Sir Thomas de Felton (died 2 April 1381) was an English landowner, military knight, envoy and administrator. He fought at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, and the Capture of Calais in 1347. He was also at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. A recurrent figure in the Chronicles of Jean Froissart, he was a signatory to the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360. In 1362 he was appointed Seneschal of Aquitaine. He accompanied Edward the Black Prince on his Spanish campaign. He was taken prisoner by Henry of Trastámara's forces in 1367. In 1372 he was appointed joint-governor of Aquitaine and seneschal of Bordeaux. He caused Guillaume de Pommiers and his secretary to be beheaded for treason in 1377. He was invested a Knight of the Garter in 1381.
Origins The de Feltons of Norfolk derived in a junior line from William Bertram, Baron of Mitford, Northumberland.A. Hervey, 'Playford and the Feltons', Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and Natural History IV, Part 4 (1870), pp. 16-64, following page 26. Suffolk Institute pdf. William's great-grandson Roger (died 26 Henry III, 1242) had an elder son Roger (from whom the Barons of Mitford descended), and a younger son Pagan, of Upper Felton, Northumberland, whose son William FitzPagan, called de Felton, was governor of Bamburgh Castle in 1315. At much the same time, in 1311, William's son Sir Robert de Felton was governor of Scarborough Castle, and in the next years was summoned to Parliament before he was slain at Stirling in 1314. According to Thomas de Felton's inquisition post mortem, Sir Robert had married Hawise daughter of John IV le Strange of Knockin, Shropshire, who bestowed on the marriage and their heirs male the lordship of the manor of Litcham,Inquisitions post mortem upon Sir Thomas de Felton. M.C.B. Dawes, A.C. Wood and D.H. Gifford (eds), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. 15: Richard II (HMSO, London 1970), pp. 134-149. British History Online Richard II, File 14 nos. 39 to 43, pp. 134-49 (British History Online). an ancient seat of the Le Strange family in Norfolk.'Lestrange of Litcham', in H. Le Strange, Le Strange Records. A Chronicle of the Early Le Stranges of Norfolk and the March of Wales, A.D. 1100–1310 (Longmans, Green and Co., London 1916), pp. 254-87, at pp. 286-87.C. L'Estrange Ewen, Observations on the Le Stranges, With Some Corrections of Prevalent Genealogical Errors (Private, Paignton, Devon 1946) read at archive.org. This descended through Sir John de Felton of Shropshire and Norfolk,'LXVIII: Sir Thomas Felton', in G.F. Beltz, Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (William Pickering, London 1841), pp. 274-79 (Internet Archive). against whom various actions for debt survive from the 1330s.The National Archives (UK), e.g. ref. C 241/101/88, etc. (Discovery).
Sir John de Felton had three sons, Hamon, Thomas and Edmund. Sir Hamon, the senior heir, inherited the lordship of Litcham and was Knight of the Shire (M.P.) for Norfolk in 1372 and 1377. He married and had a daughter, but made his will in 1379 and died in that year without heir male, and was buried at the Carmelite Friary, King's Lynn.Beltz, Memorials, p. 275, citing Will of Sir Hamon Felton, dated 13 April, proved 1 August 1379 at Norwich.. Sir Thomas de Felton, who married Joan Walkefare in or before 1356, inherited Litcham as the brother and male heir of Hamon, and died without male heir living in 1381, survived by Joan and their three daughters.Inquisitions post mortem upon Sir Thomas de Felton. He was therefore lord of Litcham for only two years. Sir Thomas and Dame Joan occupied certain Norfolk lands of Joan's kinsman Sir Richard Walkfare after his death in 1370–1371, including Gelham Hall at Dersingham, which Sir Richard had conveyed to John and Elizabeth de Reppes in 1354, at about the time of Joan's marriage.W. Rye, A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk, Part II: Edward II to Richard III (A.H. Goose & Co., Norwich 1886), p. 329, no. 925, 28 Edward III (Internet Archive). Other Walkfare lands were