Beatrice de Bolbec

Beatrice married Tesselin de Vascoeuil, Count of Rouen in 1010 in Longueville, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. Tesselin (son of Gozelin de Rouen and Emmeline de Normandy) was born in 970 in Vascoeuil, Haute-Normandie, France; died in 1021 in Vascoeuil, Eure, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Beatrice married Ralph (Rudolph) de Warenne in 1034 in Bellencombe, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. Ralph was born on 12 Dec 1020 in Varenne, Bellencombre, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France; died on 15 Feb 1074 in Varenne, Bellencombre, Seine-Maritime, Haute-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1055, Varenne near Bellencombre, Seine-Inferieure, Normandy, France

Notes:

[From "The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman Families"]

For this identification see Mr. Loyd's paper 'The Origin of the Family of Warenne' in Yorkshire Arch. Journal, vol. xxxi, pp. 97-113. The hamlet of Varenne lies on the river Varenne c. 2 miles S of Arques and c. 13 miles N of Bellencombre. The latter place, arr. Dieppe, cant. Bellencombre, where there was a castle, became the caput of the Warenne honour in Normandy.

WILLIAM DE WARREN

The Conqueror and His Companions
by J. R. Planché, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874..

"De Garenes i vint Willeme" is all we learn from Wace about his appearance at Hastings, except that his helmet fitted him admirably, "Mult li sist bien et chief li helme;" for the mention of which interesting circumstance I suspect the gallant knight is more indebted to rhyme than to record — to the art of poetry rather than to the skill of his armourer. Fortunately we have made his acquaintance some time previous to the Conquest, and there are circumstances of much more importance and interest connected with him than the well-fitting of his helmet. His parentage has been variously represented, and that of his wife the subject of the keenest controversy.

To begin with the beginning. Without bewildering the reader with the conflicting accounts of the early contemporary chroniclers, and the unsatisfactory conclusions of more recent writers, I will at once refer to the earliest mention of William de Warren in history that I am aware of, which occurs in Orderic Vital's account of the battle of Mortemer and its results in 1054. "Duke William," he tells us, "being enraged by the shelter and safe conduct granted by Roger de Mortemer, who commanded the Norman forces on that occasion, to the Comte de Montdidier, who had fought on the side of the French and taken refuge in the Castle of Mortemer, banished Roger from Normandy and confiscated all his possessions;" but being afterwards reconciled to him he restored them to him, with the exception of the Castle of Mortemer, which the Duke gave to William de Warren, "one of his loyal young vassals," whom Orderic makes the Conqueror describe as a cousin or kinsman of De Mortemer, acknowledging no consanguinity to himself.

The probabilities are that he was the son of a Ralph de Warren, a benefactor to the abbey of La Trinité du Mont about the middle of thee 11th century, who, as well as Roger de Mortemer, Nicholas de Basqueville, Walter de St. Martin, and many others, were the issue of some of the numerous nieces of the Duchess Gonnor ("Nepotes plures predicta Gunnora"), who have been inaccurately set down as kinsmen instead of distant connections of her great-grandson the Conqueror.

William de Warren, to whom the Duke of Normandy gave the Castle of Mortemer, was a young man, we are told, at that period, and would, therefore, scarcely have attained the prime of life in 1066. He is named amongst the principal persons summoned to attend the Council at Lillebonne, when the invasion of England was decided upon, and was no doubt present in the great battle, for his services in which he received as his share of the spoil some three hundred manors, nearly half that number being in the county of Norfolk.

In 1067, on the King's departure for Normandy, William de Warren was joined with Hugh de Grentmesnil, Hugh de Montfort, and other valiant men in the government of England, under the superior jurisdiction of the Earl-bishop Odo and William Fitz 0sbern.

In 1074, on the breaking out of the rebellion of Roger, Earl of Hereford, and Ralph, Earl of Norfolk, we find him associated with Richard de Bienfaite as Chief Justiciaries of England, and summoning the rebels to appear before the King's High Court; and on their refusal, William de Warren with Robert, son of William Malet, marched against Earl Ralph, and routing the rebels at Fagadune, pursued them to Norwich, taking many prisoners, whom, according to the barbarous practice of the age, they mutilated by chopping off the right foot—an unmistakable proof that the sufferers had taken a step in the wrong direction.

Of his personal prowess no special anecdote has been preserved, and it is as the husband of the mysterious Gundred, or Gundrada, that his name has descended to the present day with any special interest attached to it.

Whether the hand of this lady was bestowed upon him previously to his services at Senlac, or as a part of his reward for them, does not appear, and our ignorance of the date of their marriage has been the principal obstacle in the way of those who have so hotly disputed her relationship to William the Conqueror, for could we even arrive at an approximate date it might enable us to calculate her probable age at that period, and whether she was born before or after 1053, on which fact depends the whole question.

That they were married before 1078 is certain, as in that year they founded the Priory of Lewes in Sussex, and we have the charters of King William, which he granted to that establishment for the health of the souls of his lord and ancestor, King Edward, of his father Count-Robert, of his own soul and that of his wife, Queen Matilda, and of all their children and successors, and for the souls of William de Warren and his wife Gundrada, his (William's) daughter and their heirs.

The words "my daughter" — "filiæ meæ" — would be decisive of her being the acknowledged child of the King; but independently of their being scarcely legible, it is contended that they are in a different and later hand; and there is this to be observed, which I do not remember having seen noticed, that the King has just previously used the expression "our children and successors" (filiorum atque successorum nostrorum"), so that his particularising Gundrada as "my daughter" would imply that she was not by his wife Matilda.

Exactly in opposition to this is the declaration of William de Warren himself, in whose charter to the priory, granted after the death of Gundred in childbirth (6 kalends of June, 1085), he states his donations to be for the salvation of the souls, amongst others, of his lady Queen Matilda, mother of his wife ("matris uxoris meæ"), excluding in turn King William from any share in her parentage. Was she then the sister of Gherbod the Fleming, Earl of Chester, as Orderic Vital distinctly describes her, without the slightest allusion to her parents? And, if so, was Queen Matilda the mother of both by a previous marriage, which has been utterly ignored by contemporary writers, and never yet established by recent investigators? Mr. Freeman accepts that interpretation, and I can advance no argument in dispute of it. It is much more likely, as he observes, that a stepfather should call the daughter of his wife his daughter, than that a husband should speak of the mother of his wife in anything but a strictly literal sense.

Then how are we to account for the universal silence of the chroniclers, native and foreign, on the subject? Mr. Freeman quotes the instance of their apparent ignorance of the marriage of Robert the Devil with the widow of UIf; but this is a much more important case. We have the unequivocal declaration of William de Warren, that Queen Matilda was the mother of his wife, and unless that charter is spurious, of which there is not the slightest suspicion, the evidence to that extent is conclusive.

But we have not yet done with riddles. Amongst the benefactors of Bermondsey, I find one Richard Guett, recorded as brother of the Countess of Warren, and the donor of the manor of Cowyke to the monks of that abbey, 11th of Rufus, A.D. 1098.

Gundred at that period had been dead thirteen years; but that she is the person alluded to there can be no doubt, as she is styled only "Comtesse Warenne;" whereas Isabelle de Vermandois, wife of her son, the second William, was Countess of Warren and Surrey.

