'BLOUNT, Sir Walter (d.1403), of Barton Blount, Derbys.

Family and Education

'3rd s. of Sir John Blount (d.1358) of Sodington, Worcs. by his 1st w. Iseult, da. and h. of Thomas Mountjoy of Derbys.; yr. bro. of John Blount II*. m. by 1374, Sancha (d.1418/19), da. of Diego Gomez of Toledo, principal sec. of the province of Toledo, by his w. Ines de Ayala, 5s. inc. Thomas II* (1s. d.v.p.), 2da. Kntd. by Mar. 1372.1

Offices Held

• Constable, Tutbury castle in the duchy of Lancaster, Staffs. 8 Jan. 1373-d.; master forester, Needwood Chase, Staffs. 9 Feb. 1380-31 July 1383, by 7 Apr. 1402-d.2
• Ambassador to treat with the envoys of Henry II of Castile and Leon regarding John of Gaunt’s claim to the throne 31 July 1378-15 May 1379; to treat for peace with Henry III of Castile and Leon 17 Apr. 1393; to announce the accession of Henry IV of England at the courts of Portugal and Aragon 2 Feb. 1400.3
• J.p. Staffs. 26 May 1380-July 1389, Derbys. 6 Dec. 1387-July 1389.
• Commr. to make arrests, Derbys. July 1384 (raiders from Cheshire), Feb. 1388 (persons attacking the property of John of Gaunt); of inquiry, Staffs. Nov. 1384 (illicit market at Burton-upon-Trent); oyer and terminer Feb. 1385 (rape of Elizabeth Colmon); array Apr. 1385, Mar. 1392; to take oaths in support of the Lords Appellant Mar. 1388; repair Tutbury castle Jan. 1400.
• Chamberlain of the household of John of Gaunt c. Mich. 1392-Feb. 1399.4

Biography

Immortalized by Shakespeare as one of the three loyal knights who gave their lives by impersonating Henry IV at the battle of Shrewsbury, Sir Walter Blount was indeed a devoted supporter of the house of Lancaster. In this he followed a well-established family tradition which was continued into the next generation. His early prospects were by no means promising, for although his parents owned extensive estates in Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Gloucestershire, he was only a third son, and thus not likely to inherit much in the way of property. He must have still been very young when his father died in 1358, since his eldest brother, Richard, was then only 13 years old. We first encounter him in 1367 on the expedition which the Black Prince and John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, led to Spain in an unsuccessful attempt to restore Peter IV (‘the Cruel’) to the throne of Leon and Castile. Two years later he conveyed his manor of Hazelwood in Derbyshire to his kinsman, Sir Godfrey Foljambe, in a charter witnessed by Gaunt, with whom he had by then become closely connected: he was, indeed, to take part in at least five more of the duke’s military ventures between 1369 and 1395. Richard Blount, too, was a soldier; and Sir Walter agreed to act as his attorney while he campaigned in Aquitaine with the Black Prince. He was evidently killed in action, for by 1374 John, the second of Sir John Blount’s three sons, had succeeded to the family estates. It was then that John reached an agreement with Sir Walter, whereby the latter was to receive their mother’s manor of Gayton in Staffordshire together with several Derbyshire properties in return for an assurance (made later in 1381) that he would advance no further title to any other part of the Mountjoy estates.5 Sir Walter had, meanwhile, become a member of Gaunt’s household, being in receipt from 1372 onwards of regular wages, as well as an annuity of 17 marks and occasional gifts. In the following year he was not only made constable of Gaunt’s castle of Tutbury but also awarded a second, larger, fee of 50 marks payable for life from the revenues of the High Peak in Derbyshire. Yet another grant of ten marks p.a., assigned upon the honour of Tutbury, came his way in January 1375, perhaps in consequence of his marriage to one of the ladies-in-waiting whom Gaunt’s second duchess, Constance, the elder daughter of King Peter the Cruel, had brought with her to England. Sancha de Ayala belonged to one of the oldest and most distinguished families of Spain, being the daughter of the principal secretary for the province of Toledo and the niece of the chancellor of Castile. The claim which Gaunt advanced through his wife to the throne of Castile and Leon thus became a matter of personal interest to Blount, who, as we shall see, was deeply involved in the venture. For a brief period, however, he left Gaunt’s service to fight in Brittany in 1375, under the banner of the duke’s younger brother, Edmund, earl of Cambridge. Yet he soon rejoined his patron; and in February 1378 he and Sancha were granted a joint pension of 100 marks, charged upon the manor of Hartington in Derbyshire, to be held in survivorship. (Sancha herself was a great favourite with the duchess, who gave her a number of valuable presents, including two silver cups.) A few weeks after receiving this, the fourth of his annuities, Sir Walter obtained royal letters of protection pending his departure overseas in the ducal retinue. Throughout the following summer he was busily engaged on an embassy to the king of Castile, whose envoys not surprisingly showed a marked disinclination to countenance Gaunt’s pretensions.6

