14th Century Sir Thurstan de Bower And His Wife Margaret

Above are images of Sir Thurstan de Bower and his wife Margaret in St John the Baptist church, Tideswell, England.

Sir Thurstan de Bower became “scutifero” (Shield-bearer) to nobleman Thomas Nevil or Neville, who became Lord Furnival Treasurer of England and Calais, France.

Thurstan became one of the elite squires retained by the king who was chosen for their skill in arms, wisdom, wealth and social standing in Britain. Chaucer reliably informs us it “was a great honour, exceedingly rare, and given only to a chosen few.” He fought in the Scottish campaign and in the battle of Shrewsbury dressed in the king’s livery, and for services rendered, Thurstan became Lord of the Manor of Little Longstone. He lived to see five medieval kings on the throne of England and received Royal Commissions for the defence of the realm during the king’s absence in France. Sir Thurstan Wearing an SS collar c1395, and his wife Margaret de Bower lie here in the De Bower Chapel. They are said to have built the transept. 

Sir Thurstan made his money from lead mining and was one of the founders of the Guild of St Mary in c1384-92, the guild meeting in what is now the Lady Chapel. 

For five generations, the Bower family held the position of “sergentry” to the kings of England, for which honour they held the land of the king in the Royal Forest of the Peak for services rendered to him. Thurstan de Bower became “scutifero” (Shield-bearer) to Thomas Nevil, later Lord Furnival, Treasurer of England and Calais. 

Sir Thurstan became one of the elite squires retained by the king who was chosen for their skill in arms, wisdom, wealth and social standing in the country. Chaucer reliably informs us it “was a great honour, exceedingly rare, and given only to a chosen few.” He fought in the Scottish campaign of 1402 and the battle of Shrewsbury 1403 dressed in the king’s livery, and for services rendered, Thurstan became Lord of the Manor of Little Longstone. He lived to see five medieval kings on the throne of England and received Royal Commissions for the realm’s defence during the king’s absence in France.

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

George Orwell  

Citation: jmc4 – Church Explorer,  Images jmc4 – Church Explorer, www.effigiesandbrasses.com Trevor Lilley , Glass Angel, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)