Walter Blount (soldier)
Encyclopedia
Sir Walter Blount was a soldier and supporter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. He later supported John's son and heir Henry Bolingbroke
in his bid to become king Henry IV and in later battles against his enemies. At the Battle of Shrewsbury
he served as the royal standard bearer, was mistaken for the king and killed in combat.
He appears as a character in Shakespeare's play Henry IV, part 1
, in which he epitomises selfless loyalty and chivalry.
In 1367 Blount participated in Edward, the Black Prince
's expedition to restore Peter of Castile to the throne of Leon and Castile. This expedition was successfully terminated by the Battle of Nájera in 1367. Blount returned to England.
As a result of his role in the campaign, Blount married Donna Sancha de Ayála, the daughter of Don Diego Gomez, who held high office in Toledo
, by his wife, Donna Inez de Ayála. Blount's new wife was also a niece of Pero López de Ayala
.
Donna Sancha appears to have first come to England in attendance on Constantia, the elder daughter of Peter of Castile, whom John of Gaunt married in 1372.
property, made over to Walter the Mountjoy estates in Derbyshire
, and to them Walter added by purchase, in 1381, the great estates of the Bakepuiz family in Derbyshire, Leicestershire
, and Hertfordshire
.
and another, was appointed to negotiate a permanent peace with the king of Castile.
In 1398 Duke John granted to Blount and his wife, with the king's approval, an annuity of 100 marks in consideration of their labours in his service. Blount was an executor of John of Gaunt, who died early in 1399, and received a small legacy.
in Henry IV
's first parliament, which met on 6 Oct 1399. When the rebellion of the Percys broke out, Blount supported the King. At the Battle of Shrewsbury
(23 July 1403) he was the king's standard-bearer. In the decisive struggle of the battle, the rebel leader Henry Percy attempted to break the royal army by a direct attack on the King. In the struggle Blount was killed by Archibald, fourth earl of Douglas, one of the bravest followers of Percy. According to later chronicles, Blount was dressed in armour resembling that worn by Henry IV, and was mistaken by Douglas for the king.
He was buried in the church St. Mary ‘of Newark,’ Leicester. His widow Donna Sancha lived till 1418. In 1406 she founded the hospital of St. Leonards, situated between Alkmonton and Hungry-Bentley, Derbyshire.
, and represents both Hotspur and Henry IV as eulogising his military prowess and manly character. In the play he deliberately misidentifies himself as the King in order to draw the attack onto himself. Falstaff
, finding his body, undercuts the eulogies by presenting his death as proof of the uselessness of "honour".
1. Sir John, who was at one time governor of Calais
; was in 1482 besieged in a castle of Aquitaine
by a great French army, which he defeated with a small force (Walsingham, Ypodigma Neustriæ, Rolls Ser., p. 437); was created knight of the Garter in 1413; and was present at the siege of Rouen
in 1418: Sir John died without male issue.
2. Sir Thomas, who was Treasurer of Calais
during Henry VI
's wars in France (Stevenson's Letters, &c., illustrating the wars in France temp. Henry VI, Rolls Ser., ii. passim), and founded a chantry
at Newark in 1422 (at the expense of the Duke of Exeter
) in memory of his father and mother. Sir Thomas was the father (by Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Gresley of Gresley, Derbyshire) of Sir Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy
.
Also a daughter, Constance, who married John de Sutton V
.
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
in his bid to become king Henry IV and in later battles against his enemies. At the Battle of Shrewsbury
Battle of Shrewsbury
The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV, and a rebel army led by Henry "Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland....
he served as the royal standard bearer, was mistaken for the king and killed in combat.
He appears as a character in Shakespeare's play Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
, in which he epitomises selfless loyalty and chivalry.
Early life
Blount was almost certainly the son of Sir John Blount of Sodington, by his second wife, Eleanor Beauchamp, widow of Sir John Meriet.In 1367 Blount participated in Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
's expedition to restore Peter of Castile to the throne of Leon and Castile. This expedition was successfully terminated by the Battle of Nájera in 1367. Blount returned to England.
As a result of his role in the campaign, Blount married Donna Sancha de Ayála, the daughter of Don Diego Gomez, who held high office in Toledo
Toledo
- Places :Belize:*Toledo District*Toledo SettlementBrazil:*Pedro de Toledo, São Paulo*Toledo, ParanáColombia:*Toledo, Norte de SantanderPhilippines:*Toledo City, CebuSpain:*Toledo, Spain *Kingdom of Toledo...
, by his wife, Donna Inez de Ayála. Blount's new wife was also a niece of Pero López de Ayala
Pero López de Ayala
Don Pero López de Ayala was a Castilian statesman, historian, poet, chronicler, chancellor, and courtier. Ayala were one of the major aristocratic families of Castile; they were later claimed to be of the Jewish converso descent, but Pero's own father composed a genealogy tracing the family from...
.
Donna Sancha appears to have first come to England in attendance on Constantia, the elder daughter of Peter of Castile, whom John of Gaunt married in 1372.
