Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch

Who was Jean III de Grailly, captal de Buch?

Sir Jean III de Grailly, Captal de Buch KG, son of Jean II de Grailly, Captal de Buch, Vicomte de Benauges, and Blanch de Foix, was a cousin of the Counts of Foix and a military leader in the Hundred Years' War who was praised by the chronicler Jean Froissart as an ideal of chivalry.

Attached to the English side in the conflict, he was made Count of Bigorre by Edward III of England, and was also a founder and the fourth Knight of the Garter in 1348. He played a decisive role as a cavalry leader under Edward, the Black Prince in the Battle of Poitiers, with de Buch leading a flanking move against the French that resulted in the capture of the king of France, as well as many of his nobles. John was taken to London by the Black Prince and held to ransom.

In 1364 he commanded the forces of Charles II of Navarre in Normandy, where he was defeated and captured by Bertrand du Guesclin at Cocherel. After his release the following year, he defected to the French side and was made lord of Nemours by Charles V of France. However, he soon re-established his loyalty to the English, and in 1367 he went to Spain with the Black Prince, fighting at the Battle of Nájera. Here he again faced Bertrand du Guesclin, but this time it was du Guesclin who was captured, and the Captal was put in charge of the prisoner. He was rewarded for his service by being made the Constable of Aquitaine in 1371.