Hugh and Eleanor at Tewkesbury Abbey

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I got an e-mail the other day from Stephanie Decavallas, who did this beautiful drawing (in two color schemes) of Eleanor de Clare, heroine of The Traitor’s Wife, and her husband, Hugh le Despenser the younger, at Tewkesbury Abbey. Naturally, …

Posted in Despenser Family | 2 Comments

Eleanor le Despenser Gets a New Dress

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The other day, I was fooling around on eBay (a place I really have no business being). As is my wont, I did a search for “Despenser” (among other searches) and lo and behold, what appeared but a doll costume …

Posted in Despenser Family | 16 Comments

Elizabeth le Despenser, Daughter of Hugh and Eleanor

Elizabeth le Despenser (who appears a couple of times in Hugh and Bess) was the youngest surviving daughter born to Hugh le Despenser and Eleanor de Clare. Her birth date is unknown, but either she or her brother John might …

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A Despenser at Dunstable, 1334

One of the fun things about using a lesser-known historical figure as a subject of a novel is that when you run into something about him–anything–you’re absolutely delighted. So a while back when I saw in Collectanea topographica & genealogica, …

Posted in Despenser Family | 5 Comments

In Memory of a Fallen Soldier: Edward le Despenser

Edward le Despenser was the second son of Hugh le Despenser the younger and Eleanor de Clare. He was born before November 23, 1315, when Edward II issued a license for John de Cromwell and his wife, Idonia, to grant …

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Three Cheers for the BBC!

I have a Google alert set up for “Edward II,” and though I get some things of interest that way, I also get a lot of worthless alerts, mostly to shopping sites. So when I saw my alert today, I …

Posted in Edward II, Film and Television | 5 Comments

Emily Sarah Holt, and the Despensers Meet Jane Austen

As longtime readers of this blog know, I’ve mentioned Emily Sarah Holt a few times here. Holt, who wrote historical fiction in the nineteenth century, wrote one of the first novels about the Despenser family, In Convent Walls. Her novels …

Posted in Books and Book Reviews, Despenser Family | 2 Comments

Thanks, Uncle! Gifts to Eleanor de Clare From Edward II

Whatever else one might say about Edward II, he was a generous uncle–at least to his favorite niece, Eleanor de Clare. Here’s some of his recorded gifts to her: 1308: 20 marks for her expenses while staying at Rockingham Castle …

Posted in Despenser Family, Edward II | 9 Comments

The Reign of Edward II, as Told by You-Know-Whats

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In the interest of equal time, here is the reign of Edward II told by Lolcats. Really, why buy one of those expensive biographies of Edward II when you can get the whole story here? Blog this! Bookmark on Delicious …

Posted in Edward II, Humor | 15 Comments

Not Quite There . . .

This isn’t quite the Valentine that Isabella had in mind for Roger Mortimer, but maybe Edward II could modify it (courtesy of the Valentine Generator) for one of his good friends: To my Virile Roger, You are the knight of …

Posted in Fourteenth-Century (and Late Thirteenth-Century) England, Humor, Seasonal | 3 Comments