Thomas Beauchamp and Katherine Mortimer, Medieval Power Couple

Some medieval families demonstrated power in resilience or resistance to tradition. Others wielded it thanks to their illustrious bloodlines. Other couples became recognised for their own efforts and achievements, as well as their dedication towards their families and the realm.The partnership formed between Thomas Beauchamp Earl of Warwick and his wife Katherine Mortimer however was celebrated for all these things. 

Thomas was born in 1313 at Warwick Castle, to Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and his wife Alice de Toeni. The genealogist Cokayne wrote that Guy died at the castle in August 1315 with suspicions that he had been poisoned, when Thomas was only around two years old. Guy was certainly at the centre of power himself - he was known to Edward I, and oversaw the reign of Edward II, one of those who visibly mounted a resistance against the king's favourite, Piers Gaveston.

Effigies of Thomas Beauchamp and Katherine Mortimer at St Mary's, Warwick

The young boy, Thomas, became Earl of Warwick as a toddler. Appropriately for his position, he embarked on a military and political career as a young man, being knighted by Edward III in 1330. He fought for the king against Scotland, in Flanders and served as ambassador both to France and to the Pope. In 1344 he was appointed Marshal of England, and continued to gain recognition as Sheriff of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, Marshal of the Army in France and Surveyor of the East Marches. At the age of 33 he fought with the Black Prince at the Battle of Crecy, and two years later, at Poitiers. Thomas received wealth, praise and influence, along with the recognition of the king, but by his side during his career, overseeing the household and arrangements at home was his wife, Katherine Mortimer. 

Katherine too, had an illustrious family background. She was the daughter of the infamous Roger Mortimer Earl of March and his wife Joan de Genevill. Later, Roger would rise to become head of state in all but name when he seized control of the kingdom alongside Queen Isabel, Edward II's wife. Roger had joined her household in 1325 as Steward and there were rumours of a love affair between them. Together, they had the unpopular Edward II deposed, and likely murdered, at Berkeley Castle in 1327. Roger was later however convicted of treason under the reign of the new king, Edward III, and hanged at Smithfield in London. His daughter Katherine was just sixteen years old at her father's execution.

The couple were already married when Thomas' father in law rose in rebellion with Queen Isabel against the king's government. They married in 1319 when Katherine was five years old and Thomas was six, in an arranged partnership that aimed to unite the two families and bring peace and stronger resources. They proved to be a medieval powerhouse, with Thomas engaging in military action overseas and serving the king while Katherine organised the household and oversaw the care of their children. Over their fifty-year marriage, they had sixteen children, many of whom would achieve successes of their own. Among Thomas and Catherine's grandchildren were Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, who gained the trust of Henry V and was appointed by him to oversee the young Henry VI during his minority. Joan de Beauchamp Countess of Ormond, another grandchild, was an ancestor of Queen Anne Boleyn.

Katherine died in August 1369, in her mid-fifties, while Thomas died a couple of months afterwards, in Calais on 18 November 1369. It's thought that he died of the plague there. In his will, he requested the quire at St Mary's to be built and this was where he chose to be buried. The building was finished in the 1390s. After his death, Thomas' body was brought back to Warwick, where he is indeed buried alongside his wife in St Mary's in an elaborate tomb with stone effigies of the couple carved holding hands. Katherine wears a square, elaborately-wrought headdress of the period, while Thomas is depicted in armour.

Together, Katherine and Thomas encountered war, adversity and revolution, but gained trust and recognition by demonstrating a dedication to their country and their monarch. Katherine was the support at home while Thomas was fighting overseas and their ancestors are prominent figures in today's history books. Their marriage of fifty years was broken only by their deaths, and their physical legacy can be seen in the building they undertook in Warwick Castle, St Mary's Church and of course in their effigy that survives, showing them as they wanted to be seen. 

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Notes and Sources

Cokayne, G. The Complete Peerage, L-M. 1893 and U-Z. 1898.

The Archaeological Journal, v2, 1844 'The Churches of Warwickshire", archive.org

John Dowdall, Traditionary Anecdotes of Shakespeare, 1838, archive.org

Henry T. Cooke and Son, A Guide to Warwick and its Surroundings, 1870, archive.org

Wikimedia: Thomas Beauchamp and Katherine Mortimer