John Astley (knight)

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Coat of arms of Sir John Astley, KG

Sir John Astley , KG , (* 1430 ; † 1486 ), was an English knight .

Life

Sir John was a son of Thomas Astley and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard Harcourt.

He was the squire of Nailstone in Leicestershire . He began his career in the Hundred Years War and fought in Orléans in 1429 , in Gisors in 1430 and in Bayonne in 1451 .

Sir John was a successful fighter at tournaments and defeated Pierre de Masse in Paris in 1438. He pierced the head of his opponent with the lance and presented the helmet as a trophy for his tournament lady. In Smithfield 1442 Sir John triumphed over Philip de Boyle of Aragon and in 1467 was the advisor of Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers in his tournament fight against Anton Bastard of Burgundy .

During the Wars of the Roses , John Astley fought for the House of York in 1461 in the battles of Mortimer's Cross and Towton .

Sir John was accepted as a knight in the Order of the Garter after Towton .

He accompanied King Edward IV on a campaign in the north of the country in 1462 and was appointed governor of Bamburgh Castle and Alnwick Castle in 1463 . Sir Ralph Gray , a fellow soldier, felt ignored by this promotion, switched sides and handed Alnwick Castle over to the Lancaster troops ( House of Lancaster ) in March 1463 . Sir John was captured and taken to France.

Only in 1467, after payments of 500 marks each in 1464 and 1466, was he released again and at the same time appointed King's Constable .

In 1475 Sir John took part in Edward's campaign in France and in the same year was entrusted with the mission of fighting marauding pirates.

At the funeral of Edward IV in April 1483, Sir John was one of the bearers of the canopy .

Sir John Astley died in 1486.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ George Lipscomb: The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham. Volume IV, J. & W. Robins, London 1847, p. 590.
  2. ^ A b c d e Towton Battlefield Society
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k J. P. Carley, Felicity Riddy: Arthurian Literature XII. Boydell & Brewer, 1993, ISBN 0-85991-397-X , p. 140.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h Catherine Nall: Reading and War in Fifteen Century England. DS Brewer, 2012, ISBN 978-1-84384-324-5 , pp. 29/30.
  5. ↑ a b Malcoln Mercer: Medieval Gentry: Power, Leadership and Choice during the Wars of the Roses. A&C Black, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4411-9064-2 , p. 39.
  6. ^ A b c John Luard: A History of Dress of the British Soldier. W. Clowes & Sons, 1852, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Richard III. Foundation Inc. ( Memento of the original from January 22nd, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.richard111.com
  8. ^ George F. Beltz: Memorials of the Order of the Garter. William Pickering, London 1841, Appendix, S. clxiii.
  9. ^ William A. Shaw: Knights of England. Volume 1, Genealogical Publishing, 1971, ISBN 0-8063-9443-X , p. 14.
  10. ^ George Tate: The History of the Borough, Castle and Barony of Alnwick. Volume I, Henry Hunter Blair, 1866, p. 191.
personal data
SURNAME Astley, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Astley, Sir John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English knight
DATE OF BIRTH 1430
DATE OF DEATH 1486