The Battle of Poitiers 1356 (14 page)

Sir Reginald Cobham
²⁰

He was the son of John Cobham and Joan Neville and may have accompanied the young Edward III to France when he did homage for Aquitaine. On 16 April 1337, with the bishop of Lincoln, earls of Salisbury and Huntingdon, William Trussel and Nicholas la Beche, he was named an ‘intimate secretary’ of the king and as such was to treat with officials in Bruges, Ypres, Ghent and Flanders. At some point before 28 October 1341 he travelled to the papal curia at Avignon. He was to return in 1344 to treat with Philip of France concerning the truce. He was also an ambassador to the French council from 18 March to 7 May 1349.

In addition to his administrative, diplomatic and political work he was an accomplished soldier. At some point before 8 August 1337 he was made a banneret and provision was made for him by the king to sustain himself in this rank. He was involved in the expedition of 1338 and in 1345 he was appointed admiral of the fleet from the Thames westwards, an office which was renewed in 1349. In c.1348 he was granted £500 a year by the king.

Cobham fought at Crécy, where he commanded the first division. He was also at Calais and Winchelsea. In 1352 he became a knight of the Garter and in the following year, captain of Calais. He was captain of the town from at least 1353. He fought alongside the prince in 1355–6 when he was marshal of the army and was closely involved with the capture of Castelsagrat. He fought in the main ‘battle’ and captured the count of Longueville (his ransom was worth 6,500 florins) at Poitiers and saved King Jean from his quarrelling captors. He signed the truce of Bordeaux. He participated in the Reims expedition and died, probably of pneumatic plague in October 1361 and was buried in Lingfield parish church. On his tomb were the arms of Cobham impaling Berkeley which commemorated his marriage to Joan Berkeley.

Sir Stephen Cosington
²¹

His early military career was in the service of Henry of Lancaster whom he accompanied in his 1345 expedition. He may have returned to England prior to or during the earlier stages of the siege of Calais. He had certainly come to the prince’s attention by this time as in 1348 he gave him eight harnesses all decorated with the Cosington arms. He had a place on the prince’s council by June 1351 and he rode in the
chevauchée
of 1355 and fought at Poitiers where he was a member of Edward’s bodyguard. As a result of this he was granted £100 a year, or lands of the same value. However, he may have been in receipt of an annuity before this. He delivered the order to Lancaster to raise the siege of Rennes as a result of the truce of Bordeaux. Following this, he spent much of 1358–9 acting as an ambassador in Normandy and elsewhere in France. Such experience may have qualified him for the commission of overseeing the transfer of land after the treaty of Brétigny. He may have been able to combine this with the duty, given him on 13 July 1360, to conduct the constable of France and other captives back home across the Channel. In this year also he was granted the castle of Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte, although presumably this was only for a short period as it was granted to Chandos on 30 July. He was present at the ratification of the Anglo-Castilian treaty of 1363. He stayed with Edward as prince of Aquitaine, although in April and May 1364 he was acting as an ambassador in Flanders. In addition he had close relations with Charles of Navarre by whom he was retained.

He was marshal of the army (and of Aquitaine) for the Nájera campaign and crossed Ronsevalles in the vanguard. He remained in Gascony after the return of the prince to England serving under a number of commanders in the rearguard actions. He had returned to England by 1373 when he was appointed to commissions of oyer and terminer and of the peace in Cornwall. Over the next few years he was to be closely involved with affairs in the duchy.

Sir Roger Cotesford
²²

The lord of Bletchingdon and Tusmore, Oxfordshire, he served in Scotland and was a friend of the king. As the prince’s yeoman he was appointed constable of Llanbadarn castle on 23 October 1347 as a reward for his services at Crécy. As a bachelor in the prince’s household he was presumably often in residence and prior to the Gascon expedition he witnessed documents alongside Edmund Wauncy and Nigel Loryng, important household officials. His friendship with the king made him an ideal conduit for news and information when the Black Prince led his first expedition and he served as a messenger between Bordeaux and London at irregular intervals between 1355 and 1358. In this role he presumably acted as a link with the king for the discussions concerning the captivity of Jean and the treaty of Bordeaux.

In 1355 he was granted the manor of Watlington for life in return for his forthcoming services in Gascony.23 Following the victory at Poitiers, where he served in the prince’s bodyguard, he was granted 40 marks a year out of the profits of Wallingford manor.

