On 8 March 1450 a Mandate by Henry VI was issued. It provided consent for goods to be exported to France in order to facilitate the payment of a ransom to Lord Gaucourt. Trade with France was restricted at the time, due to the latter stages of the Hundred Years War. Such restrictions, and the implications of having to raise ransoms, were among the concerns that had provoked the uprisings of Thomas Cheyne and Jack Cade earlier in the year. And this mandate came just days after an indictment for treason against men such as William Oldhall.
“Mandate by Henry VI to Andrew Holes, keeper of the Privy Seal, ordering him to cause that John Melton, esquire, have permission to convey merchandise into France in a ‘balinger’ named the Thomas of Hamptone, thereby to enable him to pay his ransom to the lord Gaucourt, with whom he has left two of his children in pledge. Dated at Westminster, 8 March, 28 Hen. VI”.
John Melton
John Melton later became the Sheriff of Yorkshire and was a Member of Parliament. He was a man of sufficient importance to the regime for the King to sanction merchandise being transported to France for the payment of his ransom. Exports to France were subject to many restrictions at the time due to the war.
Hostages
Melton been allowed to return to England to raise his ransom with two of his children travelling in the opposite direction to act as hostages. This practice ensured that the ransom would be paid. Requiring hostages was not always the case, though by this stage of the war, perhaps his captor felt that the security was needed, given the possibility that the English would be defeated.
John Melton’s imprisonment amid the fall of Normandy
Melton was the prisoner of Raoul de Gaucourt. Lord Gaucort was a senior member of Charles VIIs circle. He had fought the English from an early stage, having been captured and held to ransom himself in the Siege of Harfleur. His stock rose fighting alongside Joan of Arc, acting as Governor of Orléans as it was besieged and then fought in the Battle of Patay.
Lord Gaucourt
Lord Gaucourt was present as Rouen was taken from the English in 1449, being immediately appointed as Captain of Normandy’s capital by Charles VII.
This presented him with the opportunity to have captured, or bought, valuable prisoners such as John Melton. Melton required the dispensation to transport merchandise as trade with France was restricted due to the ongoing conflict.
Though Normandy fell in 1450, prisoners on both sides remained in captivity, or on parole, for years afterwards. It could take a long time for the terms of a release to be satisfied.
Image Credit Lord Gaucourt
Campaign of Raoul de Gaucourt in Dauphiné, 1429, by Martial d’Auvergne. Via Wikipedia.
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