Hugh the Younger's Tomb at Tewkesbury Abbey

Tewkesbury Abbey has been described as a giant mausoleum for the families of the de Clares and the Despensers. Certainly, the ambulatory is lined with magnificent tombs of Hugh Despenser (the even younger), as well as Thomas and Edward Despenser. However, tucked away at the south end facing out towards the ambulatory is a less grandiose structure. This is the tomb and monument to Hugh Despenser, the younger - king's favourite, the de facto ruler of England between 1322 and 1326, later to be executed horribly as a traitor. Visitors to the abbey often bypass it in favour of the fancier decorations on the other tombs little realising that this is the last resting place of one of the most powerful lords of England in the Middle Ages.

The tomb of Hugh Despenser the younger overlaid with the slab of abbot John Coles

That he had a tomb at all and that it still exists is a miracle in itself. Before 1330, his quartered remains were still to be found rotting in various cities around the country. If Edward III hadn't wrested full power from his mother and her lover Mortimer, it is quite possible that they would have remained on show for much, much longer: such was the hatred of the Isabella/Mortimer regime against him. However in December 1330 Hugh's widow, Eleanor, and several of his friends (unfortunately unnamed) were given permission to collect his remains and give him a Christian burial.

It appears that, during his lifetime, Hugh was a valuable patron to Tewkesbury Abbey (just as his wife and son continued to be after) and it is therefore very probable that he had wanted to be buried there - although, it must be said, most likely after a good long life! The abbot therefore must have felt some kind of loyalty to the Despenser family and had no qualms about allowing a man of his reputation to lie within its holy walls.

A detail of one of the canopies

Although not as impressive as the later tombs, Hugh's monument is still far from modest. The tomb is described in Tewkesbury Abbey: History, Art and Architecture (edited by RK Morris and R Shoesmith) thus:

A central arched recess is surmounted by two tiers of niches, and is flanked by pairs of canopied niches in two tiers. Above the depressed arch, decorated with large vine leaves and grapes, and with dragons in the spandrels, are 13 smaller niches, perhaps for statues of Christ and the Apostles. Above them were six more large statues and on the left (western) side of the tomb, are two further small niches. The only positively identifiable one of the large upper figures is a damaged image of St. John the Baptist, discovered in the excavations beneath the high altar in 1875...

Some of the vine leaf detail

The tomb you see today is not how it would have been. Apart from the obvious damage to the edifice, there is also a strange impostor occupying the position where an effigy would once have rested. Curiously this is the tomb slab of Abbot John Coles (1328-47) - the man who would have seen the interment of Hugh's remains. When it was placed there and why remains a mystery but when the coffin below was opened in 1795 all that was found were some pieces of gold material decorated with the de Clare arms. This has been supposed to be what was left of some sacerdotal habit - a gift from one of the de Clares - but again, this hasn't been proved. The black slab now overlying the tomb is simple and sombre; it is made of black Purbeck marble and has an inscription on its edge that reads: 'Iohannes abbas huuius loci'.

What became of Hugh's remains is not known but it is possible that by then they had been reduced to dust (they'd probably been damaged by being out in all weathers for so many years anyway). It is also not known what happened to his slab and effigy but a broken piece of a lion foot rest later became attached to another base (next door) and it has been suggested that this was a part of it (it is from the right date). The base itself seems as if it could be original. It unusually has no heraldic devices but this is in keeping with the circumstances of the time when Hugh had been stripped of his right to bear arms. Teetering on the edge of royal favour/disfavour as they were, the Despenser family would not have wanted to have wanted to rock the boat too much.

On the other side of the tomb is the sedilia and this is again quite beautiful in its own distinctive style. Back in Medieval times it was thought that the closer you were buried to the altar the more it would help your soul ascend to heaven. In that case Hugh was in the right place - he would have needed all the help he could get after the kind of life he had led.

