Hugh le Despencer, 2nd Baron le Despencer’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Hugh le Despencer, 2nd Baron le Despencer (1308–1349), Lord of Glamorgan, was the eldest son and heir of Hugh the younger Despenser, son of Hugh the elder Despenser. His father and grandfather were both executed in 1326. His mother was Eleanor de Clare, suo jure Lord of Glamorgan, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre. Through his mother, Hugh was a great grandson of King Edward I. He married Elizabeth Montague (d.1359), and both are buried in Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire, which abbey was founded by Robert Fitzhamon (d.1107), the first Norman feudal baron of Gloucester and Lord of Glamorgan.

Death and inheritance

Hugh was restored to his grandfather’s title of Baron le Despencer in 1338. He died without issue in 1349. His heir was his nephew, Edward le Despenser, who was created Baron le Despencer of a new creation in 1375.

In fiction

Hugh is the protagonist portrayed in the 2007 historical fiction novel Hugh and Bess, by author Susan Higginbotham.

Ancestry