FAUNTE, Nicholas (exec.1471), of Canterbury, Kent.

Faunte’s origins are unclear, although the chandler who purchased the freedom of Canterbury in 1438 may have been his father. Chamberlains’ accts. 1393-1445, CCA-CC-F/A/1, f. 246. It is unclear whether the Nicholas Faunte who was licensed on 12 Nov. 1443 to ship 1,000 wool-fells to the Low Countries was our MP or his putative father: DKR, xlviii. 359; E159/222, recorda, Easter rot. 3. If this was the case then Faunte’s own admission to the freedom is not recorded. As a ‘grocer’ he joined with a local lime-burner early in 1451 to lease from Christ Church priory a pit and barn in St. Sepulchre’s parish for seven years, paying an annual rent of 66s. 8d., and undertaking to supply burnt lime for the new works at the cathedral. On other occasions he was described as a brewer, Canterbury Cathedral Archs., Dean and Chapter mss, CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/1088A; Canterbury quarter sessions, CC/JQ/267/i. He was still described as a brewer in November 1470 when his son William, a draper, was admitted to the freedom of the city: chamberlains’ accts. CCA-CC-F/A/2, f. 139. or more vaguely as a merchant. First elected as one of the 12 jurats at Michaelmas 1457, Faunte’s first employment on behalf of the civic authorities was during that year when he delivered beer to the men sent from Canterbury to the Downs to combat French pirates. This may also have marked the beginning of his association with Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, who, as keeper of the seas, organized the defence of the Kent coast in the summer of 1458. Faunte served as jurat for a further term before he was elected to sit in the Parliament summoned to meet at Westminster on 7 Oct. 1460. This too may hint at a Warwick connexion as this was the Parliament summoned to meet in the wake of the Yorkist victory at Northampton, following which the earl and his allies had taken control of the government. Quite how long Faunte attended the two sessions is unclear. He received separate sums of 60s. and 62s. 8d. from Canterbury’s coffers as his wages, the latter being specifically for staying 47 days at the daily rate of 16d. Chamberlains’ accts. CCA-CC-F/A/2, ff. 88v, 95v.

During the 1460s Faunte’s status increased and he became more closely identified with the earl of Warwick. At the earl’s instigation, in February 1462 he was appointed to collect tunnage and poundage in Sandwich. This was an extraordinary appointment as usually two collectors were appointed to collect all the customs in the port but as the entire tunnage and poundage had been granted to Warwick for three years to pay for naval defence, Faunte’s nomination demonstrates the earl’s determination to ensure all the revenue was paid to him directly. Faunte’s close relationship with Warwick was confirmed in August 1465 when along with the earl and three others (Henry Aucher, William Kelsy† and John Otre) he was licenced to trade in non-staple goods to France, Normandy and Aquitaine. C76/149, m. 17. Clearly by then he had emerged as an important figure in the earl’s Kentish affinity. He had entered into trade, become a shipowner and accumulated wealth through this association. By 1466 he was an important supplier of cloth to the Calais garrison: between Michaelmas and 13 Dec. that year he sold dyed woolen cloth worth over £200 to its victualler, William Rosse. E101/196/17, f. 3v. In Michaelmas term 1467 he was paid £170 at the Exchequer for a vessel he had supplied to assist in Warwick’s policing of the Narrow Seas. E405/46, rot. 1d. It is also likely that he took part in the English privateering escapades that operated out of Calais and the Kentish ports. Around that time the duke of Burgundy issued letters of marque allowing certain Flemish merchants to recover goods worth £747 against eight English merchants, Faunte among them, in retaliation for cargoes seized by them and their compatriots. CPR, 1467-77, p. 240. Faunte’s fortunes became increasingly tied to those of Warwick. On 27 Oct. 1467 he was appointed to collect the customs in Sandwich, only to be replaced little over a month later by Richard Haute†, a kinsman of the Wydevilles; perhaps his dismissal reflects the earl’s waning influence at court. CFR, xx. 197.

Despite his importance in the Warwick affinity, there is little evidence of Faunte’s other connexions in east Kent. What evidence as survives points to contacts restricted to Canterbury and its vicinity. In the early 1450s he had been a feoffee of a manor in Chislet by grant of ‘lady’ Isabel Richmond; in June 1459 he had been one of the recipients of a gift of goods and chattels made by one of the jurats, Willam Selowe*; and in 1466, with three other local men, he was enfeoffed by William Hert of lands in St. George’s parish, Canterbury. Dean and Chapter, CCA-DCc-ChAnt/B/358-60; CCR, 1454-61, p. 377; Centre for Kentish Studies, Maidstone, Canterbury archdeaconry ct. wills, PRC 17/1, f. 200. The only other evidence of contacts outside of Canterbury or the Warwick circle was a payment of £20 made to him between 1463 and 1465 recorded in Sir John Scott†’s account book. This may be related to the commission to impress men to victual the King’s ships to which they were both named in August 1463. J.R. Scott, ‘Receipts and Expenses of Sir John Scott’, Archaeologia Cantiana, x. 254; CPR, 1461-7, p. 303.

