The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the WestRogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
History
The Strife of the Roses and Days of the Tudors in the West
Rogers, W. H. Hamilton (William Henry Hamilton)
Great Britain -- History -- Tudors, 1485-1603; Great Britain -- History -- Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485
Although we have no direct testimony to the contrary in the earlier
stages of the warfare, as to Lord Bonville's then actually throwing in
his lot with the partizans of the White Rose, still the inferential
evidence remaining seems to point to it. The quarrel between Courtenay
and himself, although said to be over a couple of dogs,--if it really
happened as described,--had its basis probably in the absorbing social
questions that then stirred men's hearts to the deepest. A strange and
fierce development of ill-feeling, such as is related, between
neighbours and almost relatives of such distinguished station, could
scarcely arise except over some very weighty cause. Lord Bonville was
then married to the aunt of the Earl Thomas Courtenay he is said to
have fought with, and it is also fairly presumable they were close
neighbours, living within a mile of each other, the one at Shute and
the other at Colcombe. The Earl of Devon had married Margaret Beaufort
daughter of John, Earl of Somerset, and grand-daughter of John of
Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; three of their children were buried at
Colyton, and the beautiful monument in the church is considered to be
the memorial of his wife, the Countess Margaret herself, so the Earl
and his family must have been in residence there about that time.
Beyond this encounter, presumably begotten through the combatants
holding opposite views in the contending factions, we have no direct
evidence for four or five years as to Lord Bonville's active
participation in the fortunes of the White Rose.
Before proceeding further, we had better resume our notes as to the
family relationships following in Lord Bonville's domestic circle, and
their possible influence eventually on him.
William Bonville, Lord Bonville's only son by his first wife, was
probably born about 1416-17, soon after which date his father wedded
his second wife, Elizabeth Courtenay, widow of John, fourth Lord
Harington.
He married about 1440, Elizabeth sole daughter and heir of William,
fifth and last Lord Harington of Aldingham, who died 3 March, 1458,
brother and heir to his stepmother's first husband. One son, William,
was the issue of this marriage; the mother appears to have died in the
lifetime of her father, Lord Harington, for at the _inq. post mortem_
following his death, held April, 1458, this grandson William, son of
his daughter Elizabeth, was found his next heir, and then aged 16
years. The above William Bonville, the father, fell at the battle of
Wakefield, 31 Dec., 1460, fighting on the side of the White Rose.
Between the date of his wife's father's death in March, 1458, and his
own decease in Dec., 1460, he would by courtesy bear the title of Lord
Harington, _jure uxoris_.
William Bonville, only son of the foregoing William Bonville, _jure
uxoris_ Lord Harington, and grandson of Lord Bonville, was born about
1441-2.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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