John Minsterworth

Sir John Minsterworth (died 1377) was a fourteenth-century English knight from Gloucestershire, who fought in the Hundred Years' War and was executed by King Edward III for treason. Nothing is known of his upbringing (even, for example, when he was knighted or by whom) but he first comes to prominence during the 1370 invasion of France. The war, under the command of the King's son, Edward the Black Prince, was going poorly and had only recently restarted after a nine-year truce. Minsterworth was part of a force sent to relieve the English command in France under the nominal leadership of Sir Robert Knolles, whom contemporaries praised for his military acumen. Landing in the north, Knolles and Minsterworth carved their way to the west of France. There, divisions among the leaders—which may have been present before the campaign began—erupted into mutiny.

Minsterworth may have despised Knolles for his reputation and status, and with others split from Knolles's main force. Much of that force was destroyed in December 1370 by the French army at the Battle of Pontvallain. Minsterworth and a breakaway force made their way to Brittany despite frequent ambushes and French raids, and eventually—albeit seeing most of the remnant of his army massacred on the Breton shore—to England. There he attempted to blame Knolles for the disaster, and although Minsterworth's former commander was found culpable of many of the military mishaps that had occurred, Minsterworth did not escape blame either.

Minsterworth left England in 1372 to join the French army. Five years later he met and conspired with the rebel Welsh lord, Owain Lawgoch, and, for reasons which are now obscure, supported Owen's proposed French-backed invasion of England. In 1377, while still abroad, he was captured by the English and sent home to be tried for treason. Convicted on conspiracy charges, he was executed and his corpse was drawn and quartered before being distributed across the kingdom.