Lord Thomas de Scales or Thomas Scales de Newselles or Thomas Scalles KG

Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...

 (1397 – 25 July 1460), 7th Baron Scales, Knight of the Garter from 1426 was one of the main English commanders in the last twenty years of the Hundred Years' War

Hundred Years' War

The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...

. The son of Robert de Scales, 5th Baron Scales

Robert de Scales, 5th Baron Scales

Lord Robert de Scales was involved in an expedition to Aquitaine. He was Commissioner of the Peace for Norfolk from 1399 to 1401, and was the steward of the son and heir of Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk due to his minority. He was one of the Peers who voted for Henry Bolingbroke to be...

 (c. 1372-7 December 1402), he succeeded his brother Robert de Scales, 6th Baron Scales

Robert de Scales, 6th Baron Scales

Robert de Scales died unmarried, and at an early age, and was succeeded by his brother Thomas. On 8 May 1410 an order to seize Robert and deliver him to the Treasurer of England was issued.-References:...

 (died July 1419) as baron.

Thomas distinguished himself in France, against Jack Cade

Jack Cade

Jack Cade was the leader of a popular revolt in the 1450 Kent rebellion during the reign of King Henry VI in England. He died on the 12th July 1450 near Lewes. In response to grievances, Cade led an army of as many as 5,000 against London, causing the King to flee to Warwickshire. After taking and...

 and in many other places and, as reward, was granted £100 during his life and the privilege of a 200 tonne ship to transport goods wherever he saw fit (excluding Calais). He was summoned to Parliament

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 from 1445 to 1460.

Scales was a person of considerable wealth and importance and this is implied in Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Henry VI, Part 3

Henry VI, part 3

Henry VI, Part 3 or The Third Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...

: Edward's brothers George and Richard

Richard III of England

Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

 complain to Edward about his bestowal of Scales' heiress on the Queen's parvenu brother, instead of one of them.

Military commander

In 1422, Scales crossed the Channel to Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

 to fight against Joan of Arc

Joan of Arc

Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...

 in the Loire campaign. He saw action from the Siege of Orléans

Siege of Orléans

The Siege of Orléans marked a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's first major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415. The outset of this siege marked the pinnacle of English power...

 to the Battle of Patay

Battle of Patay

The Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of the Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...

 and he served as a lieutenant of John of Lancaster

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford

John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....

, the Duke of Bedford

Duke of Bedford

thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...

.

By 1423, Scales was captain of Verneuil. From 1424 to 1425, he fought alongside John Fastolf

John Fastolf

Sir John Fastolf KG was an English knight during the Hundred Years War, who has enjoyed a more lasting reputation as in some part being the prototype of Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff...

 to recapture the fortress at Maine.

According to a recruitment roll now at the National Army Museum

National Army Museum

The National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, England adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm,...

, he commanded a corps of 728 archers (some with fire-tipped arrows) and about 50 infantry at the siege of Saint-Denis

Saint-Denis

Saint-Denis is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. Saint-Denis is a sous-préfecture of the Seine-Saint-Denis département, being the seat of the Arrondissement 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

Granville, Manche

-Sights:The old town preserves all the history of its military and religious past. The lower town was partly built on land reclaimed from the sea. The upper part of the old town is surrounded by ramparts from the fifteenth century...

. In 1442 Granville was taken by surprise by the French defenders of the Mont.

In the Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

 Scales fought for Lancaster

House of Lancaster

The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

, and as such appears in Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2

Henry VI, part 2

Henry VI, Part 2 or The Second Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...

. On 25 July 1460 Scales was murdered.

Residences

Thomas held Rivenhall

Rivenhall

Rivenhall is a village and a civil parish near Witham in the Braintree District in the English county of Essex. It is near the small settlement of Rivenhall End. For transport there is the busy A12 nearby and Witham railway station. It has an Anglo-Saxon church which has a Roman villa...

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

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

Family

Thomas married Ismayne Whalesburgh (aka Esmania aka Emma Whaleborough). They had two children:-

• Thomas Scales (died in infancy)
• Lady Elizabeth de Scales Woodville, Baroness Scales (died 2 September 1473), married Anthony Woodville, Earl Rivers

External links and sources

• Thomas de Scales on thePeerage.com