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List of the Knights of the Garter

Founded in 1348 by Edward III, the Garter was England's highest and most coveted order of chivalry, having been revived in imitation of the Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece by both Edward IV, who had built St. George's Chapel at Windsor, and Henry VII. Henry VIII, with his passion for ancient chivalric values and his policy of accentuating his own magnificence, would continue this tradition.

The Order comprised the sovereign and twenty-five elected Knights Companions, who were only replaced upon death or disgrace. Vacancies were filled at the annual chapter meeting. Each chapter was marked with a magnificent feast; at Windsor, this took place in St. George's Hall. The Knights wore "a blue velvet mantle with a Garter on the left shoulder, lined with white sarcanet, and scarlet hose with black velvet around the thighs". Each sported a light blue silk garter with a gold buckle and embroidered Tudor roses round his leg--the garter being the oldest item of the insignia--and the rich gold collar introduced by Edward IV or Henry VII. 

Henry VIII decreed in 1510 that the collar consist of twelve Tudor roses set within blue garters, interspersed with twelve tasselled knots; from it hung a "Great George"--a jewelled pendant of St. George slaying the dragon. The Knights were allowed to wear their insignia only on St. George's Day and the great feast days of the court, so in 1521 Henry instituted a smaller pendant, the "Lesser George" for everyday use. This was suspended from a gold chain or a blue ribbon, and might be set with a rare cameo.

List of the Knights of the Garter

(1348-1650)

(A list of Ladies of the Garter is at the end)

(Note: Numbered until 1939. Knights after 1939 from Chr. Buyers' list. Dates are those of installation before 1939, appointment after).

