John Minsterworth

Nothing is known of John Minsterworth's early life, although he was probably born in Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, from which he presumably took his surname.[1] The historian Andrew Ayton describes him as a "shadowy ... man of obscure origins".[2] His first recorded appearance is in 1367 when took a contract with Humphrey, Earl of Hereford to serve in France; he was also responsible for recruiting Hereford's large retinue.[3] The following year he indentured to join the 1370 English expedition to France during the Hundred Years' War. His activities on that campaign then have incurred criticism from various historians; James Sherborne, for example, has said Minsterworth caused "much trouble" on the campaign,[4] while the historian Jonathan Sumption describes him as an "ambitious hothead".[5]

The expeditionary force assembled at Rye and Winchelsea in July 1370.[6] It was the first English army to France led by a commander below the rank of earl[6] or other peers.[7] The command was originally given to Sir Robert Knolles of Cheshire, but delays and criticism of Knolles[8] resulted in joint command given to Knolles and three other experienced captains, Sir Alan Buxhull, Sir Thomas Grandison and Sir John Bourchier.[8] Minsterworth acted under Knolles's captaincy.[6] Sherborne suggests that there may possibly have been "some doubt about Knolles ... even before the army sailed".[6] This system of shared leadership appears to have led to jealousies and rivalries arising, particularly regarding how ransom and booty would be distributed.[9][note 1] The medievalist Mark Ormrod suggests that Knolles's appointment may have implied superiority over his fellow captains, exacerbating tensions among them,[12] of whom Minsterworth was the most outspoken.[13] Contemporary chronicler claim that Knolles's lacked breeding. Jean Le Bel states that he was originally a clothworker,[14] while Thomas Walsingham says he was a "poor and lowly valet".[9] Either way, Minsterworth seems to have seen himself as socially outranking Knolles. As a result, Sumption suggests that Minsterworth "conceived a virulent hatred of his commander",[15] with Minsterworth calling Knolles such names as "the Old Freebooter",[15] an "old brigand",[8][16] a "tomb-robber"[17] while constantly criticising his leadership.[15][note 2]

The remains, in 2008, of Minsterworth's likely destination following the disaster at Pontvallain; Knolles's Derval Castle, Brittany.

Although Minsterworth has been seen as a "comparatively obscure" figure in political society,[19] and of "very modest means",[5] he nevertheless commanded the largest retinue of the army, second only to Knolles himself.[20][21] His contingent comprised ten knights,[4] around 200 men-at-arms and 300 archers.[1][5] The scholar Anne Curry argues that by then, gentry such as Minsterworth were being relied on to field armies comparable in size to those led by the nobility in the earlier years of the war.[22] For this he received £2000 in advance wages.[23] Geographically, his force was recruited from across the country. This included areas close to Minsterworth, such as South Wales and Gloucester, but also further afield, such as Bedfordshire, London, Kingston upon Thames, Daventry, Lincolnshire and Warwickshire.[24][note 3] In this, he was not unlike the great ducal captains, who also recruited far beyond their feudal heartlands, and entered sub-indentures.[26] Much of this force was composed of "footloose professionals",[27] as they have been called, often little more than a collection of "outcasts, apostate clergymen and criminals on the run ... who served for loot and pardons".[5] Minsterworth had to rely on such men because he lacked the recruiting networks in England that a great lord would have possessed through land holding, tenantry and wide-ranging social influence.[27] While he did recruit men of status who could themselves recruit, such as Sir Thomas Fauconberg[note 4] from the Marches, in many cases his recruitment may reflect connections made as a freebooter.[29] This was in contrast, for example, to Knolles, whose wealth allowed him to bear the cost of maintaining an army in the field for an extended period.[30]

Landing at Calais, the army began a chevauchée (horse charge) across northern and southwestern France to Bordeaux. This was intended to draw the French away from Aquitaine, where the Black Prince was about to begin another campaign with John, Earl of Pembroke.[31] By November 1370, Minsterworth had rebelled under Knolles's leadership,[1] and became the leader of the increasingly numerous malcontents.[15] Although by this time Knolles was a soldier of "great fame",[32] says the medievalist Rosemary Horrox, Minsterworth neither appreciated nor respected the man or his abilities.[32] The scholar Michael Prestwich has suggested that his eventual desertion from Knolles's army was encouraged by the dire straits Knolles's army now found itself in.[20] The chevauchée had achieved superficial successes, but, due to its failure to force the French to battle, it was under constant attrition; by now, the army was on the verge of disintegration,[8] mainly due to Minsterworth's mutiny.[33] Knolles may have aggravated his fellow captains further by keeping for himself a disproportionally large amount of the ransoms and booty.[34] This was important to Minsterworth, not only because it impacted his own potential profit, but made it harder to pay his own men, who might, in turn, have deserted him.[35] The tactical and military failures of the campaign were placed firmly at Knolles's door, and he was increasingly accused of misjudgement and inexperience;[15] he may have been as unwilling to face the French in open battle as they were him, which could also have increased dissent among men who felt themselves to be "better formed in chivalry";[36] Minsterworth told his companions, "it redounded to their great dishonour to be subjected" to Knolles.[37]

The Inquisition post mortem held after Minsterworth's execution casts light upon his land-holding, much of which was held directly off John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III. This was particularly concentrated in the southwest of England. His estate included 30 acres (12 ha) of land, five of meadow, and a messuage in Minsterworth itself. He held a corrody in Leonard Stanley, Gloucestershire for fee, as well as another messuage in the City of Gloucester.[65] Minsterworth also held estates further afield; for example, in South Wales (around Usk),[1] and Norfolk (in North Barsham).[66] Since Minsterworth had been condemned as an outlaw in 1373, all his lands in Gloucestershire were forfeited to Gaunt per jure ducatus,[67] while those in Wales and Leonard Stanley went to the King under his right of jure coronae.[68][note 10]

Minsterworth was distained by his contemporaries. Walsingham described him as "with a willing hand but a deceptive and distorted mind" (maim quidem promptus, sed mente fallax et perversus).[69] In the mid-fifteenth century, the antiquarian John Leland dismissed him as "John Minsterworth English Traitor" (Johannes Menstreworthe Anglus Proditor),[70] and a century later Holinshed said Minsterworth was "a good man of his hands (as we call him) but perverse of mind, and verie deceitful".[71] Sumption views the later events of Minsterworth's life as indicating that he was afflicted by mental instability.[5] On the other hand, Sumption also suggests that—in view of how Minsterworth was trusted by Charles to make the arrangements with Castille and to lead the invasion fleet—"he must have been a plausible talker in spite of his shady past".[55]

A 16th-century edition of Ranulf Higden's c. 1377 chronicle Polychronicon,[note 11] contained an illustration of Minsterworth and a description of his execution. The image is on an otherwise unillustrated mappa mundi at the beginning of the Polychronicon, possibly suggesting that particular version of the manuscript has a local provenance.[73][74]