#also most of those tags had been dried af in the past months so thank you for giving me a chance to write something about them

[thewritingpossum]

your posts have officially made me fall into the Despenser Den, thanks for that <3

Oh my god, this message made me so happy :D In honor of it, here's a very long text about some interesting facts about the Despenser family, mostly about their relationship with Edward II. I already mentionned many of them throught the years but eh, now there all gonna be in one space..

Edward II's had a close bond with the Despenser family long before he started his relationship with Hugh the younger. Hugh's father (also called Hugh like pretty much every single first born males in their family) had been a good friend to Edward I and his wife Eleanor of Castile (who was fairly unpopular at court so that's interesting to me). He had therefore known Edward II since childhood and seems to have been something of a father figure to him. Not only was he present for Edward II's wedding to Isabella of France in Dover but he was also invited to share the king's personal barge when they came back to England. He was one of the only noble who supported Piers Gaveston, for which I think Edward was deeply grateful. A few years later, he was chosen to be one of baby Edward III's godfather, another sign of how close he was to the king.

Hugh the elder's wife Isabel Beauchamp appeared to have been quite a colorful caracter and a bit of a wild girl. Hugh was her second husband and she married him without the king's permission (which I always found quite baffling as there's no evidence that he would have refused for them to get married) and they were fined greatly for it. They only paid about half of this fine before being officially forgiven. Isbael ended up dying a little over twenty years before her husband and he never remaried. A certain William de Odyham also accused her of having poached bucks at Odiham park. Hugh the younger didn't appreciated de Odyham talking shit against his mother and had him removed from his position as the park keeper.

Edward II's also has a personal friendship with Hugh the elder's daughter Isabel that started long before his relationship with her brother. She married Edward's childhood friend Gilbert de Clare which appears to have helped her forge a friendship with her king. While Gilbert unfortunatly died about two years into their marriage, Isabel et Edward remained friends until his death. She was even in charge of his two young daughters household from 1324 to 1326. Interestingly enough, despite Isabella of France very clear hatred for the Despensers family in general, she didn't seems to have had any type of dislike or resentment for Isabel and she survived her family's downfall unscathed (but probably not untraumatized).

Hugh the younger's eldest son Huchon (also sometimes refered to as Hughelyn which I personally find adorable) was also the son of Eleanor de Clare, Edward II's eldest and favorite niece. They were close in age and probably had a relationship that was closer to cousins than a regular uncle and niece one. Huchon appears to have been Edward's favorite nephew. He gifted him various fancy gifts all throught his life, including lands from the age of about 9 or 10. He also started sending him on various missions when he reached teenagehood. Huchon was about 10 years old when his father started his affair with his uncle and I truly wish we knew how he felt about that because just imagine lmao.

Huchon had an extremely priviledge childhood and youth until his family eventual downfall when he was about 17 or 18 years old. He then fought on Edward II's side and held Caerphilly Castle for a while. Isabella of France, who apparently planned to have him executed (not her fairest or kindest move) tried to end the siege by offering Huchon's men pardon if they surrender on multiple occasions but they refused until they were assured that Huchon himself would not be harmed, which seems to indicate that he was more popular and probably more personable than his dad. After the brutal executions of his father and granfather and his own imprisonment, Huchon seems to have cling to the hope that Edward II might have still been alive as late 1330, which is kinda heart breaking to me.

Luckily for him, the wheel of fortune turned over again after Isabella of France lost power to her son. Edward III seems to also have been quite fond of Huchon: not only he had him freed and officially forgave him for his participation in the siege of Caerphilly Castle, he also frequently received gifts from him, was invited to most of the jousts Edward III organized and often fought at his side during the hundred years war. Edward III's relationship with the Despenser's family is quite interesting in its own right imo and I might write another post about it at some point if anyone care to read about it.

In conclusion, I warmly welcome you in the Despenser Den! We're a teeny tiny club but we have a lot of more or less ridiculous anecdotes and a lot of fun :D