Sir Hugh Le DESPENSER, III

   Other names for Hugh were DESPENSER Sir and III.

   Ancestral File Number: 9FSB-F9. User ID: 4727426.

   General Notes:

Sir DESPENSER.

Signer of Provisions of Oxford, 1st English Constitution 11 Jun 1258.

BOOKS
Political History of England 1216-1377, Vol III, T F Tout, AMS Press, 1905, p100: "...On June 11 [1258] the magnates once more assembled, this time at Oxford. A petition of twenty-nine articles was presented, in which the abuses of the [Henry III] administration were laid bare in detail. A commission of twenty-four was appointed who were to redress the grievances of the nation, and to draw up a new scheme of government. According to the compact Henry himself selected half this body...
"...In strong contrast to these creatures of court favour were the twelve nominees of the barons. The only ecclesiastic was Walter of Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester, and the only alien was Earl Simon of Leicester. With him were three other earls Richard of Clare, Earl of Gloucester, Roger Bigod, earl marshal and Earl of Norfolk, and Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford. Those of Baronal rank were Roger Mortimer, the strongest of the marchers, Hugh Bigod, the brother of the earl marshal, John Fitz Geoffrey, Richard Grey, William Bardolf, Peter Montfort, and Hugh Despenser.
"...The twenty-four drewup a plan of reform which left little to be desired in thoroughness. The Provisions of Oxford, as the new constitution was styled, were speedily laid before the barons and adopted...For the first time in our history the king was forced to stand aside from the discharge of his undoubted functions, and suffer them to be exercised by a committee of magnates. The conception of limited monarchy, which had been foreshadowed in the early struggles of Henry's long reign, was triumphantly vindicated, and, after weary years of waiting, the baronial victors demanded more than had ever been suggested by the most free interpretation of the Great Charter..."

A History of The Plantagenets, Vol II, TheMagnificent Century, Thomas B Costain, 1951, Doubleday & Co
p269: "Under the shrewd and incisive direction of Simon de Montfort it took three days only to set up a provisional government. Hugh le Despenser became chief justiciar...The baronial army in the meantime marched into London, hard on the heels of the hastily retreating King and Queen..."
p320: "...`Such was the murder of Evesham, for battle it was not,' wrote Robert of Gloucester in his story of the event. Of thehundred and sixty knights who accompanied Simon on the field, only twelve survived. Hugh Despenser and Ralph Basset fell by his side. His son Guy was badly wounded and captured. Then Henry, his first-born, was cut down before his eyes..."

