John Donne (Welsh nobleman)

John Donne, detail from the Marienaltar Donne triptych by Hans Memling

Sir John Donne (actually Dwnn ; also John Don ) (* around 1430; † between January 1 and 27, 1503 ) was a Welsh military, civil servant and diplomat.

Life

origin

Donne was descended from the old Welsh Dwnn family , who were among the leading Welsh families of the gentry of South West Wales. He was the third son of Gruffudd Dwnn from Carmarthenshire and was probably born in Picardy , where his father fought in the wake of Richard of York during the Hundred Years War .

Military career

As an adult he fought in the final stages of the Hundred Years War with his father in France and later also for Richard of York in Ireland. From 1460 he fought on the side of the House of York during the Wars of the Roses , including the Battle of Towton . Under Edward , son of Richard of York, he took part in the battle of Mortimer's Cross . After Edward became King of England in the same year, he appointed Donne on September 9, 1461 constable of Carmarthen and Aberystwyth Castle and steward of Kidwelly and sheriff of Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire . In addition, he became the king's valet as Esquire of the body . In Wales, Donne and Sir Roger Vaughan of Tretower put down a Lancastrian revolt at Dryslwyn on March 4, 1464 . Between 1462 and 1465 Donne married Elizabeth (c.1450-1507), a daughter of Sir Leonard Hastings . His wife became a lady-in-waiting to the queen in 1466 . On November 9, 1467, Donne received the rule of Laugharne in Carmarthenshire.

Activity as civil servant and diplomat

In 1468 he negotiated at the court of Burgundy with the marriage of Margaret of York , the king's sister, to Charles the Bold . After the death of William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke in 1469, Donne became constable of Haverford Castle and steward of Pembrokeshire , Llanstephan and Cilgerran . So he was under the nominal suzerainty of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the actual governor of West Wales. Before the Battle of Losecote Field in 1470, Donne brought letters from the King to the Earl of Warwick . When Warwick then led his army north, contrary to his promises, Edward IV was able to prove his betrayal. After the Battle of Tewkesbury , Donne was defeated by the King to Knight Bachelor on May 4, 1471 . Presumably through his brother-in-law William Hastings, 1st Baron Hastings , who was Lieutenant of Calais in 1471 , Donne came to Calais. From 1472 to 1473 he was envoy to France and Burgundy. In 1475 he accompanied the king when he visited Karl the Bold and his wife, his sister. Edward IV appointed him Donne Master of the Armory of the Tower of London and on May 20, 1477 his counselor. In 1477 the king sent him as an envoy to Louis XI. of France and to Duke Maximilian . In 1483 he commanded the Calais garrison.

Activity under Richard III. and Henry VII.

After the accession of King Richard III. Donne was initially suspected of having supported a rebellion against the new king in October and November 1483. The king ordered his property to be confiscated and removed from his offices in Calais and Wales. However, Donne managed to convince the king of his loyalty and was finally appointed sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the autumn of 1484 . After the Battle of Bosworth , the new King Henry VII respected him as a diplomat and official, which is why Donne was pardoned on March 10, 1486 and Master of the Armory of the Tower remained. 1487 Donne was again sent steward of Kidwelly and as envoy to France. To do this, he was again administrator of Carmarthen Castle. In the 1490s he was again Lieutenant of Calais until he was replaced before February 15, 1497.

His numerous offices made him wealthy and owned extensive estates in Roxwell in Essex , Saunderton in Buckinghamshire and Horsington in Lincolnshire . He was buried in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle .

The Donne Triptych, John Donne, his wife and probably their daughter Anne kneel in front of Mary with the baby Jesus

The Donne Triptych

Presumably in Calais he commissioned Hans Memling to paint an altar of Mary for him . On the altarpiece, made around 1479, Donne, his wife and probably his daughter Anna kneel in front of the Mother of God Mary and the baby Jesus. The life-like portraits on as Donne Triptych known triptych are among the oldest portraits of English and the portrait of Donne is considered the oldest known portrait of a Welshman. The altar is now in the National Gallery in London.

Family and offspring

From his marriage to Elizabeth Hastings, Donne had several children, including

Sir Edward Donne ⚭ Anne, daughter of Sir John Verney
Gruffudd
Anne
Margaret ⚭ Edward Trussell

Web links

George Holmes: Donne, Sir John (d.1503). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

^ Towton Battlefield Society: database towton combatants. Retrieved February 24, 2015 .
^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 14.
^ Ralph A. Griffiths: The Principality of Wales in the Later Middle Ages: The Structure and Personnel of Government. I. South Wales, 1277-1536 . University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1972. pp. 187-188.

personal data
SURNAME	Donne, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dwnn, John; Don, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Welsh military, civil servant and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH	around 1430
DATE OF DEATH	January 1503

[1] Towton Battlefield Society: database towton combatants. Retrieved February 24, 2015 .

[2] William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 14.

[3] Ralph A. Griffiths: The Principality of Wales in the Later Middle Ages: The Structure and Personnel of Government. I. South Wales, 1277-1536 . University of Wales Press, Cardiff 1972. pp. 187-188.