Guichard d'Angle, Earl of Huntingdon

Who is Guichard d'Angle, Earl of Huntingdon?

Guichard d'Angle, Earl of Huntingdon, KG was a Poitevin knight, a Knight of the Garter and a companion of Edward the Black Prince. He was born in a noble family from Angles-sur-l'Anglin in North-Eastern Poitou, sometime between 1305 and 1315.

Guichard first appears in a muster roll of 1346 as a knight. In October of that year he commanded the defence of Niort against a raiding party of Henry of Grosmont. In 1349 he served as a French deputy commander in Saintonge and was appointed seneschal the following year. In 1351 he was captured in the battle of Saintes and was ransomed later, in 1353.

In the run-up to the Battle of Poitiers Guichard seized the fortress of Rochefort and was appointed its castellan by the dauphin. He fought at Poitiers on the French side, was captured and released for ransom. In 1360 he was in Paris with dauphin Charles. He participated in the preliminary discussions of the Anglo-French truce at Longjumeau but didn't sign the actual Treaty of Brétigny. However, Guichard was charged with transferring the fortress of La Rochelle to the English under the terms of the treaty. In 1361 overlordship over Guichard's lands was formally transferred to the King of England.