A view of the High Altar with the sedilia on the right






Eleanor continued to fund the improvements at the abbey which included wonderful stained glass windows containing pictures of her ancestors and, of course both of her husbands: Hugh and William la Zouche. During the dissolution of the monasteries in the 1540s the abbey church itself survived (although not the rest of the domestic buildings of the monastery) thanks to the co-operation of the abbot with Cromwell, as well as the parishioners who used it for their worship and later bought it from the Crown for £483. Thus, where other tombs - such as those of Roger Mortimer and Isabella of France have been lost - those they fought against (Hugh and Edward II) still exist and can be visited.

A close up of the sedilia

One last irony is that the location of the tomb of Hugh's wife and the faithful patroness of the abbey, Eleanor, is not known. It seems unthinkable that she would have been buried anywhere but the abbey but there are no records or physical evidence to either confirm or deny it. Maybe someone will someday come up with a yet undiscovered manuscript which will, at last, put in place this last piece of de Clare/Despenser history at the abbey.









The effigy piece of a lion footrest which has been stuck on the base of the neighbouring tomb

The Monday Morsel - Another Shiny and Playing at Librarian!

It's Monday once again and, after two days of feeling unusually energetic I now feel lethargic - typical! I blame it on the new Mac - it has led me down some very interesting paths, but more of that later. First of all - I've got a new shiny award!!

Thanks to Carla for nominating me! I feel it's yet another notch on the post of how far I've come since I started blogging in January (was it really only 8 months ago?). I now have to nominate some other sites to receive it - as per usual. I will try not to duplicate those who have it already... So here we go..... *drum roll*

Mony Wyslem Way a great little Medieval blog that I've just discovered!
Scottish Scribbles - good to look at and all about our northern Gaelic friends and their history Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff - always interesting book reviews. And it doesn't hurt to see Jonathan Rhys Meyers scrolling through a window either :-)
The Yorkist Age - Brian has some great insightful posts about the House of York - I really recommend popping over there.
Women of History - Great site which covers women in history (surprise, surprise) from ancient to modern times.
Piers Perrot Gaveston - yes, it's new but very promising! The blogosphere needs a place for Piers, so go and check out Anerje's posts and fantastic photos on long-forgotten monument. Medieval Cookery - This site always makes me feel hungry!
Got Medieval - A fun site which always gives me a laugh.

Secondly, I found yet another program to play with the other day (yes, I am having a terrible case of procrastination at the moment!). It's called Bookpedia and it allows me to live out my life-long ambition to be librarian! With this piece of software I can now catalogue all my books which means that I will now be able to actually find out how many I have. This will probably be alot as I have 6 full bookshelves in my living-room, one in my bedroom, one in my sun-lounge and who-knows how many of crates stored in the attic! In fact I think I'm in for a shock!

The beauty of this program is that I can use the Mac's built in iSight camera to scan the ISBN barcode, or, if it's unreadable or if there isn't one I can just type the number in. The program then searches the Internet and fills in the details before adding it to the main library list. For some strange reason I find this fun and strangely satisfying. My daughter finds it weird that I should think so (hah! teenagers - what do they know?). The other beauty of the program is that I've already weeded out about 80 books I no longer want and can sell on Amazon or Ebay which means that it will eventually pay for itself! Win-win situation.

On the more negative side though, the new Mac doesn't want to play with my Photoshop program :-(. I have only just started to master some of the tricks on Photoshop and was looking forward to creating the new forum logo on it, so grrrrr! I am experimenting with some other programs but they aren't quite the same. At this rate I'll be back to hand-sketching and scanning!

Monday Morsel - A Writerly Life

The enforced swap over to my laptop until my new computer arrives (which is taking like forever!) has had both good and bad effects. The bad ones are to do with the screen being so much smaller than I'm used to, meaning that I can't design anything on it and also if I stay on it for more than 15 minutes I get a headache. I ended up with the first full blown migraine since I was 13 on Thursday! So I'm having to limit my screen time :-(

But the good news is that I've found programs on the laptop that I never knew I had - and one of them has proved an absolute star turn for organising my research data. Because I know that those out there who write history also have loads of notes and sometimes can't find what they want, I thought I'd let you know about my new discovery. It's called OmniOutliner and it came bundled with my laptop applications. Unfortunately it's only for Macs at the moment (which makes a change as most software I want is only for PCs) but I think there are several Windows applications that perform similar tasks.