Then who was this Richard Guett? Was he another child of Matilda of Flanders, a brother or halfbrother of Gherbod and Gundred, or a brother-in-law, for the old writers pay little attention to these nice distinctions, as we have seen in the case of Odo of Champagne? Had Matilda of Flanders as many husbands as Adelaide, Countess of Ponthieu, and, like her, issue by each? What was the real cause of the inhibition of her marriage with William, Duke of Normandy, — its delay for six years? What truth is there in the story of her unreturned affection for the Angio-Saxon Brihtric Meaw, and of her vindictive conduct to him after she became Queen of England? I have hesitated to believe in the popular tradition that Duke William grossly assaulted the daughter of Baldwin in the street or in her own chamber, not that I have any doubt about his being capable of such an outrage, but because he was too politic to commit it, and she was not the woman to have forgiven it, assuming that the offence was the simple refusal of his hand on the ground of his illegitimacy. It is obvious, however, that the early life of Matilda is involved in mystery, and it is highly probable that a clearer insight into it would enable us to account for much which we now reject as legend, or fail to reconcile with acknowledged facts. If there be any foundation for the story of William's brutality, the outburst of ungovernable fury might have been due to a much greater provocation than has been assigned for it. Brihtric, the son of Algar or Alfar, sumamed Meaw (Snow), from the extreme fairness of his complexion, an Anglo-Saxon Thegn, possessor of large domains in England, had been sent on an embassy from King Edward the Confessor to the Connt of Flanders. Matilda, we are told, fell desperately in love with him, and offered herself to him in marriage! Either disgusted by her forwardness, or preferring another, he declined the flattering proposal. "Hell hath no fury like a woman foiled," and she kept her wrath warm till she was in a position to ruin the man she had so passionately loved. She had no sooner become the Queen of England than she induced William to confiscate, on some pretence, all Brihtric's estates, and obtained the greater proportion for herself. The unfortunate Thegn was arrested at his house at Hanley, in Worcestershire, on the very day Saint Wulfstan had consecrated a chapel of his building, dragged to Winchester, and died in a dungeon! The truth of this story is supported by the impartial evidence of Domesday, in which Hanley and the principal manors held by Brihtric in the time of King Edward are recorded as the possessions of Queen Matilda, and the remainder passed to Fitz Hamon.

After her hand had been rejected by the noble Saxon, it is presumed she became the wife of a Fleming, named Gherbod, who appears to have held the hereditary office of Advocate of the Abbey of Saint Bertin, in St. Omers, and by whom she had at least two children, viz., Gherbod, to whom William gave the earldom of Chester, and Gundred, "the sister of Gherbod," and wife of William de Warren. Was this a clandestine or an informal marriage, which, as it has never been acknowledged by any chronicler, contemporary or other, might have been unknown to the Duke of Normandy, when he proposed to one whom he believed to be the maiden daughter of the Count of Flanders, and the corporal chastisement inflicted, however unworthy of a man, passed over, sub silentio, for prudential reasons, by the parties wlio had been guilty of a disgraceful suppression of facts? The subsequent marriage under such circumstances will awaken no surprise in any one who has studied the character of William. Utterly unscrupulous, destitute of every generous, noble, or delicate feeling, every action of his life was dictated by POLICY alone. An alliance with the Count of Flanders might be considered by the crafty schemer sufficiently advantageous to warrant his overlooking any objectionable antecedents in the conduct of a granddaughter of a king of France, his first discovery of which had provoked his savage nature into a momentary ebullition of fury. Her being the mother of two children was a point in her favour with a man whose sole motive for marrying was the perpetuation of a dynasty, and the fair prospect of legitimate issue, in whose veins the blood of the Capets should enrich that of the Furrier of Falaise, would overcome any hesitation at espousing the widow of an Advocate of St. Bertin. On the other hand, Count Baldwin would be too happy to embrace the opportunity of reinstating his daughter in a position befitting her birth, and, as well as the lady herself, gladly condone past insults for future advantages and the hope of smothering, in the splendour of a ducal wedding, the awkward whispers of scandal.

I have said thus much simply to show the view that may be taken of these mysterious circumstances, in opposition to the rose-coloured representations of some modern historians, who, upon no stronger evidence, elevate the Conqueror into a model husband, and describe Matilda as the perfection of womankind. To return to Gundred: her mother, Matilda, the third child of parents who were married in 1027, could not well have been born before 1030, and would therefore be some three years younger than the Conqueror.

In 1047, the time named as that of the Duke's first proposal, she would have been seventeen, and at that age either passionately in love with Brihtric, or already the youthful bride of the Advocate of St. Bertin.

In either case her rejection of William — and in the latter the Papal inhibition — is perfectly understandable. Assuming the marriage, she could scarcely have been the mother of the younger Gherbod and his sister Gundred before 1050; and the Countess of Warren, who died in childbed in 1085, would, according to this calculation, have then been in her thirty-fifth year. These dates are fairly presumable, and are uncontradicted by any circumstances that I am aware of.

No date has ever been assigned to the marriage of Gundred, but it is probable that it took place subsequent to the invasion, and about the same time that the earldom of Chester was bestowed on her brother Gherbod, with whom she may have come to England in the train of their mother, Matilda, on her visit in 1068, for there is not the slightest trace of Gherbod's presence at Hastings; and the magnificent gift of the County Palatine of Chester to a foreigner unknown to fame must have been owing to private family influence, as no service of any description is recorded for which it could be considered a merited reward.

In the foundation charter to Lewes, William de Warren himself tells us that he set out with his wife, Gundred, on a journey to Rome, but was unable to pass the German frontier in consequence of the war raging between the Emperor and the Pope. They therefore visited the Abbey of Cluni, where they were most hospitably entertained by the Prior and the community in the absence of Hugh, the Abbot. No date is mentioned, but the circumstances to which he alludes enable us to arrive at an approximate one.

in the Council of Worms, 23rd of January in that year, sentence of excommunication was passed upon the contumacious Kaiser, and his subjects absolved from their oath of fidelity; and in the following year, Henry, accompanied by his wife and infant son, Conrad, presented himself as a penitent before the walls of the Castle of Canossa, in Lombardy, where the Pontiff was then residing; and after remaining for three days, with naked feet and without food, in token of his contrition, was admitted, on the fourth, to the presence of the triumphant Pontiff, in consequence of the mediation of his cousin, the Countess Matilda, the Count of Savoy, and the Abbot of Cluni, who were at that period at Canossa with his Holiness.

This latter event occurred on the 26th of January, 1077, and we therefore know that Abbot Hugh was then in Lombardy. How long he was absent from Cluni on that occasion I cannot say, but we may fairly conjecture that William and Gundred were the guests of the Prior towards the close of the year 1076, or in the early part of 1077, in which latter year, they having long before resolved to found some religious house for the welfare of their souls, determined that, in gratitude for their reception at the Abbey of Cluni, it should rather be of the Cluniac order than any other. Having obtained the licence of King William, Abbot Hugh, at their request, sent over four of his monks, the principal of whom, named Lanzo, became the first Prior of St. Pancras at Lewes, which was founded and endowed by the Earl accordingly.

The Countess died, as before stated, in 1085, and was buried in the chapter-house at Lewes.

On the breaking out of Bishop Odo's rebellion, in the first year of the reign of Rufus, William, Earl of Warren, stood fast by the King, and served him most loyally both in the field and the council-chamber, for which good service he was created Earl of Surrey.

He enjoyed his new dignity but for a brief period, dying in 1089, 8 kalends of July (where, or of what disorder, is not stated), and was buried near his wife in the chapter-house of Lewes.

The discovery of their coffins a few years ago raised the controversy respecting the parentage of Gundred, which can scarcely even now be considered absolutely decided.

As in the case of Adelaide, Countess of Ponthieu, some charter or trustworthy document may yet be discovered which will clear up, by a simple fact, the mystery surrounding the early life of the Queen of the Conqueror, and not only enable us correctly to affiliate Gherbod and Gundred, but also to identify the hitherto unnoticed claimant to the honour of being one of their nearest relations, Richard Guett, the benefactor of Bermondsey, "brother of the Countess of Warren." From the register of Ely, in the Bodleian Library, Dugdale quotes the following tale of wonder: — " It is reported that this Earl William did violently detain certain lands from the monks of Ely, for which, being after admonished by the Abbot, and not making restitution, he died miserably; and though his death happened very far off the Isle of Ely, the same night he died, the Abbot, lying quietly in his bed, and meditating on heavenly things, heard the soul of the Earl in its carriage away by the Devil, cry out loudly and with a known and distinct voice, 'Lord have mercy upon me! Lord have mercy upon me!' and moreover that the next day the Abbot acquainted all the monks in Chapter therewith; and, likewise, that about four days after there came a messenger to them from the wife of the Earl with one hundred shillings for the good of his soul, who told them that he died the very hour the Abbot heard that outcry; but that neither the Abbot nor any of the monks would receive it, not thinking it safe for them to take the money of a damned person."