On 13 Sept. 1469 Faunte was elected as one of the burgesses for the Parliament summoned to York to affirm Warwick’s position following his coup after the battle of Edgcote. He and his fellow MP, Selowe, set off for this abortive Parliament, receiving 40s. each for their expenses, before returning home to Canterbury. On the following 5 Mar. he took out a pardon from the King, although whether this was to excuse a specific misdemeanor or sign of disloyalty is not known. Chamberlains’ accts. CCA-CC-F/A/2, f. 130; C67/47, m. 8. At this time Faunte appears to have been exercising an authority in Canterbury which was not related to any formal office. Despite not being then one of the jurats, in 1470 he, along with Selowe and John Freningham*, was instrumental in preventing two bands of soldiers from entering the city, Chamberlains’ accts. CCA-CC-F/A/2, f. 137. and following his election as mayor that Michaelmas he immediately organized the defences of the city. This was possibly on the orders of Warwick, who having engineered the Readeption of Henry VI in early October was now restored to his former position of power. Faunte received 10s. for ‘keeping the city’ and maintaining the watch, and with others travelled to Sandwich, perhaps early in the following year, when the earl was recruiting men in the Cinque Ports. Shortly after being elected mayor, Faunte had been returned to the Readeption Parliament, summoned to meet at Westminster on 26 Nov. He received wages of 66s. 8d., suggesting 50 days’ service at the normal rate of 16d. a day. Ibid. ff. 144v, 145; M.A. Hicks, Warwick, 304.

The defeat of Warwick at the battle of Barnet on 14 Apr. 1471 and that of Queen Margaret at Tewkesbury the following month must have come as a serious blow to Faunte’s position. John Warkworth, the chronicler, described him as ‘lovynge to the Erle of Warwyke’, J. Warkworth, Chron. Reign Edw. IV (Cam. Soc. x), 21. and it is no surprise, therefore, that he raised Canterbury in support of the Bastard of Fauconberg when the latter crossed from Calais in rebellion against Edward IV. Yet the inquisitions taken by royal commissioners after the event make it clear that Faunte did not necessarily carry the majority of the citizens with him. Only 36 men fled Canterbury in the immediate aftermath of the rebellion and these probably represented the core of Faunte’s party; 132 other citizens personally served the Bastard of their own volition, while 14 had done so under compulsion; 56 had helped him voluntarily but had not served personally in the rebellion, while a further 78 had been compelled to give material aid through fear of loss of life or property. Without doubt Faunte was one of Fauconberg’s most important captains. According to Warkworth, when the Bastard had reached London and crossed Kingston bridge it was Faunte who unwisely counselled him to withdraw his host to Blackheath, a move which ended in his defeat. Ibid. 20; Canterbury Cath. Archs., Woodruff’s list, CCA-CC-WOODRUFF, bdle. 56; C.F. Richmond, ‘Fauconberg’s Kentish Rising’, EHR, lxxxv. 684-5. He was eventually captured by Sir George Brown†, who apparently discovered in Faunte’s pocket a damning list of those Canterbury citizens who had supported the rebellion. The list was returned to the grateful city authorities by one of Brown’s servants, who was rewarded with 10d. for his troubles, and may have been taken to Edward IV in London. Faunte was then sent to the Tower and put on trial before the King. Chamberlains’ accts. CCA-CC-F/A/2, f. 145v; 1465-79, CCA-CC-F/A/5, f. 112v; E405/53, rot. 2. Having been found guilty of treason he was taken back to Canterbury, and on 29 May he was hanged, drawn and quartered in the Butter Market, opposite the entrance to the cathedral, at a public execution watched by King Edward himself. Details of his execution were probably recorded in the chronicle of the Christ Church monk, John Stone, but it appears that this page was ripped from the manuscript: the printed edition of the chronicle contains a nonsensical entry noting Faunte’s mayoralty: Chron. John Stone ed. Searle (Cambridge Antiq. Soc. octavo ser. xxxiv), 116; Richmond, 684. Interestingly, Faunte’s treason does not appear to have had a detrimental effect on his family’s fortunes in Canterbury. His son, William, who had been appointed sheriff of Canterbury at Michaelmas 1470 when Nicholas had been elected mayor, continued to serve to the end of his term, despite the fact that the mayoralty itself and with it the government of Canterbury was taken into the King’s hands. PRO List ‘Sheriffs’, 171; E372/316. William later served as chamberlain for three years from Mich. 1480: chamberlains’ accts. 1479-83, CCA-CC-F/A/6, ff. 12, 26v, 36.