Why is it so wonderful? Well, at last I can organise all my quotes or information bites for my Despenser books in one place. Yes, I could have done that on filing cards or Microsoft Word or Excel - but this looks and performs better. For example, I can put the info into the left hand pane and then create columns in which I can classify the info, as being about Hugh or not, whether it refers to any date, what book/article its from, and whether it is further referenced from a primary source (see pic below).



Once all the info is in I can then organise it in whatever order I want (date etc) and use it to structure chapters and so forth. OmniOutliner can also help to sort out synopsis planning, time management and everything else that a list freak like me needs to operate. I'm in heaven!

In addition there is another useful program I discovered some months ago called Bee Docs Timeline which can be seen here. With it I can see the events for a particular date/year for several individuals at a time, meaning that I can get a really good view of the bigger picture. Once again though, this is only available for Macs (I know, you PC users are probably swearing at me right now - sorry. No, actually, I'm not sorry - go and get a Mac ;-) ). Perhaps if any of you use similar programs that work on Windows or other platforms, you could let me know in the comments section. It would be great to have a list of tried and tested resources for writers to have at their fingertips.

Which, in a roundabout way brings me to my next topic... I am in the middle of setting up a forum aimed at writers (and readers) of medieval history (fact and fiction) - although anyone else is of course welcome. It will be a sort of 'sister' forum to Alianore's Edward II Forum (which, if you haven't already, I urge to to go and have a look at ). The difference will be that Alianore's is more to do with discussing the actual historical side of Edward II's reign whereas mine will be more general (in time and theme) and will have topics relating to our lives in the here and now (and all the joys and woes of writing), fun and games and also, hopefully, a place where we can post applications we find useful (as above).

Until the new beast gets to me I can't do too much as I need to do some design work on the template - but it is already half way there and I reckon it will be up and going in a couple of weeks. I really hope that you will pop over and join me there for a mug of ale and a chat. And, in the meantime, if there are any topics you would like to see up on the boards, let me know. All things considered (within reason).

Hugh's Childhood

Unfortunately, we know next to nothing of Hugh the younger’s childhood. We don’t even know when or where he was born, although we can make educated guesses. In fact much of this article is a speculation on Hugh’s position could have expected growing up in a noble household from other accounts at the time.

First of all – when was he born? Hugh was Hugh the elder’s first-born son but was probably not the eldest child. This was most likely a daughter –Aline. We can guess this because her marriage was arranged in 1302, four years before Hugh’s, so it is more than likely that she was older than him. Tentatively Hugh could have been born anytime between her birth (which was probably around 1287/88 (Hugh the Elder married Isabel de Beauchamp in 1286/87) and 1290/91 when the next daughter, Isabella, was born. It therefore makes sense to place his birth in 1288/89.

Where he was born is even more of a problem. Hugh the Elder had inherited many estates from his father around the country and particularly in the Midlands. Loughborough is often mentioned as his main manor but there is another possibility that many have overlooked. Records also show another place called Beaumanor (or Beau Manoir) close by where Hugh the elder preferred to live when he was in that part of the country. Manorial records for the time still exist and one dating from about 1277/78 states:

"Within a moated enclosure of considerable dimensions, surrounded by a thick hedge or stockade, stood a hall, a great chamber each of stone, with slate roofs, an inner chamber, and a Knight's chamber (where Sir Hugh Despenser the Son slept)".

(http://www.peoplemakingplaces.org.uk/places/charnwood_history/beaumanor.htm)

The ‘son’ was probably Hugh the elder, judging by the date, but it does suggest, that if it was such a favoured manor, subsequent Mrs Despensers may have gone there for their lying-in.

