Biography of Bishop Thomas of Hatfield 1310-1381

Around 1310 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield was born.

In 1344 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 34) was appointed Lord Keeper of the Great Seal which office he held until July 1345.

On 8th May 1345 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 35) was elected Bishop of Durham.

On 7th August 1345 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 35) was consecrated Bishop of Durham.

In 1380 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 70) drew up a covenant to leave £3000 to endow Durham College, Oxford, the primary endowment of the college, and enabled the construction of its quadrangle, chapel and surviving library.

After 1381. Durham Cathedral [Map]. Monument to Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 71) beneath the Bishop's cathedra.

On 8th May 1381 Bishop Thomas of Hatfield (age 71) died.

Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. In this dreadful clash of armies, the courageous Edward of Woodstock,¹ the king's firstborn son, then only sixteen years of age, demonstrated to the French his astonishing valour. He pierced horses, overthrew knights, shattered helmets, broke lances, cleverly deflected incoming blows, aided his comrades, defended himself, raised fallen friends, and set an example of noble conduct for all who fought with him. Nor did he rest from such toil until the enemy, now fortified only by a rampart of the dead, finally withdrew. It was in that struggle that he learned how to direct the operations of war, a lesson he would later apply at the Battle of Poitiers, where he captured the King of France. In this fierce contest, the prince and the small force of his vanguard held firm, while the French launched repeated assaults, continually replacing the fallen, the weary, and the wounded with fresh troops. So constant was this pressure on the prince and those around him that he was at one point compelled to fight kneeling,² under the overwhelming weight of enemy numbers.

In tam diro congressu acierum magnanimus Edwardus de Wodestoke, regis primogenitus, agens tunc annum etatis sextum decimum, in prima custodia ostendebat Gallicis suam probitatem admirandam, equos perforando, equites prosternendo, cassides conquaciendo, lanceas truncando, ictus obiectos prudenter frustrando, suos iuvando, se ipsum defendendo, amicos prostratos erigendo, et suis omnibus exemplum bene faciendi exibendo; nec a tanto labore conquievit, quousque inimici aggere mortuorum muniti se ipsos retraxere. Ibi didicit ille militaris honour quomodo bellum de Peitiers, in quo postmodum regem Francie captivavit, actus militares expertus ordinaret. In isto certamine perstiterunt continue cum iuveni principe contra illi pauci ordinati aciei prime, quos Gallici crebro commutati et pro occisis aut fessis seu wlneratis retractis novi recentes supervenerunt, et continuis accessibus ita ocuparunt principem et sibi astantes, quod per ingruentem super illum molem hostium tunc compellebatur genuflexus pugnare.

Note 1. From the prominence given to the part taken by the prince of Wales's division, it is evident that Baker had his information chiefly from one of the prince's followers. The general course of the battle after the destruction of the Genoese crossbowmen he does not follow. Wynkeley in Murimuth 216, who, like Northburgh, was a non-combatant, and probably watched the battle from the rear, with the king's division, speaks of three charges, the third being the most desperate,: "But the prince (Edward, the Black Prince), who commanded our front line, stood against him. After a fierce and prolonged fight, the enemy was repulsed twice. A third time, rallying his forces, he fought with renewed strength."

His letter has evidently formed the basis of other accounts, Murimuth 246: "To whom the Prince of Wales, the Earls of Northampton and Warwick, together with the most valiant men placed in the first division, offered a vigorous resistance; and, after a fierce and prolonged conflict, the French twice suffered repulse, and their king was thrown from his horse. He was, however, quickly lifted up again, and, regrouping his troops, launched a very strong renewed assault against the English who did not hesitate to return the attack just as fiercely, with lances and arrows flying thickly through the air, piercing not only the flesh of men but also of horses, rarely stopped by any armour."

Knighton 2587 also describes three main attacks: "In the foremost line was Edward, Prince of Wales, firstborn son of King Edward, the Earl of Northampton, and the Earl of Warwick with their forces, who attacked and overthrew the first division of the French, aided by divine support. Then, without any pause, they likewise engaged and defeated the second division, in which were two kings and one duke namely, the King of Bohemia, the King of Majorca, and the Duke of Lorraine, along with many other nobles. Then the Prince of Wales engaged with the third division, in which were King Philip of Valois, the King of Germany, and Lord John of Hainault, and, relying on the grace of God, he struck them down and overcame them."

Note 2. Bourgeois de Valenciennes, 232: "At that moment, the battle began between the two sides. It lasted for a long time, perilous and merciless, bloody, cruel, and dreadful, from noon until nearly nightfall. The Prince of Wales was in such danger that he was twice brought to his knees. Sir Richard Fitz-Simon, who bore his banner, took it, placed it under his feet, and stood on it to defend himself and rescue his master. Then, taking his sword in both hands, he began to fight and to shout: 'Edward, to Saint George! To the king's son!' To that rescue came the Bishop of Durham and many valiant knights who helped the prince and raised his banner again."

Louandre, in his account of the battle, Histoire d'Abbeville (1844), 1.238, draws from another source the same anecdote of the young prince's rescue by his standard-bearer, whom however he names Richard de Beaumont: "He immediately advanced with the men of his banner against the Prince of Wales. The prince strove in vain to resist his valiant adversaries; they overthrew everything in their path and broke through to him. Surrounded and thrown to the ground, he would have inevitably fallen into their hands were it not for a Norman knight, Richard de Beaumont, who bore the great banner of the principality of Wales. This knight cast his large standard over the prince, stood on it, took his sword in both hands, and fought so fiercely that he prevented his young lord from being killed."

The knight who was despatched to the king to ask for help was, according to Froissart 281, Thomas of Norwich: "Then the king replied and asked the knight, who was called Sir Thomas of Norwich: 'Sir Thomas, is my son dead or wounded, or so injured that he cannot help himself?' The knight replied: 'No, my lord, God willing, but he is in a hard fight and would greatly need your help.' Then the king said: 'Sir Thomas, return to him and to those who sent you here, and tell them from me not to send for me again today for any chance that may befall them, as long as my son is still alive. And tell them that I command them to let the boy earn his spurs; for I wish, if it please God, that the day may be his, and that the honour may remain with him and those to whom I have entrusted his charge.'

The timely succour of twenty knights was a much more probable answer to the petition than the romantic words put into Edward's mouth by Froissart. The blank left by Baker for the name of the leader of the relieving force may, on the authority of the passage quoted above from the Bourgeois de Valenciennes, be filled up with that of the bishop of Durham. Froissart posts the bishop with the second division under Northampton, which he describes as advancing to the prince's support just when the message was sent to the king. The Bourgeois de Valenciennes is more probably correct in placing him with Edward.