John Felton (military)

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Sir John Felton (also John de Felton ) († after 1327) was an English military man.

Invasion of Normandy

John Felton was a knight who belonged to the retinue of Hugh le Despenser , the main favorite of the English King Edward II. He was in command of a fleet which, on the orders of the King, undertook a raid on French Normandy in early September 1326 . The fleet consisted of 133 ships and boats with 4,200 sailors and 1,600 soldiers. Probably to finance the raid, the Treasury had £ 7,000 brought to Porchester on England's south coast in late August and early September , while Despenser received an additional £ 2,000 from Italian bankers. Little is known about the course of the attack; the attack was probably repulsed by the French. The exact aim of the attack is also not exactly clear. Possibly the attack was intended to forestall a French attack on the south coast of England. Perhaps, however, the English heir to the throne Eduard was also the target of the attack, who had stayed in France after a diplomatic mission without his father's permission. It is possible that the English king believed that his son was in Normandy and that the heir to the throne was to be taken in the attack. In fact, the heir to the throne was with his mother Isabelle , who was in the Netherlands at the time and landed from there on September 24 with an invasion fleet in southeast England to overthrow her husband Edward II.

The ruins of Caerphilly Castle, which Felton successfully defended for several months

Defense of Caerphilly Castle

Queen Isabelle's invasion was successful. The reign of Edward II collapsed quickly, whereupon the king fled together with Despenser to the west of England and from there to Wales at the beginning of October. At the end of October 1326 they reached Caerphilly Castle , an almost impregnable castle of Despenser in south Wales. From there they fled further west on November 2nd or 3rd. In Caerphilly they left Despenser's young son Hugh of the same name, as well as a large part of the crown treasure he had carried, in the care of John Felton, who was in command of the castle's 137-strong crew. On November 16, the king and despenser were seized by their opponents in south Wales. While the king was being brought to Kenilworth Castle , Despenser was sentenced as a traitor and executed a few days later in Hereford . The Queen's troops appeared before Caerphilly and demanded the surrender of the castle. Felton refused to do so, even when the besiegers informed him that Edward II had handed over command of the castle to Roger de Chandos on December 30th . He suspected, probably rightly, that the king had ordered this under duress. The Queen then ordered William la Zouche to besiege the castle on February 15, 1327 . Zouche was able to muster an impressive army of twenty Knight Banneret , five knights, more men-at-arms and over 400 Welsh foot soldiers, but the strong fortifications of the castle withstood all attacks. Zouche offered Felton and the crew a pardon , but only after the young Despenser had also been promised a pardon did Felton hand over the castle and the crown treasure on March 20.

In Caerphilly Castle, the Felton's Tower named after Felton , the ruins of a tower of the outer fortifications that was probably destroyed in 1649, is a reminder of Felton and the siege from 1326 to 1327.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 104
  2. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 184
  3. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 503
  4. ↑ Natalie Fryde: The tyranny and fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2003. ISBN 0-521-54806-3 , p. 191
  5. ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: III - Part 1b : Medieval Secular Monuments, the Later Castles from 1217 to the present , Her Maj. Stat. Office, London 2000, ISBN 1-871184-22-3 , p. 137
  6. ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: III - Part 1b : Medieval Secular Monuments, the Later Castles from 1217 to the present , Her Maj. Stat. Office, London 2000, ISBN 1-871184-22-3 , p. 96
personal data
SURNAME Felton, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Felton, Sir John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English knight and military
DATE OF BIRTH 13th century or 14th century
DATE OF DEATH after 1327