"If the first part of this story," adds honest old Norroy, " as the Abbot's hearing that noise, be no truer than the last, viz., that his lady sent them one hundred shillings, I shall deem it to be a mere fiction in regard the lady was certainly dead about three years before."

What appears more incredible to me is that there was not one monk to be found in the convent who would pocket the money "for the good of the soul" of the departed delinquent, who had "died miserably," — a statement which, taken in conjunction with the preternatural communication of the event to the holy Abbot, conveys to my mind an ugly idea of a guilty foreknowledge of it.

Died:
Age: 33

William married Princess of England Gundred before 1077 in Normandy, France. Gundred was born about 1050 in Normandy, France; died on 27 May 1085 in Castle Acre, Norfolk, England; was buried in Priory of Lewes, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Isabel (Elizabeth ) de Vermandois in 1118 in Pays du Valois, Bretagne, France. Isabel (daughter of Hugh "The Great" Capet, Duke of France and Burgundy and Adelaide de Vermandois) was born on 13 Feb 1081 in Vermandois, Normandy, Bretagne, France; died on 13 Feb 1131 in Sens, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France; was buried in St. Nicaise, Meulan, France-Sens, Saone-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gundred married 2nd Earl of Warwick Roger de Beaumont before 1130. Roger (son of 1st Earl of Warwick Henry de Beaumont and Margaret de Perche) was born in 1102; died on 12 Jun 1153. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Gundred married Governor of Lancaster, Lord Kendal William de Lancaster about 1154. William (son of Lord Kendal Gilbert de Lancaster and Godith FitzReinsfred) was born about 1115 in Kendal, Westmorland, England; died about 1170. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Adela d'Alencon in 1132/1147. Adela (daughter of Count of Alencon and Ponthieu William Talvas, Count of Ponthieu III and Helie de Bourgogne) was born about 1120 in Alençon, Orne, Basse-Normandie, France; died on 4 Oct 1174. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Ada De Huntingdon

Ada married 3rd Earl of Huntingdon Henry Dunkeld in 1139. Henry (son of King of Scotland David I "The Saint" mac Maíl Coluim and Maud Huntingdon) was born in 1114 in Scotland; died on 12 Jun 1152 in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Unknown. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Morggan MacGylocher, Mormaer and Earl De Mar in Mar 1145 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. Morggan (son of Gille Chlerig Gillocher and Orabile) was born in 1115 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland; died on 30 Mar 1183 in Mar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Waleran married Margaret de Bohun before 1190. Margaret (daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford Lord of Trowbridge Constable of England III and Margaret de Huntingdon) died in 1195. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 1st Earl of Norfolk Hugh Bigod. Hugh (son of Earl of East Anglia Roger Bigod and Adeliza de Toeni) was born about 1095 in Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, England; died about 1177 in Thetford Church, Norfolk, England; was buried in Thetford Church, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Robert de Creke. Robert (son of Robert de Creke) was born in 1163 in North Creke, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Helwise de Stuteville. Helwise (daughter of Robert IV de Stuteville and Helewise Mudac) was born in 1165 in Cumberland, England; died in 1226. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married Earl of Surrey William de Blois about 1149. William (son of King of England Stephen de Blois and Countess of Boulogne Matilda de Talvas) was born about 1132 in Blois, France; died on 11 Oct 1159 in Toulouse, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married 5th Earl of Surrey Hamelin de Warenne in Apr 1164 in Surrey, England. Hamelin (son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou V and of Angers Adelaide) was born in 1129 in Normandy, France; died on 7 May 1202 in Lewes, Sussex, England; was buried in Chapter House of Lewes Priory, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Conan of Penthièvre, Duke of Brittany IV in 1160. Conan (son of Alan "The Black" of Penthièvre and of Brittany Bertha of Cornouaille, Duchess of Brittany) was born in 1138; died on 20 Feb 1171. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford Lord of Trowbridge Constable of England III in Apr 1175 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England. Humphrey (son of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Baron of Trowbridge II and Margaret de Gloucester) was born in 1144 in Bromyard, Herefordshire, England; died in Dec 1181 in Brosse, Seine-et-Marne, Ile-de-France, France; was buried in Hempsted, City of Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Maude "of Chester" de Kevelioc. Maude (daughter of 3rd Earl of Chester Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester and Bertrade de Montfort) was born in 1171 in Chester, Chestershire, England; died on 6 Jan 1233. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Born in 1143, William the Lion was the younger brother of Malcolm IV. A year after his accession, he went to Normandy with Henry II and later spent Easter 1170 at Windsor. In 1174, however, he joined Henry II's son in his rebellion against his father, and invaded England. He was captured at Alnwick, Northumberland and brought to Henry II with 'his feet shackled beneath the belly of his horse.' He was then held prisoner first in Yorkshire, later at Northampton and finally in France. He was released by the terms of the Treaty of Falaise of 8 December 1174, having been forced to agree to do homage to Henry II 'for Scotland and for all his other lands', and surrender key Scottish castles such as Edinburgh and Stirling.

As William's feudal lord, Henry now had the right to arrange his marriage, and he gave him Ermengarde de Beaumont, whose father was the son of an illegitimate daughter of Henry I. William eventually recovered Scotland from the English king's feudal overlordship, however, when Henry II was succeeded by Richard I. Richard, determined to raise money for his third Crusade, surrendered his feudal superiority over Scotland for 10,000 merks by the Quitclaim of Canterbury on 5 December 1189 and Scotland was an independent country once more. In 1196-7, William established his sovereignty in Caithness.

Under William, the development of feudal institutions continued; in part, the Scottish monarchy's government closely resembled England's. William established royal burghs in eastern Scotland up to moray Firth, and extended the use of sheriffs in the same area. Perth and Stirling became major centres of royal administration.

William I was a vigorous royal patron of the Scottish Church - he founded Arbroath Abbey, Angus in or before 1178. In 1182 Pope Lucius III sent him the Golden Rose and in 1188 Pope Clement III took the Scottish Church under his special protection. In 1192, the Pope granted a Bull to William that recognised the separate identity of the Scottish Church (previously the Church in Scotland had been brought under the authority of the Archbishop of York), and its independence of all ecclesiastical authorities apart from Rome. Gervase of Canterbury described William as 'a man of outstanding sanctity ... much preferring to have peace than the sword and to provide for his people by wisdom rather than iron'. William died at Stirling on 4 December 1214, aged 71, and was buried at Arbroath

Family/Spouse: William de Say. William (son of William de Say and Beatrice de Mandeville) was born about 1126 in Kimbolton, Norfolk, England; died before 1 Aug 1177. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Sir William Fitz-William, lord of Elmley and Sprotborough, m. Albreda, dau. and heir of Robert de Lizures, widow of Richard Fitz-Eustace, constable of Chester, and sister of the half blood to Robert de Laci, Baron of Pontefract, and had issue, a dau. Donatia, to whom her other gave lands in Crowle, with a son, Sir William Fitz-William, his successor. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 215, Fitz-William, Baron Fitz-William]

William married Albreda (Aubrye) de Lisoures about 1170. Albreda (daughter of Robert "Eudo" de Lisoures and Albreda "Aubrye" de Lacy) was born about 1128 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England; died after 1193 in Halton Castle, Skipton, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alesta married Alan Fitzwalter, 2nd High Steward in 1165 in Carrick, Ayrshire, Scotland. Alan (son of Walter FitzAlan, 1st Great Steward of Scotland and Eschyna de Molle) was born in 1126 in Blackhall Manor, Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland; died on 24 Aug 1204 in Kyle, East Ayrshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Baron of Hanslape William de Mauduit. William (son of Robert de Mauduit) was born about 1196 in Hanslape, Buckinghamshire, England; died in Apr 1257. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lord Hickley John de Valoines. John (son of Lord Hickley Theobald de Valoines) was born about 1194 in Hickley, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gilbert FitzRoger. Gilbert (son of Roger FitzReinfrid and Rohese de Romara) was born in 1162 in Kendal, Westmorland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William de Warren (Plantagenet), Earl of Warren and Surrey, sided at the commencement of the contest between King John and the barons and for a long time thereafter with his royal kinsman, but eventually joined the banner of Lewis of France. On the death of King John, however, he returned to his allegiance and swore fealty to King Henry III, at the solemn nuptials of which monarch he had the honor of serving the king, at the banquet, with his royal cup in the Earl of Arundel's stead, who, being in minority, could not perform that office as he had not be engirt with the sword of knighthood. His lordship m. 1st, Lady Maud de Albini, dau. of the Earl of Arundel, but by her ladyship had no issue. Hem. 2ndly, Maud, dau., of William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, and widow of Hugh Bigot, Earl of Norfolk, by whom he had John, his successor, and Isabel. He d. in 1240, and was s. by his son, John de Warren (Plantagenet), Earl of Warren and Surrey. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 569, Warren, Earls of Surrey]

