Despenser estates

**Oznerol** · September 18, 2017, 03:47 PM

DESPENSER ESTATES

The estates of Hugh le Despenser, the Elder, 2nd baron Despenser. Despite the first baron has some possessions on his own, the bulk of the current demesne has its origins on Aline Basset, granddaughter and heiress of Sir Philip Basset, friend and companion of the Earl of Cornwall. The elder Hugh has ruled these lands for a long time and his good services to the crown provided him with offices and honors that increased his influence and wealth. The manor of Loughborough in Leicestershire is the caput of the barony and the ancestral home of Despensers.

Demesne

Prestige

Lord and household

The Despensers

The Elder

SIR HUGH LE DESPENSER
The Elder

Born 1st March 1260.
Titles: 2nd Baron le Despenser of Loughborough (Leicestershire).
Status: Widower; m. Isabel de Chaworth, nee Beauchamp (b. 1263-d. 1306).
Children: Aline, lady Burnell (b. 1286), Hugh (b. 1288), Isabella, lady Hastings [formerly, lady Clare of Thomond] (b. 1291), Philip (b. 1293-d. 1313)

Traits and Temperaments:
+3 Survival
+1 Battles
+2 Charisma

Sanguine:
- Confident: This character is very self-assured, brimming with confidence and difficult to shake even under pressure. However, taken to an extreme, they can show a suicidal disregard for their life and the lives of others, and fail to take...well, failure into account when planning. +1 battle rolls, +1 to rout rolls against this character.

Phlegmatic:
- Austere: This character disdains pomp and pageantry, instead preferring a plain & simple (the uncharitable might say 'rigidly spartan') lifestyle. +5% income, -1 Charisma.
- Reserved: This character is a stoic who generally keeps to him/herself and exercises strict control over their emotions. While this means they're not likely to make reckless moves in court or on the battlefield, they can come across as unfeeling robots to others. +1 battle rolls, -1 Charisma.

BIOGRAPHY:

The Elder Hugh, the second baron Despenser, long-time retainer of Edward I, faithful diplomatic and royal servant. His beginnings were rather complicated, though: his father, Hugh, the first baron Despenser was killed in Evesham, fighting for Simon de Monfort, the ill-fated Earl of Leicester. His son was barely a toddler when Despenser was cut down by the thrice-be-dammed Baron Mortimer in the battlefield. Only the good friendship of Hugh’s paternal grandfather, Philip Basset, with Richard of Cornwall, brother to the King himself, saved the second baron’s lands and status. Eventually, Hugh was married to the Earl of Warwick’s sister, widow of Sir Patrick de Chaworth. His marriage proved fruitful and harmonious, four children were born in less than seven years, the period ranging from 1286 to 1293: Aline, Hugh, Isabella and Philip, all of whom lived to adulthood. When his wife died in 1306, he never remarried and remained a widower for many years.
The Baron Despenser has a long record of royal service, being appointed for numerous offices, like Justice of the Forests South Trent or constable of the castles of Malborough and Devizes. The baron served Edward I faithfully through his reign, in the rough Scotland, the pleasant and fearsome France, the distant lands of the Germans and even Rome itself. There are but a few individuals as experimented, seasoned and hardened as Hugh Despenser. His close proximity to the late King Edward proved valuable when Hugh the Younger, the baron’s eldest son, was married to the king’s eldest granddaughter Eleanor de Clare, a match arranged by the old king himself. That was a phenomenal match, for Eleanor was the firstborn daughter of Gilbert the Red, Earl of Gloucester, and his splendid bride, Joan of Acre, the blessed and willful daughter of Edward I and her mother and namesake, Eleanor of Castille. Later on, Hugh the Elder was honored yet again, standing as godfather to Edward of Windsor, firstborn son and heir of Edward II, King of England. The elderly Hugh served in Bannockburn’s campaign and was among those who shielded the king in his escape from the battlefield to Dunbar and Berwick, despite his advanced age.

Hugh is a fleshy, stout man, not very tall, with a rather plain appareance, his once-dark hair long ago turned purely white. A moustache frames his thin lips. He is severe and rather unforgiving. Strong hands that still can wield a sword with relative ease and two eyes like charcoal: the baron has withered with age, but is still imposingly menacing. A man who served Edward I for so long could be nothing less.

The Younger

SIR HUGH LE DESPENSER
The Younger

Born 10 August 1288.
Titles: Lord Despenser.
Status: Married, to Eleanor le Despenser, nee de Clare (3rd October 1292).
Children: Hugh “Huchon” (b. 1308), Gilbert (b. 1309), Edward (b. 1310), John (b. 1311), Isabel (b. 1312).

Traits and Temperaments:
+2 Battles.
+2 Survival.
+1 Wealth.
+1 Personal Combat.

