 |
| John, Duke of Bedford |
An Attempt at Peace
In November
1432 Fastolf, although decidedly not a diplomat, attended a conference in Auxerre, called by Cardinal Albergati; Fastolf was Bedford’s representative. Bishop Langdon[i] also attended and the Duke of
Gloucester sent Thomas Bekyngton[ii]. The English attendees were
empowered to treat for peace with ‘Charles of Valois’. Parliament ordained
that;
‘It is not suitable or
fitting, nor in accordance with God’s will nor that of the world, for a
Christian prince to refuse peace offered with reasonable conditions nor the
resulting treaty…..also considering the burden of the war, and how grievous and
heavy it is to this land; and therefore how beneficial peace would be for it.’[iii]
The French
arrived late and immediately upon their arrival dissension broke out and the
conference fell apart. The English refused to consider the release of Charles,
Duke of Orléans and other prisoners taken at Agincourt. And the French were not
prepared to make any territorial concessions.
 |
| Bayeux |
Bedford had
recently failed to take the town of Lagny and the revenues of Normandy had been
diverted to pay for the siege. One of the consequences for Fastolf was that his
men in Caen and Fresnay-le-Vicomte were not paid. Two years later, when a mob
of people from Bayeux surrounded Caen, Fastolf brought aid
to Sir Richard Harrington who was commanding the castle.
Peace Breaks Out
A further
peace conference, again organised
by Cardinal Albergati, was held in Arras[iv] in August 1435. Bedford was too ill
to attend but asked Fastolf to file a memorandum to the conference. The French
were demanding that Henry VI give up his claim to the French crown, to which
Fastolf took exception.
 |
| Cardinal Albergati |
‘It seemeth that it
[neither] [be]longeth nor sitteth to the said persons to touch nor to speak of
so high and great matters, saving only by the commandments of my lords of the
king’s council……….the king should pursue the rights he is possessed of in
France with all his power, regardless of any outcry and of the devastation of
the country.’[v]
Fastolf suggested
that the English return to the strategy of Edward III and lay waste to the
countryside rather than wasting time besieging towns; taking the offensive
rather than static defence. Fastolf further recommended that the wool trade
with Flanders be protected. His advice was ignored
along with his proposal that the government of Normandy be anglicised.
‘That the king ordeine in
this lande sufficient counseille of Englisshe menne, expert and knowing them in
the were………and not it to be demened so moche be the Frenshe conseile as hit be
done heretofore.’[vi]
The
conference was bound to fail, not least because Gloucester and Bedford
disagreed on strategy[vii]. The English walked out,
but Charles VII and Philip the Good came to an agreement; Charles apologised
for the murder of Duke John in 1419 and Philip renounced the Treaty of Troyes.
England now faced a double foe and Gloucester’s concerns about Calais became
ever more based in reality.
Changing Times
 |
| Pays de Caux coast |
In 1435 there
was a serious rebellion in the Pays de Caux, where Fastolf owned extensive estates, and the peasants
took Fécamp, Valmont, Tarcarville, Lillebonne, Montivilliers and Harfleur. The French commander
sent in the troops and by the beginning of 1436 there were 2-3,000 French
soldiers in the area and only Caudebec was left in English hands.
During 1435
the French made great advances in the Paris region and many of the Burgundian
leaders transferred their allegiance from the English to the French. The city
itself fell to Charles VII in April 1436 and Fastolf, along with many other
English warriors, lost their properties in Paris.
The English
ability to counter these advances was wounded by Bedford’s death in September
of 1435. The Duke of York[viii] was appointed Lieutenant of Normandy
in the following May. Fastolf became one of the inexperienced duke’s advisers
and continued to sit on the Grand Conseil, but he was also involved in the
administration of Bedford’s estate.
 |
| Richard, Duke of York |
York
appointed his own Grand Master and took over the captaincy of Caen from
Fastolf. York favoured Talbot over Fastolf and made him Marshall of France on 8th
May 1436. Richard Beauchamp, the earl of Warwick[ix], took over the
lieutenancy in June 1437; Fastolf commented that Warwick was;
‘Full farre from the ease of
[his] years.’[x]
His death in
April 1439 saw York become Lieutenant again.
A Reduced Bailiwick
By early
1437 the English were reduced to keeping watch outside the gates of Rouen, the
capital of the duchy. Although the end of English rule in France was still over
a decade away, Fastolf’s generation were giving way to new men such as Talbot,
Scales and Sir Thomas Kyriell[xi].
 |
| St Martin's, Jersey |
Before
returning home Fastolf served in Jersey as Gloucester’s Lieutenant Governor from 1437-8. He indented for repairs
to his ships;
‘Item, to various expenses
and stock for two ships called ballingers……on a voyage to the islands of Jersey
and Guernsey, according to the accounts of the ostler and filed in two books –
73s 2d[xii]
Item, to various repairs
made on the ballinger called The George,
at Yarmouth, after the voyage to Jersey and Guernsey - £7 8s 5d[xiii].’[xiv]
A Man of Substance
 |
| Caister Castle |
In 1434
Fastolf used some of his new found wealth to start a project that was to take
twenty years in the completion; the building of a brick castle at Caister.
