Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer

Arms of Despencer: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Argent; 2nd & 3rd: Gules, a fret or, over all a ribbon sable

Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, KG (also called Despenser) (c. 24 March 1335 or 1336 – 11 November 1375) 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.

Le Despencer went with Edward the Black Prince to France, and was present at the Battle of Poitiers. In recognition of his conduct in the French wars, he was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1357. At the same time, he also became a Knight of the Garter.

He was a friend and patron of Jean Froissart^[1] and the eldest brother of Henry le Despenser, Bishop of Norwich.

There is a kneeling statue of him on the top of the Holy Trinity Chantry Chapel in Tewkesbury Abbey. He is the famous KNEELING KNIGHT of Tewkesbury. Brian Basham, Abbey guide.

Family

Edward married Elizabeth de Burghersh, daughter of Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron Burghersh. They had the following children:

• Margaret Le Despencer (died 3 November 1415), married Robert de Ferrers, 4th Baron Ferrers of Chartley
• Elizabeth le Despenser (died 10 April/11 April 1408)
  married
  (1) John FitzAlan, 2nd Baron Arundel
  (2) William la Zouche, 3rd Baron Zouche
• Thomas le Despencer, 1st Earl of Gloucester (22 September 1373 – 13 January 1400), married Constance of York
• Hugh Despencer
• Cicely Despencer
• Anne Despencer (died 30 October 1426) married (1) Hugh de Hastings and (2) Thomas de Morley, 4th Baron Morley

Ancestry

Ancestors of Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer

16. Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer               8. Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester                       17. Aliva Basset               4. Hugh Despenser the Younger                             18. William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick               9. Isabella de Beauchamp                       19. Maud FitzJohn               2. Edward le Despenser                                   20. Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford               . 10 Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford                       21. Maud de Lacy               5. Eleanor de Clare                             22. Edward I of England               .11 Joan of Acre                       23. Eleanor of Castile               1. Edward le Despencer                                         24. William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby               .12 Sir William De Ferrers                       25. Margaret De Quincy               6. William 1st Baron Ferrers of Groby                             26. Hugh le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer               .13 Anne Le Despencer                       27. Aline Bassett               3. Anne Ferrers of Groby                                   28. Nicholas de Segrave, 1st Baron Segrave               .14 John Segrave, 2nd Baron Segrave                       29.               7. Margaret Segrave                             30.               .15 Christian de Plessetis                       31.

References

• Burke, Sir Bernard. "Despencer-Barons Despencer, Earl of Gloucester." A Genealogical History of the Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, of the British Empire. London: Wm Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1962. (p. 167).
• Burke, John. A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant, and in Abeyance. London: H. Colburn and R. Bentley, 1831. (pp. 173–4) googlebooks Retrieved May 26, 2008
• Weis, Frederick Lewis, Walter Lee Sheppard, David Faris, and Frederick Lewis Weis. Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700: The Lineage of Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and Some of Their Descendants. (7th Ed.) Baltimore, Md: Genealogical Pub. Co, 1992. (pp. 73–74, Lines: 70-35, 70-36, 74-34, 212-34.) googlebooks Retrieved May 26, 2008

Notes

1. William Caferro, John Hawkwood: An English Mercenary in Fourteenth-Century Italy (2006), p. 134.