page_title: William ap Thomas
section_title: The Blue Knight of Gwent
hierarchical_section_title: William ap Thomas / The Blue Knight of Gwent
caption_attribution_description: English: The memorial to commemorate the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt in 2015. Photographed 9 November 2017.
context_page_description: Sir William ap Thomas Kt was a Welsh nobleman, politician, knight, and courtier. He was a member of the Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert family through his son William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and is the agnatic ancestor, via an illegitimate descendant of the 1st Earl of the 8th creation, of the current Herbert family of the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, and also of the Herbert Earl of Carnarvon.
  Raglan manor, attained through marriage through heiress Elizabeth Bluet, was greatly expanded by William and his son, William Herbert, into the well-fortified Raglan Castle, one of the finest late medieval Welsh castles.
  William served King Henry V of England during his first French campaign and in numerous subsequent capacities and was knighted in 1426.
context_section_description: Sir William was thought by antiquarians to have fought at the battle of Battle of Agincourt and Joseph Edmondson (died 1786) states that Sir William was made knight banneret on the battlefield by Henry V. More recent research of the rolls, however, of those who went to France has failed to reveal  his name. and a primary source for Edmondson's assertion has not been found. It is possible he was in the entourage of his future wife's father Davy Gam, who fell at Agincourt. Primary sources exist to show that he was made a Knight Bachelor by Henry VI in 1426; and—as Octavius Morgan (died 1888) pointed out—he could not have been knighted twice. He became known to his compatriots as "Y marchog glas o Went" (the Blue Knight of Gwent), because of the colour of his armour.
  William gradually began to establish himself as a person of consequence in South Wales, and held the following positions: 
  William was Steward of the Lordship of Abergavenny by 1421.
  He was appointed High Sheriff of Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire in 1435.
  In 1440, he was appointed the position as High Sheriff of Glamorgan.
  In 1442 or 1443, William became Chief Steward of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York's estates in Wales.
  Was a member of the Duke of York's military council.
  While William played an active role for the Duke of York, his sphere of influence was generally limited to South Wales.
caption: Agincourt battlefield site and memorial.
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