formally released to Joan during her widowhood in 1384.A.F. Wareham and A.P.M. Wright, 'Isleham: Manors', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Vol. X: Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-East Cambs.) (V.C.H., London 2002), pp. 427-37 (British History Online), citing CP 25(1)/168/178 no. 16.Rye, A Short Calendar of the Feet of Fines for Norfolk, Part II, p. 376 no. 117, 8 Richard II (Internet Archive). The manor of Fordham Feltons (Cambridgeshire) came to the Feltons in 1375,Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, Vol. XVI: 1374–1377 (HMSO 1916), p. 108 (HathiTrust). through the 1362 betrothal of their daughter Mary to Edmund Hengrave,A.F. Wareham and A.P.M. Wright, 'Fordham: Manors and other estates', in A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Vol. 10: Cheveley, Flendish, Staine and Staploe Hundreds (North-Eastern Cambridgeshire) (V.C.H., London 2002), pp. 395-402, at note 21 ff (British History Online). who died overseas in 1374.J. Gage (Rokewode), The History and Antiquities of Hengrave in Suffolk (James Carpenter, etc., London 1822), pp. 87-88 (HathiTrust). Edmund de Felton, who was living in 1364, married a daughter of Robert Gerrard of Coddenham, Suffolk.Hervey, 'Playford and the Feltons'.
Career Crécy and Poictiers Thomas de Felton was with the expedition commanded by Edward III which invaded France in 1346, and he took part in the Battle of Crécy, the capture of Calais and the other important events of that campaign. He became an important figure in the service of Edward the Black Prince.D. Green, 'Edward the Black Prince and East Anglia: an unlikely association', in W.M. Ormrod (ed.), 14th Century England, Volume 3 (Boydell Press, Woodbridge 2004), pp. 83-98. When Prince Edward went to take possession of Gascony in 1355, Felton went with him,Gascon Rolls, C61/68: 16. (Gascon Rolls Project). and followed him to the Battle of Poitiers. His marriage to Joan de Walkfare and the birth of his children followed in the later 1350s. He was one of the commissioners who signed the Treaty of Brétigny (1360) and took oath to see it executed.S. Luce (ed.), Chroniques de J. Froissart, Tom. VI (Mme Ve Jules Renouard, Paris 1876), Book I, chapters 474-487, pp.1-55, see at p. 32 (Internet Archive). Search term: Felleton. He is named among the principal witnesses to the marriage of Prince Edward to Joan, Countess of Kent in 1361, as "miles" (i.e., Knight),'De Solempnizatione Matrimonii antedicti', T. Rymer, ed. G. Holmes, Foedera, Conventiones, Literae, etc., Editio Tertia, Vol. III Parts I & II (Apud Joannem Neaulme, Hagae Comitis 1740), Part 2, pp. 47-49 (Internet Archive). and appears elsewhere as "chivaler", through most of his career.
Seneschal of Aquitaine By letters dated 8 February 1362, Sir Thomas de Felton, as Seneschal of Aquitaine, represented Prince Edward's authority there, and served as Steward of his household during 1363.T.F. Tout, Chapters in the Administrative History of Mediaeval England, Vol. 5 (Manchester University Press, 1930), Ch. XVIII, App. II, p. 432 (Internet Archive). He made Richard de Walkfare an attorney for his affairs in England during his absence.Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III, Vol. XII: 1361–1364 (HMSO 1912), p. 232 (HathiTrust). He was deputed to receive Peter I, King of Cyprus, who came to Aquitaine to visit the prince in 1364. He also had power to treat with Pedro, king of Castile. When Don Pedro asked to be reinstated to the Crown of Castile, the prince referred the matter to Sir John Chandos and to Felton. Chandos was opposed, but Felton recommended that the barons and knights of Aquitaine should be consulted in the matter, and the prince replied, "It shall be done". The larger council decided that Felton should be sent to Spain with a fleet of twelve ships to bring Don Pedro. Felton's expedition landed at Bayonne, where Don Pedro had already arrived, and returned with him and his suite to Bordeaux.S. Luce (ed.), Chroniques de J. Froissart, Tom. VI (Mme Ve Jules Renouard, Paris 1876), Text, pp. 197-99, chapter 549-50 (Internet Archive).
