In the annals of English history, the year 1348 is a date of profound paradox. It marks a moment of supreme martial confidence, when King Edward III and his armies stood at the apex of their military prestige. Yet it is also the year the shadow-sm of the Black Death first fell across England’s southern shores, heralding an age of unimaginable demographic and social catastrophe. In this crucible of triumph and looming dread, Edward III conceived and founded an institution that would outlive plague, dynastic strife, and war: the Most Noble Order of the Garter. Far more than a mere chivalric trinket or a nostalgic revival of Arthurian fantasy, the Order was a masterstroke of political theatre, a binding agent for a military elite, and the creation of the most exclusive and influential club in Christendom. At its very heart stood one of the great figures of the age, a man whose fortunes were inextricably linked with Lincolnshire: Henry of Grosmont, the first Duke of Lancaster.
An Age of Ambition: The Hundred Years' War and the Cult of Chivalry
To understand the Garter, one must first understand its creator. Edward III was the quintessential warrior-king, a man whose personal identity and political legitimacy were forged on the battlefield. Ascending the throne in 1327 amidst the disgrace of his father’s deposition, Edward spent his early reign reasserting royal authority and, most significantly, prosecuting his audacious claim to the French throne. This ambition ignited the conflict that historians would later term the Hundred Years’ War.
The 1340s were Edward’s golden years. The decade began with a decisive naval victory at Sluys in 1340, which secured English control of the Channel. This was followed by the masterful campaign of 1346, culminating in the astonishing victory against a vastly superior French force at the Battle of Crécy. Here, the combination of disciplined English longbowmen and dismounted men-at-arms proved devastatingly effective, shattering the flower of French chivalry. Edward, directing the battle from a windmill, watched his sixteen-year-old son, Edward the Black Prince, win his spurs in the bloody mêlée. The triumph was capped a year later by the gruelling eleven-month Siege of Calais, which fell to the English in August 1347, providing a vital strategic and commercial gateway into the continent for the next two centuries.
These victories created more than just territorial gains; they forged a battle-hardened cadre of commanders, magnates, and household knights whose loyalty had been tested in the fires of war. Men like the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury, Sir John Chandos, and Sir James Audley were not merely feudal lords; they were a band of brothers, united by shared danger and immense collective pride. Edward shrewdly understood that this bond was his greatest asset.
Simultaneously, the King was a devoted patron of the cult of chivalry. This was not mere romanticism but a deliberate political strategy. By framing his war against the Valois kings of France in chivalric terms—as a righteous quest for his rightful inheritance—he elevated the conflict beyond a mere dynastic squabble. He was a new Arthur, and his court would be a new Camelot. This was made manifest in 1344 when Edward announced a magnificent tournament and festival at Windsor to found a "Round Table" of 300 knights. This grand project, intended to draw the finest warriors from across Europe to his banner, was ultimately thwarted by the machinations of his rival, King Philip VI of France, and the anxieties of the Papacy. Yet the ambition remained. The Order of the Garter, founded four years later, would be its more exclusive, more potent, and more enduring realisation.
The Foundation: Legend, Symbol, and Political Reality
The traditional story of the Order’s genesis is a charming piece of courtly lore. As related by the later chronicler Polydore Vergil, it occurred at a ball in Calais. The Countess of Salisbury—perhaps Joan of Kent, a celebrated beauty and cousin to the King—was dancing when her garter slipped to the floor. As courtiers sniggered at the lady’s embarrassment, King Edward gallantly retrieved the intimate item, strapping it to his own leg and silencing the room with the Franco-Norman phrase, “Honi soit qui mal y pense” (“Shame on him who thinks evil of it”). He then declared that he would make this humble garter so glorious that all would desire it.
While it is a magnificent tale, historians are rightly sceptical of its literal truth. The story does not appear in contemporary chronicles like those of Jean Froissart, who revelled in such chivalric anecdotes. It more likely represents a later attempt to provide a romantic origin for an institution whose true purpose was intensely political and military.
The motto, Honi soit qui mal y pense, is key. Rather than a simple rebuke to gossiping courtiers, it can be read as a defiant challenge. Shame on anyone who thinks ill of the King’s project, of his claim to the French throne, or of the brotherhood he was creating. It was a statement of intent, aimed squarely at his enemies in Paris and Avignon. The garter itself, a simple strap used to secure hose or armour, was a symbol of binding and fellowship. In founding the Order, Edward was symbolically binding the most powerful men of his realm to his person and his cause.
The Order was formally founded on St. George’s Day, 23 April 1348. The choice of St. George, a warrior saint, as patron was a masterstroke of nationalistic branding, permanently linking this new elite fellowship with the martial identity of England itself. Windsor Castle, which Edward was rebuilding on a monumental scale, became its spiritual home. St. George’s Chapel was designated as the Order’s chapel, a sacred space where the achievements of its members would be permanently memorialised.
