Name Suffix:<NSFX> [BARON LE DESPEN
Ancestral File Number:<AFN> GS5K-M8
Hugh le Despenser ("The Younger Despenser"), 1st Lord (Baron) le Despenser of the 29 July 1314 creation, KB, associated with his father in the period of ascendancy over Edward II in the early 1320's but reckoned more deserving than his father of the hatred of the generality of the baronial class; convicted as a traitor and hanged 29 Nov 1326, when all his honours were forfeited. [Burke's Peerage]
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Hugh and his father were favorites of King Edward II (a weak king) and helped him throw off the mastery of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster. Edward's reliance on the Despenser's drew the ire of his wife Isabel. She had become the mistress of Roger de Mortimer while on a diplomatic mission to France. In September 1326 the couple invaded England, executed the Despensers, and deposed Edward II in favor of his son, Edward III. Isabel was rumored to be involved in her husband Edward II's murder. See Encyclopedia Britannica, Edward II.