Some of the honours he achieved and the offices that he held included:[19] In 1492 Darcy was bound by indenture to serve Henry VII beyond sea for a whole year with one thousand men, "himself having his costrel and page, 16 archers, and 4 bills, and 6 H." (apparently halberds) on foot.

While thus engaged on the borders he had a good deal of correspondence with Henry's able minister Fox, Bishop of Durham, whose bishopric lay continually open to invasion.

He was also one of three appointed for a like purpose (but apparently two years later) for the counties of Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, and he himself had a special commission to execute the offices of constable and marshal of England on those who refused to compound.

On 8 June 1505 we first find him named Lord Darcy in a patent by which he was made steward of the lands of Raby and other possessions of the young Earl of Westmorland, then a minor.

But no sooner had the troops landed than misunderstandings arose between them and the natives, and Ferdinand politely intimated that their services would not be required, as he had made a truce with the Moors in expectation of a war with France.

On 3 August he had only reached Cape St. Vincent, where he was obliged to give out of his own money £20 to each of his captains for the victualling of his men; but apparently, this was repaid a year after his return home by the Spanish ambassador, who in a letter of Wolsey's dated 30 September is said to have 'dealt liberally with Lord Darcy in the matter of his soldiers'.

In January following he writes from his own house at Templehurst an interesting letter to Wolsey, in which he speaks of having recovered from recent sickness, says that his expeditions to Spain and France had cost him £4,000 in three years and a half, but declares his willingness to serve the king beyond sea in the following summer.

A year later, a privy search having been ordered to be made throughout London and the neighbourhood for suspicious characters, Darcy and Sir John Nevill were appointed to conduct it in Stepney and the eastern suburbs.

In March 1520 he resigned his offices in Sheriff Hutton to his friend, Sir Robert Constable, whom he familiarly called his brother, in whose favour a new patent was granted by the king.

His name occurs shortly afterwards in various lists of persons to accompany the king to the Field of the Cloth of Gold; but it is more than doubtful whether he went there, seeing that on 29 June, just after the interview, he and Lord Berners waited on three French gentlemen and conducted them to see the princess at Richmond, though their arrival the day before was only notified a few hours in advance by letters from Wolsey, who was still at Guisnes.

In the same year he obtained a principal share in the wardship of the son and heir of Lord Monteagle, which led to many complaints from one of the executors named Richard Bank.

[3] In 1529 Darcy prepared the way for his old comrade Wolsey's fall by drawing up a long paper of accusations against him, in which he professed that his motive was "only for to discharge my oath and most bounden duty to God and the king, and of no malice".

After this, it is not surprising to learn that among other peers who were treated in a similar manner he was informed that his presence in the January session of 1534 would be dispensed with, although he had received a regular summons to attend.

[3] Among matters of minor interest about this period, we find him reminding Bishop Tunstall after his promotion to Durham of a promise of the offices of steward and sheriff of his bishopric.

"[3] In the same month in which his son was appointed captain of Jersey, Darcy began to hold secret communications with Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, along with Lord Hussey, whom he called his brother, to invite the emperor to invade England and put an end to what he described as a tyranny in matters secular and religious, which the nation endured only because there was no deliverer.

His earnest application for leave to go home was with a view to aid the invaders when this scheme should be set on foot, and he actually succeeded in obtaining a licence to absent himself from future feasts of St. George on account of his age and debility.

On the same day (28 October) he also obtained a licence of absence from future meetings of parliament and exemption from serving on any commission, but the latter did not pass the great seal till 12 February following.

For these important privileges he writes to thank Cromwell on 13 November, dating his letter from Templehurst, where, however, he could hardly have been at that time, as Chapuys expressly says on 1 January 1535 that he had not yet been allowed to retire to his own country.

He kept up secret communications with Chapuys at intervals in January, March, May, and July, hoping now and again that matters were ripe for a great revolt, and sending the ambassador symbolic presents when he dared not express his meaning otherwise.

But in the middle of the month, this hope having apparently disappeared, he was thinking about how to escape abroad and endeavour to impress upon the emperor in a personal interview the urgent necessity of sending an expedition against England to redeem the country from what he described as the heresy, oppression, and robbery to which it was constantly subjected.

[3] His presence not being required in the parliamentary session of February 1536, he escaped the pressure which was doubtless brought to bear upon others to vote for the dissolution of the smaller monasteries, a measure which was very unpopular in the north of England, whatever it might be elsewhere.

[3] He stood by Robert Aske, the leader of the commons, when Lancaster Herald knelt before him, and he negotiated in their favour with the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk when they were sent down to suppress the rising.

His position as a friend and leader of the insurgents was recognised by the king himself, who instructed Norfolk and Fitzwilliam to treat with him as such, and authorised them to give him and the others safe conduct if necessary, to come to his presence, or else to offer them a free pardon on their submission.

Even his recent acts in the king's behalf were construed to his disadvantage; for having given orders to stay the commons till Norfolk came, the words were taken to imply that he only wished them pacified for a season.

[3] They were condemned to suffer the extreme penalty for treason, but the punishment actually inflicted upon them was decapitation, which Lord Hussey underwent at Lincoln, where he was conveyed on purpose to strike terror where the insurrection had begun.