The Founder Knights: A Military and Political Elite
The Garter was conceived as a body of 26 knights: the Sovereign (the King) and 25 Founder Knights, or ‘Companions’. This number was deliberately small, its exclusivity being a primary source of its prestige. An examination of the founding members reveals its true nature: this was the high command of the English war effort. Membership was the ultimate reward for military prowess and unwavering loyalty.
The list was headed by Edward himself and his son, the Black Prince, the hero of Crécy. Then came the great magnates who formed the backbone of the army and the state. And pre-eminent among them was Henry of Grosmont, Earl of Lancaster and Derby.
As historians, we often focus on kings and princes, but Henry of Grosmont deserves to be remembered as one of the towering figures of the mid-fourteenth century. A cousin to the King, he was a man of immense wealth, vast landholdings, and formidable talent. His principal seat in Lincolnshire was the great fortress of Bolingbroke Castle, the birthplace of his grandson, the future King Henry IV. His influence across the county was unparalleled; he held castles at Lincoln and Bolingbroke, and vast estates around the Honour of Lancaster’s holdings in the region.
While the small manor of Brattleby was not a direct possession of Henry’s, its lord and tenants would have existed entirely within his sphere of influence. As the greatest magnate in Lincolnshire, his authority was the dominant secular force. The men of Brattleby who were mustered for the King’s wars in France would have served under banners and commands ultimately answerable to Lancaster. His justice, his patronage, and his power shaped the political and social landscape of the entire shire.
Henry’s military career was exemplary. He was Edward III’s most trusted lieutenant. In 1345, he led a brilliant campaign in Gascony, securing a series of victories that stabilised the English position in southwestern France. He was a seasoned warrior, a skilled diplomat who negotiated treaties on the King’s behalf, and a man renowned for his piety and conventional chivalric virtues. His contemporary, the chronicler Jean le Bel, described him as "wise and imaginative." He was, in essence, the perfect embodiment of the Garter ideal: a man whose birth, wealth, loyalty, and military skill were all placed at the disposal of the Crown. His inclusion as a Founder Knight, with his stall prominently placed in St. George’s Chapel, was a foregone conclusion. He was not just a member; he was a pillar of the new institution.
Alongside Lancaster were other veterans of the French campaigns: Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick; William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, whose father had been one of the architects of Edward’s seizure of power in 1330; Sir John Chandos, the peerless warrior and close companion of the Black Prince; Sir James Audley, whose reckless bravery at Poitiers (1356) would become legendary; and Sir Walter Manny, a Hainaulter by birth whose daring exploits were celebrated by Froissart. A few carefully chosen foreign knights, such as Sir Sanchet d'Abrichecourt, were also included to enhance the Order's international prestige and to bind key continental allies to the English cause. These were not armchair courtiers; they were the men who had stood with Edward at Crécy and starved with him before the walls of Calais.
Statutes and Regalia: The Machinery of Fellowship
The Garter was more than a list of names; it was a living institution governed by a set of formal statutes. These rules reinforced the themes of brotherhood, piety, and loyalty. The Companions were required to attend an annual chapter and feast at Windsor on St. George's Day, a major court event that blended religious ceremony with chivalric pageantry. They swore oaths to defend the Order's honour and not to bear arms against any fellow Companion—a rule that would be tragically tested a century later during the Wars of the Roses.
Each knight was required to wear the garter itself daily, a constant physical reminder of his bond and status. Failure to do so incurred a fine, the proceeds of which went to the Dean of Windsor for charitable works. This was not a token honour; it was a commitment.
The visual splendour of the Order was central to its mystique. The regalia included:
The Garter: A strap of blue velvet, edged and buckled in gold, with the motto embroidered in gold thread. It was to be worn on the left leg, just below the knee. The Mantle: A magnificent robe of deep blue woollen cloth (later velvet), lined with ermine. The left shoulder was adorned with a large shield of St. George, itself encircled by a representation of the garter. The Surcoat and Hood: Matching the mantle, these completed the formal ceremonial dress. The Collar and Great George: A slightly later addition (from the late 15th century), the gold collar with its pendant of St. George slaying the dragon became one of the most recognisable symbols of the Order.
Within St. George’s Chapel, this visual culture reached its apotheosis. Each knight was assigned a stall in the choir. Above his seat were affixed his personal heraldic insignia: his crested helm, his sword, and his banner emblazoned with his coat of arms. This created a permanent, quasi-ecclesiastical peerage of arms, a visible testament to the King’s favour. Upon a knight's death, his insignia were taken down, but his stall plate—an enamelled brass plaque bearing his name, titles, and arms—remained in perpetuity. To walk through the choir of St. George’s Chapel today is to see a physical record of English power stretching back nearly 700 years, beginning with Henry of Grosmont and his fellow founders.