William married Matilda (Maud) Marshal before 13 Oct 1225. Matilda (daughter of 1st Earl of Pembroke William Marshal and Isabel FitzGilbert de Clare) was born about 1192 in Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales; died on 27 Mar 1248; was buried in Tintern Abbey, Chapel Hill, Monmouthsire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Lord Hastings Henry d'Eu in 1146/1182. Henry (son of Count of Eu John d'Eu and Alice d'Aubigny) was born about 1145 in Leicestershire, England; died in Mar 1182/83. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ida married 2nd Earl of Norfolk Roger Bigod about 1185. Roger (son of 1st Earl of Norfolk Hugh Bigod and Juliana de Vere) was born about 1150 in Norfolk, England; died before 2 Aug 1221 in Thetford, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: King of England John I "Lackland" Plantagenet. John (son of King of England Henry II "Curtmantlel" Plantagenet and Duchess of Aquitaine Eleanor) was born on 24 Dec 1166 in Kings Manor House, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; died on 19 Oct 1216 in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried in Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William FitzWilliam. William (son of Lord Emley and Sprotborough William FitzWilliam and Albreda (Aubrye) de Lisoures) was born about 1173 in Sprotbrough, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England; died before Feb 1223/24 in Emley, Wakefield, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Suzanne married King of England John I "Lackland" Plantagenet about 1186. John (son of King of England Henry II "Curtmantlel" Plantagenet and Duchess of Aquitaine Eleanor) was born on 24 Dec 1166 in Kings Manor House, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; died on 19 Oct 1216 in Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried in Cathedral, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Constance married Earl of Bretagne. Earl of Richmond Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Brittany II in Jul 1181. Geoffrey (son of King of England Henry II "Curtmantlel" Plantagenet and Duchess of Aquitaine Eleanor) was born on 23 Sep 1158 in England; died on 19 Aug 1186 in Paris, Seine, France; was buried in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, Seine, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Constance married 4th Earl of Chester Ranulph de Blundeville on 3 Feb 1186/87. Ranulph (son of 3rd Earl of Chester Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester and Bertrade de Montfort) was born about 1172 in Oswestry, Shropshire, England; died in 1232; was buried in St. Werburgs, Chester, Cheshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Countess of Essex Maud de Mandeville. Maud (daughter of 1st Earl of Essex Geoffrey FitzPiers and Beatrix de Say) was born in 1177 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England; died on 27 Aug 1236 in of Warwick, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Margaret married Waleran de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Warwick before 1190. Waleran (son of 2nd Earl of Warwick Roger de Beaumont and Gundred de Warenne) was born in 1153 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England; died on 12 Dec 1204. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lord of Galloway Alan FitzRoland. Alan was born about 1175; died in 1234; was buried in Dundrennan Abbey, Galloway, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Beatrix married 1st Earl of Essex Geoffrey FitzPiers before 25 Jan 1184/85 in Essex, England. Geoffrey (son of Piers de Lutgareshale and Maud de Mandeville) was born before 1163 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England; died on 14 Oct 1213 in Walden, Essex, , England; was buried in Shouldham Priory, Downham, Norfolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William de Boclande. William (son of Hugh de Boclande and Maud de Mandeville) was born about 1155 in Westoning, Bedfordshire, England; died in 1216. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

This feudal lord took up arms in the baronial cause, temp. King John, but returned to his allegiance in the 5th Henry III [1221]. He m. Ella, dau. of Hamlyn, Earl Warren and Surrey, and was s. by his son, Sir Thomas Fitz-William. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 215, Fitz-William, Baron Fitz-William]

Family/Spouse: Adela de Warenne. Adela (daughter of 5th Earl of Surrey Hamelin de Warenne and Countess of Surrey Isabel de Warenne) was born about 1164 in Surrey, England; died about 1220. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Beatrix De Angus. Beatrix was born in 1184 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland; died in 1270 in Forfar, Angus, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married William Beauchamp in 1231/1258. William (son of Walcheline Beauchamp) was born in 1210 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England; died in 1269 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Rose Blund. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Helewise married Lord Skelton Peter II de Brus in 1213 in England. Peter (son of Peter I de Brus and Joan Grammaire) was born about 1181 in Skelton, Yorkshire, England; died on 7 Sep 1241 in Marseilles, Bouches Du Rhone, France; was buried in 1242 in Priory, Guisborough, Yorkshire North Riding, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married 5th Earl of Arundel Hugh d'Albini in 1210/1241. Hugh (son of 4th Earl of Arundel William d'Aubigny and Mabel de Meschines) was born in 1187/1213; died in 1243. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John was the leader of the English forces which lost to William Wallace in the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297 as depicted in the film "Braveheart".

John de Warren (Plantagenet), Earl of Warren and Surrey, was but five years of age at the time of his father's decease, and was placed inward with Peter de Savoy, the Queen's brother. When he attained majority, he attached himself zealously to Henry III in his conflicts with the barons and maintained the cause of the king with his sword at the battle of Lewes. His lordship was a person of violent and imperious temper and was often betrayed into acts of great intemperance, as in the instance of assaulting Sir Alan Zouch and his son, Roger, in Westminster Hall, when he almost killed the one and wounded the other. And again, when Edward I issued the first writs of Quo Warranto, his lordship being questioned as to the title of his possessions, exhibited to the justicesan old sword and unsheathing it said, "Behold my lords, here is my warranty; my ancestors coming into this land with William the Bastard, did obtain their lands by the sword, and I am resolved with the sword to defend them against whomsoever shall endeavor to dispossess me, but our progenitors were sharers and assistants therein." The earl was constituted, by King Edward, general of all his forces on the north of Trent for the better restraining the insolences of the Scots; whereupon he marched into Scotland and so terrified the inhabitants that they immediately sued for peace and gave hostages for their future good conduct. But the war soon after breaking out afresh, his lordship sustained a signal defeat at Strivelin where his troops fled first to Berwick, and thence into England. The earl m. 1st, 1247, Alice, dau. of Hugh le Brun, Count de la March, and half sister by the mother of King Henry III, and 2ndly, Joan, dau. of William, Lord Mowbray, and by the former only had issue, William, Alianore, and Isabel. His lordship d. in 1304, and was s. by his grandson, John de Warren (Plantagenet). [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 569, Warren, Earls of Surrey]

John married Alice de Lusignan in Aug 1247. Alice (daughter of Count of La Marche Hugh de Lusignan, X and Countess of Angoulême Isabella Taillefer) was born in 1224 in Lusignan, Vienne, France; died on 9 Feb 1256 in Warren, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Count of Eu Raoul de Lusignan about 1191. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Hugh married Matilda (Maud) Marshal about 1207 in Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Matilda (daughter of 1st Earl of Pembroke William Marshal and Isabel FitzGilbert de Clare) was born about 1192 in Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales; died on 27 Mar 1248; was buried in Tintern Abbey, Chapel Hill, Monmouthsire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Maud de Lusignan. Maud (daughter of Count of Eu Raoul de Lusignan and Alice d'Eu) was born in 1168/1211; died on 14 Aug 1241. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Baron of Hanslape William de Mauduit. William (son of Robert de Mauduit) was born about 1196 in Hanslape, Buckinghamshire, England; died in Apr 1257. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Earl of Gloucester and Sussex. Mortally wounded at a tournament.

