Baron John Maltravers 1290–1364 ‘A Wise Knight in War and Peace’

The first Baron John Maltravers led an extraordinary life. Knighted at the age of sixteen, he was taken prisoner at Bannockburn a few years later. As an associate of Roger Mortimer, he was a jailer of the deposed Edward II. On the fall of Mortimer, Maltravers was tried for treason and sentenced to death, but he had already fled abroad. His involuntary exile continued for twenty years. No attempt was made to capture him or to bring him to justice.By the time he returned to England, his only son had died in the Black Death, and Baron John’s heirs were his two granddaughters. His surviving granddaughter, Eleanor, married into the noble Arundel family, and by a quirk of fate her descendants became Earls of Arundel, as well as Barons Maltravers, titles which are borne by their descendant, the Duke of Norfolk, to this day.This fascinating history contains references to both published and unpublished sources, setting the lives of the Maltraverses in the context of national events. Illustrated with maps, photographs and family trees, the book provides readers with a detailed account of life in these turbulent times.

Caroleen McClure has a BA in Medieval and Modern History. After a career in teaching and librarianship, she joined a U3A Local History Group and has researched the medieval Maltravers family, who gave their name to the Dorset village where she has lived for thirty-five years.