le Despenser

The le Despensers were an English baronial family whose landed wealth in the East Midlands went back to Hugh le Despenser, who died in 1238. His son, the first Baron le Despenser, died at Evesham in 1265.

The family reached its height under Edward II: Hugh the Elder was made Earl of Winchester in 1322, while his son Hugh the Younger inherited Glamorgan and became the king's chief favourite. Their greed and monopoly of power drove Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer's rebellion of 1326; the elder Hugh was hanged at Bristol and the younger hanged, drawn and quartered at Hereford, and their titles were forfeit.

The line nonetheless recovered: the younger Hugh's son was summoned to Parliament as Baron le Despenser in 1338, and his grandson Edward's son Thomas was made Earl of Gloucester before being executed in 1400.