James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley

James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley, 2nd Baron Tuchet (c. 1398 - 1459) was an English peer.

James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley, son of John Tuchet, 4th Baron Audley and his wife Elizabeth, was a distinguished veteran of the Hundred Years' War. In the opening phase of the Wars of the Roses he raised troops from his estates in Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire and commanded the Lancastrian force that moved to block the Yorkist Earl of Salisbury's route to Ludlow where he intended linking up with the rest of the Yorkist army.

The two forces clashed in the Battle of Blore Heath on 23 September 1459 and Audley was killed by Sir Roger Kynaston of Stocks near Ellesmere (Kynaston incorporated emblems of the Audley coat-of-arms into his own). He was beheaded after the battle. Audley's Cross still stands on the battlefield to this day, and marks the spot where he died.

Audley was buried in Darley Abbey, north of Derby, about 40 miles away from Blore Heath. Unfortunately, the Abbey no longer stands, so his final resting place is no longer marked.

Marriages and children

Audley was first married on 24 February 1414/1415 to Margaret, daughter to William de Ros, 7th Baron de Ros and Margaret Fitzalan. They were parents to two children:

• John Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley (born c. 1420 - 26 September 1490).
• Margaret Touchet (born circa 1422 - died bef. 1480), married Richard Grey, 3rd Earl of Tankerville.

Audley was married second to Eleanor de Holland, an illegitimate daughter of Edmund Holland, 4th Earl of Kent by Constance of York, daughter of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York and Infanta Isabella of Castile. They were parents to seven children:

• Anne Touchet (born c. 1427 - 1503). She married Sir Thomas Dutton, who died at Blore Heath along with his father-in-law.
• Elizabeth Touchet (born c. 1433). She married Edward Brooke, 6th Baron Cobham.
• Sir Humphrey Touchet (born c. 1435 - 6 May 1471). He married Elizabeth Courtenay, widow of Sir James Luttrell. Like his father, he supported the House of Lancaster. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Tewkesbury and tried before Richard, Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Norfolk. Executed with other Lancastrian leaders in the Market Square he was buried under the pavement in the Chapel of St Nicolas, in the Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin.
• Edmund Audley (born c. 1437 - 23 August 1524). Successively Bishop of Rochester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of Salisbury.
• Thomas Touchet (born c. 1439 - June 1507). Married Catherine.
• Eleanor Touchet (born circa 1438), married Humphrey Grey, son of Henry Grey, 2nd Earl of Tankerville and Antigone Plantagenet.^{[1] [2]}
• Constance Touchet (born c. 1443 - aft. 1467). She married in 1464 Sir Robert Whitney (born 1436 - aft. 1467), son of Eustace Whitney and Jennet Trussell.

References

• Douglas Richardson, Kimball G. Everingham. Magna Carta ancestry: a study in colonial and medieval families, Genealogical Publishing Com, 2005. pg 831. Google eBook