John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk

John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, KG (18 October 1444 – 14 January 1476), known as 1st Earl of Surrey between 1451 and 1461, was the only son of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Eleanor Bourchier. His maternal grandparents were William Bourchier, Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester.

In 1451 the earldom of Surrey was revived for him. Mowbray was descended from a sister of the last earl of the previous creation.

In 1461 he succeeded his father as 4th Duke of Norfolk and hereditary Earl Marshal. He continued his father's efforts to possess Caister Castle, finally taking it in September 1469 after a siege. Despite the fact that John Paston, who was in charge of defending Caister, had been in his service for several years, he showed a notable ruthlessness in his conduct of the siege, in which one Daubenay, a long-standing Paston servant, was killed. Under pressure from the Church, Norfolk did at least grant the other defenders a safe conduct. In 1476, within a day of Norfolk's death, the Paston family took Caister back again.

Norfolk was invested as a Knight of the Garter in 1472. He died very suddenly, having apparently been in good health the day before.

He married Elizabeth Talbot, daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and his second wife Lady Margaret Beauchamp. They had only one child, Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk, and so the 1397 creation of the dukedom became extinct upon his death. Anne, who was only 3 years old when her father died, inherited his extensive lands and wealth.

The dukedom would be recreated in 1481 and again in 1483. The 1483 creation survives to the present day.

See also

• Dukes of Norfolk family tree

References

• Tait, James (1894). "John Mowbray, third Duke of Norfolk". Dictionary of National Biography 39. pp. 222–225.  (the fourth duke is discussed at the end of his father's article)