Sir James Blount (sometimes spelt Blunt) was commander of the English fortress of Hammes, near Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

. When in 1484 the Earl of Oxford

John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford

John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford , the second son of John de Vere, 12th Earl of Oxford, and Elizabeth Howard, was one of the principal Lancastrian commanders during the English Wars of the Roses...

 was imprisoned there, Blount was apparently persuaded to switch to the Lancastrian side. Blount and Oxford fled to join Henry Tudor (the future Henry VII of England

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

), leaving his wife in charge. She and the garrison held out for months against Richard III

Richard III of England

Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...

's forces, until in early 1485 they surrendered in return for safe passage into France.

Blount was the son of Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy

Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy

Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy KG was an English baron and aristocrat.-Early life and family:Walter Blount was born circa 1416, the eldest son of Sir Thomas Blount and Margery Gresley and grandson of Sir Walter Blount.-Career:He was made Steward of the High Peak in Derbyshire and became a...

, and uncle of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy

William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy

Sir William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy KG was an English scholar and patron of learning.William Blount was born circa 1478 in Barton Blount, Derbyshire, the eldest son of John Blount, 3rd Baron Mountjoy and Lora Berkeley...

.

Blount appears as a minor character in Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Richard III

Richard III (play)

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...

.