Thomas Le Boteller

Thomas Le Boteller, or Butler, nicknamed Thomas Bacach or Thomas the Lame (born before 1386, died 1420), was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Ormond, and a leading figure in early fifteenth century Ireland. He held the offices of Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Deputy of Ireland and Prior of Kilmainham. He was a highly unpopular statesman, who was accused of treason, but is chiefly remembered as a soldier, who was present at the Siege of Rouen.

Family

He was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond,^[1] by an unknown mistress; he was not, as sometimes said, the son of the Earl's first wife Anne Welles. His date of birth is uncertain, but since he was Lord Deputy in 1406 and Prior by 1410 it must have been well before his first legitimate brother was born in 1392, and most likely before his father's first marriage in 1386. Thomas' nickname Bacach, " the lame " indicates that he was crippled,^[2] but this did not stop him from pursuing a highly successful military career. It is said that he had a son named John Beagh Botiller, who was born before 1420 and died in Kilkenny, County Kilkenny (no source available).

Career

He was Prior of the Order of Hospitallers at Kilmainham from before 1410 until his death in 1420. He became Chancellor in 1412, but due to the pressure of other duties usually excecised the office through a deputy, Robert Sutton. He was made Lord Deputy of Ireland in the absence of Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence in 1406 and is said to have exercised great influence : O'Flanagan^[3] tells us that a Bill to regulate the Irish Church was thrown out on his objection. It may have been such high-handed behaviour which gave rise to the numerous complaints which were made in 1411-2.^[4]

The Hospitallers were a military order and Thomas was a military man. In 1410 he led an army of 1400 men against the O'Byrne clan of Wicklow, who frequently raided Dublin, and was joined by another force under John Drake, Lord Mayor of Dublin. However half of Thomas's force deserted to the enemy and he was forced to withdraw in good order; although accounts of the battle are confused, it seems that Drake rallied his men and defeated the O'Byrnes, killing 500 of them.^[5]

Complaints

His administration had by now become so unpopular that the Privy Council of Ireland sent an impressive deputation, including two archbishops, to England to complain of his misconduct, and he was summoned to London to answer such charges as might be made against him. He appears to have simply ignored both the original summons and a second order to appear. On the death of King Henry IV of England, the Lord Lieutenancy of his son Clarence automatically lapsed, and Thomas' Deputyship lapsed with it.^[6]

Accused of treason

In 1417 and 1418 he was at war with the Burkes in Tipperary and Kilkenny. This led to a clash with John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, now Lord Lieutenant, who supported the Burkes, and whose feud with Thomas' brother James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde would dominate Irish politics for many years. Thomas was accused of treasonable correspondence with Gerald FitzGerald, 5th Earl of Kildare and Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston, both of whom were briefly imprisoned. No action seems to have been taken against Thomas himself: he was repeatedly summoned to Parliament but, repeating his conduct in 1411-2, simply failed to appear. In the event his willingness to lead an army to France may have resolved the crisis. Preston and Gormanston were soon released and restored to favour: Otway-Ruthven concludes that they are unlikely to have been engaged in a treasonable conspiracy, and were simply opposed to what they saw as Shrewsbury's high-handed regime.^[7]

Siege of Rouen

In 1418-1419 Thomas led a force to fight with Henry V of England at the Siege of Rouen; French and English sources agree that he was present although they differ greatly on the size of his force; the best estimate is about 700. According to one description there were:

"eighteen score men with red shields and eighteen score with pure white shields; and not often has so numerous and well born a host embarked from England".^[8]

He is said to have given good service in France, and died there in 1420.

Character

O'Flanagan^[9] calls Thomas a man of great courage and considerable administrative ability, who overcame what were then the serious drawbacks of illegitimacy and physical disability to become a successful soldier and statesman. Otway-Ruthven, on the other hand, while praising his military ability, regarded him as an unsatisfactory character with a dubious record of loyalty to the Crown.^[10]

References