Sir Walter’s position in Gaunt’s entourage gave him considerable influence at Court, where he was able to obtain such favours for his friends as an exemption from office-holding (granted on his request to Nicholas Kniveton in 1378) and a royal pardon for murder (which he secured for William Lyntyn soon afterwards). Moreover, thanks to the duke’s patronage, he was accumulating a substantial fortune, and could thus raise the necessary capital to purchase, in the early 1380s, most of the extensive estates then owned by Nicholas Bakepus, who offered securities of £1,000 as an earnest of his readiness to complete the transaction. As well as the Derbyshire manors of Barton Bakepus (which lay only a few miles from Tutbury and, appropriately renamed as Barton Blount, became his principal residence), Bentley, Dalbury, Sapperton and Hollington and the advowson of the hospital of Alkmonton, Sir Walter also bought the manor of Allexton in Leicestershire. These acquisitions were initially entailed upon his eldest son, Walter, but the latter died shortly after 1383, and new provisions had to be made in favour of his younger brother, (Sir) John. Meanwhile, in 1385, Sir Walter obtained a royal charter of free warren on all his new Derbyshire estates. He had by then already been obliged to bring at least one action of trespass against poachers at Allexton, but for a while his personal status and powerful connexions protected him from troublesome neighbours. The prospect of further valuable additions to his rent-roll occurred in 1393, when his kinsman, Sir Richard Stury, confirmed his reversionary interest in the two Blount manors of Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire, and Belton, Rutland, together with widespread appurtenances in both counties. Although he himself did not live to implement this title, his descendants were able to benefit from it. They likewise came to occupy Fauld in Staffordshire, the reversion of which was purchased by him in 1396 as another long-term investment.7

Throughout this period Sir Walter remained active in the service of John of Gaunt, whose plans for a campaign in Castile were temporarily postponed because of pressing affairs at home. In July 1383, for example, the duke was called upon to negotiate a truce with the Scots, using Blount as a personal envoy for the delivery of letters to leading Scottish noblemen. At last, in the spring of 1386, he prepared to sail for Spain. Just before their departure from Plymouth Blount and several other leading members of the ducal retinue gave evidence on behalf of Richard, Lord Scrope, in his celebrated dispute with Sir Robert Grosvenor over their respective rights to the same coat of arms. The expedition itself aroused considerable alarm on the part of Gaunt’s son-in-law, Joao I of Portugal, and in March 1386 the duke and his wife reassured him by making a formal renunciation of whatever claims they might have to his kingdom. This document was witnessed at Babe by Sir Walter, who also appears to have escorted Gaunt’s daughter, Katherine, to Fontarrabia for her betrothal to the heir apparent of Castile in the following year. Despite all his efforts, this marriage alliance (negotiated by Sancha’s eminent uncle, Pedro Lopez de Ayala) was the best Gaunt could do in the face of intractable and overwhelming opposition to his claims, although he clearly hoped it would lead to a rapprochement through which further diplomatic overtures might be possible. Sir Walter could at least derive some personal satisfaction from the venture, for in February 1390, a few months after his return to England, the duke increased his various allowances by a further £30 p.a., and two years later made him chamberlain of his household. A royal grant of the wardship and marriage of the young Robert Moulton (for which he undertook to pay 200 marks) proved less permanent, however, since the trustees of the boy’s father were soon able to prove their superior title. Notwithstanding his marriage to Gaunt’s daughter, the newly crowned Henry III of Castile showed a marked preference for the French, and it was with the specific purpose of preventing such a potentially dangerous friendship that an English embassy was sent to Castile in April 1393. Sir Walter was, naturally enough, an ideal choice as envoy, not least from Gaunt’s point of view, since besides his interest in the political aspects of the mission he was also anxious to recover the unpaid arrears of his pension from the Castilian government. Yet, once again, no real advances were made, and Blount returned home without having achieved his purpose.8

