Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 1355 – 8 or 9 September 1397)[2] was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.

At the head of an English army, John prevailed after Charles was killed in battle in 1364, but the French continued to undermine his position, and he was later forced into exile in England.

[10] However, he found himself unable to form an effective stranglehold, and urgent plans were put in place for Sir Thomas Felton to bring 2,000 reinforcements from England.

By January, though, it had become apparent that the Duke of Brittany was reconciled to the new French king Charles VI, and with the alliance collapsing and dysentery ravaging his men, Woodstock abandoned the siege.

He forced the dismissal and impeachment of Suffolk; was a member of the commission appointed in 1386 to reform the kingdom and the royal household; and took up arms when Richard began proceedings against the commissioners.

Having defeated de Vere at the Battle of Radcot Bridge in December 1387 the duke and his associates entered London to find the king powerless in their hands.

Thomas, who had previously threatened his nephew with deposition, was only restrained from taking this extreme step by the influence of his colleagues; but, as the leader of the "Lords Appellant" in the "Merciless Parliament," which met in February 1388 and was packed with his supporters, he took revenge upon his enemies, which culminated in a successful rebellion in 1388 that significantly weakened the king's power.

[5] During that time he was murdered by being smothered between two feather beds, probably by a group of men led by Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, and the knight Sir Nicholas Colfox, presumably on behalf of Richard II; parliament declared him guilty of treason and his estates forfeited.