[1] The Talbot family had been locally prominent in Herefordshire since the reign of Henry II of England,[2] and had blood connections to both the Welsh and Scottish nobility.

He fought in the Hundred Years War under the Black Prince, and was with the royal fleet under Admiral Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk.

[3] He served under the Earl of Cambridge in Portugal and Spain in 1381–1382, and was present at the capture of Higuera la Real.

[3] During this Iberian service, he was chosen as the ambassador of the English forces to the king of Portugal to demand their wages.

Prior to 1361, he married Petronilla, daughter of James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormond by his wife Eleanor de Bohun.