Once he was born, Hugh would have been given a nurse to look after him and up until the age of about seven he would have stayed with his mother’s household having early lessons in Latin and French and basic numeracy. He would also have learned some manners essential to being around well-bred lords and ladies.

The true education of a nobleman’s son started around the age of seven when they were sent to live in another household – usually of a relative. Given the options, the most preferable (and most likely) place for Hugh to have been sent was with his uncle, the Earl of Warwick. Hugh certainly seemed to have some loyalty towards Warwick in his youth and his brother too, was for a time declared as Warwick’s heir. Another option is that Hugh was attached to the royal household in some way – especially as his father held favour with both the king and his son.

At this point Hugh would have become a page to his new Lord’s household and would have been expected, in addition to further lessons, to perform menial chores, such as carrying water and waiting on tables. He would have slept in a room with the other pages and, like them, have started the serious physical training that was to prepare them for their later life as a knight. Games such as fighting with wooden swords on piggyback, wrestling and drills on pells (wooden poles placed upright in the ground) with wasters (wooden swords) and archery would have been an everyday practice.

They would also practiced horsemanship on small ponies although they would not have been expected yet to wield weapons on horseback. The nearest they came at this age was to sit astride a wooden horse while it was pulled along by two other pages. The one on horseback would then learn the technique of ‘couching’ a lance (holding it steady under the arm) whilst aiming at a target.

The polishing of Hugh’s (and the other pages’) gentlemanly manners would have been supervised by the lady of the house. Serving at the table was a very formal duty which had to be done correctly. He would also have been taught to dance and maybe even to sing or recite poetry: being a nobleman was not just about knowing how to throw a sword around. A tutor would be appointed who was responsible for the boys’ further education in Latin, household accounts, religious texts, as well as battle tactics and the occasional story from the Arthurian legends or Greek myth. In other words everything Hugh and the other boys learned was aimed at moulding the perfect ideal of a knight and noble lord.

At around the age of fourteen, Hugh would have become a squire attached to a particular knight, maybe even his uncle (if he hadn’t been already). His tasks now included cleaning his lord’s armour and looking after his horses. By now Hugh's serious training for battle would have begun. He would have practiced in the tiltyard with a lance, running at a quintain (which would have knocked him off his horse if he’d got it wrong), and one-on-one combat with quarterstaffs and wooden (or bone) swords and other weapons. Despite the weaponry not being made of steel injuries would still have been common and the competition between squires to outdo each other was fierce. Being a squire also meant that, if required, Hugh would have had to follow his lord to war and be part of his retinue. However, on a more cheery note, he would also have followed him to tournaments.

Squire-hood also presumed other responsibilities. The young men were supposed to look to their faith and pray regularly, as well as learn the chivalric code – not just as it applied to them but also to issues of battle, such as ransoms and truces. Hugh would have been expected to be courteous around the ladies, well behaved and well groomed.

At the end of his training – usually at about 18 or 19 – if the squire had proved himself well enough, he would be made up to a knight by his lord – or, if he was lucky, by a higher power, such as the king. In Hugh’s case, he was knighted at about 17 or 18 at the Feast of the Swans by the Prince of Wales, Edward of Caernarvon.

With elevation to knighthood came a privileged status, but not always great wealth. Some knights stayed within their lord’s retinue. Others returned to their family lands and served the king from there. Once again we do not know where Hugh went or what he did (other than marry Eleanor de Clare) after his knighting. His father had given him barely enough land to live on – despite his own great bounty of estates, so times must have been hard. Doubtless though he would have kept up his training for he could be called upon at any time to serve in Edward’s wars – a duty he performed in the years to come - especially at Bannockburn in 1314.

However in the end Hugh was to be known (for the wrong reasons) for his administrative and judicial skills than for any knightly feats of derring-do on the battlefield. That is not to say that he wasn’t capable of bravery on the field – just that either he didn’t get the chance or we haven't heard about it. I often wonder whether he looked upon such men as his mortal enemy Mortimer and envied them their soldierly reputation. Even if he did I’m sure the acquiring of a few more lands here and there brought him more comfort than being able to brag of a few battle scars.