Ladies of the Garter

  • 1358 PHILLIPA OF HAINAULT, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of William, Count of Holland and Hainault. Married Edward III, King of England.
  • 1376 Isabella Plantagenet.
  • 1378 Joan Plantagenet.
  • 1378 Constance of Castile, Duchess of Lancaster. Daughter and heiress of Peter, King of Castile and Leon. Married, as his second wife, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, K.G.
  • 1378 Mary Plantagenet.
  • 1378 Maud Holland, Lady Courtenay. Daughter of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Kent, K.G. Married 1st Hugh, Lord Courtenay, K.G.; 2ndly Waleran, Count of St. Paul.
  • 1378 Phillippa Plantagenet, Queen of Portugal.
  • 1378 Elizabeth Plantagenet, Duchess of Exeter.
  • 1378 Phillippa De Couci, Countess of Oxford. Daughter and heiress of Ingelram (de Couci), Earl of Bedford, K.G., afterwards Duke of Bedford. Married Robert (de Vere), 9th Earl of Oxford, afterwards Duke of Ireland, K.G.
  • 1378 Isabel of Castile, Countess of Cambridge. Daughter of Peter King of Castile and Leon. Married Edmund of Langley, Earl of Cambridge, K.G., afterwards Duke of York.
  • 1384 ANNE OF BOHEMIA, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of the Emperor Charles IV. Married, as his first wife, Richard II, King of England.
  • 1384 Eleanor De Bohun.
  • 1384 Anne Manny. Daughter of Sir Walter Manny, K.G. Married, as his second wife, John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, K.G.
  • 1384 Elizabeth De Mohun. Daughter of John Lord Mohun, K.G. Married William de Montague, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, K.G.
  • 1384 Catherine Plantagenet. Daughter of John of Gaunt Duke of Lancaster, K.G. She later married Henry, Prince of Asturias, who succeeded as Henry III, King of Castile and Leon.
  • 1384 Joan Burghersh. Daughter of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh. Married John, Lord Mohun K.G.
  • 1386 Maud Ufford. Daughter of Sir Ralph Ufford. Married Thomas (de Vere), 8th Earl of Oxford, who died 1371.
  • 1386 Elizabeth Fitzalan.
  • 1386 Constance Plantagenet.
  • 1386 Elizabeth Courtenay.
  • 1386 Blanche Mowbray. Daughter of - de Mowbray. Married 1st Thomas, 3rd Lord Poynings, who died 1375; 2ndly *Sir John Worth.
  • 1387 The Lady Gomeneys. Married John de Geaux, Sire de Gomeneys.
    Probably "de Comines" of the family of Phillippe de Commynes, the historian, and of Jehan de Comines, one of the founding knights of the Golden Fleece.
  • 1387 Catherine Payne Roet. Daughter of Sir Payne Roet. Married 1st Sir Hugh Swynford; 2ndly, as his third wife, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, K.G.
  • 1388 Alice Fitzalan.
  • 1388 Mary De Bohun.
  • 1390 (Elizabeth) Trivet. Daughter of Sir Phillip Timbury. Married 1st Thomas Swinbourne; 2ndly Sir Thomas Trivet, who died 1388.
  • 1390 Joan Fitzalan.
  • 1390 Joan Devereux.
  • 1397 ISABELLA OF FRANCE, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of Charles VI, King of France. Married, as his second wife, Richard II, King of England.
  • 1399 Catherine of Holland. Daughter of Albert, Count of Holland, K.G. Married William, Duke of Gueldres and Juliers, K.G.
  • 1399 Joan Holland. Daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, K.G. Married 1st Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, K.G.; 2ndly William, Lord Willoughby de Eresby, K.G.; 3rdly Henry, Lord Scrope of Masham; 4thly Henry Bromflete, Lord Vesey.
  • 1399 Margaret Holland. Daughter of Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, K.G. Married 1st John Beaufort, Marquess of Dorset, K.G.; 2ndly Thomas Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence, K.G.
  • 1399 Joan Beaufort.
  • 1399 Blanche Bradeston. Probably daughter of Sir Thomas Bradeston.
  • 1399 Lady (Agnes) Arundel. Married Sir William Arundel, K.G.
  • 1399 Margaret Fitzalan.
  • 1399 Lady (Margaret) de Courcy. Married Sir William de Courcy.
  • 1408 JOAN OF NAVARRE, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of Charles II, King of Navarre. Married 1st John IV, Duke of Brittany, K.G.; 2ndly Henry IV, King of England.
  • 1408 Phillippa Plantagenet, Queen of Denmark.
  • 1408 Margaret of Burgundy. Daughter of Phillip (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy, K.G. Married William of Bavaria, Duke of Holland and Count of Ostrevant, K.G.
  • 1408 Blanche Plantagenet.
  • 1408 Phillippa De Mohun. Daughter of John 2nd Lord Mohun, K.G. Married 1st as his second wife, Walter, 4th Lord Fitzwalter; 2ndly *Sir John Golafre; 3rdly Edward Plantagenet, 2nd Duke of York, K.G.
  • 1408 Maud Francis. Daughter of Sir Adam Francis. Married 1st Sir Alan Buxhull, K.G.; 2ndly John Montague, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, K.G.
  • 1408 Margaret Clarell. Daughter of Thomas Clarell. Married Sir Robert Waterton.
  • 1408 Margaret Neville.
  • 1408 Agnes (Anne), wife of William de Gomeneys, son of le sire de Gomeneys.
  • 1413 Beatrix of Portugal. Daughter of John I, King of Portugal and Donna Agnes Perez. Married 1st Thomas Fitzalan, 5th Earl of Arundel, K.G.; 2ndly John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon, K.G.
  • 1415 CATHERINE, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of Charles VI, King of France. Married Henry V, King of England.
  • 1432 Label Countess of Warwick. Daughter of Thomas le Despencer, Earl of Gloucester, K.G. Married 1st Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Worcester; 2ndly Richard Beauchamp, 5th Earl of Warwick, K.G.
  • 1432 Alice Chaucer. Daughter of Thomas Chaucer of Ewelme. Married 1st Thomas Montague, 4th Earl of Salisbury, K.G.; 2ndly William de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk, K.G., afterwards 1st Duke of Suffolk. On her tomb in Ewelme church she is represented with a garter on her left arm.
  • 1436 Eleanor De Cobham. Daughter of Reginald, Lord Cobham of Sterborough, K.G. Married, as his second wife, Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, K.G. Regent of England.
  • 1436 Jacquetta St. Paul. Daughter of Peter, Count of St. Paul. Married 1st John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford, K. G.; 2ndly Sir Richard Wydville, K.G., afterwards 1st Earl Rivers.
  • 1448 MARGARET, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND. Daughter of Regnier, Duke of Anjou, titular King of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem. Married Henry VI, King of England.
  • 1448 Anne Whalesburgh. Daughter of Sir John Whalesburgh. Married Sir William Moleyns, afterwards Lord Moleyns.
  • 1448 Emmeline Cromer. Of the family of Sir William Cromer, Lord Mayor of London, 1413. Married James, 1st Lord Saye and Sele.
  • 1448 Margaret Ferrars. Sister of Richard Ferrars. Married John, 1st Lord Beauchamp of Powyk, K.G.
  • 1448 Alice Norreys.
  • c.1468 Lady (Margaret) Harcourt. Daughter of Sir John Byron. Married Sir Robert Harcourt, K.G. On her tomb in Stanton Harcourt church she is represented with a garter on her left arm.
  • 1477 ELIZABETH WOODVILLE, QUEEN CONSORT OF ENGLAND.
  • 1477 ELIZABETH PLANTAGENET, PRINCESS OF ENGLAND.
  • 1477 Elizabeth Plantagenet.
  • 1480 Cecily Plantagenet.
  • 1480 Mary Plantagenet.
  • 1488 Margaret Beaufort.

Sources:

A list of all knights from 1348 to 1939, adapted from Edmund H. Fellowes: The Knights of the Garter 1348-1939, which is a catalogue of the stall-plates in St. George's chapel, Windsor.

There are a number of possible sources for lists of the knights of the Garter:

  • Beltz, George Frederick: Memorials of the Order of the Garter, from its foundation to the present time. Including the history of the order; biographical notices of the knights in the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II., the chronological succession of the members. London, W. Pickering, 1841. [reprint: New York, AMS Press, 1973]
  • Shaw, William Arthur: The knights of England; a complete record from the earliest time to the present day of the knights of all the orders of chivalry in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of knights bachelors, by Wm. A. Shaw. Incorporating a complete list of knights bachelors dubbed in Ireland, compiled by G. D. Burtchaell. London, Printed and published for the Central chancery of the orders of knighthood, Sherratt and Hughes, 1906. [reprint: Baltimore, Geneological Publishing Co., 1970, 1995.]
  • Cokayne, George Edward: The Complete Peerage. 2nd ed., London, St. Catherine Press, 1910-59. vol. 2, appendix B.
  • Holmes, Grace: ???. 1984.

Fellowes, and therefore this list, relies on the lists of Betz (1841) and Shaw (1906). The numbering is that of Shaw. The dates are those of appointment or elevation (app), or investiture or installation (inv).