THE CAREER OF SIR THOMAS TRIVET (1330-88)

After the Appellants ill-fated meeting with Richard in the Tower at the end of December 1387, the lords travelled to Westminster to take over the household and its administration.¹ They carried out the wholesale arrest of a nmnber of household and Chamber officials a few days later on the 4th January 1388². Among those arrested from the Chamber or who were closely associated with the Chamber, were such officials as James Berners, John Salisbury, William Elmham and Nicholas Dagworth, and of course, Thomas Trivet. All those arrested were sent to various castles around the countiy. Trivet was sent to Dover Castle under the keeping of Sir John Devereux along with John Beauchamp, John Salisbury and John Lincoln (a clerk).³

Why was Trivet arrested? The charges brought against him could not have been great since although he was ordered before the council on the 15th February 1388, he never did attend a formal trial.⁴ He was released even before the end of the Merciless Parliament.⁵ Was he arrested as a result of his public opposition to the Appellants a few months earlier? Trivet's actions in November 1387 (when he tried to ambush the Appellants on their way to meet the King) undoubtedly did nothing to endear him to the lords. Or perhaps the reason was a personal vendetta with the Earl of Arundel. Goodman has suggested that Trivet urged the King to take up arms against the Appellants in November 1387 because he was 'anxious to recover his naval command from Arundel’.⁶ The latter may have suggested his arrest on the 4th January 1388 with this still in mind. Another alternative lay in his involvement in the 1383 crusade to Flanders. William Elmham was among those arrested alongside Trivet and he too had beem a captain on this ill-fated expedition. It may or may not be significant that Elmham was released from imprisonment on the same day as Trivet.⁷ but it is safe to assume that this episode had been resolved by the time of the Merciless Parliamemt. The most likely explanation for Trivet's arrest is his close involvement with the court and his influential proximity to the King. As a Banneret of the Household hc enjoyed a favourable position at court in the 1380s. In October 1385, for example. he received 'four ells of black cloth’for the funeral of Princess Joan of Kent alongside such men as the EarLs of Oxford and Suffolk and Simon Burley.⁸ The amount of cloth he received for this sombre occasion. Mitchell notes, was important since the other household knights received just three and three quarter ells - the extra cloth used to denote household seniority. His position at court, therefore, must have been illustrious to be included alongside such influential individuals.

Trivet's imprisonment did not last long and he was released on the 30th May 1388, under the mainprise of Henry de Beaumonde, Matthew Gourney, John de Bromwych and Henry Grene.⁹ However, he was released under the surety that he was to be brought ‘before the

1 ToutChapters, vol III, p.428

2 Ibid p 428. Westminster mistakenly places the arrests a few days earlier (Hector and Harvey, Westminster Chronicle,p.229 )

3 CCR 1385-9, p394

4 Ibid,; Kingsford, DNB, p.1164

5 CCR 1385-9, p397

6 Goodman, Loyal Conspiracy p.26

7 Tout, Chapters vol. 11I, p.452n

8 In e-mail from Dr--------, 11^th April 2000 (taken from PRO E101/401/16 m27)see Appendix 3

9 CCR 1385-9, p.397