Sir Bernard Brocas Junior

Sir Bernard Brocas Junior was born into a wealthy landowning family with close ties with the royal family.

His father, Sir Bernard Brocas Senior, was a close friend of the Black Prince, the eldest son of King Edward III (r. 1327-1377) and the father of King Richard II (r. 1377-1399). Brocas Junior grew up at the family estate of Clewer Brocas, but must have had spent much time at nearby Windsor Castle where he was almost certainly amongst the playmates of the future King Richard II. By 1390 he was knighted and entered the service of King Richard II. Brocas Junior also acted as a feoffee for William Scrope, the Earl of Wiltshire, one of the King’s chief ministers. In 1395 he inherited his father’s wide-ranging estates.

After King Richard II was deposed by the new monarch Henry IV (r. 1399-1413) in 1399, Brocas declared his wholehearted loyalty to Richard. For his role in the Earl’s Revolt against the new monarch, Henry IV, in 1400, Brocas was arrested at Cirencester and sent to Oxford and then the Tower of London. He was executed on 5th February, but his family was spared and his eldest son was confirmed in possession of his father's estates by the end of the year.