John Maltravers, 1st Baron Maltravers

John Maltravers, 1st Baron Maltravers (1290?–1364) was an English nobleman and soldier.

Early life He was son of Sir John Maltravers (1266–1343?) of Lytchett Matravers, Dorset, born by his first wife Eleanor, about 1290. He was knighted, as was his father, with Edward, Prince of Wales, on 22 May 1306. He is said to have been taken prisoner at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

On 20 October 1318 Maltravers was chosen knight of the shire for Dorset. He seems to have sided with Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, against the king Edward II, and was in his early life a close associate of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. In August 1321 he received pardon for felonies committed in pursuit of the Despensers, but in the following December is described as the king's enemy. In January 1322 he was in arms against the king, and attacked and burnt the town of Bridgnorth. He was present at the battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March, and after the execution of Earl Thomas went overseas. who married a certain Wensliana, by whom he had issue: Henry Maltravers, who died before his grandfather, on whose death the barony fell into abeyance between his two sisters. Joan Maltravers, who was twice married but left no children; Eleanor Maltravers, 2nd Baroness Maltravers, who married John Fitzalan, second son of Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel. Her grandson John FitzAlan, 6th Earl of Arundel (1385–1421) succeeded as sixth Earl of Arundel in 1415, and Thomas Fitzalan, son and heir of William FitzAlan, 9th or 16th Earl of Arundel (1417–1487), sat in parliament during his father's life, from 1471 to 1488, as Baron Maltravers. Mary FitzAlan, daughter of Henry FitzAlan, 12th or 19th Earl of Arundel (1512–1580) carried the title to Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk (1536-1572). In 1628 the barony of Maltravers was by Act of Parliament annexed to the Earldom of Arundel, and thus the title is still held today by the Duke of Norfolk. Secondly he married Agnes Bereford (d.post 1374), a daughter of Sir William Bereford, and widow successively of Sir John de Argentine (d. 1318) and Sir John de Nerford (d. 1329). She was buried at the Greyfriars, London.

In fiction Maltravers is a supporting character in Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings), a series of French historical novels by Maurice Druon. He was portrayed by André Mathis in the 1972 French miniseries adaptation of the series, and by Reus Alexandru in the 2005 adaptation.