Thomas Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester

Thomas le Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester KG (22 September 1373 – 13 January 1400) was the son of Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despencer, whom he succeeded in 1375.

Arms Sir Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester, KG: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Argent; 2nd & 3rd: Gules, a fret or, over all a bend sable

Royal intrigues

A supporter of Richard II against Thomas of Woodstock and the Lords Appellant, he was rewarded with an Earldom as Earl of Gloucester in 1397, by virtue of being descended from Gilbert de Clare, 7th earl of an earlier creation.[1] He spent the years 1397-99 in Ireland, attempting with little success to persuade the Gaelic chieftains to accept Richard II as their overlord.

However, he supported Henry Bolingbroke on his return to England to become King Henry IV, only to be attainted (deprived of his Earldom because of a capital crime) for his role in the death of Thomas of Woodstock.

He then took part in the Epiphany Rising, a rebellion led by a number of Barons aimed at restoring Richard to the throne by assassinating King Henry IV; this quickly failed when the conspirators were betrayed by Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York to Henry. After fleeing to the western counties, a number of the Epiphany Rising conspirators were captured and killed by mobs of townspeople loyal to the king; Despenser was captured by a mob and beheaded at Bristol on 13 January 1400.

Marriage

Thomas le Despenser married Constance, daughter of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York and Isabella of Castile, Duchess of York. They had issue:

  • Elizabeth le Despenser (died young c. 1398)
  • Richard le Despenser, 4th Baron Burghersh (1396–1414)
  • Edward le Despenser (b. bef. 1400), died young
  • Hugh le Despenser (c. 1400–1401)
  • Isabel le Despenser (1393–1439), she married first Richard Beauchamp, 1st Earl of Worcester, she married second his cousin Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick

Ancestry and succession
gollark: ++remind 5h-30m check whether backups somewhere hold pre-2019 screenshots
gollark: ++remind "2d-4h" okay, so apparently that failed
gollark: ++remind 5mo Did the Russians in fact manage to occupy Ukraine?
gollark: ++remind "18:43 tomorrow" roll utterly
gollark: ++remind "18 february" "headcave" band

References
  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gloucester, Earls and Dukes of" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 128.
  • thePeerage.com
  • Otway-Ruthven, A.J. History of Medieval Ireland Barnes and Noble reprint New York 1993
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Edward Despenser		 Baron Despenser
1375–1400		 Forfeit
Attainder until 1461, abeyance thereafter
New creation Earl of Gloucester
1397–1399		 Forfeit

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.