Title:

Knight

First Name:

Humphrey

Last Name:

Bourchier

Memorial Type:

Memorial - no longer extant memorial brass

Does the monument still exist?

No

Installation Date:

Contemporary (pre-1500)

Inscription:

Behold lying here the warrior at Barnet, eager for fierce fights; he fights like Eacides [another name for Achilles]; the knight is wounded on all sides; he falls smitten; Mars brings him a wound; his armour spattered in many places with blood grows red. Lo, the tearful grief of the hour. He falls, indeed, from the light, whither Christ rose from the dead. Humphrey Bourgchier, sprung from the glorious line of King Edward, called the Third, the son and heir of John, Lord Berners. And lo, Edward the Fourth has the triumph in the battle, in which Humphrey dies a true servant of the king. He was an attendant at the table of the king's wife Elizabeth; so his virtue grows with honour; once this man was distinguished in arms and dear to Britons; ask in your prayers that he may live in heaven

Allegiance:

Yorkist

Condition:

Good

Condition Description:

The brass has been removed, but four engraved shields of arms and his crest of a Saracen's head still remain, together with the inscription plate.

Memorial Notes:

This is a unique contemporary memorialisation of a man who died fighting in one of the battles of the Wars of the Roses. It is discussed at https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/sir-humphrey-bourchier/ and also in Christian Steer, 'The Lords Baron Slain at Barnet Field', The Ricardian 26 (2016), 87-98.