He does not appear to have joined the prince in Aquitaine in the 1360s although relations remained friendly. He became very active in county society serving on many commissions and acting as the county’s MP in 1369 and 1371. He was also the keeper of Oxford castle in 1362–4, 1365 and 1368–9. He died before 20 November 1375.

Edward Lord Le Despenser
²⁴

He was born on 24 March 1336, the son and heir of Edward le Despenser, the second son of Hugh, earl of Gloucester and he fought in the prince’s Gascon expeditions of 1355–6. With his brother, Thomas, he was frequently mentioned as being among the prince’s immediate attendants in Bordeaux. He fought with Loryng and Burghersh in the skirmish at Romorantin and also at Poitiers. In 1357 he gave proof of his age, had livery of his uncle’s lands (Hugh, died 1349) and in the following December he was summoned to parliament as Baron Le Despenser. In 1359 he was one of Edward III’s staff for the expedition to France and was among those who swore to the observation of the treaty of Brétigny at Calais. In 1360/1 he joined the Order of the Garter on the death of Henry of Lancaster.

In 1363 he was among those appointed to receive the king of Cyprus on his landing at Dover and conducted him to London. In 1368 he served in the retinue of Lionel, duke of Clarence and was present at his death in Piedmont. He attended Edward III and the prince on the abortive voyage to France when they were forced to return by contrary winds. In 1373 he had command of the rear-guard of the army of Gaunt and the duke of Brittany in Picardy and Artois. He returned to England in 1374 after the truce.

He married Elizabeth, the daughter and heir of Bartholomew lord Burghersh. Their son, Thomas, would become earl of Gloucester and a knight of the Garter. He was also noted as a friend of Froissart. He held extensive estates throughout the country particularly in Wales and the Marches. He made his will on 6 November 1375 and died five days later at Cardiff castle and was buried, according to his wishes in Tewkesbury abbey, to which he bequeathed a chalice, given to him by the king of France.

Sir Thomas Felton d. 1382
²⁵

He was the second son of Sir John Felton, lord of Litcham, Norfolk. He fought at Crécy and Calais and, as a result of his service at Poitiers, where he was part of the prince’s bodyguard, he was granted £40 a year for life. He was one of the commissioners who signed the treaty of Brétigny in 1360.

He was clearly a close and trusted colleague as he witnessed the prince’s marriage to Joan and such an association made him an ideal candidate for high office in the new principality. He acted as steward of the prince’s household for a time after his arrival in Aquitaine before his appointment as seneschal of the principality. As such he greeted Peter of Cyprus on his visit to the principality in 1364. During the prince’s Spanish campaign Felton was instrumental in gaining the support of Gaston Fébus and negotiating the treaty at Pamplona with Charles of Navarre although he did not favour involvement in Castile. After the crossing the Pyrenees he led the reconnaissance party and was captured by Audrehem at Ariñez and ransomed. The ransom may have taken the form of an exchange for Audrehem who was himself captured at Nájera.

After the resumption of the war with France he was involved in action at Monsac, Duravel and Domme. He then fought with Pembroke in Poitou. Felton was also granted the sinecure office of chamberlain of Chester by the Black Prince on 20 May 1370. In 1372 he served under the command of the duke of Lancaster. On 6 March 1373(-7), after the prince had returned Aquitaine to his father, Felton was again appointed seneschal. He was again captured in November 1377 and held for three years. His freedom may have been secured by the influence of Gaston Fébus and was assisted by a grant from Richard II. He was retained by the king who, in 1381, appointed him a knight of the Garter. He did not enjoy the favour for long as he died in the same year.

He married Joan, the daughter of Richard Walkefare for whom he managed to acquire the office of keeper of game at Castle Rising. His three daughters, Mary, Sybil and Eleanor married Sir John Curson, Sir Thomas Morley and Sir Thomas Ufford respectively.

Sir William Felton
²⁶

He was a kinsman, although not the brother of Thomas. His father was William Felton of Northumberland. He married Jeanne de Laval, a French heiress. He fought at Crécy and Poitiers and prior to the grant of the principality of Aquitaine to Edward of Woodstock, he was appointed seneschal of Poitou and the Limousin (23 September 1361), a post he retained until his death. As seneschal he was involved in securing various castles as surety for continuing royal ransom payments.

