Peter de la Mare

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English politician (fl. 1370s)

Sir Peter de la Mare

Speaker of the House of Commons
In office October 1377 – November 1377
Monarch	Richard II of England
Preceded by	Thomas Hungerford
Succeeded by	James Pickering
In office April 1376 – January 1377
Monarch	Edward III of England
Preceded by	William de Shareshull (as Prolocutor, last titleholder)
Succeeded by	Thomas Hungerford

Sir Peter de la Mare (died after 1387) was an English politician and Speaker of the House of Commons during the Good Parliament of 1376.

His parents were probably Sir Reginald de la Mare (died before 1358), of Yatton and Little Hereford in Herefordshire, and his wife Margery. His younger brother Malcolm, also prominent in Herefordshire and an MP in several Parliaments,^[1] died childless.^[2] His sister Joan married Simon Brockbury and their daughter Margaret married William Seymour, having a son Roger (died 1420) who inherited his great-uncle's estates,^[3] which implies that Sir Peter died childless and may never have married.^[4]

Life

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Before becoming Speaker, de la Mare worked as a toll collector, was Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1374, and served as a steward to Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March. It may have been his connection with Mortimer which led to his election to Parliament.

De la Mare attended the Good Parliament in 1376 as a knight of the shire for Herefordshire. After being elected as Speaker, he served as a spokesman for the House of Commons in the House of Lords during the indictment of various figures close to King Edward III, including the king's mistress Alice Perrers, who was accused of having gained an undue degree of influence over the king. However, the political influence of the Good Parliament was brief.

In November 1376, de la Mare was imprisoned in Nottingham Castle by John of Gaunt. Despite pleas for his release, the Bad Parliament of 1377 refused to pardon him. However, he regained his freedom in June 1377, following the death of Edward III. Following his release, Mare was pardoned and compensated by King Richard II. He was re-elected as Speaker of the Commons in the Parliament of October 1377.

Peter de la Mare served in several more Parliaments during the 1380s. The last recorded mention of him was as a feoffee to Richard Burley in 1387.

In Piers Plowman

Many scholars agree that the parliament of rats and mice in the prologue of Piers Plowman is a direct reference to the Good Parliament. Peter de la Mare is portrayed as the "rat of renown" who proposes belling the cat (who is probably John of Gaunt), thus casting him as a well-intentioned reformer who would not or could not follow through.^[5]^[6]

References

↑ Holmes, George (January 2008). "Mare, Sir Peter de la (fl. c. 1365–1387)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7432. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
↑ The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1386-1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
↑ J. L. Kirby; Janet H. Stevenson, eds. (2002), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem and Other Analogous Documents, London, p. 126, ISBN 0851158994{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Thompson, Edward Maunde. "De la Mare, Peter" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. pp. 301–302.
↑ Orsten, E. Ambiguities in Langland's Rat Parliament. Mediaeval Studies 23, 1961.
↑ Dodd, G. A parliament full of rats? Piers Plowman and the Good Parliament of 1376. Historical Research 79:203, 2006.

Holmes, George (1975). The Good Parliament. Oxford, Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822446-X.

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Political offices

Preceded by

Sir Thomas Hungerford

Presiding Officer of the House of Commons
1376

Succeeded by

James Pickering

Preceded by

Thomas Hungerford

Speaker of the House of Commons
1377

Succeeded by

Sir Thomas Hungerford

Speakers of the House of Commons (list)

House of Commons
of England

14th century	de Shareshull De la Mare Hungerford De la Mare Pickering Guildesborough Waldegrave Pickering Bussy Cheney Doreward Savage Redford Savage
15th century	Esturmy Tiptoft Chaucer Stourton Doreward Hungerford Chaucer Redman Beauchamp Flower Hunt Chaucer Baynard Flower Russell Walton Vernon Tyrell Alington I Tyrell Russell Hunt Bowes Tyrell Burley W. Tresham Burley W. Tresham Say Popham I W. Tresham Oldhall Thorpe Charlton Wenlock T. Tresham Green Strangeways Say Alington II Wood Catesby Lovell Mordaunt Fitzwilliam Empson Drury Englefield
16th century	Dudley Englefield Sheffield Nevill More Audley Wingfield Rich Hare Moyle Baker Dyer Pollard Broke Higham Cordell Gargrave T. Williams Onslow Wray Bell Popham II Puckering Snagge Coke Yelverton
17th century	Croke Phelips R. Crewe Richardson T. Crewe H. Finch J. Finch Glanville Lenthall Pelham Lenthall Rous (Barebones Parliament) Lenthall Widdrington (2nd Protectorate Parliament) Chute, Long & Bampfield (3rd Protectorate Parliament) Lenthall Grimston Turnour Charlton Seymour Sawyer Seymour Gregory W. Williams Trevor Powle Trevor Foley Littleton
18th century	Harley Smith

House of Commons
of Great Britain

18th century	Smith R. Onslow Bromley Hanmer Compton A. Onslow Cust Norton Cornwall Grenville Addington

House of Commons
of the United Kingdom

19th century	Addington Mitford Abbot Manners-Sutton Abercromby Shaw-Lefevre Denison Brand Peel Gully
20th century	Lowther Whitley FitzRoy Brown Morrison Hylton-Foster King Lloyd Thomas Weatherill Boothroyd Martin
21st century	Martin Bercow Hoyle

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