Thomas Darcy, 1st Baron Darcy de Darcy (1467-30 June 1537) was an English nobleman who became a later member of the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536. Darcy surrendered Pontefract Castle to the rebels after Robert Aske convinced Darcy of their good intentions, leading to Darcy's execution by King Henry VIII in 1537.
Biography[]
Thomas Darcy was born in Lincolnshire, England in 1467 to a noble family, and he was knighted in 1489, made knight banneret in 1497, and made Constable of Bamburgh Castle and Captain of Berwick in 1498. Darcy lifted the Scottish siege of Norham Castle in 1496 and pursued King James IV of Scotland during his retreat, and he distinguished himself in the suppression of Perkin Warbeck's uprising in Cornwall in 1498. He became Treasurer of Berwick in 1501, Warden of the East Marches in 1505, Knight of the Garter in 1509, Warden of the Royal Farests North of Trent and Baron Darcy in 1509, Warden of the East and Middle Marches in 1511, and Privy Councillor in 1513. That same year, he accompanied King Henry VIII on his campaign in France, taking part in the siege of Therouanne. In 1523, he took an active part in the war against Scotland, making various raids on the Scottish border regions. In 1532, he angered the King by siding with Catherine of Aragon and the Catholic Church during the King's divorce proceedings, and he had secret communications with the Holy Roman ambassador Eustace Chapuys, encouraging Emperor Charles V to invade England. In 1536, he opposed the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and he decided to surrender Pontefract Castle to Robert Aske's peasant army during the Pilgrimage of Grace, as Darcy, too, opposed the heretical corruption of the Church of Englandunder Thomas Cromwell. As a result, Darcy was later apprehended, convicted of high treason, and decapitated on Tower Hill in London on 30 June 1537.