Between these bursts of military and diplomatic activity, Blount was obliged to tackle a variety of pressing local problems. His position as Gaunt’s leading retainer in the north Midlands was no sinecure, as many challenges were made to his patron’s political hegemony in the area; and the ducal affinity there was beset by faction. During a dispute between Sir William Chetwynd and Gaunt’s client, Sir Roger Strange*, for example, he was instructed to support Strange in court with a body of the duke’s henchmen in order to intimidate the opposition. A more serious threat to Blount’s authority was posed at this time by Sir John Ipstones*, a violent and hot-headed man, who himself commanded a sizeable following. Ipstones was retained by Gaunt in 1387, but had no intention of submitting to Sir Walter; and when the latter, as a j.p. for Derbyshire, attempted to restrain one of his servants, he actually launched a raid on the manor of Barton Blount. Sir Walter had no alternative but to surrender the bonds for good behaviour which he had previously taken from the miscreant, thus incurring considerable loss of face.9

Not all Sir Walter’s affairs went so badly, however: in 1394 he and his wife obtained papal indults for the use of a portable altar, the private celebration of mass and the celebration of mass before daybreak. Three years later their third son, Thomas II*, who was just 14, received a dispensation to hold any benefice with cure of souls, although the death of his two elder brothers eventually led him to abandon holy orders, so that he might enter his inheritance. Not too long afterwards Gaunt drew up his will, appointing Sir Walter, still his chamberlain, as one of his executors, and promising him a personal bequest of 100 marks. The latter still showed every sign of wishing to extend his territorial possessions, taking on the lease, at £44 a year, of the manors of Fenwick and Norton in Yorkshire, which were temporarily held by the Crown. The exile of Gaunt’s son, Henry of Bolingbroke, in September 1398, followed by the death of Gaunt himself in the following February upset this state of equilibrium, for although all Blount’s fees and annuities were confirmed by Richard II when he confiscated the duchy of Lancaster, his own best interests and those of the family which he had loyally served for over 27 years clearly demanded that Bolingbroke should be restored. News that the latter was indeed ready to fight for his inheritance led Sir Walter to mobilize a large force of his own retainers, whom he led to Ravenspur in July 1399 as a bodyguard for his new patron. The expenses of £233 6s.8d. later awarded to him for providing an escort then and at the Parliament held afterwards at Westminster suggest that his was, in fact, one of the largest private followings raised at that time. Bolingbroke’s seizure of the throne greatly strengthened Sir Walter’s already powerful position, and it is thus hardly surprising that the electors of Derbyshire (who were all strong supporters of the house of Lancaster) chose him and Sir John Curson, another long-term retainer of the duchy, to represent them in the first Parliament of the new reign. His elder brother, John, who shared his Lancastrian sympathies, also attended this assembly as Member for Worcestershire.10

Sir Walter was promptly rewarded with an additional annuity of 56 marks, as well as an inn and other property in London to the value of 16 marks p.a. confiscated from the rebel, Thomas, Lord Despenser. He and his wife also secured grazing rights on the duchy manors of Colebrook, Duffield and Shottle in Derbyshire; and although they were theoretically supposed to pay an annual rent of £4 for this, the payments were soon allowed to lapse and were eventually excused altogether. In February 1400 Blount was despatched by Henry IV to make a formal announcement of his accession at the courts of Portugal and Aragon; and on his return he appears to have taken part in the Scottish campaign fought in the late summer of that year. In the following August he was summoned to attend a great council held at Westminster. King Henry felt that a man of such wide experience and proven loyalty would be of particular use to his second son, Thomas of Lancaster, recently appointed lieutenant of Ireland; and in April 1402 Blount received letters of protection for one year’s absence in Thomas’s service. He returned to England at the end of this term, but was once again preparing to leave for Ireland in early July 1403 (a bond of £100 offered to him at this time may well have been security for the payment of his wages), when Owen Glendower’s rebellion in Wales and another in the north led him to enlist instead in the royal army which defeated the northern insurgents at the battle of Shrewsbury. Sir Walter was fatally wounded; and, in accordance with the terms of his will, made at Liverpool on 16 Dec. 1401, he was buried at the collegiate church of St. Mary ‘de Newark’ in Leicester (a Lancastrian foundation). His executors included his brother Sir John, and his kinsman, Thomas Foljambe*, who had previously acted as his counsel at law, most notably in a case of trespass involving Sir Alfred Lathbury and others. The will was supervised by Thomas Langley, the then keeper of the privy seal, who later became bishop of Durham and chancellor of England. Sir Walter’s executors were obliged to bring a number of lawsuits for the recovery of various outstanding debts, some of which were still unpaid as late as 1411.11

