drove the English from the Continent.
    At age twenty-three, it was time for Henry to marry. His Lancastrian allies matched him with Margaret, the daughter of René of Anjou. It was perhaps about this time that Thomas married Anne Gifford, the daughter of probably Nicholas Gifford. She seems to have brought the manor of “Bradwell” to her husband.
    Their pride wounded by the loss of France, England settled into a period of grief and social upheaval. Roads were unsafe, the people were unrestful, and the country government lapsed into disorder and confusion. The House of Lancaster fell from favor and the House of York increasingly became a rival party. Richard, Duke of York, had a right to the crown, perhaps greater than that of Henry VI, whose grandfather Henry IV, had seized power in 1399. The “Yorkists,” as some called them, predominated in the South and the Lancastrians, in the North. Elsewhere was a patchwork of sentiments. Records show that Thomas Ligon, living then in Worcester in the West of England, was a Yorkist. Historians call the thirty-year clash between the houses of York and Lancaster the Wars of the Roses.
    In the spring of 1455 York and his nobles took to arms and marched to Saint Albans. Among them was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, later the leader of the Yorkists. Neville’s wife was Ann Beauchamp, sole heiress of Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, who they killed at Barnet Field fighting against the King Edward IV. The title, “Earl of Warwick,” descended to Nevill. At Saint Albans they defeated the Lancastrians and captured the King.
    Yet the Lancastrians rebounded and a tense reconciliation was arranged. In 1459 fighting broke out again when the royal army dispersed some armed Yorkists near Worcester, the seat of the Ligon’s. War began in earnest in July 1460. We do not know what role Thomas Ligon played in these early conflicts. Patent Rolls of 1461 show that Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, John Beauchamp of Powyck, and Thomas Lygon gathered the men of Worcester to fight against the King’s enemies. The phrase “to fight against the King’s enemies” is peculiar. Yet by 1461, Warwick held the King captive and claimed to be acting in his name. That they listed Thomas with the Earl of Warwick shows he was probably a prominent figure in the war.
    The Lancastrians killed Richard, Duke of York, at the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460. His son Edward led York forces against the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton on 2 February 1461. Thomas Ligon’s companion-in-arms, the Earl of Warwick, took decisive action to motivate his men when the tide turned against them. He ordered his horse, his means of escape, brought forward. Before the entire army he ran it through, kissed the hilt of his sword, and declared that he would share the fate of the soldiers of the lowest rank.
    Yorkists broke the Lancastrians and Edward became King Edward IV. It would be seven more years until all the Lancaster fortresses fell to Edward. The last succumbed in 1468 when Harlech, on the western sea, surrendered. A child of twelve survived the rigors of the seven-year siege. He was Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, and the grandson of Margaret de Beauchamp. They later would crown him King Henry VII.
    Edward reigned until 1470 when Lancastrians drove him from England and returned Henry VI to the throne. Edward came back seven months later and records show he called upon Thomas Ligon and his Worcester forces to aid him. They defeated the Lancastrians at Barnet and Tewkesbury, regaining the crown for Edward. In 1472 perhaps in recognition of Thomas’s service during these battles, Edward IV granted him lands that had belonged to the king’s enemies. In 1477 Thomas Ligon was a Member of Parliament from Worcester.
    Thomas Ligon continued to serve Edward IV and, later, accepted several commissions during the unsatisfactory reign of Richard III. In April 1484 when Richard’s only son died, Henry Tudor, a descendant of Edward III and French royalty, became the obvious rival for the throne. When he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV, he united the houses of York and Lancaster. Richard, anticipating rebellion at every turn, ordered commissions of muster and array in all the counties. Records of 1484 show orders to Thomas Ligon to array the men of Worcester.
    England, tired of the dynastic struggles of thirty years, looked to Henry Tudor for relief. Men of both York and Lancaster withdrew from the king and joined Henry in Brittany. Henry’s kingship was inevitable. At the Battle of Bosworth Field in August 1484, Richard fought to the end. His dead body was bound across a horse and his crown, worn to the last, was placed on the head of Henry Tudor.
    We presume Thomas’s brother, William Ligon [450560.1], died about 1484. Thomas apparently succeeded his brother at “Madresfield,” then, and acquired lands at “Madresfield” in 1485.
    The fall of the House of York did not seem to diminish the fortunes of Thomas Ligon. King Henry VII sought his services in 1488 when Thomas was a commissioner of array in Worcester to oppose the rebellion in the North. Commissioner of array probably meant he called the troops to muster. Records of 1491 identify Thomas as custodian of the Castle of Gloucester. Custodian probably meant he was the sheriff. About 1496, when Henry was gathering men at Berwick Castle as defense against the Scots, he called on Ligon to array again the men of Worcester. Thomas remained a loyal supporter of the House of Lancaster until his death in 1507.
    Thomas and Anne had two children, Richard [225280.1] and Jane Lygon [225280.2]. The old soldier died 10 April 1507 when he must have been much more than eighty years of age. He had outlived Henry VI by thirty-five years. 

Click here for details of Thomas' family with Anne Gifford

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