Earl of Leicester is a title that has been created seven times. The first title was granted during the 12th century in the Peerage of England. The current title is in the Peerage of the United Kingdom and was created in 1837.
Edmund Fitzalan, 2nd Earl of Arundel was an English nobleman prominent in the conflict between King Edward II and his barons. His father, Richard Fitzalan, 1st Earl of Arundel, died in 1302, while Edmund was still a minor. He therefore became a ward of John de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and married Warenne's granddaughter, Alice. In 1306 he was styled Earl of Arundel, and served under Edward I in the Scottish Wars, for which he was richly rewarded.
The titles of Earl of Hertford and Marquess of Hertford have been created several times in the peerages of England and Great Britain.
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against John, King of England, and a major figure in both the kingdoms of Scotland and England in the decades around the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Baron le Despencer is a title that has been created several times by writ in the Peerage of England.
The peerage title Earl of Ormond and the related titles Duke of Ormonde and Marquess of Ormonde have a long and complex history. An earldom of Ormond has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland.
Earl of Clare was a title of British nobility created three times: once each in the peerages of England, Great Britain and Ireland.
Sir Hugh le Despenser was a wealthy landowner in the East Midlands of England, and served as High Sheriff of Berkshire. Among his descendants were the infamous Despensers who became favourites of King Edward II.
Hugh le Despenser, sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England. He was created a baron in 1295 and Earl of Winchester in 1322. One day after being captured by forces loyal to Sir Roger Mortimer and Edward's wife, Queen Isabella, who were leading a rebellion against Edward, he was hanged and then beheaded.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser, also referred to as "the Younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, by his wife Isabella de Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. He rose to national prominence as royal chamberlain and a favourite of Edward II of England. Despenser made many enemies amongst the nobility of England. After the overthrow of Edward, he was eventually charged with high treason and ultimately hanged, drawn and quartered.
Eleanor de Clare, suo jure 6th Lady of Glamorgan was a Anglo-Welsh noblewoman who married Hugh Despenser the Younger and was a granddaughter of Edward I of England. With her sisters, Elizabeth de Clare and Margaret de Clare, she inherited her father's estates after the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl of Hereford at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly Castle in Glamorgan, Wales and was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 5th Lord of Glamorgan and Princess Joan of Acre.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser, Lord of Glamorgan, was an English peer. Imprisoned as a consequence of his support for deposed king Edward II, he would return to royal favour under Edward III, being made Baron le Despenser in 1338. His title became extinct at his death without issue.
The title Baron Bergavenny was created several times in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of Great Britain, all but the first being baronies created by error. Abergavenny is a market town in South East Wales with a castle established by the Norman lord Hamelin de Balun c. 1087.
Humphrey IV de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford, 1st Earl of Essex was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and soldier who served as hereditary Constable of England.
Thomas Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester KG was the son of Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despencer, whom he succeeded in 1375.
Events from the 1320s in England.
Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford was the only son and heir of Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Isabel de Bolebec, daughter and eventually sole heiress of Hugh de Bolebec.
Events from the 1260s in England.
Despencer or Despenser is an occupational surname referring to the medieval court office of steward, most commonly associated with Norman-English barons of the 13th- and 14th-centuries and their descendants. Notable people with this surname include:
Isabella de Beauchamp, Lady Kidwelly, Baroness Despenser, was an English noblewoman and wealthy heiress.