Sir Walter’s widow, Sancha, lived on until about 1418, and was buried beside her husband at St. Mary’s Leicester. She retained dower properties worth £20 p.a. in Derbyshire alone, and also enjoyed the annuity of 100 marks which John of Gaunt had settled upon her and Blount many years before. Henry IV continued to regard her with favour; and in November 1406 she obtained the wardship and marriage of her young grandson, John Sutton, the future Lord Dudley (cr. 1439), whose late father had married her daughter, Constance, at some point before 1399. At about this date she refounded a hospital at Alkmonton, dedicated to Sir Walter and their children, of whom the most distinguished was Sir John Blount, one of the leading soldiers of his day. Sir John succeeded his father as constable of Tutbury castle, and thus soon became embroiled in the private war waged by Hugh Erdeswyk* and his supporters against the officers and tenants of the duchy. Sancha was herself threatened by her son’s enemies in 1409, although their plans to destroy her manor house at Barton Blount and murder Sir John before her eyes came to nothing. Sir John was in fact killed at the siege of Rouen in 1418, when his estates passed to his younger brother, Thomas II. In recognition of the service done to him both by Sir Walter and his second son, Thomas of Lancaster (who had by then become duke of Clarence) donated 1,000 marks for the foundation of a chantry dedicated to their memory at St. Mary’s.12

Ref Volumes: 1386-1421

Author: C.R.

Notes

• 1. A. Croke, Fam. Croke, ii. 170-81, 189, 193-4; CIPM, x. no. 431; JUST 1/1488, rot. 43v, 63; CP, ix. 329-34; Reg. Gaunt 1371-5, no. 913.
• 2. Somerville, Duchy, i. 381, 382, 541, 546.
• 3. E101/318/15; Rot. Gasc. et Franc. ed. Carte, ii. 167; PPC, i. 111; J.H. Wylie, Hen. IV, i. 90.
• 4. Somerville, 364; Test. Vetusta ed. Nicholas, i. 142-3; S.K. Walker, ‘John of Gaunt and his retainers, 1361-99’ (Oxf. Univ. D.Phil. thesis, 1986), 290.
• 5. CIPM, x. no. 431; DNB, ii. 719; Croke, ii. 170-1, 173, 182-3; E.P. Shirley, Stemmata Shirleiana, 34-35; Derbys. Chs. ed. Jeayes, no. 1376; Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. viii. 112; Walker, 268.
• 6. E101/34/5; Reg. Gaunt 1371-5, p. 78, nos. 684, 685, 692, 693, 855, 913, 969, 1179, 1251, 1257, 1660, 1670; 1379-83, p. 7, nos. 327, 557; P.E.L. Russell, Eng. Intervention in Spain and Portugal, 178-9; Croke, ii. 173-81; Foedera ed. Rymer (Hague edn.), iii (3), 73-74.
• 7. CP25(1)289/56/250; JUST 1/1488, rot. 43v, 63; J. Nichols, Leics. iii (1), 6; Croke, ii. 171, 183, 795; Derbys. Chs. no. 344; CChR, v. 300; CPR, 1377-81, pp. 282, 344; CCR, 1381-5, p. 117; VCH Rutland, ii. 28; Peds. Plea Rolls ed. Wrottesley, 438; Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xi. 202.
• 8. Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xiv. 243, 245; Scrope v. Grosvenor, i. 58; Reg. Gaunt 1379-83, no. 905; Russell, 456-7, 538-9, 573; Dip. Corresp. Ric. II (Cam. Soc. ser. 3, xlviii), nos. 181-2; CPR, 1391-6, p. 98; CCR, 1392-6, pp. 201-2; Croke, ii. 186-7.
• 9. Walker, 238, 245-6; KB9/989 rot. 3.
• 10. CCR, 1396-9, pp. 463, 475; CPR, 1396-9, pp. 547-8; 1399-1401, p. 175; 1401-5, pp. 210, 214; Croke, ii. 188; Test. Vetusta i. 142-3; CPL, iv. 495, 498, 499; vi. 66-67; DL42/15, f. 70.
• 11. DL42/16 (pt. 2), f. 37; Wylie, iv. 249; PPC, i. 159, 162; CPR, 1399-1401, pp. 185, 463; 1401-5, pp. 106, 244; 1408-13, p. 326; Croke, ii. 189, 797; Wm. Salt Arch. Soc. xvi. 50; CCR, 1402-5, p. 176; T. Walsingham, Hist. Ang. ed. Riley, ii. 258; Sel. Cases King’s Bench (Selden Soc. lxxxviii), 190.
• 12. Croke, ii. 193-4, 795, 798, 803; Feudal Aids, vi. 413; DL28/27/3; DL29/738/12100; DL42/16, f. 15v, 17, f. 17v; CPR, 1405-8, p. 273; CCR, 1405-9, pp. 166-7; Wm. Salt Arch Soc. xvi. 50, 84-85; xvii. 10, 22; CP, ix. 333-4; Somerville, i. 541, 546, 550, 647

