William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville
| William Bonville | |
|---|---|
| Born | 30 August 1393 Shute Manor, Devonshire, England |
| Died | 18 February 1461 Second Battle of St Albans (by execution) |
| Title | Baron Bonville |
| Successor | Cecily Bonville |
| Spouse | Margaret Grey Elizabeth Courtenay |
| Children | William Bonville Elizabeth Bonville John Bonville Margaret Bonville |
| Parents | John Bonville Elizabeth FitzRoger |
William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, KG (30 August 1393 – 18 February 1461) was an English nobleman, soldier, and administrator. He was a staunch Yorkist supporter during the Wars of the Roses, and he was executed following the Yorkist defeat at the Second Battle of St Albans, by the orders of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou. He also held the post of High Sheriff of Devon for 1423.
Upon his death, his barony passed to his great-granddaughter, Cecily Bonville, who was less than a year old. This made her the richest heiress in England at the time.
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[edit] Family
William was born on 30 August 1393 at Shute Manor, Devonshire, the son of John Bonville and Elizabeth FitzRoger. The Bonvilles were an old West Country family with connections to the Champernownes. He had a younger sister, Philippa who married firstly William Grenville, and secondly John Almescombe. His paternal grandparents were Sir William Bonville and Margaret Daumarle, and his maternal grandparents were John FitzRoger and Alice Cheddar.[2]
[edit] Career
He was invested as a knight sometime before 1417. In 1423, he was appointed High Sheriff of Devon; and from 7 January 1443 until January 1444, he held the post of Seneschal of Aquitaine. He was elected knight of the shire for Somerset in 1421 and for Devon in 1422, 1425 and 1427.
On 10 March 1449, he was created 1st Baron Bonville of Chewton, and was summoned to the House of Lords on 23 September of that same year. His principal residence was at the Manor of Chewton Mendip in Somerset. On 8 February 1461, Lord Bonville was made a Knight of the Garter.[2]
William Bonville also held the Manorial Titles - Lord of the Manor of Sponton (or Spaunton) & Lord of the Manor of Hutton Bonville both in the County of Yorkshire.
[edit] Marriages and issue
He married his first wife on 12 December 1414. She was Margaret Grey, the eldest daughter of Marcher Lord Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn and Margaret de Ros. Together they had at least two children:
- William Bonville (died 30 December 1460), married Elizabeth Harington, by whom he had one son, William Bonville, 6th Baron Harington of Aldingham, who in his turn married Lady Katherine Neville. They were the parents of Cecily Bonville, Marchioness of Dorset.
- Elizabeth Bonville (died 14 February 1491), married Sir William Tailboys, by whom she had a son, Sir Robert Tailboys (1451- 10 January 1495)
Following the death of his wife, Margaret sometime after May 1426, Bonville married secondly on 9 October 1427, Elizabeth Courtenay, widow of John Harington, 4th Baron Harington(1384–1418), the daughter of Edward de Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon(d.1419) and Maud (or Matilda) de Camoys, daughter of Thomas de Camoys, 2nd Baron Camoys(d.1372). Together they had one son:
- John Bonville (died 1491), married Alice Dennys, by whom he had issue.
He had another daughter, but the identity of her mother is uncertain:[3]
- Margaret Bonville (died before July 1487), married Sir William Courtenay of Powderham Castle, by whom she had issue.
[edit] Execution
During the dynastic conflict between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the throne of England, known as the Wars of the Roses, Lord Bonville supported the Yorkist faction which was headed by Richard, Duke of York. On 30 December 1460, immediately after the Battle of Wakefield, Lord Bonville's son, William, and grandson, Lord Harington were both beheaded on the battlefield. The executions were carried out by the triumphant forces of Margaret of Anjou who led the Lancastrian faction. The Duke of York and his son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland were also dead, having both been killed in the battle.
Less than two months later, the Yorkists suffered another defeat at the Second Battle of St Albans, where Lord Bonville and another Yorkist Sir Thomas Kyriel were taken prisoner by the victorious Lancastrians. The two men had kept guard over King Henry VI during the battle to see that he came to no harm. The king had been held in captivity by Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick and brought in the train of the latter's army, but was abandoned on the battlefield. In return for their gallantry, the king promised the two men immunity.[4] Queen Margaret who was present at the battle, however, remembered that Lord Bonville was one of the men who had held King Henry in custody after the Battle of Northampton in July 1460, and wanted her revenge. Disregarding her husband's promise of immunity, she gave orders for the decapitation of Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriel, the next day which was 18 February 1461.[5] It is alleged that she put the men on trial, and had her seven-year old son, Prince Edward preside as judge. "Fair son", Margaret inquired, "what death shall these knights die?" The boy allegedly replied that they were to have their heads cut off, an act which was swiftly carried out, despite the King's pleas for mercy.[6]
Upon Lord Bonville's death, his title was passed on suo jure to his great-granddaughter, Cecily Bonville, the seven-and-a-half-months old daughter of his grandson, Lord Harington. Cecily had already succeeded suo jure to the barony of Harington following the deaths at Wakefield in December 1460. In the space of little more than six weeks Cecily Bonville, 2nd Baroness Bonville, 7th Baroness Harington of Aldingham had become the wealthiest heiress in England, having also inherited the vast Bonville and Harington estates. She would go on to marry on 18 July 1474, Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen consort of Yorkist king Edward IV, by her first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby.
[edit] References
- www.thePeerage.com/p. 935.htm#9343
- Thomas B. Costain, The Last Plantagenets, published by Popular Library, New York, 1962
