This list is a refinement of a provisional unpublished list supplied by Dr Malcolm Vale and Dr Guilhem Pépin. Those names shown in bold have been confirmed from the Gascon Rolls or other sources.
No complete list of the individuals who held this office exists, but lists for particular reigns and periods have been published. A list of those lieutenants for the first part of the reign of Edward II was produced in RG IV, xix, and another one for the period between 1399 and 1453 can be found in Vale, M., English Gascony, 1399-1453, 245-246.
Otto de Grandson (or Grandison) and Robert Burnel, bishop of Bath and Wells (7 February 1278-September 1278)
William of Middleton, bishop of Norwich (July 1287-1288)
Maurice de Craon (9 June 1289-15 July 1292)
John St-John (12 July 1293-22 March 1294)
John of Brittany, earl of Richmond (1 July 1294-3 October 1295).
Edmund, earl of Lancaster, brother of Edward I (20 October 1295-5 June 1296)
Henry of Lacy, earl of Lincoln (Fr: ‘Nicole’) (3 December 1295 interim lieutenant; acting 5 June 1296-end of 1297)
Gui Ferre (28 April 1298-3 December 1299); subsequently seneschal from October 1300
Barrau de Sescas and Pey-Arnaut de Vic (or Bic), king’s clerk (1 Novembrer 1299, 28 February 1301-24 July 1302)
John of Hastings (23 August 1302-1 August 1304), concurrently seneschal of Gascony
John of Britanny, earl of Richmond (2 August 1310-1311)
The earl was appointed for the second time on 2 August 1310 (RG, IV, no.406, 124-5). He was appointed with three other commissioners: John Salmon, bishop of Norwich; Guy Ferre, former seneschal of Gascony and William Inge, king’s judge (RG, IV, nos.409-11, 125-6).
John de Ferrers of Chartley, kt (24 January 1312-before 12 October 1312)
Ferrers was appointed lieutenant and seneschal of Gascony concurrently (RG, IV, no.601, 173-4). Dr Vale has shown that the choice of Ferrers was a poor one as lieutenant and seneschal. Ferrers was the dispossessed lawful heir of the earldom of Derby. He had no experience of Anglo-French affairs, and no foreign service of any real significance before his appointment, and it seems his appointment was mainly due to his military experience, and also because his bitter enemy Walter Langton may well have engineered his appointment to remove him from England. The duchy was particularly difficult to govern at the times, and he made a particular enemy of Amaniu VII d’Albret, and the whole dispute became entangled in the machinations surrounding Piers Gaveston, Albret ultimately bringing appeals against Ferrers to Paris. War seems only to have been averted by the murder of Ferrers, his last action being on 27 August 1312 (Vale, The Angevin Legacy, 164-72).
Estèbe Ferréol, lord of Tonneins (28 October 1312-1313)
Ferréol was appointed as seneschal and lieutenant concurrently on 28 October 1312 (RG, IV, no.762, 211).
Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent (20 July 1324 - ? )
Woodstock, the king's brother, was appointed in the context of the war of Saint-Sardos, and the confiscation of the duchy by the king of France (entry 15 in C 61/36). Woodstock found himself leading the Anglo-Gascon forces against the invading French army.
Bernat-Etz V, lord of Albret, vicomte Tartas, and Oliver de Ingham, seneschal of Gascony (1 July 1338 - ? )
Albret and Ingham were appointed jointly on 1 July 1338, with extensive powers to govern the duchy, and to defend it from the incursions of rebels and the French (entry 141 in C61/50).
Bernat-Etz V, lord of Albret, vicomte Tartas and Hugues de Genève, lord of Varey and of Anthon (acting by 20 January 1341 - ? )
No record of the appointment appears to survive, but both Albret and Genève appear to have been acting on 20 January 1341 (entry 181 in C 61/52). Genève was a Savoyard lord in the service of the English.
Henry of Grosmont, earl of Derby, and Richard Fitz Alan, earl of Arundel, (24 March 1344 - ? )
Grosmont and Arundel were appointed on 24 March 1344 jointly, with extensive powers largely directed to the recovery of parts of the duchy lost to the French (entry 40 in C61/56).
Henry of Grosmont, earl of Derby, (10 May 1345 - ? )
Grosmont was appointed to embark on the reconquest of the lost parts of the duchy, and embarked on an astonishingly successful campaign (entry 31 in C 61/57).
Henry of Grosmont, earl of Derby, (28 August 1349 - ? )
Appointed on 28 August 1349 (C 61/61, m 3).
Ralph Stafford, earl of Stafford (6 March 1352 - ?)
Appointed as captain and lieutenant in the duchy on 6 March 1352 (entry 44 in C 61/64).
Edward of Woodstock, prince of Wales, (10 July 1355 - ? )
Woodstock was appointed as lieutenant and captain of the duchy on 10 July 1355 (C 61/67, m. 6)
John Chandos (20 January 1360 - early 1362)
Lieutenant 'es parties de France', takes possession of territories given up in 1360.
John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster (11 October 1370 - 21 July 1371), first appointment.
John Hastings, earl of Pembroke (20 April 1372).