Geoffrey married Countess of Gloucester Isabel FitzRobert before 1216. Isabel (daughter of 2nd Earl of Gloucester William FitzRobert and Hawise de Beaumont) was born about 1165 in Tewksbury, Gloucestershire, England; died on 14 Oct 1217; was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 1st Earl of Hereford Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford Constable of England V. Henry (son of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford Lord of Trowbridge Constable of England III and Margaret de Huntingdon) was born in Apr 1176 in Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England; died on 1 Jun 1220 in Bur Llanthony Priory, Gloucestershire, England; was buried in Hempsted, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William d'Avranches. William (son of Simon d'Avranches and Cecilia de Criol) was born about 1186 in Folkstone, Kent, England; died in 1263. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alexander married Jean MacRory, Countess Bute in 1239 in Crawford, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Jean (daughter of James MacDonald, Lord Bute and Reignaldsdatter Somarlidasson MacDonald*) was born in 1218 in Rothesday, Bute, Scotland; died in 1250 in Dundonald, Ayrshire, , Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Maud FitzGeoffrey in 1255/1284. Maud (daughter of Sheriff of Yorkshire, Justiciar of Ireland John FitzGeoffrey and Isabell (Isabella) Bigod) was born about 1237 in Shere, Surrey, England; died about 18 Apr 1301 in Grey Friars, Worcestershire, England; was buried on 7 May 1301 in Grey Friars, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eve Criketot. Eve was born in 1259. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Agnes married Walter de Faiucomberge in 1243 in England. Walter (son of Peter de Faiucomberge and Margaret de Montfichet) was born about 1212 in Rise, Yorkshire, England; died on 1 Nov 1304 in Rise, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
Age: 28

Eleanor married 7th Baron Percy Henry de Percy on 8 Sep 1268 in York, Yorkshire, England. Henry (son of 6th Baron Percy William de Percy and Eleanor de Baillol) was born in 1228 in Whitby, Yorkshire, England; died on 29 Aug 1272 in Sallay, Craven, Yorkshire, England; was buried in Sutton-in-Craven, North Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabella married King of the Scots John Balliol before 7 Feb 1281. John was born about 1249; died about 25 Nov 1314 in Hélicourt, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Joanna (Joane) de Vere in Jun 1285. Joanna (daughter of 5th Earl of Oxford Robert de Vere and Alice de Sanford) was born about 1264; died on 23 Nov 1293. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 2nd Earl of Hereford Humphrey de Bohun. Humphrey (son of 1st Earl of Hereford Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford Constable of England V and Countess of Essex Maud de Mandeville) was born in 1208 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England; died on 24 Sep 1275. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

DEATH: I can't find a source for this. Many people have her dying in 1239, but also have her children born after that.

Isabell married Sheriff of Yorkshire, Justiciar of Ireland John FitzGeoffrey about 1229. John (son of 1st Earl of Essex Geoffrey FitzPiers and Aveline de Clare) was born in 1208 in of Shere, Surrey, England; died on 23 Nov 1258 in Farmbridge, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabell married Gilbert de Lacy about 1227 in Norfolk, England. Gilbert was born about 1200 in Ewyas Harold, Herefordshire, England; died on 12/25 Aug/Dec 1230 in Trim, Weobley, Herefordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan de Stuteville. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester about 1250. Roger (son of Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester IV and Margaret de Beaumont) was born about 1195 in Winchester, Hamptonshire, England; died on 25 Apr 1264 in Buckley, Northamptonshire, England; was buried in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleanor de Braose. Eleanor (daughter of Lord of Abergavenny William V de Braose and Eva Marshal) was born in 1218/1238; died in 1253/1325. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married William Beauchamp in 1231/1258. William (son of Walcheline Beauchamp) was born in 1210 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England; died in 1269 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Maud de Lusignan. Maud (daughter of Count of Eu Raoul de Lusignan and Alice d'Eu) was born in 1168/1211; died on 14 Aug 1241. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Hamon de Crevequer. Hamon (son of Robert de Crevequer) was born about 1220 in Leeds Castle, Kent, England; died on 6 Apr 1263 in Folkstone, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gilbert Cunninghame, Laird Kilmaurs. Gilbert (son of Edward Cunningham and Maria Stewart) was born in Mar 1265 in Kilmaurs, Ayrshire, Scotland; died in Apr 1292. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married Lord of Kidwelly Patrick de Chaworth in 1275/1282. Patrick was born about 1250 in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England; died about 7 Jul 1283. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 1st Earl of Winchester Hugh le Despenser. Hugh (son of 1st Baron le Despencer Hugh le Despenser and Aline Bassett) was born on 1 Mar 1261 in Louchborough, Leicestershire, England; died on 27 Oct 1326 in Bristol, Gloucester, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (d. August 10, 1315) was an English nobleman, and one of the principal opponents of Edward II's favorite Piers Gaveston.

He was the son of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick and Maud FitzGeoffrey, and succeeded his father as earl in 1298. Later that year he distinguished himself at the Battle of Falkirk, and he subsequently served in other campaigns in Scotland. He also received grants of land in Scotland and, in 1309, he married Alice de Toeni, a Scots heiress.

Warwick had no great like for Piers Gaveston, who had called Warwick "the black cur of Arden" (an allusion to Warwick's dark complexion and to the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire). Not long after Edward II's accession, he helped arrange for Gaveston's banishment, and refused to be reconciled when Gaveston returned the next year.

Warwick was one of the great peers who petitioned the king for reform of the government in 1310. The peers were successful in getting Gaveston banished again, and when he returned to England in 1312, Warwick was one of the 5 nobles who arrested him. Gaveston was placed in the custody of the Earl of Pembroke, but then on June 10 Warwick, with a force of 140 men seized him and carried him off to Warwick castle. After the arrival of the confederate nobles, Gaveston was executed, though the Warwick declined to be present.

Warwick, along with his allies, was eventually pardoned for the Gaveston affair in 1313. He and the others nevertheless refused to serve in the king's Scottish campaign of 1314. The next year Warwick suddenly fell ill and died. As was inevitable in such cases, there were rumors of poison.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guy married Isabel de Clare on 11 May 1297 in Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England. Isabel (daughter of 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Alice de Lusignan) was born on 10 Mar 1262 in Worcestershire, England; died in 1333 in Elmley, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Alice de Toeni. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Cecily married Robert d'Ufford before 1295. Robert (son of Justicar of Ireland Robert d'Ufford and Mary de Say) was born on 11 Jun 1279 in Thurston, Suffolk, England; died on 9 Sep 1316. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Nicholas d'Engaine. Nicholas (son of John d'Engaine and Joan de Greinville) was born about 1256 in Colne Engaine, Essex, England; died on 10 Dec 1322. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleanor FitzAlan. Eleanor (daughter of 8th Earl of Arundel Richard FitzAlan and Alasia di Saluzzo) was born about 1284; died about 1328; was buried in Beverly Minister, Beverly, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel in 1305. Edmund (son of 8th Earl of Arundel Richard FitzAlan and Alasia di Saluzzo) was born on 1 May 1285 in Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire, England; died on 17 Nov 1326 in Hereford, Herefordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Warenne was only six months old when his father died, and was 7 years old when his mother died. He succeeded his grandfather as earl when he was 19.

He was one of the great nobles offended by the rise of the Edward II's favorite Piers Gaveston, and help secure Gaveston's 1308 banishment. The two were somewhat reconciled after Gaveston's return the next year, but in 1311 Warenne was one of the nobles who captured Gaveston. He was however unhappy about Gaveston's execution at the behest of the earl of Warwick, which pushed him back into the king's camp.

The baronial opposition was led by the king's cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and he and Warenne became bitter enemies. Private war erupted between the two, and over the new few years Warenne lost a good part of his estates to Lancaster.

Warenne was one of the four earls who captured the two Roger Mortimers, and in 1322 he was one of the nobles who condemned to death the earl of Lancaster.

Warenne and his brother-in-law Edmund Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel were the last two earls to remain loyal to Edward II after the rise to power of Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer. After Arundel's execution he went over to the queen's side, urging Edward II's abdication in 1327.

He was the guardian of his cousin Edward Balliol, and after Balliol lay claim to the Scottish throne, accompanied him on his campaign in Lothian. Balliol created Warenne earl of Strathern, but this was in name only for the properties of the earldom were held by another claimant.