Estate
In 1374 John Blount, Sir Walter's half-brother, who had succeeded his mother, Isolda Mountjoy, in the MountjoyMountjoy
Mountjoy may refer to:* Brockagh , a hamlet in County Tyrone in present-day Northern Ireland* Mountjoy Castle, a castle in Magheralamfield, County Tyrone* Mountjoy Prison, a closed prison in County Dublin, Ireland opened in 1850...
property, made over to Walter the Mountjoy estates in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, and to them Walter added by purchase, in 1381, the great estates of the Bakepuiz family in Derbyshire, Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, and Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
.
Return to Castile
Blount probably returned to Castile in 1386. Permission had been granted Blount in 1377 to proceed with Duke John of Gaunt to Castile in order to assert the duke's right by virtue of his marriage to the throne of Leon and Castile; but the expedition did not start till 1386. On 17 April 1393 he, with Henry BowetHenry Bowet
Henry Bowet was both Bishop of Bath and Wells and Archbishop of York.-Life:Bowet was a royal clerk to King Richard II of England, and at one point carried letters of recommendation to Pope Urban VI from the king....
and another, was appointed to negotiate a permanent peace with the king of Castile.
In 1398 Duke John granted to Blount and his wife, with the king's approval, an annuity of 100 marks in consideration of their labours in his service. Blount was an executor of John of Gaunt, who died early in 1399, and received a small legacy.
Later career and death
He represented DerbyshireDerbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Derbyshire is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832...
in Henry IV
Henry IV
Henry IV may refer to:* Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor , King of The Romans and Holy Roman Emperor* Henry IV, Duke of Brabant * Henry IV Probus , Duke of Wrocław* Heinrich IV Dusemer von Arfberg Henry IV may refer to:* Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (1050–1106), King of The Romans and Holy Roman...
's first parliament, which met on 6 Oct 1399. When the rebellion of the Percys broke out, Blount supported the King. At the Battle of Shrewsbury
Battle of Shrewsbury
The Battle of Shrewsbury was a battle fought on 21 July 1403, waged between an army led by the Lancastrian King, Henry IV, and a rebel army led by Henry "Hotspur" Percy from Northumberland....
(23 July 1403) he was the king's standard-bearer. In the decisive struggle of the battle, the rebel leader Henry Percy attempted to break the royal army by a direct attack on the King. In the struggle Blount was killed by Archibald, fourth earl of Douglas, one of the bravest followers of Percy. According to later chronicles, Blount was dressed in armour resembling that worn by Henry IV, and was mistaken by Douglas for the king.
He was buried in the church St. Mary ‘of Newark,’ Leicester. His widow Donna Sancha lived till 1418. In 1406 she founded the hospital of St. Leonards, situated between Alkmonton and Hungry-Bentley, Derbyshire.
Eulogised in Shakespeare's Henry IV
Shakespeare gives Blount, whom he calls Sir Walter Blunt, a prominent place in the first part of his Henry IVHenry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
, and represents both Hotspur and Henry IV as eulogising his military prowess and manly character. In the play he deliberately misidentifies himself as the King in order to draw the attack onto himself. Falstaff
Falstaff
Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is...
, finding his body, undercuts the eulogies by presenting his death as proof of the uselessness of "honour".
Descendants
Sir Walter had two sons:1. Sir John, who was at one time governor of 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....
; was in 1482 besieged in a castle of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
by a great French army, which he defeated with a small force (Walsingham, Ypodigma Neustriæ, Rolls Ser., p. 437); was created knight of the Garter in 1413; and was present at the siege of Rouen
Siege of Rouen
At the time of the Siege of Rouen , the city had a population of 70,000, making it one of the leading cities in France, and its capture crucial to the Normandy campaign during the Hundred Years' War....
in 1418: Sir John died without male issue.
2. Sir Thomas, who was Treasurer of Calais
Treasurer of Calais
Calais was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. The task of the Treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison...
during Henry VI
Henry VI
Henry VI may refer to:* Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor .* Henry VI of Luxembourg, Count of Luxembourg, * Henry VI of England...
's wars in France (Stevenson's Letters, &c., illustrating the wars in France temp. Henry VI, Rolls Ser., ii. passim), and founded a chantry
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
at Newark in 1422 (at the expense of the Duke of Exeter
Duke of Exeter
The title Duke of Exeter was created several times in England in the later Middle Ages, when Exeter was the main town of Devon. It was first created for John Holland, the half-brother of King Richard II in 1397. That title was rescinded upon Henry IV's accession to the throne two years later, and...
) in memory of his father and mother. Sir Thomas was the father (by Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas Gresley of Gresley, Derbyshire) of Sir 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...
.
Also a daughter, Constance, who married John de Sutton V
John de Sutton V
Sir John de Sutton V was born at Dudley Castle, Staffordshire, or at Coleshill, Warwickshire, the son of Sir John de Sutton IV , Master of Dudley Castle and Alice Despencer, of Carlington . John de Sutton IV was the son of Sir John de Sutton III , Knight, Master of Dudley Castle, and wife Sir John...
.