STUCLEY (or STUKELY), THOMAS (c. 1525-1578), Eng lish adventurer, son of Sir Hugh Stucley, of Affleton, near Ilfra combe, a knight of the body to King Henry VIII., was supposed to have been an illegitimate son of the king. He was a standard bearer at Boulogne from 1547 to 1550, entered the service of the duke of Somerset, and after his master's arrest in 1551 a warrant was issued against him, but he escaped to France, and served in the French army. He was sent by Montmorency with a letter of recommendation from Henry II. of France to Edward VI. On his arrival he proceeded on Sept. 16, 1552 to reveal the French plans for the capture of Calais and for a descent upon England, which had, according to his account, been the object of his mission to England. Stucley was imprisoned in the Tower for some months. A prosecution for debt on his release in August 1553 compelled him to become a soldier of fortune once more, but he returned to England in December 1554 in the train of Philibert, duke of Savoy. He married an heiress, Anne Curtis, but in a few months had to return to the duke of Savoy's service. From 1558 onwards he seems to have been engaged in buccaneer ing, and although Elizabeth was compelled to disavow Stucley, who surrendered in 1565, his prosecution was merely formal.
Stucley was then engaged by Sir Henry Sidney in Ireland, then by Fenelon, the French Ambassador in London, and then by Philip II. of Spain, but he fell into disgrace at Madrid. But he
commanded three galleys, under Don John of Austria at the battle of Lepanto, and exploits restored him to favour at Madrid. On March 2, 1572 he was at Seville, offering to hold the narrow seas against the English with a fleet of twenty ships. In four years he is said to have received over 27,000 ducats from Philip II. Wearied by the Spanish king's delays he sought assistance from Gregory XIII., who aspired to make his illegiti mate son, Giacomo Buoncompagno, king of Ireland. He set sail from Civita Vecchia in March 1578, but put into Lisbon, where he was to meet his confederate, James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, and to secure better ships before sailing for Ireland. There he was turned from his purpose by King Sebastian, with whom he sailed for Morocco. He commanded the centre in the battle of Alcazar on Aug. 4, 1578, and was killed.
There is a detailed biography of Stucley, based chiefly on the Eng lish, Venetian and Spanish state papers, in R. Simpson's edition of the i6o5 play (School of Shakespeare, 1878, vol. i.), where the Stucley ballads are also printed.