I'M BAAACCK!!!

*Lady D. runs madly around the room cheering*

Temporarily working on my laptop while waiting for the shiny new machine to arrive! At least I managed to connect it to the net (not my strongest subject). Now all I need to do is try and get all my backed-up stuff restored.

You know, I can't believe how lost I felt being disconnected from a screen and the net - even for such a short time. Whatever did I do before I had a computer?? Maybe I should get a life ;-)

The Monday Morsel - RIP Hard Drive

Yep, it's finally happened - my hard drive has fallen over and, apart from one last try left with unix commands, has most likely gone to cyberchip heaven. If you are wondering how the hell I'm managing to get this post done, it's because I've commandeered someone else's computer.

I have (had) an iMac OSX running Tiger (for those who understand) - a system which is normally more stable and less prone to crashes than any PC/Windows based machine. However, I have had it for about 7 years now and have used it every day, all day for most of that time - little wonder then that of late it has been about as stable as a drunk in a blizzard!

Now I'm no computer nerd but I will always have a go at fixing things (with help from a manual) - even if I haven't the first clue about what I'm doing. Usually it works (or has done for every week these past two months) but now it seems that it is time to have to dig deep and get another one *Lady D sighs and gets out her busking stuff* Luckily, most of my stuff is backed up on a second hard drive apart (and I hate to say it!) the Despenser family tree! Looks like I may have to do it all over again (cringe!)


So.... wish me luck in getting the new one set up. Hopefully I'll be back on my own machine again for Friday's post.

Despenser Family Tree - Origins to Hugh the Elder and Children

At last, here it is - after a week or so of frustration, headaches and crossed eyes - the Despenser Family Tree - as complete as possible and as correct as possible (allowing for discrepancies in the records of course, and any silly mistakes of my own!).

(Chart layout and design copyright Julie Frusher Aug 7th 2008)

Yes, it does look tiny, I admit. But if you double click on the image, it should bring a larger version up on your screen. It is still hard to read (sorry!) but it's the best I can do with the limitations of Blogger. The original was an A3 size, so it was inevitable that quality was going to suffer a bit to get it on here. Still, hopefully - and maybe with the aid of a magnifying glass - you will be able to see it! Once I get the website up, I shall try and upload a more reader-friendly version.

The information comes from a number of sources - all of which I feel are reliable, given that the researchers I've used often go back to primary sources for their info. Much of the work on the earlier Despensers can be credited to a brilliant genealogy researcher named John P. Ravilous, but mention must also be made of other giants of genealogical research on the GEN-MEDIEVAL newsgroup including Douglas Richardson, Leo van de Pas, Brad Verity, Tim Powys-Lybbe, Cristopher Nash and D. Spencer-Hines (the list is too long to include everyone so apologies to any I've left out). Also, I've used Alianore's tentative datings for the dates of birth of Hugh the elder's children. I have great faith in these people's research so any glaring errors on the chart are, most likely, mine and mine alone!

The chart itself, is, as far as I know the only one in this format tracing the Despenser genealogy. If anyone wants to use it, you're welcome, but please ask first and credit me too (see copyright notice above). One more thing: I have stopped the lines of descent at Hugh the younger and have purposely not put his, or his siblings' marriages and children in. This is because, for a start, I didn't have room, and secondly, because I shall construct a new chart for those details!

There may be things on this chart that are different to stuff on other genealogy sites on the net. For example, many genealogies contain a Thurstan le Despenser - but I've not seen any evidence that connects such a person with a direct line of descent to Hugh the younger. On the other hand links can be made between the individuals shown on this chart from such documents as charters, close rolls etc. The problem, I think, is that the title of 'Dispenser' or 'Dispensator' as it was correctly called, was quite common (being an office similar to a steward), so quite a few individuals ended up with it as a name. Therefore, the trick is, to find the right Dispensator line, which is what Mr Ravilious seems to have done.