Campaigns in Spain and Poitou The invasion of Spain having been agreed upon, Felton and Chandos obtained leave from the King Charles II of Navarre to cross the mountain passes into Spain. Felton in March 1367 preceded the prince with an advance force of 200 men-at-arms and archers, and found the enemy encamped near Navarrete. They were attacked by a large body of Spaniards, and all were either killed or taken prisoner in a battle at Aríñez. Sir William de Felton, Thomas's kinsmanFroissart often refers to them as brothers, and the Feltons appear frequently together, but William was of the Northumbrian branch of the family. and Seneschal of Poitou, was among the slain. Thomas was taken prisoner, and was later exchanged for Arnoul d'Audrehem, Marshal of France, who was captured by the English at the Battle of Nájera (Navarrete) in April 1367.S. Luce (ed.), Chroniques de J. Froissart, Tom. VII (Mme Ve Jules Renouard, Paris 1878), Sommaire, pp. 12-18; Text, pp. 1-30, Chapters 560-575 (Internet Archive). In medieval French. He afterwards took part in combats and sieges at Monsac, at Duravel, and at Domme. The lands and barony of Caumont in Gascony were given by Edward III to Sir John Chandos (died 1369), with a reversion at his death to Felton.
Felton's near kinsman Thomas Walkfare was Seneschal of Quercy and Périgord, and his brother Richard Walkfare Seneschal of Agenois, and also Mayor of Bordeaux 1366–69.M.K. Pope and E.C. Lodge (eds), Life of the Black Prince by the Herald of Sir John Chandos (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1910), pp. 131-32, in medieval French, and see pp. 245-46 (Felton) and 256 (Walkfare). (Internet Archive). Felton was recalled to Angoulême by the prince, and sent into Poitou with John Hastings, Earl of Pembroke. He secured La Linde on the Dordogne when it was about to be betrayed to the French. He joined John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster in an attack on the town of Mont-Paon, and made an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the garrison of Thouars. In spite of his efforts Monsac was lost to the English. In 1372, when the Black Prince had surrendered the principality of Aquitaine into the king's hands, it was granted by royal commission to Felton and Sir Robert Wykford.See Gascon Rolls, C61/85: 75; C61/86: 12, 24 (Gascon Rolls Project). Upon the final withdrawal of the Duke of Lancaster, Felton was appointed Seneschal of Bordeaux.
Capture and ransom, 1377–1380 In February 1375 he returned to England. A year later he received orders to put the truce into effect, and, in December 1376, to negotiate with the King of Navarre. He caused Guillem-Sanche IV de Pommiers, Vicomte de Fronsac (heir of the ancient rulers of Gascony),The son of Guillaume de Pommiers and Jeanne de Fronsac: 'De Fronsac, Vicomtes de Fronsac en Guienne', in J.-B.-P.-J. Courcelles, Histoire Genealogique Et Heraldique Des Pairs De France (etc.), Tom. V (Auteur/Artus Bertrand, Paris 1825), pp. 7-8, Sect. XI (Google). See The National Archives (UK), Petitions SC 8/282/14072, SC 8/243/12133, etc. and his confessor Coulon, to be beheaded at Bordeaux for treason.E.C. Lodge, 'The Constables of Bordeaux in the Reign of Edward III', English Historical Review Vol. 50 no. 198 (April 1935), pp. 225-41.Gascon Rolls, C61/91 19 (Gascon Rolls Project), citing F. Beriac, 'Guillaume Sanche IV de Pommiers et la noblesse bordelaise en 1377: trahison, fidélité et attentisme,' in Félonie, Trahison et Reniement au Moyen Age, Cahiers du CRISIMA, Colloque International III, (Université Paul-Valéry, Montpellier 1997), pp. 599-612. See The National Archives (UK), E 101/181/6 (now EXT 7/18) (Discovery). These events coincided with the close of the reign of Edward III.