From: http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/blount-sir-walter-1403

• ______________________

http://www.rpi.edu/~holmes/Hobbies/Genealogy/ps04/ps04_005.htm

Sir Walter was a prominent figure in the reigns of Edward III and Henry IV. In 1367, he accompanied the Black Prince and John of Gaunt (brother of the Black Prince and father of Henry IV) on an expedition to Spain to aid Peter the Cruel King of Castile. Blount was a favorite of John of Gaunt, who granted him an annuity in the reign of Richard II. Later, Blount was named an executor of Gaunt's will and was left a small legacy. He was a standard bearer at the Battle of Shrewsbury and therefore dressed in the same armor as the king. He was slain in single combat by Archibald Earl of Douglas who mistook him for the king.

When Henry IV refused to ransom his brother-in-law Edmund Mortimer from Owen Glendower, Hotspur Percy led a revolt. He was joined by Mortimer, Glendower, Archibald Earl of Douglas, Sir Richard Vernon and others. The rebels were defeated by the young Prince of Wales (later Henry V). Hotspur was killed in the battle, hit by an archer.

Walter le Blout, 3rd son of John and Isoude, was born about 1348. He became a noted soldier, and appears to have acquired a great fortune. Tradition says that he fought at Najera (3 April 1367) under John of Gaunt. He was apparently in the Duke's service in 1369, and was already a knight in March 1371/2. In January 1372/3 the Duke appointed him constable of Tutbury Castle for life and the following May he entered into a contract to serve the Duke, in peace and in war, for the term of his life. Soon after his marriage he acquired lands, which seem to have been part of the Mountjoy property, from his brother John. In March 1377/8 he was in the train of John of Gaunt, King of Castile and Leon, setting out overseas. He was J.P. for Staffs in 1380, and for Derbyshire in 1388. In 1386 he was setting out again for Spain in the company of his patron. In 1392 he was a commissioner of array in Staffs, and in 1393 to treat with Spain as to peace. He and Sancha his wife obtained Papal indults for portable altars in 1394. In 1398 John of Gaunt made him one of his executors. He was chosen a Knight of the Shire for Derby in 1399, after the accession of Henry IV, who continued him in favour; in February 1399/1400 he was receiving instructions for an embassy to Portugal, Spain and Aragon, and in August 1401 was summoned to a Council. In the same year he was a commissioner of oyer and terminer; and the King sent him to Ireland in attendance on his son Thomas of Lancaster, whom he made Lieutenant. When Percy revolted in 1403 he fought for the King at Shrewsbury, 21 July, and was slain.

He married, circa 1373, Sancha, daughter of Don Diego Gomez, alcalde maior of Toledo, by Dona Inez DE Ayala. She was a Spanish lady who came to England in December 1371 in the service of Constance of Castile, John of Gaunt's 2nd wife. He died as abovesaid, 21 July 1403, and was buried at St. Mary's, the Newark, Leicester. His widow founded a chantry in the hospital of St. Leonard at Alkmonton (co. Derby) in 1406. She made her will in 1415, desiring to be buried beside her husband at the Newark, Leicester,(') where her mistress Constance also was interred." --Complete Peerage IX:331-3, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)

