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Sir Hugh le Despenser (died 1238) [1] 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.
He was the son of Thomas Despencer and Rohese de Foix [ citation needed ], daughter of Roger-Bernard I, Count of Foix. He had siblings including Thomas Despencer (d.pre-October 1218), and Rohaise Despencer, who married Stephen de Segrave.
He served as Sheriff of Staffordshire and Sheriff of Shropshire in 1222 and as Sheriff of Berkshire in 1226 and 1238. He held eleven manors in England, in the counties of Leicestershire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Rutland. He is reported to have been instrumental in the repairs made in 1232 to Porchester Castle in Hampshire, including a new forebuilding to the keep and portcullises for the gatehouses, with repairs to the wall and great hall.
By his wife he had at least three children:
Baron le Despencer is a title that has been created several times by writ in the Peerage of England.
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despenser was an important ally of Simon de Montfort during the reign of Henry III. He served briefly as Justiciar of England in 1260 and as Constable of the Tower of London.
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 Despenser, 1st Baron Despenser, also referred to as "the Younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh Despenser, Earl of Winchester, and his wife Isabel Beauchamp, daughter of William 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.
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.
Eustace Folville was an English criminal and outlaw who is credited with assassinating the unpopular Sir Roger de Beler, Baron of the Exchequer and henchman of the despised Hugh le Despencer and King Edward II. He was the most active member of the Folville Gang, which engaged in acts of vigilantism and outlawry in Leicestershire in the early 1300s, often on the behalf of others.
Spencer is a surname, representing the court title dispenser, or steward. An early example is Robert d'Abbetot, who is listed as Robert le Dispenser, a tenant-in-chief of several counties, in the Domesday Book of 1086. In early times, the surname was usually written as le Despenser, Dispenser or Despencer—notably in works such as the Domesday Book and the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1291 and 1296, but gradually lost both the "le" article and the unstressed first syllable of the longer surname to become Spencer.
Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron Despenser was the son of another Edward le Despenser and Anne Ferrers, sister of Henry, Lord Ferrers of Groby. He succeeded as Lord of Glamorgan in 1349.
This article is about the particular significance of the century 1301–1400 to Wales and its people.
Elizabeth Despencer, 3rd Baroness Burghersh was an English noblewoman born to Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron Burghersh and Cicely, de Weyland.
Sir Philip Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk was an English knight and courtier. Wentworth was a great-grandfather of Queen Jane Seymour, third wife of King Henry VIII. He was beheaded at Middleham, Yorkshire.
Robert de Ferrers, 5th Baron Ferrers of Chartley was the son of John de Ferrers, 4th Baron Ferrers of Chartley and Elizabeth de Stafford, a daughter of Ralph de Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford and Margaret de Audley.
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:
Elizabeth le Despenser was an English noblewoman. She was the youngest daughter of Hugh le Despenser the younger and his wife Eleanor de Clare. Her father is famous for being the favourite of Edward II of England; he was executed as a result of his position and actions. Through her mother, Elizabeth was a great granddaughter of King Edward I of England.
Isabella de Beauchamp, Lady Kidwelly, Baroness Despenser, was an English noblewoman and wealthy heiress.
Maud FitzJohn, Countess of Warwick was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere. Her second husband was William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick, a celebrated soldier. Through her daughter, Isabella, Maud was the maternal grandmother of Hugh the younger Despenser, the unpopular favourite of King Edward II of England, who was executed in 1326.
Thomas Fane of Badsell Manor in the parish of Tudeley in Kent, and of Mereworth Castle, Kent, was Sheriff of Kent. He is not to be confused with his younger brother, Thomas Fane, of Burston, Hunton, Kent, a Member of Parliament for Dover.
Alice de Lacy, suo jure Countess of Lincoln, suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury was an English peeress.
Roger Beler was a Baron of the Exchequer and right-hand man of Hugh le Despencer and King Edward II. Beler was killed by the Folville gang in 1326.
Sir William Trussell was an English politician and leading rebel in Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March's rebellion against Edward II. William acted as Speaker of the House of Commons and renounced the allegiance of England to Edward II, forcing his abdication, and became King Edward III's Secretary.
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