The focus for this dissertation is a fourteenth century knight, Sir Thomas Trivet. My search began with the Westminster Chronicler who painted a less than flattering portrait of this obscure knight, accusing him of accepting bribes from the French during the disastrous Flanders expedition of 1383.¹ However, it soon became clear that Trivet, the son of a lesser Somerset landowner, was a relatively successful knight who had risen from obscurity through his own militaristic ability. Although he is thought to have been born in 1330, the pinnacle of his career came late, in the reign of Richard 2nd and in the 1380s in particular.² It is with his later career that I will mainly be concerned in this dissertation, namely, the Flanders expedition of 1383 and his run-in with the Appellants in 1387, which led to his brief arrest in 1388 before he died, as a result of a riding accident,on the 6th October that year. I hope to tackle this biogaphy of Thomas Trivet thematically rather than chronologically, centering on issues such as his connections, his family and the brief exploits which embroiled him in the politics of the troubled reign of Richard II. In approaching Trivet's life in this way, I hope to grasp the all-important question of whether I feel that his political and military career was a success or not.

To begin with. it is necessary to provide an overall view of this Somerset knight. Given-Wilson points out that although Trivet was closely associated with Richard's court, he was not a Chamber Knight³ He was, as Mitchell reveals, a Banneret of the Household, which meant that he was allowed vassals under his own banner and was more than likely, knighted on the battlefield.4 Mitchell has found evidence of his status as a banneret in 1382 when he was among the appointed escort to meet Richard II's future wife, Anne of Bohemia,at Calais.⁵ As a King's Knight, evidence of his close connection with the Chamber can only be found between June 1377 and June 1378, alongside a John Trivet who also came from Somerset.⁶ The latter could either be his father or his cousin (and kinsman), with whom he seems to have been quite close.⁷ It is not known when he was made a Banneret of the Household, but it is perhaps possible that he was a King's Knight much earlier than 1377 since in the late 1360s he appears in Spain, serving under the Black Prince at Najara and later in Poitou.⁸ More importantly, on the 27th October 1375 hc was given a grant for life of £40 yearly and this was confirmed on the 17th May 1378 when he was described as ‘a servant of the late King’.⁹ The height of his career came. as I have said, in

1 L.C. Hector and B. F. Harvey eds, The Westminster Chronicle 1381-1394, (1980),p.46

2 The only reference I found for a possible date of birth (i.e. 1330) was in T. J.Hunt and P. N. Dawe eds.,

vol. xxvI, {1955), p.216. However, given that his presumed father, John Trivet was born in 1316. this is open to dispute.

3 C.Given-WiLson, The Royal Household and the Kings Affinity (1986, p 164 He dismisses the only

reference to Trivet as a (Chamber Knight in the Westminster Chronicle, (Hector and Harvey, Westminster Chronicle p230n) since the chronicler cites no reference for this assumption.

4 In email from Dr -------- 11^th April 2000 (see Appendix 3). I am very grateful to Dr mitchell for the enormous help she has given me for this dissertation.

5 lbid

6 lbid

7 After Thomas's death. his widow Elizabeth ganted John the manor of Crandon. Somerset. which had

belonged to her husband, and John was named as her heir when she died in 1433 (R. W.Dunning ed., A History of the County of Somerset vol.VI (1992) p. 138 & p.186

8 C.L.Kingsford, ‘Thomas Trivet', DNB, vol. XIX. {1909), p.1163

9 CPR 1374-7, p.181; CPR 1377-81, p.198