James Blount

For other uses, see James Blount (disambiguation).

Sir James Blount (died 1493) (sometimes spelt Blunt) was commander of the English fortress of Hammes, near Calais.

Blount was the son of Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy, and uncle of William Blount, 4th Baron Mountjoy.

In 1473 he sat in Parliament as the MP for Derbyshire.

When in 1484 the Earl of Oxford was imprisoned at Hammes, Blount was apparently persuaded to switch to the Lancastrian side. Blount and Oxford fled to join Henry Tudor, (the future Henry VII of England who was then living in exile in France), leaving his wife in charge. She and the garrison held out for months against Richard III's forces, until in early 1485 they surrendered in return for safe passage into France. Sir James then landed with Henry Tudor's forces in 1485 at Milford Haven, where he was knighted.

Blount appears as a minor character in Shakespeare's play Richard III.

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