Choleric:
- Bloodthirsty: This character is hotheaded and loves to jump into fights, lethal or otherwise. This is not something others find endearing off the battlefield, though. +1 Battles, -1 Charisma.
- Ill-Tempered: This character is ornery and seems to explode at the slightest provocation. While they've gotten into enough fights to toughen them up, a person who's as easily baited as a bull that sees red won't make a good commander. +1 Duels, -1 Battles.

Melancholic:
- Haggler: This character is obsessed with getting the best possible deal for themselves, and ever watchful (even paranoid) for anyone trying to rip them off. This sort of fellow is rarely the sort others like, but none can deny their ability to sniff for gold. +7.5% income and improves loot from raids, -2 Charisma.

BIOGRAPHY:

The eldest son and heir of Hugh Despenser, baron Despencer. His parents didn’t have to wait much for their desired heir, he was born in the first couple years of his parents’ marriage. Hugh always was a promising individual: physical prowess, not inconsiderable intellect and rather atractive. However, all his good traits were shadowed by the bad. Since he was but a boy he proved to be unruly, wild and prone to violent outbursts. Greedy and arrogant he doesn’t know how to share or compromise. Hugh’s childish games used to involve his superior strenght to maul his supposed, imaginary foes. His idea of coexistence is complete submission, being willing to lambast whoever dares to stand the ground against him. Growing tall very fast he became the strong, incredibly prideful youngster, who despite not being still a man believes himself as much.

The boy turned into the adult, and the Hugh who married Eleanor was quite a man. Tall, physically powerful and dark haired, like his father the elder Hugh, the man who stood in the nuptials was a sight to behold. Oddly charming, like every rascal born and bred, he found a match in Eleanor, who was no tamed lamb. If Gilbert the Red has a living successor that is his eldest and firstborn daughter, product of two fiery, hot-headed parents. The late earl, fearsome in court and battle, was tamed by the even more formidable Joan, whom he had to woo and court before even being admitted to the marital bed. Eleanor has a ruddy coloring, being red of hair, trait inherited from her father, and having slightly freckled, high and proud cheekbones. The newlyweds soon delivered what was expected from the fulfillment of their marital duties: a litter, a brood of children was born in a very short time, one after another. The firstborn son was named after his father and paternal grandfather, the second after Eleanor’s father, the earl of Gloucester, and the thirdborn after her royal grandfather and uncle. Hugh, the even younger, nicknamed as Huchon by close kindred, was king Edward I’s first great-grandchild and Edward II’s eldest grand-nephew.

Dominating and ruthless, Hugh’s worst traits were only deepened by the royal kindred provided by his wife. Eleanor herself, no mild flower, is always willing to take advantage of her connections. However, she feels a genuine affection for her uncle Edward, being his eldest niece and who always returned her filial affections. Both have always been close, with Eleanor being the only woman at court, besides the queen, being adressed as “my lady/ma dame Alienor la Despensere” by the king himself. Oddly enough, and despite being part of the king’s household, Hugh the Younger never counted himself among the favorites of Edward. Despite all, Hugh served in the campaign of Bannockburn being one of the personal bodyguards of the king, alongside Henry de Beaumont, riding by his side after Aymer de Valence took the reins of Edward’s horse and pulled him off combat, despite his complains. Both Hugh the Elder and his son, the younger Hugh, acompanied the king on his flight to England from Bannockburn. Most importantly, the battle had a major, and game changing, casualty: Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. Now, lacking a heir of his body, Gilbert's full-sisters by Joan of Acre stand to inherit a share of the late Red Earl's demesne. In the meanwhile, oblivious to the latest developments, Eleanor de Clare is heavy with child, awaiting the birth of her next son or daughter in the royal abbey of Amesbury.

Family Tree Hugh le Despenser, 1st Baron Despenser (b. 1223-killed at Evesham, 1265), married Aline Basset, countess Marshall and countess Norfolk [through her second marriage to Roger de Bigod, Earl Marshal and 5th Earl of Norfolk, d. 1305] (b. 1242-d. 1281):

Hugh le Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser (b. 1260), married Isabel de Chaworth, nee Beauchamp (b. 1263-d. 1306).

Aline le Despenser (b. 1287), m. Edward Burnell, Lord Burnell (b. 1286).

Sir Hugh le Despenser (b. 1288), m. Eleanor de Clare (b. 1292).

Hugh le Despenser (b. 1308).

Gilbert le Despenser (b. 1309).

Edward le Despenser (b. 1310).

John le Despenser (b. 1311).

Isabel le Despenser (b. 1312).

Isabella le Despenser (b. 1291), m. (1) Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Thomond (b. 1281-d.1307), (2) John Hastings (b. 1262-d.1313).

Thomas Hastings (b. 1309).

Hugh Hastings (b. 1310).

Margaret Hastings (b. 1312).