His military skill was well known. In 1359, a case under the law of arms concerning Mathew Gournay and others was brought before him as he was considered a neutral and experienced arbiter. He was also involved in Breton affairs serving there in 1360 and witnessing the duke giving homage in Paris in 1366. In 1364 he was involved in a dispute with Bertrand du Guesclin and brought a case before the parlement of Paris.

He rode with the Black Prince to Spain in 1367 and was a leading figure in the large reconnaissance force to spy out the enemy. He was described by Chandos Herald as lion-hearted and caring ‘not two cherries for death’. 27 By contrast Jean de Venette painted a somewhat different picture of the man, ‘a valiant and noble knight, of good counsel, prudent and devout’
²⁸
He founded a Carmelite house at Poitiers with Chandos. He was killed in a skirmish at Ariñez, before Nájera on 19 March 1367.

Sir Baldwin Freville
²⁹

There is a danger of conflating the careers of Baldwin II (15 August 1317–75) and III (1350/1–1387). Baldwin II first married Ida, the daughter of John 1st lord Clinton of Maxstoke and secondly Joan Dugdale. He served the Black Prince as seneschal of Saintonge. Baldwin III married first, Elizabeth, daughter of John Botetourt and secondly Joyce (her sister). He claimed the office of king’s champion at the coronation of Richard II but after a protracted dispute lost the title and office to John Dymoke who had taken up the Marmion claim through marriage.

Freville may have been abroad fighting in Brittany under the command of Walter Manny when his father died on 2 October 1343. Baldwin was at least twenty-six at the time. He inherited estates throughout the country. He fought at Crécy in the retinue of William Clinton, earl of Huntingdon and later served with Lancaster.

He fought at Poitiers and was subsequently retained for life by the prince at £40 year. In accordance with his indenture he fought for the prince in the Reims campaign. Under the prince’s regime in Aquitaine he served initially as seneschal of Saintonge and the Limousin. On the death of William Felton in 1367 he became seneschal of Poitou, and in 1369, seneschal of Saintonge. He was probably involved in the Spanish expedition himself and after the resumption of the war he fought under Knolles, Chandos and Pembroke and was at La Rochelle when it surrendered. He appears to have been captured after this as William Elmham offered to pay his ransom. He died on 6 January 1387.

Sir Mathew Gournay 1310–1406?
³⁰

Despite being the son of one of the murderers of the Black Prince’s grandfather, Gournay seems to have enjoyed a relatively close relationship with Edward. He served at Crécy and Poitiers before playing a leading role with the Free Companies for which he suffered imprisonment in the Tower. He witnessed the treaty of Brétigny and fought at Auray. In 1365 he accompanied du Guesclin to Spain to take the throne of Castile from Pedro. During this time he lent 11,000 florins to Enrique of Trastamara for campaign expenses in return for a promised annuity of 1,000 florins. He also befriended the king of Aragon who granted him 2,000 florins a year. His association with that country continued when in 1371 he purchased a castle there from Hugh Calveley while both were stationed in Bordeaux. He remained with the prince after the return from Nájera until 1370. In 1378 he was appointed commander of the garrison at Dax and in the following year seneschal of the Landes, an office he held until 1381 and was re-granted in 1405. In 1381 he played a major role in Cambridge’s expedition to Portugal.

Jean de Grailly, captal de Buch
³¹

His family were the hereditary proprietors of a fort, 14 leagues from Bordeaux now called ‘La Tête de Buch’. The lands were in the Médoc, west of Bordeaux reaching to Castillon-sur-Dordogne. The captalate had many privileges in the parlement, city and suburbs of Bordeaux. Jean was the son of Jean and Blanch de Foix and also the cousin of Gaston Fébus. In 1343 he inherited the title. In 1348 he was named a founder knight of the order of Garter possibly as a result of the vital subsidiary action in which he was involved in Gascony during the Crécy campaign. In November 1350 he married Rose d’Albret, the legitimated daughter of Bertrand. He fought with the prince in the 1355–6 campaign during which he was present at the skirmish at Romorantin and before the battle of Poitiers he led the reconnoitring party. During the battle itself he captured Jacques de Bourbon, count de la Marche and Ponthieu. As a result of his service he was, in 1356, granted the town and castle of Cognac by the Black Prince. He returned with the prince to England. Then he travelled to Prussia with Gaston Fébus. On his return from crusade in May 1358, he and Gaston Fébus rescued the duchesses of Normandy and Orléans in Meaux during the Jacquerie. He was a long-term servant of Charles of Navarre and in November 1359 captured Clermont in Beavoisis.