The last of the De Clintons of Maxstoke was also a soldier, who had the misfortune to be captured in the French war and to suffer a long term of imprisonment. Humphrey, Earl of Stafford, the new owner of Maxstoke, who was made a Knight of the Garter in 1429, and was created Duke of Buckingham in 1444, was Lieutenant Governor of Normandy and Calais, and Ambassador to France. He had also another distinction conferred upon him, that of precedence before all other Dukes who might thenceforward be created, excepting only descendants of the King. He was a warm supporter of the Lancastrian cause and, owing to his marriage with Margaret Beaufort, daughter and heiress of Edmund Duke of Somerset, was related to the Royal House. He fell at the battle of Northampton, July 10, 1460, when leading the Lancastrian forces, one of his sons having been killed at the battle of St. Albans five years previously; and he proved on his death a great benefactor to the destitute poor, some of whom he directed should carry tapers at his funeral, and pray for the repose of his soul. [Illustration: SHAKESPEARE’S BIRTHPLACE.] It was Buckingham who strengthened the oaken doors of Maxstoke by sheets of iron bearing his arms and supporters, and also the “burning nave and knot,” which was the ancient badge of the house. It does not appear that Buckingham made Maxstoke by any means his chief residence, but the names of many of the constables he appointed, and of those who came after him, have been placed on record. The castle and estates were forfeited by the second Duke and have had during its history many owners. The dwelling–house occupies the north–west angle of the inner court. It is a partly timbered house, the front portion having been rebuilt in the seventeenth century, and some changes have been made since that date. At the south end of the Great Hall was formerly the chapel, the west window of which, in the late Decorated period, still remains. The kitchen was somewhat strangely placed adjoining this, and communication between it and the hall must have been carried on across the chapel, the lower part of which is nowadays used as a butler’s pantry, and the upper part a corridor to the Great Hall. In the chapel the marriage of John Talbot, afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, and Catherine, daughter of the Duke of Buckingham, took place in 1457. The great Baronial Halt, with a dais at one end, is on the first floor, and forms a handsome apartment lighted by three windows. On the west side there is a fine carved mantelpiece of coloured stone, ornamented with the numerous quarterings of the Dilke family, and bearing the following quaint inscriptions:— Pennatus Sidera Morte Where no woode is, No tale–bearers, Ye fire goeth out; Strife ceaseth.