Hugh Calveley: Difference between revisions

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'''Sir Hugh Calveley'''<ref>His name is variously spelled Calverley, Caverle, Calvelegh, Kerverley, Calverlee, Calvyle, Kalvele, Calviley, and Calvile.</ref> (died 23 April 1394) was an English [[knight]] and commander, who took part in the [[Hundred Years' War]], gaining fame during the [[War of the Breton Succession]] and the [[Castilian Civil War]]. He held various military posts in [[Brittany]] and [[Normandy]]. He should not be confused with his nephew, also [[Hugh Calveley (MP)|Sir Hugh Calveley]], who died in June 1393 and was [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Rutland (UK Parliament constituency)|Rutland]].

An anonymous Breton poet's account of the [[Battle of the Thirty]] in 1351 has "Hue de Caverle" as a [[knight]] fighting on the English side (where he was defeated, captured, to be [[ransom]]ed later). One estimate of the date of his knighthood is 1346, though documents from 1354 do not refer to him as a knight, and there is some evidence that he was onlynot knighted later, inuntil 1361.

In 1354, Calveley was captain of the English-held fortress of [[Becherel]]. He planned a raid on the castle of [[Montmuran]] on 10 April, to capture [[Arnoul d'Audrehem]], [[Marshal of France]], who was a guest of the lady of Tinteniac. [[Bertrand du Guesclin]], in one of the early highlights of his career, anticipated the attack, posting archers as sentries. When the sentries raised the alarm at Calveley's approach, both du Guesclin and d'Audrehem hurried to intercept. In the ensuing fight, Calveley was unhorsed by a knight named [[Enguerrand d'Hesdin]], captured, and later ransomed.

The solution to the problem was found when [[Kingdom of Aragon|Aragon]], France and the [[Pope|Papacy]] agreed to provide money to pay for the Free Companies to wage a campaign to support Count [[Henry of Trastamara|Enrique of Trastamara]]'s bid for the throne of [[Kingdom of Castile|Castile]], which at the time was held by Enrique's half-brother, [[Pedro of Castile]]. Calveley signed up as the most prominent of the English captains on this campaign, in which he was involved from 1365 to 1367, ironically serving alongside [[Bertrand du Guesclin]], his once and future enemy. For his services to Enrique, he was made Count of Carrion. He married one of the Aragonese queen's ladies-in-waiting, named Constanza de Candia, a princess of [[Aragonese Castle]] and daughter of a Sicilian baron. They had a daughter, Agnes, who later married Lord [[Bromley-Davenport]].

Pedro the Cruel, having fled from Castile, invoked his alliance with England. Calveley was ordered back to the service of England by the [[Black Prince]], and now took a prominent part in Pedro's counter-campaign, culminating in the decisive [[Battle of Nájera]]. At Nájera, Calveley was once again in the rearguard, sharing command with Count [[Jean I of Armagnac]]. The two commaderscommanders had the glory of delivering the final blow to the faltering enemy infantry by a cavalry charge. Enrique of Trastamara escaped from the battle. Though his title as Count of Carrion had been granted by Enrique, Pedro confirmed it upon reclaiming the Castilian throne.

From 1375 to 1378, Calveley was [[governor of Calais]], an important port. Thereafter, he became one of the two Admirals of the English fleet, taking part in several sea battles. He is also made Warden of the Isles in 1376, tasked with strengthening the military defences in the [[Channel Islands]], notably at [[Mont Orgueil Castle]] and [[Castle Cornet]], from regular French raids.

In July 1388, he joined the English Peace Commissioners negotiating a truce with France. In his later life, he also served as a Justice of the Peace, and a [[knight of the shire]] (MP) for [[Rutland (UK Parliament constituency)|Rutland]] (1385 and 1390)Berkshire.

Calveley died without issueissuing a male lineage on St George's Day, 23 April 1394 (though some sources list his date of death as 1393). His tomb effigy is in [[St Boniface's Church, Bunbury|St Boniface's church]] in Bunbury, Cheshire, though there is some doubt as to whether he was in fact buried there. The effigy was likely commissioned by Sir Robert Knolles.

{{more footnotes needed|date=November 2017}}

{{reflist|30emReflist}}

* {{cite web | last=Goldstraw | first=Martin | title=The Armorial Bearings of the Cheshire Visitations -– 1613 | website=Cheshire Heraldry | url=http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/visitations1613/CV1613_5.html | ref=harv | access-date=5 November 2017}}

*Stephen Turnbull, The Book of the Medieval Knight (Arms and Armour Press, London, 1985), p. 50)

*[http://www.bunbury.org.uk/johnpapers/elsworth_papersframe.htm Hugh Calveley as a Bunbury local hero] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205105930/http://www.bunbury.org.uk/johnpapers/elsworth_papersframe.htm |date=5 December 2020 }}

*[http://www.bunbury.org.uk/papers/Sir_Hugh_frameset.html The Effigy and Tomb of Sir Hugh Calveley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211739/http://www.bunbury.org.uk/papers/Sir_Hugh_frameset.html |date=3 March 2016 }}

*[http://www.labelle.org/hyw1380.html Timeline of the 1380s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827030747/http://www.labelle.org/hyw1380.html |date=27 August 2019 }}

*[https://wwwweb.webcitationarchive.org/query?url=web/20071205165819/http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/9507/research-hc-paper.html&date=2009-10-25+06:19:56 An academic paper on Calveley's involvement in the Iberian campaigns]

[[Category:14th-century English peoplemilitary personnel]]