On May 25, 1306 Warenne married Jeanne of Bar, daughter of count Henry III of Bar and Eleanor, eldest daughter of king Edward I of England. The two were soon estranged and live apart, and had no children, though the marriage was never dissolved. Warenne instead took up with Matilda de Nerford, by whom he had several illegitimate children, and later with Isabella Holland, sister of Thomas Holand, later earl of Kent.

Warenne died in 1347 and is buried at the monastery of Lewes. He was succeeded as earl by his nephew Richard Fitzalan, who was also earl of Arundel.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_de_Warenne%2C_8th_Earl_of_Surrey"

John married Jeanne de Bar on 25 May 1306. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester about 1250. Roger (son of Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester IV and Margaret de Beaumont) was born about 1195 in Winchester, Hamptonshire, England; died on 25 Apr 1264 in Buckley, Northamptonshire, England; was buried in Brackley, Northamptonshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleanor de Braose. Eleanor (daughter of Lord of Abergavenny William V de Braose and Eva Marshal) was born in 1218/1238; died in 1253/1325. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married 9th Earl of Warwick William Beauchamp in 1255/1284. William (son of William Beauchamp and Isabel de Mauduit) was born in 1237 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England; died on 5 Jun 1298 in Elmley Castle, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Theobald le Botiller. Theobald died on 26 Sep 1285 in Arklow; was buried in Black Friars', Arklow. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lord of Appleby Sheriff of Westmorland Robert de Vipont. Robert (son of Lord of Appleby John de Vipont and Sibyl de Ferrers) was born in 1239 in Appleby, Westmorland, England; died on 7 Jun 1264. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Humphrey married Maud de Fiennes about 1275. Maud was born in 1235/1258; died before 1298. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 6th Earl of Derby Robert de Ferrers. Robert (son of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby III and Margaret de Quincy, son of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby III) was born in 1239; died in 1279. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Maud FitzGeoffrey in 1255/1284. Maud (daughter of Sheriff of Yorkshire, Justiciar of Ireland John FitzGeoffrey and Isabell (Isabella) Bigod) was born about 1237 in Shere, Surrey, England; died about 18 Apr 1301 in Grey Friars, Worcestershire, England; was buried on 7 May 1301 in Grey Friars, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Bertram de Criol. Bertram (son of John de Criol and Matilda d'Estwell) was born in 1247 in Westwood, Preston, Kent, England; died before 12 Jan 1295/96. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Aiket Castle, Dunlop, East Ayrshire, Scotland

Elizabeth married Neil Montgomerie, Laird of Stair & Cassillis about 1307. Neil was born in 1290 in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland; died in 1358 in Barns, Ayrshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster before 2 Mar 1297. Henry (son of Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster and of Artois Blanche Capet) was born about 1281 in Grosmont Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales; died on 22 Sep 1345 in Monastry of Cannons, Leicester, Leicestershire, England; was buried in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hugh (1286 – November 26, 1326) was sometimes referred to as "the younger Despenser". He was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, by Isabel Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick.

He was knight of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, King's Chamberlain, Constable of Odiham Castle, Keeper of the castle and town of Dryslwyn, and Cantref Mawr, Carmarthenshire, Keeper of the castle and town of Portchester, Keeper of the castle, town and barton of Bristol. He was also Keeper of the castles, manor, and lands of Brecknock, Hay, cantref Selyf, etc., co. Brecon, and Huntington, Herefordshire. He was given Wallingford Castle although this had previously been given to Queen Isabella for life.

In May 1306 Hugh was knighted, and that summer he married Eleanor de Clare, a granddaughter of King Edward I of England. Her grandfather owed Hugh's father vast sums of money, and the marriage was intended as a payment of these debts. When Eleanor's brother was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn, she unexpectedly became one of the three co-heiresses to the rich Gloucester earldom, and in her right Hugh inherited Glamorgan and other properties. In just a few short years Hugh went from a landless knight to one of the wealthiest magnates in the kingdom.

Eleanor was also the niece of the new king, Edward II of England, and this connection brought Hugh closer to the English royal court. He joined the baronial opposition to Piers Gaveston, the king's favorite, and Hugh's brother-in-law, as Gaveston was married to Eleanor's sister. Eager for power and wealth, Hugh seized Tonbridge Castle in 1315. The next year he murdered Llywelyn Bren, a Welsh hostage in his custody.

Hugh Despenser became royal chamberlain in 1318. As a royal courtier, Hugh manoeuvred into the affections of King Edward, displacing the previous favorite, Roger d'Amory. By 1320 his tyranny was running free. Hugh seized the Welsh lands of his wife's inheritance, ignoring the claims of his two brothers-in-law. He forced Alice de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln, to give up her lands, cheated his sister-in-law Elizabeth de Clare out of Gower and Usk, and allegedly had Lady Baret's arms and legs broken until she went insane. He also supposedly vowed to be revenged on Roger Mortimer because Mortimer's grandfather had murdered Hugh's grandfather, and once stated (though probably in jest) that he regretted he could not control the wind. By 1321 he had earned many enemies in every strata of society, from Queen Isabella to the barons to the common people. There was even a bizarre plot to kill Hugh by sticking pins in a wax likeness of him.

Finally the barons prevailed upon King Edward and forced Hugh and his father into exile in 1321. His father fled to Bordeaux, and Hugh became a pirate in the English channel, "a sea monster, lying in wait for merchants as they crossed his path". The pair returned the next year and King Edward quickly reinstated Hugh as royal favorite. His time in exile had done nothing to quell his greed, his rashness, or his ruthlessness. While Queen Isabella was in France to negotiate between her husband and the French king, she formed a liaison with Roger Mortimer and began planning an invasion. Hugh supposedly tried to bribe French courtiers to assassinate Queen Isabella. When Mortimer and the queen invaded England in October 1326, King Edward was deposed, Hugh's father was executed, and Hugh himself was captured.

Hugh tried to starve himself before his trial, but face trial he did on November 24, 1326, in Hereford. He was judged a traitor and a thief, and sentenced to public execution by hanging, drawing and quartering. Immediately, he was dragged behind four horses to his place of execution, where a great fire was lit. He was hanged from a gallows fifty feet high, but cut down before he could choke to death and tied to a ladder, in full view of the crowd. A man climbed up beside him, and sliced off his penis and testicles which were then burnt before him, still alive and conscious. Subsequently, the executioner plunged his knife into his abdomen, and cut out his entrails and heart, which were likewise burnt before the delighted crowd. Finally, he was beheaded, and his body cut into four pieces, and his head was mounted on the gates of London.

No book-length biographical study of Hugh Despenser exists, although The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II: 1321-1326 by historian Natalie Fryde is a study of Edward II's reign during the years that the Despensers' power was at its peak. Fryde pays particular attention to the subject of the Despensers' ill-gotten landholdings. The numerous accusations against the younger Despenser at the time of his execution have never been the subject of close critical scrutiny, although historian Roy Martin Haines called them "ingenuous" and noted their propagandistic nature.

Despite the crucial and disastrous role he played in the reign of Edward II, Despenser is almost a minor character in Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II, where as "Spencer" he is little more than a substitute for the dead Piers Gaveston.

