John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter facts for kids
John FitzWalter, 2nd Baron FitzWalter (Fitzwalter or Fitz Wauter; c. 1315 – 18 October 1361) was a prominent Essex landowner best known for his criminal activities, particularly around Colchester. His family was of a noble and ancient lineage, with connections to the powerful de Clare family, who had arrived in England at the time of the Norman conquest of England. The FitzWalters held estates across Essex, as well as properties in London and Norfolk. John FitzWalter played a prominent role during the early years of King Edward III's wars in France, and at some point, FitzWalter was married to Eleanor Percy, the daughter of Henry, Lord Percy.
FitzWalter built a strong affinity around him, mainly from among leading members of the county's gentry, but also including men from elsewhere, such as a Norfolk parson. At their head, FitzWalter waged an armed campaign against the neighbouring town of Colchester, almost from the moment he reached adulthood. The townsmen seem to have exacerbated the dispute by illegally entering FitzWalter's park in Lexden; in return, FitzWalter banned them from one of their own watermills and then, in 1342, he besieged the town, preventing anyone entering or leaving for some weeks, as well as ransacking much property and destroying the market. One historian has described him, in his activities, as the medieval equivalent of a 20th-century American racketeer. Other victims of his Essex gang were local jurors, royal officials, a man forced to abjure the realm, and the prior of Little Dunmow Abbey.
FitzWalter intermittently returned to France and the war, but notwithstanding his royal service—he also served on the royal council and attended parliament regularly—he never held office in his county. Historians explain this as being due to his repeated defiance of the king's peace and his deliberate usurpation of the royal authority. FitzWalter was too powerful, and too aggressive in defence of his rights, for the local populace to confront him in court, and it was not until 1351 that he was finally brought to justice. The King despatched a royal commission to Chelmsford to investigate a broad range of social ills, among which was FitzWalter and his gang. Although most of his force received little or no punishment, FitzWalter himself was arrested and sent to London; he was immediately imprisoned in the Marshalsea. He then languished in the Tower of London for over a year until the King agreed to pardon him. FitzWalter was released and restored to his estates, but only on the condition that he buy the lands back from the King for the immense sum of over £800. FitzWalter died in 1361—still paying off his fine—leaving a son, Walter, as his heir. Lady FitzWalter had predeceased him; they were both buried in Dunmow Priory.
Historians have considered FitzWalter's criminality as illustrating how the disorder that pervaded the 15th century had its origins in the 14th. Although historians have generally considered his activities to demonstrate King Edward III's failure to maintain law and order, as FitzWalter's downfall demonstrates, royal justice could be firm when it chose, if not always swift.
Early life
The FitzWalter family was a wealthy and long-established family in the north-Essex area. Descended from the conquest-era Lords of Clare, the family held estates concentrated around the lordship of Dunmow. They also held estates as distant as Woodham to the south east of the county, Chigwell to the south west, Diss in Norfolk, and Castle Baynard in London. John FitzWalter was the son (probably the only son) of Sir Robert FitzWalter and Joan, daughter of Thomas, Lord Moulton. The family has been described as "warlike as well as rich" even before FitzWalter was born: his ancestor, also named Robert, had been a leading rebel against King John in the early 13th century.
John FitzWalter was around 13 years old when his father died in 1328. The medievalist Christopher Starr in his Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry on the FitzWalter family, suggests that John was raised by his widowed mother. This may have turned him into "a difficult and dangerous adult". Although by law he could not receive his inheritance until he was 21, in the event, King Edward III allowed him to enter into his estates and titles slightly early, in 1335, when FitzWalter was about 20.
