The Lord High Constable of England is the seventh of the Great Officers of State, ranking beneath the Lord Great Chamberlain and above the Earl Marshal. His office is now called out of abeyance only for Coronations. The Lord High Constable was originally the commander of the royal armies and the Master of the Horse. He was also, in conjunction with the Earl Marshal, president of the Court of Chivalry or Court of Honour. In feudal times, martial law was administered in the court of the Lord High Constable.
The constableship was granted as a grand serjeanty with the Earldom of Hereford by the Empress Matilda to Milo de Gloucester, and was carried by his heiress to the Bohuns, Earls of Hereford and Essex. There was a surviving male heir and still are heirs male but due to the power of the monarchy it was illegally given to the Staffords, Dukes of Buckingham; and on the attainder of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, in the reign of King Henry VIII, it became merged in the Crown. Since that point it has not existed as a separate office, except as a temporary appointment for the Coronation of a monarch; in other circumstances the Earl Marshal exercises the traditional duties of the office.
The Lacys and Verduns were hereditary constables of Ireland from the 12th to the 14th century; and the Hays, Earls of Erroll, have been hereditary Lord High Constables of Scotland from early in the 14th century.
Read more about Lord High Constable Of England: Lords High Constable of England, 1139–1521
Famous quotes containing the words lord, high, constable and/or england:
“My Lord Bath, you and I are now two as insignificant men as any in England.”
—Robert Walpole (1676–1745)
“Have you ever been up in your plane at night, alone, somewhere, 20,000 feet above the ocean?... Did you ever hear music up there?... It’s the music a man’s spirit sings to his heart, when the earth’s far away and there isn’t any more fear. It’s the high, fine, beautiful sound of an earth-bound creature who grew wings and flew up high and looked straight into the face of the future. And caught, just for an instant, the unbelievable vision of a free man in a free world.”
—Dalton Trumbo (1905–1976)
“I did not know that thou wert dead before;
I did not feel the grief I did sustain;
The greater stroke astonisheth the more;
Astonishment takes from us sense of pain.
I stood amazed when other’s tears begun,
And now begin to weep when they have done.”
—Henry Constable (1562–1613)
“I perceive that we inhabitants of New England live this mean life that we do because our vision does not penetrate the surface of things. We think that that is which appears to be.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)