Political and military career
Robert Corbet and his younger brother, Roger, enlisted in the service of the Earl of Arundel in 1405. For a decade, most of their public and political interventions closely followed the policies and interests of the Earl.
Corbet was made a Justice of the Peace for Shropshire in 1410. In the same year he attended the election of Arundel's supporters, David Holbache and John Burley as knights of the shire at Shrewsbury Castle. In March 1413, after Henry V succeeded to the throne and Arundel had been promoted to Lord Treasurer he was himself elected to Parliament for the first time. The other member was Richard Lacon, who was married to Corbet's cousin, and had profited materially from his closeness to Arundel and the House of Lancaster. This marked the zenith of Arundel's dominance in Shropshire, which largely excluded representation of other magnates. The MPs for Shrewsbury were Holbache and Urian St. Pierre, and these joined with Corbet and Lacon to act as mainpernors in Chancery for Matthew ap Meredith, guaranteeing his good conduct, while the parliament was still in session.
The triumph of Arundel was soon followed by a furious reaction, led by John Talbot, Lord Furnival, the future Earl of Shrewsbury. Talbot's resentment became so threatening that he was sent to the Tower of London for a time in November and both he and Arundel were made to put up large guarantees of good conduct. Corbet was not a member of the next parliament, the Fire and Faggot Parliament, which was held in Leicester. However, he featured prominently in many of the complaints made there against Arundel's rule in Shropshire. It was alleged that taxes approved by the May 1413 parliament could not be collected in the county because he and Lacon had fallen out with the tax collectors they had themselves recommended. The collectors had been attacked with swords at Moreton Corbet by servants of Robert and Roger Corbet. When they stayed at Oldbury, just south of Bridgnorth, an armed force of 120 came down from the town after them. They had lost employees and horses, and barely escaped with their own lives.
In response to the complaints, the king himself presided over the Court of King's Bench at Shrewsbury in Trinity term, the summer session. Arundel's men faced a litany of charges, the most serious being that they had organised a raid on Much Wenlock on 18 May 1413, employing an armed force of 2,000 from Cheshire. The prior of Wenlock Priory complained that these were armed Welshmen, who had destroyed a mill: he could obtain no redress from Arundel. All of the accused were charged with breaking the law on livery. The cases were not decided at that point but transferred to the Michaelmas term session of the King's Bench at Westminster. Corbet had the reasonable excuse that he was actually at Parliament when the worst offences occurred. The accused argued that they were simply intervening in Wenlock as justices of the Peace, enforcing the law against malefactors, including Talbot. Arundel put up bail and sureties, and used his influence to obtain pardons for his retainers.
In August 1415, Corbet accompanied Arundel to Normandy as part of the king's resumption of the Hundred Years' War. Arundel fell ill at the Siege of Harfleur and was allowed to return to England. On 4 October Corbet was also allowed to return. However, Arundel died on 13 October, leaving Corbet unprotected in his disputes. At the 1415 parliament he was accused of another catalogue of assaults on tax collectors, general commotions and threats against complainants, in association with his brother, but the matter seems to have gone no further. However, he was removed from the Shropshire bench in 1416. He was still under a cloud early in 1419, when he was ordered to appear before the king's council, if required, under threat of a £100 fine. However, he was never summoned.
Corbet seems to have crept back into favour, although the precise reasons are unknown; possibly his offences were fading from memory. He was elected to the Commons again later in 1419. He was second to William Burley, who had established good connections with Talbot, while continuing to serve the Arundel estate. It is possible Corbet had done the same: he had a family relationship with Talbot through the Barons Strange of Blackmere. He was then pricked High Sheriff of Shropshire, a considerable honour in the royal gift, and signifying full rehabilitation. However, he died during his shrievalty.