He also owned a house at Southwark in London and the Boar's Head Inn.
One of
Fastolf’s neighbours in Norfolk was John Paston, with whom Fastolf had friendly
relations. He also placed his trust in another neighbour William Yelverton, a Norfolk judge[xv]. In the late 1440’s
negotiations began for the marriage between Fastolf’s fifty year old stepson,
Stephen Scrope and Elizabeth Paston
‘See whether Scrope, if he
were married and fortuned to have children, if those children should inherit
his land or his daughter who is married……….Scrope said to me that if he be
married and have a son and heir, his daughter that is married shall have of his
livelode fifty marks[xvi]
and no more.’[xvii]
Despite this
lure the negotiations dragged on until 1454 when it was becoming clear to the
Paston’s that negotiations were unlikely to come to any positive conclusion.
In 1447
Fastolf lent £100[xviii]
to Thomas Daniel, a squire in the royal household[xix], to commission
privateers to help clear the North Sea of pirates. Fastolf was of course looking to turn a profit but, despite
winning a battle at sea against the Germans, it seems as though the enterprise
failed in Fastolf’s purpose, if not the king’s.
In 1454
Fastolf put in a claim to the court for the monies loaned. He was also forced
to go to Chancery, accusing Daniel of malicious
falsehood as Daniel was claiming that he was Fastolf’s heir.
Dissension Among the Garter Knights
 |
| Arms of Sir John Fastolf showing Garter and pilgrim's scallop shells |
Fastolf’s
quarrel with John Talbot, who probably saw himself as a model of chivalric
behaviour, originated in Talbot’s denunciation of Fastolf’s decidedly
un-chivalric behaviour at Patay; Talbot’s bitterness was probably exacerbated
by the knowledge that his fortune would not have been depleted if he had not
been taken prisoner at Patay. Then there would have been no huge ransom to pay
as a result of Fastolf’s cowardice.
Talbot
renewed the claim of cowardice when he was released from imprisonment and in
the spring of 1442 the chapter of Garter Knights was convened to consider the
matter. William Worcester had travelled extensively obtaining evidence on
Fastolf’s behalf and eventually judgement was given in Fastolf’s favour[xx].
From 1454
onwards Fastolf failed to attend the meetings of the Garter Knights and in 1454
it was recorded that he was;
‘So very old and weak that
he could neither go nor ride without very great danger of his health.’[xxi]
Even in his
later years, in common with many of his fellow commanders in France[xxii], Fastolf was making
claims to the government in the sum of £11,000[xxiii] in respect of unpaid
wages for his troops.
Bibliography
The Hundred
Years War – Alfred H Burne, Folio Society 2005
The Real
Falstaff – Stephen Cooper, Pen & Sword Military 2010
The Reign of
King Henry VI – RA Griffiths, Sutton Publishing 1998
The
Fifteenth Century – EF Jacob, Oxford University Press 1997
John Talbot
& the War in France – AJ Pollard, Pen & Sword Military 2005
www.wikipedia.en
[i]
Bishop of Rochester
[iii]
The Real Falstaff - Cooper
[iv]
Part of the domains of the Duke of Burgundy
[v]
The Real Falstaff - Cooper
[vi]
John Talbot and the War in France - Pollard
[vii]
Bedford’s strategic interests were focussed on Normandy while Gloucester was
more concerned about Calais, now being threatened by the Duke of Burgundy, and
its safety.
[ix]
Talbot’s father-in-law and therefore not approved of by Fastolf
[x]
The Real Falstaff - Cooper
[xi]
Who died on the scaffold in 1471
[xii]
In 2013 the relative: real price of that commodity is £1,987.00 labour value of that commodity is £19,800.00 income value of that commodity is £64,360.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xiii]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £4,030.00 economic status
value of that income or wealth is £130,600.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £2,077,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xiv]
The Real Falstaff - Cooper
[xv]
Both men were to be among the executors of his will
[xvi]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £34,740.00 economic status
value of that income or wealth is £978,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £16,060,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xvii]
Illustrated Letters of the Paston Family – Virgoe (ed)
[xviii]
In 2013 the relative: historic opportunity
cost of that project is £59,520.00 labour cost of that project is £568,600.00 economic cost of that project is £29,220,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
[xx]
In 1460 Worcester made a claim on Fastolf’s estate to the sum of 100s (In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £3,432.00 economic status
value of that income or wealth is £102,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £1,633,000.00 www.measuringworth.com) relating to his work arising from the Garter
dispute.
[xxi]
The Real Falstaff - Cooper
[xxii]
John Talbot for one
[xxiii]
In 2013 the relative: historic standard of
living value of that income or
wealth is £7,788,000.00 economic status
value of that income or wealth is £221,300,000.00 economic power value of that income or wealth is £3,645,000,000.00 www.measuringworth.com
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