Can you tell me anything about Hugh le Despenser the younger (1286 to 1326)?

Question

Hi, I would be thankful if you could tell me a little bit about Hugh le Despenser the younger who was born in 1286 and died in 1326. i know he was a close friend and probably the lover of King Edward II and that he was married to Eleanor Clare, a niece to the King.. I would like to know a little bit about the life of this tyrant.. why he had such an enormous influence over King Edward II that he even took all rights away from Queen Isabella of France, Edward II's wife... and I would like to know.. how did Hugh le Despenser died.. I am sure he was assassinated but don't know how.. I know King Edward was killed in 1327.

Grateful if you could answer my questions about le Despenser.

Answer 1

G O O G L E

W I C K I P E D I A

T E X T B O O K

L I B R A R Y

R E A D

Answer 2

He was executed:

Hugh le Despenser (d. 1349), son of Hugh le Despenser the younger and Eleanor de Clare, is overshadowed by his notorious father and grandfather, who were executed a month apart and who shared their names with Hugh. (One lavishly illustrated book even confuses Hugh’s tomb with that of his father—and then adds insult to injury by describing the son’s effigy as that of an extortionist.) http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/hugh134...

More

Nothing in Hugh’s early life gives a hint of his later notoriety.  He was born sometime between 1286 and 1290 (by way of comparison, Edward II was born in 1284), the son of Hugh le Despenser the Elder and Isabel, daughter of William Beauchamp, earl of Warwick.  Although not of the highest rank, Hugh was a nobleman; his grandfather and uncle were earls of Warwick, his paternal grandmother was countess of Norfolk, and his half-sister Maud was married to Henry of Lancaster, the nephew of Edward I and the brother-in-law of Philip IV of France.  Edward I himself arranged Hugh’s marriage to Eleanor de Clare (born 1292) in May 1306 – an excellent match for Hugh, as Eleanor was Edward I’s eldest granddaughter.

Hugh’s father was a loyal royal servant all his life, trusted completely by Edward I and often sent on delicate diplomatic missions abroad, and the only man who remained loyal to Edward II for his entire reign.  Although Hugh the Younger grew up in the household of the future Edward II, with nine other young noblemen (including Edward’s first great favourite, Piers Gaveston), for the first few years of Edward’s reign he did not support the king, but aligned himself with the baronial opposition.  Edward II’s feelings about this are unknown – he may have been angry that the young man who had grown up with him, who was the son of Edward’s greatest ........

http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/hugh_de...

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http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Hugh_Le_...