Trivia
In 2006, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 14th century's worst Briton. (BBC)

In 2006, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 8th worst Briton in the last 1000 years.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugh married Eleanor de Clare on 14 Jun 1306 in Westminster Palace, London, Middlesex, England. Eleanor (daughter of 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Joan "of Acre" Plantagenet) was born on 16 Sep 1292 in Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly, Glamorganshire, Wales; died on 30 Jun 1337 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1311, Alnwick, Northumberland, England

Notes:

Buried:
Collegiate Church of St. Mary

Family/Spouse: Katherine de Mortimer. Katherine (daughter of Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Greneville) was born in 1314 in Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, England; died on 4 Aug 1369 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England; was buried in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married on 22 Feb 1326. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan Peverel. Joan (daughter of Robert Peverel and Alice) was born about 1305; died in 1358. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Lady Alnwick Idonea de Clifford. Idonea (daughter of Robert de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford and Matilda (Maud) de Clare) was born about 1300 in Appleby Castle, Westmorland, England; died on 24 Aug 1365 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England; was buried in Beverly Minister, Beverly, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Eleanor "of Lancaster" Plantagenet on 5 Feb 1345 in Ditton Church, Stoke Poges, Buckingham. Eleanor (daughter of Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud de Chaworth) was born about 1318 in Grismond Castle, Monmouthshire, England; died on 11 Jan 1372 in Arundel, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Richard married Isabel le Despenser on 9 Feb 1321. Isabel (daughter of 3rd Lord le Despenser1 Hugh "the younger" le Despenser and Eleanor de Clare) was born in 1312; died in 1356. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford in 1325. John (son of 4th Earl of Hereford Humphrey VIII de Bohun and Elizabeth "of Rhuddlan" Plantagenet) was born on 23 Nov 1306 in St Clements, Oxfordshire, England; died on 20 Jan 1336 in Kirkby-Thore, Westmorland, England; was buried in Stratford Langthorne Abbey, London, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Aline married Roger le Strange, 5th Baron Strange before Jul 1351. Roger (son of Roger le Strange, 4th Baron Strange and Maud de Coucy) was born about 1327 in Knockin, Shropshire, England; died on 23 Aug 1382 in Kenwick's Wood, Shropshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Humphrey married Maud de Fiennes about 1275. Maud was born in 1235/1258; died before 1298. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 6th Earl of Derby Robert de Ferrers. Robert (son of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby III and Margaret de Quincy, son of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby III) was born in 1239; died in 1279. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married Lord of Kidwelly Patrick de Chaworth in 1275/1282. Patrick was born about 1250 in Kempsford, Gloucestershire, England; died about 7 Jul 1283. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: 1st Earl of Winchester Hugh le Despenser. Hugh (son of 1st Baron le Despencer Hugh le Despenser and Aline Bassett) was born on 1 Mar 1261 in Louchborough, Leicestershire, England; died on 27 Oct 1326 in Bristol, Gloucester, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (d. August 10, 1315) was an English nobleman, and one of the principal opponents of Edward II's favorite Piers Gaveston.

He was the son of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick and Maud FitzGeoffrey, and succeeded his father as earl in 1298. Later that year he distinguished himself at the Battle of Falkirk, and he subsequently served in other campaigns in Scotland. He also received grants of land in Scotland and, in 1309, he married Alice de Toeni, a Scots heiress.

Warwick had no great like for Piers Gaveston, who had called Warwick "the black cur of Arden" (an allusion to Warwick's dark complexion and to the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire). Not long after Edward II's accession, he helped arrange for Gaveston's banishment, and refused to be reconciled when Gaveston returned the next year.

Warwick was one of the great peers who petitioned the king for reform of the government in 1310. The peers were successful in getting Gaveston banished again, and when he returned to England in 1312, Warwick was one of the 5 nobles who arrested him. Gaveston was placed in the custody of the Earl of Pembroke, but then on June 10 Warwick, with a force of 140 men seized him and carried him off to Warwick castle. After the arrival of the confederate nobles, Gaveston was executed, though the Warwick declined to be present.

Warwick, along with his allies, was eventually pardoned for the Gaveston affair in 1313. He and the others nevertheless refused to serve in the king's Scottish campaign of 1314. The next year Warwick suddenly fell ill and died. As was inevitable in such cases, there were rumors of poison.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Guy married Isabel de Clare on 11 May 1297 in Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England. Isabel (daughter of 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Alice de Lusignan) was born on 10 Mar 1262 in Worcestershire, England; died in 1333 in Elmley, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Alice de Toeni. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1254, Ricester, Oxfordshire
• Birth: 1254, Oxfordshire, England

Isabel married Justice of Forests Roger III de Clifford in 1269 in England. Roger (son of Justice of Wales Roger II de Clifford and Countess of Lorraine Hawise de Botterell) was born in 1243 in Tenbury, Worcestershire, England; died on 6 Nov 1282 in Menai Bridge, Isle of Anglesey, Wales; was buried in Shap, Eden District, Cumbria, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

http://battle-of-boroughbridge.wikiverse.org/

The Battle of Boroughbridge was a small but important battle in the conflicts between Edward II of England and his rebellious barons. The battle took place near at important bridge across the Wye called Boroughbridge, northwest of York .

Early in 1322, King Edward took forces north in England to subdue his cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster . Lancaster was pushed further north, where he may have been hoping to join up with forces from Scotland. However on March 16, he found his way across the river Wye barred by forces of Sir Andrew Harclay. Sir Andrew used the infantry tactics which were later to prove so effective against the French at Crecy, and the rebels were defeated.

Of the rebel leaders, Humphrey de Bohun , 4th Earl of Hereford, was killed, and the rest captured. The prisoners were later convicted of treason and executed.

Humphrey married Elizabeth "of Rhuddlan" Plantagenet on 14 Nov 1302 in Westminster Cathedral, London, Middlesex, England. Elizabeth (daughter of Edward "Longshanks" Plantagenet, King of England and Eleanor "of Castile", Countess de Ponthieu) was born on 7 Aug 1282 in Rhuddlan Castle, Carnarvon; died on 5 May 1316 in Quendon, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Richard de Rokesley. Richard (son of John de Rokesley) was born about 1265 in Roxley, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Mary married John Kennedy in 1343 in Ayrshire, Scotland. John (son of Gilbert Kennedy and Agnes Maxwell) was born in 1310 in Carrick, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland; died on 20 Oct 1385 in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married 3rd Earl of Ulster William "The Brown" de Burgh on 1 May 1327 in Carrickfergus Castle, Antrim, Northern Ireland. William (son of John de Burgh and Elizabeth de Clare) was born on 13 Sep 1312 in Ulster, Ulster, Ireland; died on 6 Jun 1333 in Le Ford, Belfast, Antrim, Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joan married 3rd Baron Mowbray John de Mowbray about 28 Feb 1326/27. John (son of 2nd Baron Mowbray John de Mowbray and Aline de Braose) was born on 29 Nov 1310 in Hovingham, Malton, North Ride, Yorkshire, England; died on 4 Oct 1361 in York, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary Percy

Family/Spouse: Henry de Percy, 3rd Baron Percy. Henry (son of 2nd Baron Percy Henry de Percy and Lady Alnwick Idonea de Clifford) was born in 1320 in Seamer, North Riding, Yorkshire, England; died about 18 May 1368 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England; was buried in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: Abt 1318, Arundel, Sussex, England

Notes:

Died:
Age: 54

Eleanor married John de Beaumont on 23 Aug 1337 in Marr, Yorkshire, England. John (son of Henry de Beaumont and Alice Comyn) was born about 1318 in Falkenham, Suffolk, England; died on 14 Apr 1342 in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, Scotland; was buried in Lewes, East Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Eleanor married 10th Earl of Arundel Richard FitzAlan on 5 Feb 1345 in Ditton Church, Stoke Poges, Buckingham. Richard (son of Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel and Alice de Warenne) was born about 1313 in Arundel, Sussex, England; died on 24 Jan 1376 in Arundel, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Henry married Isabel de Beaumont about 1335. Isabel (daughter of Henry de Beaumont and Alice Comyn) was born in 1298/1322; died in 1361 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Edward married Anne de Ferrers on 20 Apr 1334 in Groby, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married 10th Earl of Arundel Richard FitzAlan on 9 Feb 1321. Richard (son of Edmund FitzAlan, 2nd Earl of Arundel and Alice de Warenne) was born about 1313 in Arundel, Sussex, England; died on 24 Jan 1376 in Arundel, Sussex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Philippa married Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford on 1 Mar 1351 in Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire, England. Hugh (son of Ralph de Stafford, 2nd Baron Stafford 1st Earl of Stafford and Margaret de Audley, 2nd Baroness Audley) was born about 1344 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England; died on 16 Oct 1386 in Rhodes, Greece; was buried in Stone, Staffordshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Margaret de Ferrers. Margaret (daughter of 3rd Baron Ferrers of Groby William de Ferrers and Margaret de Ufford) was born in 1355 in Groby, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Joan FitzAlan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maude married John Neville 3rd Baron Neville de Raby about 1362. John (son of Ralph Neville 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice d'Audley) was born in 1328 in Raby Castle, Durham, England; died on 17 Oct 1388 in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Buried:
Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, England

Family/Spouse: Mary "of Lancaster" Plantagenet. Mary (daughter of Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud de Chaworth) was born about 1320 in Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire, England; died on 1 Sep 1362 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England; was buried in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Robert Umfraville. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England

Died:
Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland, England

Family/Spouse: William de Aton. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

In 1377 he was Admiral of the West and South, and in 1386 Admiral of all England. In this capacity he defeated a combined Franco-Spanish-Flemish fleet off of Margate in 1387. The following year he was one of the Lords Appellant to Richard II.