Political History of England 1216-1377, Vol III, T F Tout, AMS Press, 1905, p99-100: "...On June 11 [1258] the magnates once more assembled, this time at Oxford. A summons to fight the Welsh gave them an excuse to appear attended with their followers in arms. The royalist partisans nicknamed the gathering the Mad Parliament, but its proceedings were singularly business-like. A petition tion of twenty-nine articles was presented, in which the abuses of the [Henry III] administration werelaid bare in detail. A commission of twenty-four was appointed who were to redress the grievances of the nation, and to draw up a new scheme of government. According to the compact Henry himself selected half this body. It was significant of the falling away of the mass of the ruling families from the monarchy, that six of Henry's twelve commissioners were churchmen, four were aliens, three were his brothers, one his brother-in-law, one his nephew, one his wife's uncle...
"...Instrong contrast to these creatures of court favour were the twelve nominees of the barons. The only ecclesiastic was Walter of Cantilupe, Bishop of Worcester, and the only alien was Earl Simon of Leicester. With him were three other earls Richard of Clare, Earl of Gloucester, Roger Bigod, earl marshal and Earl of Norfolk, and Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford. Those of Baronal rank were Roger Mortimer, the strongest of the marchers, Hugh Bigod, the brother of the earl marshal, John FitzGeoffrey, Richard Grey, William Bardolf, Peter Montfort, and Hugh Despenser.
"...The twenty-four drew up a plan of reform which left little to be desired in thoroughness. The Provisions of Oxford, as the new constitution was styled, were speedily laid before the barons and adopted...For the first time in our history the king was forced to stand aside from the discharge of his undoubted functions, and suffer them to be exercised by a committee of magnates. The conception of limited monarchy, which had been foreshadowed in the early struggles of Henry's long reign, was triumphantly vindicated, and, after weary years of waiting, the baronial victors demanded more than had ever been suggested by the most free interpretation of the Great Charter..."
p109: "...On June 14, 1261, the papal bull [annulling the Provisions of Oxford] was read before the assembled parliament at Winchester. There Henry removed the baronial ministers and replaced them by his ownfriends. Chief among the sufferers was Hugh Despenser, who had succeeded Hugh Bigod as Justiciar; and Bigod himself was expelled from the custody of Dover Castle..."
p113: "...[1264] The Mise of Amiens was too one-sided to be accepted. The decision to refer matters to St. Louis had been made hastily, and many enemies of the king had taken no part in it. They, at least, were free to repudiate the judgment and they included the Londoners, the Cinque Ports, and nearly the whole ofthe lesser folk of England. The Londoners set the example of rebellion. They elected a constable and a marshal, and joining forces with Hugh Despenser, the baronial justiciar, who still held the Tower, marched out to Isleworth, where they burntthe manor of the King of Romans. `And this,' wrote the London Chronicler, `was the beginning of trouble and the origin of the deadly war by which so many thousand men perished'..."
p120: "...[1264] Hugh Despenser was continued as justiciar [after the Battle of Lewes]..."
p127: "Evesham, like Lewes, stands on a peninsula. It is situated on the right bank of a wide curve of the Avon, and approachable only by crossing over the river, or by way of the sort of isthmus between the two bends of the of the Avon a little to the north of the town. Edward occupied this isthmus with his best troops, and thus cut off all prospect of escape by land. The other means of exit from the town was over the bridge which connects it with its south- eastern suburb of Bengeworth on the left bank of the river. Edward, however, took the precaution to detach Gloucester with a stron force to hold Bengeworth, and thus prevent Simon's escape over the bridge. The weary and war-wornhost of Montfort, then, was out generalled in such a fashion that effective resistance to a superior force, flushed by recent victory, was impossible. Simon himself saw that his last hour was come; yet he could not but admire the skilful plan which had so easily discomfited him. `By the arm of St. James,' he declared, `they come on cunningly. Yet they have not taught themselves that order of battle; they have learnt it from me. God have mercy upon our souls, for our bodies are theirs.'
"Edward and Gloucester both advanced simultaneously to the attack. A storm broke at the moment of the encounter, and the battle was fought in a darkness that obscured the brightness of an August day. Leicester's Welsh infantry broke atonce before the charge of the mail-clad horsemen, and took refuge behind hedges and walls, where they were hunted out and butchered after the main fight was over. But the men-at-arms struggled valiantly against Edward's superior forces, thoughthey were soon borne down by sheer numbers. Simon fought like a hero and met a soldier's death. With him were slain his son Henry, his faithful comrade Peter Montfort, the baronial justiciar Hugh Despenser, and many other men of mark..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Micropaedia, Vol III, p491, Despenser: "English family prominent in the 13th and 14th centuries... Their name probably derives for `dispensator' (steward), an office held by early members of the family under the Earlsof Chester."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia, 1975, p752, Despenser Hugh Le: "Died 1265, Chief Justiciar of England. He joined the barons in their struggle against Henry III and received various offices, becoming chief justiciar in 1260. He lost this office in 1261 but was restored to it in 1263. He fought in the Barons' War and was killed at Evesham in 1265. His son and grandson Hugh Le Despenser the Elder (1262-1326), and Hugh Le Despenser the Younger (Died 1326) became even more prominent..."
p235, Barons' War: "In English History, War of 1263-1267 between King Henry III and his barons. In 1261 Henry III renounced the Provisions of Oxford (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster (1259), which had vested considerable power in a council of barons, and reasserted his right to appoint councilors. The barons led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, finally resorted to arms in 1263 and forced the king to reaffirm his adherence to the Provisions. In 1264 a decision in favor of the crown by Louis IX of France as arbitrator led to a renewal of war, but Montfort defeated Henry's forces in the battle of Lewes, and the king once again submitted to government by council. Early in 1265, Montfort summoned his famous representative Parliament to strengthen his position, which was threatened by the possibility of an invasion by Henry's adherents abroad. The invasion did not take place, but an uprising against Montfort of the Welsh `Marchers' (Englishmen along the Welsh border) led to his defeat by the king's son (later Edward I) at Evesham. Montfort was killed in the battle, but some baronial resistance continued until 1267. The barons had failed to establish their own control over the crown, but they had helped prepare the way for the constitutional developments of the reign of Edward I."

ANCESTRAL FILE
Ancestral File Ver 4.10 9FSB-F9 Hugh Le DESPENSER [Sir Knight] Born Bef 1223 Of Loughborough Leicestershire England Mar 1260 Aline (Aliva)BASSETT (AFN:9FSB-GG) Died 4 Aug 1265 Battle of Evesham England Buried Abbey Evesham, Ver 4.13 Hugh Le DESPENCER [SIR KNIGHT].

INTERNATIONAL GENEALOGICAL INDEX
IGI Birth 7223504-84-822007 and 7223414-15-822006 Born 1223 Leicester England, 84ZQ-94 Born 1236 Winchester England, NCE Hugh Le DESPENSER Died 1265.

IGI Birth 7223504-84-822007 Hugh LE DESPENSER Father Hugh LE DESPENSER 1223 Leicester England, 7223414-15-822006 Hugh LE DESPENSER Father Hugh LE DESPENSER 1223 Rutland England.

IGI Marriage 7223414-75-822006 Hugh LE DESPENSER Spouse Aline or Aliva BASSET 1260 Buckingham England.

IGI Birth 7329602-13-822910 Hugh LE DESPENSER Father Hugh LE DESPENSER Mother Aline BASSET 1 Mar 1260 Ryhall Rutland England.

   Marriage Information:

Hugh married Countess Aline Bassett NORFOLK, daughter of Sir Philip BASSETT and Hawise De LOVAINE, about 1260 in , Buckinghamshire, England. (Countess Aline Bassett NORFOLK was born about 1212-1241 in Wooten Basset, Wiltshire, England, christened about 1271 and died before 11 Apr 1281.)