A Network of Influence: The Garter as a Political Tool
The lavish ceremony and chivalric language masked a deeply pragmatic political purpose. The Garter was an instrument of royal power, allowing Edward III to manage the often-turbulent English aristocracy.
First, it created a new, superior tier of nobility. Membership was a distinction that set a man apart from his peers. It was a non-hereditary honour, bestowed solely at the Sovereign's discretion. Unlike a grant of land or a title, which once given was hard to revoke, a Garter knighthood implicitly depended on continued loyal service. It incentivised good behaviour and provided the King with a powerful tool of patronage that did not diminish his finite resources of land and money.
Second, it acted as a private council and an informal command structure. The Companions were the men Edward turned to for advice on war and diplomacy. In the field, the shared bond of the Garter ensured a degree of cohesion and unity of purpose among the army’s senior commanders. A dispute between two Garter knights was not just a personal quarrel; it was a breach of their sacred oath to the Order and the Sovereign.
Third, the Order was a potent diplomatic weapon. The occasional award of a Garter to a foreign monarch or prince was a supreme mark of favour, used to seal an alliance or secure the neutrality of a potential foe. Over the centuries, Emperors, Kings, and Princes from across Europe would covet a place in this exclusive fellowship.
The Order of the Garter was, in essence, the ultimate network. It was a club whose membership was a certificate of supreme royal favour, military competence, and political influence. For Henry of Grosmont, who was created the first Duke of Lancaster in 1351 and would go on to receive further honours before his death (ironically, from the plague) in 1361, his status as a Founder Knight was the crowning public recognition of his position as the second man in the kingdom.
Legacy
The Order of the Garter survived the death of its founder and the eventual English defeat in the Hundred Years’ War. It survived the dynastic carnage of the Wars of the Roses, where Companion fought Companion at battles like Towton and Barnet, their shared oaths fracturing under the strain of competing loyalties. It was cherished by the Tudors, who used its prestige to legitimise their new dynasty, and it continues to this day as the most senior order of chivalry in the United Kingdom, its membership still personally bestowed by the Sovereign.
The vision Edward III conceived in 1348 was a brilliant synthesis of the medieval and the modern. It drew on the legendary past of Arthurian romance but was designed for the hard-headed political and military realities of its time. It celebrated the individual knight’s prowess while binding him into an unbreakable corporate body loyal to the Crown. It was, as the initial brief so astutely noted, far more than just an honour. It was a symbol, an exclusive club, and a network of influence at the very highest level. And at its birth, the great Lincolnshire magnate, Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster, stood as the foremost example of the very chivalric ideal the Order sought to enshrine.
Sources & Further Reading
Primary Sources:
Froissart, Jean. Chronicles. Translated and edited by Geoffrey Brereton. Penguin Classics, 1968. (Essential for the chivalric atmosphere and biographical details of the Founder Knights). The Statutes of the Order of the Garter. The original statutes are lost, but later versions are preserved in manuscripts held by the College of Arms and the British Library. Calendar of the Patent Rolls and Calendar of the Close Rolls*. (These government records provide evidence for grants, appointments, and the public careers of figures like Henry of Grosmont).
Secondary Sources:
Barber, Richard. Edward III and the Triumph of England: The Battle of Crécy and the Company of the Garter. Allen Lane, 2013. Boulton, D'A. J. D. The Knights of the Crown: The Monarchical Orders of Knighthood in Later Medieval Europe, 1325–1520. The Boydell Press, 2nd Edition, 2000. (The key academic text on chivalric orders). Collins, Hugh E. L. The Order of the Garter, 1348-1461: Chivalry and Politics in Late Medieval England. Clarendon Press, 2000. Fowler, Kenneth. The King's Lieutenant: Henry of Grosmont, First Duke of Lancaster, 1310-1361. Elek Books, 1969. (The definitive biography of Henry of Grosmont). Given-Wilson, Chris. The Royal Household and the King's Affinity: Service, Politics and Finance in England 1360-1413. Yale University Press, 1986. Saul, Nigel. For Honour and Fame: Chivalry in England, 1275-1650. The Bodley Head, 2011. Sumption, Jonathan. The Hundred Years War, Vol. I: Trial by Battle and Vol. II: Trial by Fire. Faber & Faber, 1990 & 1999. (The most comprehensive narrative of the war). Vale, Juliet. Edward III and Chivalry: Chivalric Society and Its Context, 1270-1350. The Boydell Press, 1982.