In 1397 he was arrested for his opposition to Richard II, and then attainted and beheaded.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard married Elizabeth de Bohun about 1359. Elizabeth (daughter of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere) was born in 1330/1348; died on 3 Apr 1385. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Philippa Mortimer. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Eleanor Maltravers. Eleanor was born about 1345; died on 12 Jan 1405. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Joan married 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford on 9 Sep 1359 in Norfolk, England. Humphrey (son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere) was born on 24 Mar 1341 in Caldecot, Northamptonshire, England; died on 16 Jan 1372 in Pleshy Castle, Essex, England; was buried in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent. Thomas (son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan Plantagenet, 4th Countess of Kent) was born in 1350 in Upholand, Lancashire, England; died on 25 Apr 1397 in Woodstock, Kent, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Lucy married William Willoughby before 23 Apr 1383. William was born in 1370 in Eresby, Lincolnshire, England; died on 5 Dec 1409 in Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

http://battle-of-boroughbridge.wikiverse.org/

The Battle of Boroughbridge was a small but important battle in the conflicts between Edward II of England and his rebellious barons. The battle took place near at important bridge across the Wye called Boroughbridge, northwest of York .

Early in 1322, King Edward took forces north in England to subdue his cousin Thomas, Earl of Lancaster . Lancaster was pushed further north, where he may have been hoping to join up with forces from Scotland. However on March 16, he found his way across the river Wye barred by forces of Sir Andrew Harclay. Sir Andrew used the infantry tactics which were later to prove so effective against the French at Crecy, and the rebels were defeated.

Of the rebel leaders, Humphrey de Bohun , 4th Earl of Hereford, was killed, and the rest captured. The prisoners were later convicted of treason and executed.

Humphrey married Elizabeth "of Rhuddlan" Plantagenet on 14 Nov 1302 in Westminster Cathedral, London, Middlesex, England. Elizabeth (daughter of Edward "Longshanks" Plantagenet, King of England and Eleanor "of Castile", Countess de Ponthieu) was born on 7 Aug 1282 in Rhuddlan Castle, Carnarvon; died on 5 May 1316 in Quendon, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Maud married Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster before 2 Mar 1297. Henry (son of Edmund "Crouchback" Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster and of Artois Blanche Capet) was born about 1281 in Grosmont Castle, Monmouthshire, Wales; died on 22 Sep 1345 in Monastry of Cannons, Leicester, Leicestershire, England; was buried in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hugh (1286 – November 26, 1326) was sometimes referred to as "the younger Despenser". He was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, by Isabel Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick.

He was knight of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, King's Chamberlain, Constable of Odiham Castle, Keeper of the castle and town of Dryslwyn, and Cantref Mawr, Carmarthenshire, Keeper of the castle and town of Portchester, Keeper of the castle, town and barton of Bristol. He was also Keeper of the castles, manor, and lands of Brecknock, Hay, cantref Selyf, etc., co. Brecon, and Huntington, Herefordshire. He was given Wallingford Castle although this had previously been given to Queen Isabella for life.

In May 1306 Hugh was knighted, and that summer he married Eleanor de Clare, a granddaughter of King Edward I of England. Her grandfather owed Hugh's father vast sums of money, and the marriage was intended as a payment of these debts. When Eleanor's brother was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn, she unexpectedly became one of the three co-heiresses to the rich Gloucester earldom, and in her right Hugh inherited Glamorgan and other properties. In just a few short years Hugh went from a landless knight to one of the wealthiest magnates in the kingdom.

Eleanor was also the niece of the new king, Edward II of England, and this connection brought Hugh closer to the English royal court. He joined the baronial opposition to Piers Gaveston, the king's favorite, and Hugh's brother-in-law, as Gaveston was married to Eleanor's sister. Eager for power and wealth, Hugh seized Tonbridge Castle in 1315. The next year he murdered Llywelyn Bren, a Welsh hostage in his custody.

Hugh Despenser became royal chamberlain in 1318. As a royal courtier, Hugh manoeuvred into the affections of King Edward, displacing the previous favorite, Roger d'Amory. By 1320 his tyranny was running free. Hugh seized the Welsh lands of his wife's inheritance, ignoring the claims of his two brothers-in-law. He forced Alice de Lacy, Countess of Lincoln, to give up her lands, cheated his sister-in-law Elizabeth de Clare out of Gower and Usk, and allegedly had Lady Baret's arms and legs broken until she went insane. He also supposedly vowed to be revenged on Roger Mortimer because Mortimer's grandfather had murdered Hugh's grandfather, and once stated (though probably in jest) that he regretted he could not control the wind. By 1321 he had earned many enemies in every strata of society, from Queen Isabella to the barons to the common people. There was even a bizarre plot to kill Hugh by sticking pins in a wax likeness of him.

Finally the barons prevailed upon King Edward and forced Hugh and his father into exile in 1321. His father fled to Bordeaux, and Hugh became a pirate in the English channel, "a sea monster, lying in wait for merchants as they crossed his path". The pair returned the next year and King Edward quickly reinstated Hugh as royal favorite. His time in exile had done nothing to quell his greed, his rashness, or his ruthlessness. While Queen Isabella was in France to negotiate between her husband and the French king, she formed a liaison with Roger Mortimer and began planning an invasion. Hugh supposedly tried to bribe French courtiers to assassinate Queen Isabella. When Mortimer and the queen invaded England in October 1326, King Edward was deposed, Hugh's father was executed, and Hugh himself was captured.

Hugh tried to starve himself before his trial, but face trial he did on November 24, 1326, in Hereford. He was judged a traitor and a thief, and sentenced to public execution by hanging, drawing and quartering. Immediately, he was dragged behind four horses to his place of execution, where a great fire was lit. He was hanged from a gallows fifty feet high, but cut down before he could choke to death and tied to a ladder, in full view of the crowd. A man climbed up beside him, and sliced off his penis and testicles which were then burnt before him, still alive and conscious. Subsequently, the executioner plunged his knife into his abdomen, and cut out his entrails and heart, which were likewise burnt before the delighted crowd. Finally, he was beheaded, and his body cut into four pieces, and his head was mounted on the gates of London.

No book-length biographical study of Hugh Despenser exists, although The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II: 1321-1326 by historian Natalie Fryde is a study of Edward II's reign during the years that the Despensers' power was at its peak. Fryde pays particular attention to the subject of the Despensers' ill-gotten landholdings. The numerous accusations against the younger Despenser at the time of his execution have never been the subject of close critical scrutiny, although historian Roy Martin Haines called them "ingenuous" and noted their propagandistic nature.

Despite the crucial and disastrous role he played in the reign of Edward II, Despenser is almost a minor character in Christopher Marlowe's play Edward II, where as "Spencer" he is little more than a substitute for the dead Piers Gaveston.

Trivia
In 2006, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 14th century's worst Briton. (BBC)

In 2006, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 8th worst Briton in the last 1000 years.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hugh married Eleanor de Clare on 14 Jun 1306 in Westminster Palace, London, Middlesex, England. Eleanor (daughter of 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Joan "of Acre" Plantagenet) was born on 16 Sep 1292 in Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly, Glamorganshire, Wales; died on 30 Jun 1337 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1311, Alnwick, Northumberland, England

Notes:

Buried:
Collegiate Church of St. Mary

Family/Spouse: Katherine de Mortimer. Katherine (daughter of Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Greneville) was born in 1314 in Ludlow Castle, Shropshire, England; died on 4 Aug 1369 in Warwick, Warwickshire, England; was buried in Warwick, Warwickshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Thomas married on 22 Feb 1326. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]