The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers
- ISBN-10
- 1526744961
- ISBN-13
- 9781526744968
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 272
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-01-18
- Publisher
- Pen and Sword History
- Author
- Kathryn Warner
Description
The Despensers were a baronial English family who rose to great prominence in the reign of Edward II (1307-27) when Hugh Despenser the Younger became the kings chamberlain, favorite, and perhaps, lover. He and his father Hugh the Elder wielded great influence, and Hugh the Youngers greed and tyranny brought down a king for the first time in English history and almost destroyed his own family. The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family tells the story of the ups and downs of this fascinating family from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, when three Despenser lords were beheaded and two fell in battle. We begin with Hugh, Chief Justiciar of England, who died rebelling against King Henry III and his son in 1265, and end with Thomas Despenser, summarily beheaded in 1400 after attempting to free a deposed Richard II, and Thomass posthumous daughter Isabella, a countess twice over and the grandmother of Richard IIIs queen. From the medieval version of Prime Ministers to the (possible) lovers of monarchs, the aristocratic Despenser family wielded great power in medieval England. Drawing on the popular intrigue and infamy of the Despenser clan, Kathryn Warners book traces the lives of the most notorious, powerful and influential members of this patrician family over a 200 year span.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-12-30
- 272 pages
- Paperback
- Pen and Sword History
-
- 2021-01-18
- 319 pages
- Ebook
- Pen and Sword History
Similar books
-
The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers
By Kathryn WarnerThe Despensers were a baronial English family who rose to great prominence in the reign of Edward II (1307-27) when Hugh Despenser the Younger became the king's chamberlain, favorite, and perhaps, lover.
-
1494: How a Family Feud in Medieval Spain Divided the World in Half
By Stephen R. Bown"This is a starry love story, a tale of seething jealousies and subterfuge, a political imbroglio, and religious cruelties. It sounds like Shakespeare and it could have very well been...
-
A Baronial Family in Medieval England: The Clares, 1217-1314
By Michael AltschulLewis C. Loyd and Doris M. Stenton (Northamptonshire Record Society, vol. XV, 1950), no. 84. 25 For a detailed account of the Norman conquest of Ireland, see Goddard H. Orpen, Ireland under the Normans 1169–1333 (4 vols.; Oxford, ...
-
Sunnyvale: The Rise and Fall of a Silicon Valley Family
By Jeff Goodell"After the divorce, Goodell's mother went to work for a little company called Apple Computer and began her ascent into the new world; his father, a landscape contractor who valued...
-
The Ties that Bound: Peasant Families in Medieval England
By Barbara A. HanawaltBut many closes had private wells , as both archaeological and record evidence indicate . Three percent of all accidents occurred in the family's well , while 1 percent occurred in a neighbor's well . People without wells probably used ...
-
The Rise and Decline of the Male Breadwinner Family?: Studies in Gendered Patterns of Labour Division and Household Organisation
By Angelique JanssensBefore entering into a discussion of each of the two sets of questions in relation to the articles in this volume , it will be useful to engage in a brief discussion of the definition of the concept of the male breadwinner family .
-
The Briennes: The Rise and Fall of a Champenois Dynasty in the Age of the Crusades, c. 950–1356
By Guy PerryAlthough the Briennes were one of the great dynasties of the central Middle Ages, this book represents the first comprehensive history of the family.
-
The Godwins: The Rise and Fall of a Noble Dynasty
By Frank BarlowFrank Barlow charts the family through to Harold – the last Anglo-Saxon king – and finally the crowning of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest.
-
Blood, Land and Power: The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Nobility and Lineages in the Early Modern Period
By Manuel Perez-GarciaThis book analyses the origins of the entailed-estate (mayorazgo) from medieval times to early modern period, as the main element that enables us to understand the socio-economic behaviour of these families over generations.
-
Lordship in Four Realms: The Lacy Family, 1166–1241
By Colin VeachThis book examines the rise and fall of the aristocratic Lacy family in England, Ireland, Wales and Normandy.