Walter Leslie

Sir Walter Leslie (died 1382) was a 14th-century Scottish nobleman and crusader, one of the foremost knights of his time. Family Leslie was a younger son, probably the third son, of Sir Andrew Leslie of Leslie Castle sixth in line from Bartholomew, founder of the name Leslie in Aberdeenshire, by his wife Mary Abernethy, daughter and coheiress of Sir Alexander Abernethy. Life Along with his elder brother Norman, he obtained safe conduct through England on his way to Prussia to participate in a crusade against the pagans of that region. He had returned by 1356. He is then said to have gone to France, to aid the French in their wars with the English. He must have gone there more than once, for he was present at the Battle of Pontvallain in 1370, where he proved instrumental in the English defeat, and was rewarded by King Charles with a yearly pension of two hundred gold francs. He was present in Scotland in 1363, when King David granted him a pension of forty pounds sterling. Later that year, David obtained from Edward III of England a safe passage for Walter and Norman to travel to the Holy Land. They traveled via Italy; they appear as witnesses to a deal signed by the authorities of Florence with the notorious "White Band", a group of English mercenaries who had fought in the Hundred Years' War and were then plying their trade in Italy. Walter and Norman eventually joined the crusade of Peter King of Cyprus, as the latter attacked the Egyptian city of Alexandria. The city was captured, but King Peter was unable to hold it, and abandoned the city after looting it.