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Sir Walter and Shakespeare

Sir Walter Blount , so celebrated for his martial prowess in the warlike times of Edward III. Richard II. and Henry IV. and immortalized by the muse of Shakspeare for his devotion, even unto death, to King Henry . Sir Walter fell at the battle of Shrewsbury on the 22 Jun 1403 , wherein, being standard-bearer, he was arrayed in the same armour as his royal master, and was slain, according to the poet, in single combat by the Earl of Douglas , who had supposed he was contending with the king himself. Having thus rehearsed the dramatic version of the valiant soldier's death, we retrace our course, to detail some passages in his eventful life. In 1367 , we find Sir Walter accompanying the Black Prince , and his brother the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt ), upon the expedition into Spain , to aid Peter the Cruel, King of Castille , and assisting on the 03 Apr in that year at the battle of Najara , which restored Peter to his throne. Thenceforward for a series of years, indeed until the prince's decease, he appears to have been immediately and confidentially attached to the Duke, having chosen his wife, whom he married about the year 1372 , from amongst the ladies in the suite of Constantia of Castille (eldest daughter of Peter , and his successor on the throne, who became the royal consort of John of Gaunt ), when the princess visited England in 1369 . In 1398 , the duke granted one hundred marks a-year to Sir Walter for the good services which had been rendered to him by the knight and his wife, the Lady Sancia . The Lady Sancia 's maiden designation was Donna Sancha de Ayala . She was the daughter of Don Diego Gomez de Toledo , alcalde mayor, and chief justice of Toledo , and notario mayor, or principal secretary of the kingdom of Castille , by his wife, Inez Alfon de Avala , one of the most ancient and illustrious houses in Spain . John of Gaunt at his decease appointed Sir Walter one of his executors, and bequeathed him a legacy of one hundred marks, £66. 6s. 8d.

Sir Walter figured prominently in the affairs of England during the times of Edward III and Henry IV.

In 1367, Sir Walter accompanied the Black Prince and the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt) upon the expedition into Spain to aid Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, and was at the battle of Marjara on April 3, 1367 which restored Peter to his throne.

Sir Walter fell at the battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403, wherein, being standard bearer, he was arrayed in the same style of armour as his royal master and was slain in single combat by Earl Douglas who believed he was in combat with the king himself. Sir Walter was slain in the course of the battle and Shakespeare immortalized him in his Henry IV though he called him Sir Walter Blunt.

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Generation No. 13

Sir Walter Le Blount Knight

b Abt 1348 in Of Sodington, Worestershire, England[www2]

d 21 July 1403 in England.

He married Sancha De Ayala, Dona/Dame

daughter of Diego Toledo and Ines De Ayala.

• _______________________
• Sir Walter Blount1
• ' d. 21 July 1403
• Last Edited=20 Oct 2009
• ' Sir Walter Blount was the son of John Blount and Eleanor Beauchamp.2 He married Sancha de Ayala, daughter of Diego Gomez de Toledo and Inez Alfonsa de Ayala. He died on 21 July 1403 at Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, killed in action.
• ' Sir Walter Blount fought in the Battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July 1403 and is listed as dying the same day.
• 'Children of Sir Walter Blount and Sancha de Ayala
  • 1. Constance Blount+1 d. Sep 1432
  • 2. Thomas Blount+2 b. 1390, d. 1456
• Citations
• 1. Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 2, page 1817. Hereinafter cited as Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition.
• 2. Tim Boyle, "re: Boyle Family," e-mail message from <e-mail address> (unknown address) to Darryl Roger Lundy, 16 September 2006. Hereinafter cited as "re: Boyle Family."
• 3.[S37] Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 1191.
• From: http://www.thepeerage.com/p265.htm#i2649
• --------------------

He became a noted soldier and apparently acquired a great fortune.  Tradition has it that he fought at Najera under John of Gaunt on April 3, 1367.  He was apparently in that Duke's service in 1369, and was already a knight in March 1371/2.  In January 1372/3 the Duke appointed him Constable of Tutbury Castle for life, and in May he contracted to servce the Duke in peace and war for life.  By 1372 he had joined the household of John of Gaunt, with whom in March 1377/8 he set out for Spain.  He had fought in Brittany under Edmund, Earl of Cambridge, in 1375.  In 1380 he was J.P. for Staffordshire, and in 1388 he held the same office in Derbyshire.  In 1386 he accompanied John of Gaunt to Spain again.  In 1387 he suffered lose of face when Sir John Ipstones forced him to give up a bond for good behavior previously taken from one of Ipstone's servants.  In 1392 he was a commissioner of array in Staffs., and in 1393 he was to treat with Spain as to peace.  He and Sancha his wife obtained papal indults for portable alters in 1394.  He was chosen Knight of the Shire for Derby in 1399 after the accession of King Henry IV, whom he had led to Revenspur with a large force of his own.  In Feb. 1399/1400 he was receiving instructions for an embassy to Portugal, Spain and Aragon, and in August 1401 he was summoned to a Council.  In that year he was a commissioner for oyer and terminer.  Also in 1400 he was sent to Ireland in attendance to the king's son, Thomas of Lancaster.  He was a character in Shakespeare's Henry IV, although Cokayne did not believe Shakespeare's thesis that Sir Walter le Blount died as a result of being dressed like the King at Shrewsbury.  His will, dated at Liverpool 16 Dec. 1401, was proved 1 Aug. 1403.  In it he mentioned Constance Baroness Dudley. 