FitzWalter received livery of two-thirds of his inheritance, the remainder being held by his mother as her dower. This, says Starr, "represented a significant slice of the FitzWalter estate", and a wish to augment his wealth may have contributed to FitzWalter's later criminal behaviour. He encountered financial difficulty in London over lands which his grandfather, Robert, had transferred as fine land in 1275 to help found Blackfriars Abbey. Robert had reserved his rights to certain other city properties. This reservation was successfully challenged by the city authorities, and both Robert and John repeatedly attempted to assert their claim. According to the Elizabethan antiquarian John Stow, the last time the latter attempted this in 1347, FitzWalter's demands were "peremptorily" refused by the mayor and Common Council. The FitzWalter family was also traditionally responsible for the defence of the city. In a time of war, the then-Baron FitzWalter was to attend St Paul's Cathedral with a force of 19 knights. There he would receive the city's banner under which London's soldier-citizens would march with him. Caroline Barron, a historian of Medieval London, says that while this may be a "fanciful tale", it paid FitzWalter £20 per annum for the privilege. By the 14th century, though, the city had an established militia and the city authorities no longer deemed the position relevant, and they revoked FitzWalter's privileges and payment. Notwithstanding these financial troubles, as a prominent Essex estate holder, the medievalist Gloria Harris suggests that "with youth, power and wealth, FitzWalter was the 'rich kid' of his day" in Essex society.
Royal service and war in France
Diplomatic relations between England and France had been tempestuous for some years, and in 1337 crisis broke out when the king of France, Philip VI, confiscated the Duchy of Aquitaine, then a possession of English kings. In response, King Edward invaded France, thus beginning the Hundred Years' War. Harris has described the young men of FitzWalter's class and generation as being "untapped pools of genteel manpower", manpower which the King was determined to exploit. FitzWalter was summoned alongside 43 other Essex knights to muster in Ipswich in December 1338. Armed and ready to fight, FitzWalter joined the retinue of William de Bohun, who had recently been created Earl of Northampton.
FitzWalter gained a reputation as a good soldier during Edward III's early campaigns, and he periodically returned to fight in France over the course of his career. In 1346, for example, no longer serving under Northampton, he served with the Prince of Wales, with whom FitzWalter indentured to serve for six months at a wage of 100 marks. In return he brought the Prince 20 men-at-arms (himself, four other knights and 15 esquires) and 12 archers. As part of the Black Prince's vanguard FitzWalter fought at the siege of Calais in 1346. He was by now an experienced soldier and had been made a knight banneret. He was still on campaign in France in 1348, by which time he had returned to Northampton's service.
FitzWalter frequently returned to England to attend parliament. He was first summoned as Johannes de fitz Wauter in 1340, and was to attend every session for the next 20 years. He was also a royal councillor, having been appointed in 1341 and serving in that capacity until 1358. In 1342 FitzWalter was one of 250 knights to take part in a great tournament held at Dustable, alongside his later partner in crime, Sir Robert Marney.
At some point in his career, FitzWalter married Eleanor, second daughter of Henry Percy, Lord Percy. They had at least two children, Walter, his heir, and a daughter Alice (d. 11 May 1400). Alice married Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford, although it is unknown whether this was during her father's lifetime.
Later life
Probably as a direct consequence of his violent behaviour in Essex, and although he sat in parliament and on the king's council, he never held royal office in the county, and nor was he appointed to any of its commissions.
FitzWalter died on 18 October 1361, and was buried alongside his wife and ancestors in Dunmow Priory. Eleanor had predeceased him, although not, apparently, by long. His mother survived him, still controlling a third of his estate. On the day of FitzWalter's death, one farthing remained owing to the crown from his fine a decade earlier. He was succeeded in his estates and titles by his son Walter, who had been born in 1345 ("at the height", says Starr, "of his father's criminal activities"). Walter, unlike his father, was to be a loyal servant of the crown and helped to suppress the Peasants' Revolt in Essex for King Richard II in 1381. Walter was also to be a close ally of his brother-in-law the Earl of Oxford in the politically turbulent years towards the end of Richard's reign.
The criminal activities and disregard for the law demonstrated by men such as John FitzWalter, says Elisabeth Kimball, suggests that "the lack of governance associated with fifteenth-century England seems to have had its roots in the fourteenth". FitzWalter, argues the historian G. L. Harriss, was fundamentally "flawed in character" and from his youth had been on a "downward spiral of violence which brought the withdrawal of lordly and neighbourhood protection" both by the crown and by the rest of the local gentry. Characters such as FitzWalter have traditionally been seen by historians as demonstrating Edward III's poor record with law and order; on the other hand, suggests Ormrod, although royal justice may have been delayed, it was still sure, and when it came, harsh.
