John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (1384/1390 – 17 July 1453) was an important
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
military commander during the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
, as well as the only
LancastrianThe House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
Constable of FranceThe Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army...
.
He was second son of Richard, 4th Baron Talbot, by Ankaret, heiress of the last Lord Strange of Blackmere.
Talbot was married before 12 March 1407 to Maud Nevill, daughter and heiress of Thomas Nevill, 5th Baron Furnivall, the son of
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de RabyJohn Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby was born at Castle Raby, County Durham, England to Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He fought in the Battle of Neville's Cross on as a Captain in his father's division...
.
John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (1384/1390 – 17 July 1453) was an important
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
military commander during the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne, which was vacant with the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings. The two primary contenders were the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known...
, as well as the only
LancastrianThe House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
Constable of FranceThe Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army...
.
Family
He was second son of Richard, 4th Baron Talbot, by Ankaret, heiress of the last Lord Strange of Blackmere.
First marriage
Talbot was married before 12 March 1407 to Maud Nevill, daughter and heiress of Thomas Nevill, 5th Baron Furnivall, the son of
John Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de RabyJohn Neville, 3rd Baron Neville de Raby was born at Castle Raby, County Durham, England to Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. He fought in the Battle of Neville's Cross on as a Captain in his father's division...
. He was summoned to
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
in her right from 1409.
The couple had four children:
- Lady Joan Talbot
- John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury and Waterford KG , was an English nobleman and soldier. He was the son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Maud Nevill....
(c. 1413 – 11 July 1460)
- Sir Christopher Talbot (d. 10 July 1460)
- Hon. Thomas Talbot (died before his father in Bordeaux)
In 1421 by the death of his niece he acquired the Baronies of
TalbotBaron Talbot is a title that has been created twice. The title was created first in the Peerage of England. On 5 June 1331, Sir Gilbert Talbot was summoned to Parliament, by which he is held to have become Baron Talbot...
and
StrangeThe title Baron Strange of/de Blackmere was created once in the Peerage of England. On 13 January 1309 Fulk le Strange was summoned to parliament. On the death of the fifth baron in 1375, it was inherited by Elizabeth Mowbray, née le Strange. And on her death in 1383, it was inherited by Ankaret...
. His first wife died in about 1423
Second marriage
On 6 September 1425, he married
Lady Margaret BeauchampMargaret Beauchamp, Countess of Shrewsbury , was the eldest daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley.- Ancestry :...
, daughter of
Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of WarwickRichard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.- Birth :...
and Elizabeth de Berkeley. They had six children:
- John Talbot, 1st Viscount Lisle
John Talbot, 1st Viscount Lisle , English nobleman and medieval soldier, was the son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and his second wife Margaret Beauchamp.- Titles :...
(c. 1426 – 17 July 1453)
- Sir Humphrey Talbot (before 1453 – c. 1492)
- Lady Joan Talbot
- Lady Elizabeth Talbot (before 1453). She married John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk
John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk , was the only son of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Eleanor Bourchier. His maternal grandparents were William Bourchier, Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester....
.
- Sir Lewis Talbot
- Lady Eleanor Talbot
Lady Eleanor Talbot was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury. Her alleged pre-contract of marriage with King Edward IV of England was of great significance to the final fate of the Plantagenet dynasty and outcome of the Wars of the Roses.In about 1450, Eleanor married Sir Thomas...
(d. 1468) married to Sir Thomas Butler and mistress to King Edward IV.
Early career
From 1404 to 1413 he served with his elder brother Gilbert in the Welsh war or the rebellion of
Owain GlyndŵrOwain Glyndŵr , or Owain Glyn Dŵr, anglicised by William Shakespeare as Owen Glendower and also sometimes styled Owain IV of Wales by modern historians, was a Welsh ruler and the last native Welsh person to hold the title Prince of Wales...
. Then for five years from February 1414 he was
Lord Lieutenant of IrelandThe Lord Lieutenant of Ireland , also known as the Judiciar in the early mediaeval period and as the Lord Deputy as late as the 17th century, was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great...
, where he held the honour of
WexfordWexford is the county town of County Wexford in Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern tip of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to the capital Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route , and the national rail network...
. He did some fighting, and had a sharp quarrel with the Earl of Ormonde. Complaints were made against him both for harsh government in Ireland and for violence in
HerefordshireHerefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. It also forms a unitary district known as the County of Herefordshire. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the southeast, and...
. From 1420 to 1424 he served in France. In 1425, he was lieutenant again for a short time in
IrelandIreland is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain...
.
Service in France
So far his career was that of a turbulent Marcher Lord, employed in posts where a rough hand was useful. In 1427 he went again to France, where he fought with distinction in Maine and at the
Siege of OrléansThe Siege of Orléans marked a turning point in the Hundred Years' War between France and England. This was Joan of Arc's first major military victory and the first major French success to follow the crushing defeat at Agincourt in 1415. The outset of this siege marked the pinnacle of English...
. He fought at the
Battle of PatayThe Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...
where he was captured and held prisoner for four years.
He was released in exchange for the French leader
Jean Poton de XaintraillesJean Poton de Xaintrailles , a minor noble of Gascon origin, was one of the chief lieutenants of Joan of Arc. He served as master of the royal stables, as royal bailiff in Berry and as seneschal of Limousin. In 1454 he was appointed a Marshal of France.He fought at the battle of Verneuil in 1424,...