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Sir Walter figured prominently in the affairs of England during the times of Edward III and Henry IV. He was a close associate of John of Gaunt, and the latter made him an executor of his will and left him a small legacy. In 1367, Sir Walter accompanied the Black Prince and the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt) upon the expedition into Spain to aid Peter the Cruel, King of Castile, and was at the battle of Marjara on April 3, 1367 which restored Peter to his throne. Sir Walter fell at the battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403, wherein, being standard bearer, he was arrayed in the same style of armour as his royal master and was slain in single combat by Earl Douglas who believed he was in combat with the king himself. Sir Walter was slain in the course of the battle of Shrewsbury, July 21, 1403, and Shakespeare, who drew his facts mainly from Holinshed's "Chronicles" immortalized him in his Henry IV though he called him Sir Walter Blunt.

[source: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nwa/sancha.html]

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The Marbury Ancestry by Meredith Bright Colket (The Magee Press, Philadelphia, 1936)

Sir Walter Blount. b. abt 1348. d. on 21 Jul 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury.

Born probably about 1348. As a youth was in the retinue of John of Gaunt*, Duke of Lancaster, in the latter's expedition to Spain in 1367 to aid Peter, King of Castile. Peter's daughter Constance (who later became the wife of John of Gaunt) subsequently visited England and brought with her as a lady in her suite Donna Sancha de Ayala. Sir Walter was an executor of the will of John of Gaunt. He was the king's standard-bearer at the battle of Shrewsbury and was slain at that battle on 21 Jul 1403.

• John of Gaunt was a son of Edward III, and father of Henry IV.

The Marbury Ancestry cites Alexander Croke's "History of the Croke Family Originally Named Le Blout". Sir John Blount is the father of Sir Walter who married Sancha de Ayala and it was he who married Eleanor Beauchamp.

• ___________________________
• Walter Blount

born Abt 1350 Of Elwaston, Derbyshire, England

died 22 Jun/21 Jul 1403 Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

buried St. Mary's, Newark, Leicestershire, England

father:

• John Blount

born Abt 1298 Of, Sodington, Worcestershire, England

died 1358

mother:

• Eleanor Beauchamp

born Abt 1307 Of, Hatch, Somersetshire, England

died 13 Jun 1391

married Abt 1347 Of, Sodington, Worcestershire, England

siblings:

Thomas Blount born Abt 1352 Of, Soddington, Worcestershire, England died 1400

spouse:

• Sancha De Ayala

born Abt 1360 Of, Toledo, New Castile, Spain

died 1418 Newark, Leicestershire, England

buried 1418 St. Mary's, Newark, Leicestershire, England

married Abt 1371 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England

children:

• Constance (Constantine) Blount

born Abt 1380 Of, Barton Blount, Derbyshire, England died 23 Sep 1432 Of Northampton, England

Thomas Blount born Abt 1378 Of, Rock, Worcestershire, England

died 1456 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England

John Blount born 1388 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England died 1414

James Blount born Abt 1382 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England

Walter Blount born Abt 1375 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England died Aft 1382

Peter Blount born Abt 1384 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England

Ann Blount born Abt 1386 Of, Elvaston, Derbyshire, England

biographical and/or anecdotal:

notes or source:

LDS

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Children: Constance, Thomas, James, John, Anne, Sancha, Walter, Peter

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Fought with the Black Prince in Spain, Battle of Marjara - 1367

Standard Bearer at Battle of Shrewsbury. Slain by Earl Douglas

A Shakespeare character in "Henry IV".

• __________________

Links

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Blount_(soldier)
• http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p373.htm#i11192
• http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BLOUNT1.htm#Walter BLOUNT (Sir Knight)3