Presumably appointed in preparation for his sailing to La Rochelle (entry 41 in C 61/85). Since Hastings was captured by the Castilians during the battle of La Rochelle on 22/23 June 1372, he could not have taken up his office.
John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster (1373-1374), second appointment.
John de Neville, lord Neville of Raby, (10 June 1378 - ? February 1381)
Neville was appointed on 10 June 1378 (entry 114 in C 61/91). His powers were outlined in a further grant of the same date.(entry 107 in C 61/91) He was concurrently seneschal of Guyenne.
Born in Raby castle in Durham between 1337 and 1340, Neville enjoyed an active career, succeeding his father in 1367. Serving as Richard II's first lieutenant, and during his minority, the position of the English was quite precarious, so that the lieutenant was involved in the ongoing war in Aquitaine.
On his return to England, he spent much of the remainder of his life back in north-east England, serving as warden of the Marches. Ralph, his son and heir, was the first Neville earl of Westmorland.
John of Gaunt, king of Castile and Léon, duke of Lancaster (30 May 1388 - 2 March 1390)
The third appointment of Gaunt was made on 30 May 1388 (entry 87 in C 61/100). The grant of power was made a little earlier on 26 May 1388 (entry 88 in C 61/100), though these letters make mention of the later appointment. Gaunt was granted the title of prince on 2 March 1390 (entry 87 in C 61/101).
Henry Percy, described as the son (24 June 1393 - ? ).
Son of the earl of Northumberland, and better known as Hotspur. Percy was appointed by the king on 11 June 1394 (entry 30 in C 61/104). Percy had been John of Gaunt's lieutenant in the duchy, as was noted by letters of protection granted on 25 August 1393 (entry 12 in C 61/104).
John Beaufort, marquis of Dorset (1 September 1398 - ? 1399).
Beaufort was appointed on 1 September 1398 (entry 34 in C 61/105).
Edward of York, earl of Rutland (5 July 1401-May 1403).
Appointed on 5 July 1401 (E 101/69/2/302), and 28 August 1401 (entry 92 in C 61/108). He had returned by May 1403 (CPR 1401-5, 235). For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246.
Thomas of Lancaster, duke of Clarence (11 July 1412-14 July 1413).
Appointed on 11 July 1412 (entry 129 in C 61/113). Lancaster had returned by 14 July 1413 (Wylie, Henry V, i, 119-20). For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246.
Thomas Beaufort, earl of Dorset (26 June 1413-14 July 1414).
Granted powers to receive homages on 26 June 1413 (entry 9 in C 61/114). Indentures were made for military service with Clarence 14 July 1413 (E 364/48), and was appointed as lieutenant on 22 July 1413 (entry 37 in C 61/114). He was still acting as lieutenant on 3 May 1414 (E 101/186/2, no.8), but had returned by 14 July 1414 (Wylie, op. cit., i, 142). For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246.
John Holland, earl of Huntingdon (27 March 1439-21 December 1440).
Appointed and receiving powers on 27 March 1439 (C 61/129, m.21, 20 & 19). He had been granted powers to receive rebels on 26 March (ibid., ms.20 & 19). He was acting by 11 August 1439 (C 61/129, m.7), but had returned by 21 December 1440 (ibid., 130, m.10). For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246.
John Beaufort, duke of Somerset (8 April 1443, never acts).
Appointed lieutenant in France and Guyenne on 8 April 1443 (E 101/71/4, no.916). He never acted in office. For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246.
John Talbot, earl of Shrewsbury (2 September 1452-17 July 1453).
Talbot was retained for military service ‘over seas’ on 27 June 1452 (E 404/68, no. 149). He was appointed and granted powers on 2 September 1452 (entry 27 in C 61/139). He was killed at the battle of Castillon on 17 July 1453. For fuller details see Vale, English Gascony, 246, and Pollard, John Talbot, 131-9.
William Bonneville of Chewton, kt (12 September 1453 - )
Bonneville was appointed as the last English lieutenant of the duchy of Aquitaine on 12 September 1453, nearly two months after the death of the earl of Shrewsbury, the previous lieutenant, who had been killed at the battle of Castillon (entry 1 in C 61/140). Vale, otherwise generally accurate, mistakenly identified his appointment as 'seneschal of Aquitaine' (Vale, English Gascony, p. 246).
Bonneville was an excellent choice for lieutenant. Coming from Chewton Mendip in Somerset, he descended from important baronial stock, and would, subsequent to his service in Aquitaine, inherit the titles of baron of Harrington and of Bonneville from his two grandfathers. At the time of his appointment as lieutenant, he had already served two terms as seneschal of Aquitaine. Like many of his family he was killed fighting for the Yorkist cause, being executed in the aftermath of the second battle of Barnet on 17 February 1461 leaving Cecilly his only child to inherit his estates.
By the time the appointment was made the decline of King Henry VI into a catatonic state, the outbreak of localised warfare within the English nobility, particularly in northern England, and the difficulty in raising men, money and ships meant that Bonneville never took up office. Even had be managed to depart England, the French blockade of Bordeaux by land and sea, would have rendered the relief of Bordeaux very difficult, and the city capitulated on 19 October 1453 bringing English rule in Aquitaine finally to an end (Vale, English Gascony, pp. 146-153).