. Talbot was a daring and aggressive soldier, perhaps the most audacious Captain of the Age. He and his forces acted as a kind of fire brigade ever ready to retake a town and to meet a French advance. His trademark was rapid aggressive attacks. In January 1436, he led a small force including Kyriell and routed La Hire and Xaintrailles at
RyRy is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A farming village situated by the banks of the small river Crevon, some northeast of Rouen at the junction of the D12, D13, D62 and the D93 roads...
near
RouenRouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie region. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
. The following year at Crotoy, after a daring passage of the Somme, he put a numerous Burgundian force to flight. In December 1439, following a surprise flank attack on their camp, he dispersed the 6000 strong army of the Constable Richemont, and the following year he retook
HarfleurHarfleur is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.It was the principal seaport in north-western France for six centuries, until Le Havre was built about five kilometres downstream in the sixteenth century to take advantage of anchorages less...
. In 1441, he pursued the French army four times over the
SeineThe Seine is a slow-flowing major river and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie in France and famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris, France. It is also a tourist attraction, with excursion boats offering sightseeing tours of the Rive Droite...
and
OiseThe Oise river is a right tributary of the Seine River. Its length is 302 km in Belgium and France. Its source is in the Belgian province Hainaut, south of the town Chimay. It crosses the border with France after approx. 20 km. It flows into the Seine in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, near Paris...
rivers in an unavailing attempt to bring it to battle.
The English Achilles
He was appointed in 1445 by
Henry VIHenry VI was King of England 1422–1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realms were governed by regents. Contemporaneously, he was described as a peaceful and pious man, not suited for the harsh nature of the struggles facing him...
(as king of France) as Constable of France. Taken hostage at Rouen in 1449 he promised never to wear armour against the French King again, and he was true to his word. He was defeated and killed in 1453 at the
Battle of CastillonThe Battle of Castillon of 1453 was the last battle fought between the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War. This was the first battle in European history where cannons were a major factor in deciding the battle.-Context:...
near
Bordeauxis a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area at a 2008 estimate. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department...
, which effectively ended English rule in the duchy of
GasconyGascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
, a principal cause of the Hundred Years' War. His heart was buried in the doorway of
St Alkmund's Church, WhitchurchSt Alkmund's Church, Whitchurch stands in an elevated position in the centre of the town of Whitchurch, Shropshire, England . The church is a Grade I listed building...
,
ShropshireShropshire , alternatively known as Salop or abbreviated, in print only, Shrops, is a county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Wales to the west. Shropshire is one of England's most rural and sparsely populated counties with a population density of 91/km²...
.
The victorious French generals raised a monument to Talbot on the field called Notre Dame de Talbot. And the French Chroniclers paid him handsome tribute:
"Such was the end of this famous and renowned English leader who for so long had been one of the most formidable thorns in the side of the French, who regarded him with terror and dismay" - Matthew d'Escourcy
Although Talbot is generally remembered as a great soldier, some have raised doubts as to his generalship. In particular, charges of rashness have been raised against him. Speed and aggression were key elements in granting success in medieval war, and Talbot's numerical inferiority necessitated surprise. Furthermore, he was often in the position of trying to force battle on unwilling opponents. At his defeat at
PatayThe Battle of Patay was the culminating engagement of the Loire Campaign of Hundred Years' War between the French and English in north-central France. It was a decisive victory for the French and turned the tide of the war. This victory was to the French what Agincourt was to the English...
in 1429 he was advised not to fight there by Sir John Fastolf, who was subsequently blamed for the debacle, but the French, inspired by
Joan of ArcSaint Joan of Arc is a national heroine of France and a Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, claiming divine guidance, and was indirectly responsible for the coronation of Charles VII...
, showed unprecedented fighting spirit - usually they approached an English position with great circumspection. The charge of rashness is perhaps more justifiable at
CastillonThe Battle of Castillon of 1453 was the last battle fought between the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War. This was the first battle in European history where cannons were a major factor in deciding the battle.-Context:...
where Talbot, misled by false reports of a French retreat, attacked their entrenched camp frontally - facing wheel to wheel artillery and a 6 to 1 inferiority in numbers.
He is portrayed heroically in
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's
Henry VI, Part I: "Valiant Lord Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, Created, for his rare success in arms".
Cultural influence
John Talbot is shown as a featured character in
KoeiKoei Co., Ltd. , formerly 光栄 ) is a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978...
's video game known as '
Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' WarBladestorm: The Hundred Years' War is a video game for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. It is being published by Koei and developed by Omega Force...
', appearing as the left-arm of
Edward, the Black PrinceEdward, Prince of Wales, was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, and father to King Richard II of England. He was called Edward of Woodstock in his early life, after his birthplace, and has more recently been popularly known as The Black Prince...
, in which he assists the former and the respective flag of England throughout his many portrayals.
Talbot appears as one of the primary antagonists in the PSP game
Jeanne d'ArcJeanne d'Arc is a tactical role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It is Level-5's first RPG of this kind, as well as the studio's first production for the PSP...
.
- see also Talbot (dog)
The Talbot Hound is an extinct snow white hunting dog,It had a keen sense of smell and was of such large stature that it was rumored to be capable of bringing down a white stag in the midst of winter, though there are no records of this....