The other oddity that anyone with any knowledge of Despenser ancestry might note is that of the children of Hugh the Justiciar (died 1265). Most books and historians claim that his one son (Hugh the elder - father of Hugh the younger) and all three daughters were from one wife, Aline Basset. However, on closer examination it appears that certainly two, and maybe three of the girls were born before he married Aline in 1260 (it is hard to pin down their exact birth dates but they are certainly earlier than 1260). Also, he was in his late thirties when he married Aline - quite a late age for a first marriage. According to Susan Higginbotham in an article called 'Hugh the Justiciar', "in 1238, the king had permitted him to marry as his friends thought best". Therefore it seems very likely that Hugh had already been married and probably widowed before 1260; it would just be nice to have the actual primary documentary evidence to say so.

The interesting thing about this chart is that it clearly shows the familial relationships between the Despensers and other families - such as the Beauchamps of Warwick. Understanding these is important when it comes to the study of support for the Despensers and the crown (or not) throughout the period 1318-1326, as well as distributions of grants and favours during that time.

As always, new bits of information are always coming to the surface, so this chart may need updating from time to time Also if any human errors - (most probably mine!) are picked up then they will need correcting. If you have any new additions or corrections (that can be backed up by documentary evidence) then please, please, get in touch.

Sources: As above in the text.

A Writerly Life (inc. The Monday Morsel) - 04/08/08

The Bedside Table

One of the magazines that I regularly read is a writing magazine aimed at women called 'Mslexia'. At the back is a regular column in which a writer or some other celebrity is interviewed about what they have on their bedside table etc. I love this column as it gives a real insight into what books people like/dislike and I have always harboured a secret desire to answer the questions posed. So, here goes:

The Table:
It is a flat pack effort (obviously not flat pack now!) - a three drawer bedside table in fake pine veneer. I know, rather tacky but it was all I could afford when I moved in (and still is!).

The Method:
I have a huge red cushion I put on top of my pillows which supports my shoulders, neck and head. I try and read before I put the light out even if I just manage a few lines before my eyelids droop.


The Books:

Reading at the moment:
In spite of what I've put in my status report in the left sidebar, I've actually got six books on my bedside table. This is because sometimes I need a rest from medieval stuff and so dip into whatever takes my fancy at the moment. My present book stack looks like this:

Shakespeare - Bill Bryson.
The Traitor's Wife - Susan Higginbotham. (Yes, Susan, I have finally relented and have started to read your book now that I have 'my' Hugh securely anchored in my head! And yes, I'm really enjoying it too!)
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek - Annie Dillard.
The Wolf, the Woman, the Wilderness - Teresa tsimmu Martino.
Synchro-destiny - Deepak Chopra.
When I Loved Myself Enough - Kim McMillen with Alison McMillen.

Couldn't Put Down:
Four books which absolutely gripped me and I would re-read again and again are:

Surfacing - Margaret Atwood (stunning use of poetic prose and imagery)
Women Who Run With the Wolves - Clarissa Pinkola Estes. (Fantastic advice through folk tales)
Here Be Dragons - Sharon Penman. (enjoyable, if idiosyncratic style and superb research)
Prodigal Summer - Barbara Kingsolver. (A lovely book to lose yourself in)

Gathering Dust:
Books I've not been able to get into for some reason or another.

Zennor in Darkness - Helen Dunmore (just didn't grip me at all)
The Hobbit... in fact any Tolkien at all(yes, sacrilege to some I know but I really just can't get my head around any of the LOTR stuff!)
Pharos - Alice Thompson (couldn't get into the writer's style)
The Enigma of Arrival - VS Naipaul (I was forced to read this at uni - I found it to be like watching paint dry!)

Secret Indulgence:
The occasional peep at one of the 'celeb' magazines. Even though I hate celeb culture and wouldn't actually buy a copy of Heat or whatever, if I can get a sneak view at the hairdresser's, I will. I especially love pics of celebs not looking their best as it makes me feel better!

Right, I'm now tagging others to do this.... Gabriele? Alianore? Susan? Anyone else?