William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville
Encyclopedia
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.
, Devon
shire, 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.
; 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.
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.
and Margaret de Ros. Together they had at least two children:
Following the death of his wife, Margaret sometime after May 1426, Bonville married secondly on 9 October 1427, Elizabeth Courtenay, the daughter of Edward Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon and Maud de Camoys. Together they had one son:
He had another daughter, but the identity of her mother is uncertain:
. 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. 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. 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.
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
.
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, and he was executed following the Yorkist defeat at the Second Battle of St Albans
Second Battle of St Albans
The Second Battle of St Albans was a battle of the English Wars of the Roses fought on 17 February, 1461, at St Albans. The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of Warwick attempted to bar the road to London north of the town. The rival Lancastrian army used a wide outflanking manoeuvre to...
, by the orders of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou
Margaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...
. He also held the post of High Sheriff of Devon
High Sheriff of Devon
The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, he holds his office over the duration of a year. He has judicial, ceremonial and administrative functions and executes High Court...
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.
Family
William was born on 30 August 1393 at Shute ManorShute, Devon
Shute is a village located west of Axminster in East Devon, off the A35 road.It is surrounded by farmland and woodland beneath 163-metre Shute Hill. St Michael's Church dates from the 13th Century and includes a large memorial to Sir Wiliam Pole...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire, the son of John Bonville and Elizabeth FitzRoger. The Bonvilles were an old West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
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.
Career
He was invested as a knight sometime before 1417. In 1423, he was appointed High Sheriff of DevonHigh Sheriff of Devon
The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, he holds his office over the duration of a year. He has judicial, ceremonial and administrative functions and executes High Court...
; and from 7 January 1443 until January 1444, he held the post of Seneschal
Seneschal
A seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French bailli...
of Aquitaine
Aquitaine
Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 27 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain. It comprises the 5 departments of Dordogne, :Lot et Garonne, :Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Landes...
. He was elected knight of the shire for Somerset
Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)
Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...
in 1421 and for Devon
Devon (UK Parliament constituency)
Devon was a parliamentary constituency covering the county of Devon in England. It was represented by two Knights of the Shire, in the House of Commons of England until 1707, then of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...
in 1422, 1425 and 1427.
On 10 March 1449, he was created 1st Baron Bonville
Baron Bonville
The title of Baron Bonville was created once in the Peerage of England. On 23 September 1449, William Bonville was summoned to Parliament. On his death in 1461, the barony was inherited by his great-granddaughter Cecily Bonville, who two months before succeeded as Baroness Harington, with which...
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
Chewton Mendip
Chewton Mendip is a village and civil parish in the Mendip District of Somerset, England. It is situated north of Wells, south of Bristol on the Mendip Hills and is the source of the River Chew. The parish includes the hamlet of Bathway.- History :...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. On 8 February 1461, Lord Bonville was made a Knight of the Garter.
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.
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 RuthynReginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn
Reginald Grey, 3rd Baron Grey de Ruthyn , a powerful Welsh marcher lord, succeeded to the title on his father Reginald's death in July 1388.- Lineage :...
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 HaringtonWilliam Bonville, 6th Baron HaringtonWilliam Bonville, 6th Baron Harington was an English nobleman who was a loyal adherent of the House of York during the dynastic conflict in England in the 15th century known as the Wars of the Roses...
of Aldingham, who in his turn married Lady Katherine NevilleKatherine Neville, Baroness HastingsKatherine Neville, Baroness Hastings , was a noblewoman and a member of the powerful Neville family of northern England...
. 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, the daughter of Edward Courtenay, 3rd Earl of Devon and Maud de Camoys. 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:
- Margaret Bonville (died before July 1487), married Sir William Courtenay of Powderham Castle, by whom she had issue.
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 YorkRichard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York
Richard Plantagenêt, 3rd Duke of York, 6th Earl of March, 4th Earl of Cambridge, and 7th Earl of Ulster, conventionally called Richard of York was a leading English magnate, great-grandson of King Edward III...
. On 30 December 1460, immediately after the Battle of Wakefield
Battle of Wakefield
The Battle of Wakefield took place at Sandal Magna near Wakefield, in West Yorkshire in Northern England, on 30 December 1460. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses...
, 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
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
faction. The Duke of York and his son, Edmund, Earl of Rutland
Edmund, Earl of Rutland
Edmund, Earl of Rutland was the fifth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville...
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
Second Battle of St Albans
The Second Battle of St Albans was a battle of the English Wars of the Roses fought on 17 February, 1461, at St Albans. The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of Warwick attempted to bar the road to London north of the town. The rival Lancastrian army used a wide outflanking manoeuvre to...
, 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
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
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
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick
Richard Neville KG, jure uxoris 16th Earl of Warwick and suo jure 6th Earl of Salisbury and 8th and 5th Baron Montacute , known as Warwick the Kingmaker, was an English nobleman, administrator, and military commander...
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. 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
Battle of Northampton (1460)
The Battle of Northampton was a battle in the Wars of the Roses, which took place on 10 July 1460.-Background:The Yorkist cause seemed finished after the previous disaster at Ludford Bridge...
in July 1460, and wanted her revenge. Disregarding her husband's promise of immunity, she gave orders for the decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
of Lord Bonville and Sir Thomas Kyriel, the next day which was 18 February 1461. 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.
Upon Lord Bonville's death, his title was passed on suo jure
Suo jure
Suo jure is a Latin phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage....
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
Baron Bonville
The title of Baron Bonville was created once in the Peerage of England. On 23 September 1449, William Bonville was summoned to Parliament. On his death in 1461, the barony was inherited by his great-granddaughter Cecily Bonville, who two months before succeeded as Baroness Harington, with which...
, 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
Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset
Thomas Grey, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and 1st Marquess of Dorset, KG , was an English nobleman, courtier and a man of mediocre abilities pushed into prominence by his mother Elizabeth Woodville's second marriage to the king, Edward IV.-Family:Thomas was born about 1455,...
, the eldest son of Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth Woodville was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV from 1464 until his death in 1483. Elizabeth was a key figure in the series of dynastic civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Her first husband, Sir John Grey of Groby was killed at the Second Battle of St Albans...
, Queen consort of Yorkist king Edward IV
Edward IV of England
Edward IV was King of England from 4 March 1461 until 3 October 1470, and again from 11 April 1471 until his death. He was the first Yorkist King of England...
, by her first marriage to Sir John Grey of Groby
John Grey of Groby
Sir John Grey, of Groby, Leicestershire was a Lancastrian knight, the great-great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey.-Titles:...
.