Sir William Compton (c. 1482 – 30 June 1528) was a soldier and one of the most prominent
courtier
A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official ...
s during the reign of
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
.
Family and early life
Compton was born around 1482, the only son and heir of Edmund Compton of
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
and Joan, the daughter of Walter Aylworth. He was around eleven years of age when his father died in 1493, at which time he became a ward of
Henry VII, who appointed him page to Prince Henry,
Duke of York. He was about nine years older than Henry, but the two became close friends.
Marriage and issue
He married firstly, in May 1512, Werburga, the daughter of Sir John Brereton and Katherine Berkeley, and widow of Sir Francis Cheyney. They had a son and at least two daughters:
* Peter Compton (1523 – 1544), the eldest son and heir, aged six at his father's death, became the ward of cardinal
Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...
. He married Anne, daughter of
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury
George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury, 4th Earl of Waterford, 10th Baron Talbot, KG, KB, PC (c. 1468 – 26 July 1538) was the son of John Talbot, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lady Catherine Stafford, daughter of the 1st Duke of Buckingham. He ...
and by her, had a son,
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
who was created
Baron Compton
Baron Compton is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England, meaning that inheritance of the title stopped because there was no legal priority as to which daughter would inherit the title. The title was created in 1572 for the Tudor politician, ...
by
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...
. Henry's son,
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
was made
Earl of Northampton
Earl of Northampton is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times.
Earls of Northampton, First Creation (1071)
* Waltheof (d. 1076)
* Maud, Queen of Scotland (c.1074–1130/31)
*Simon II de Senlis (1103–1153)
* Simon I ...
by
James I James I may refer to:
People
*James I of Aragon (1208–1276)
*James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327)
*James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu
*James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347)
*James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
.
He married secondly, after 8 May 1522, Elizabeth Stonor, the daughter of Sir
Walter Stonor
Sir Walter Stonor (died 1551) was the son of Thomas Stoner of North Stoke, Oxfordshire and Sybilla, the daughter of Sir David Brecknock. He was a Knight of the Body and appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London on 29 September 1546. He had at ...
and by her had at least one child.
Career
On Henry's accession in 1509, he was given the position of
Groom of the Stool, the man who was in closest contact with the young king. The Groom waited on the king while he used the
latrine
A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...
or
close stool
A close stool was an early type of portable toilet, made in the shape of a cabinet or box at sitting height with an opening in the top. The external structure contained a pewter or earthenware chamberpot to receive the user's excrement and urine ...
, and was also in charge of linen and the King's clothes, jewels and tableware. One of his duties, according to the courtier
Elizabeth Amadas, was to procure women for his monarch and arrange trysts with them at his
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
home, in Thames Street. Compton was also the
steward, or administrator, of several royal manors.
Compton was
knighted 25 September 1513 at
Tournai, following the
Battle of the Spurs
The Battle of the Spurs or (Second) Battle of Guinegate (, "Day of the Spurs"; ''deuxième bataille de Guinegatte'') took place on 16 August 1513. It formed a part of the War of the League of Cambrai, during the Italian Wars. Henry VIII and ...
. He had been able to muster 578 soldiers for the campaign in France from the manors he stewarded, almost as many as all the other members of the
Privy chamber
A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England.
The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...
raised in total. In 1521 he was present at Henry VIII's meeting with
Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold
The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English ...
and at
Gravelines
Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. As ...
for the king's interview with
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
. Compton served on the Scottish borders under the
Earl of Surrey
Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror. It is currently held as a subsidiary title by the Dukes of Norfol ...
in 1523, and this appears to have been the only time he was far from the court. It was thought that his rival
Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...
contrived his being sent there, hoping to diminish his influence over the king.
Although he was not a politician, Compton ultimately acquired significant influence over Henry when it came to granting land and favours to the
aristocracy, and made a fortune himself. The offices he held included:
*
Groom of the Bedchamber
* Chief
Gentleman of the Bedchamber
* Chief Ranger of
Windsor Great Park
Windsor Great Park is a Royal Park of , including a deer park, to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. It is adjacent to the private Home Park, which is nearer the castle. The park was, for man ...
*
Groom of the Stool
*
Constable of
Gloucester Castle
Gloucester Castle was a Norman-era royal castle situated in the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire, England. It was demolished in 1787 and replaced by Gloucester Prison.
Early Norman motte and bailey castle
It was probably constructed ...
* Constable of
Sudeley Castle
* Constable of
Warwick Castle
Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-an ...
*
Chancellor of Ireland, 1513–1516
*
Usher of the Black Rod
Black Rod (officially known as the Lady Usher of the Black Rod or, if male, the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod) is an official in the parliaments of several Commonwealth countries. The position originates in the House of Lords of the Parlia ...
, 4 February 1513
*
Sheriff of Hampshire, 1512–1513
*
Sheriff of Somersetshire and Dorsetshire, 1513–1514
*
High Sheriff of Worcestershire
This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire.
The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of t ...
, 1516 to 1528
* Under-treasurer of the Exchequer, 1525
Anne Stafford
In 1510, Compton was involved in a public row with
Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham over Henry's affair with the Duke's married sister,
Lady Anne Hastings. Around 1519, Compton became involved with Anne himself. In 1521, Henry sent Compton to arrest Anne's brother, the Duke of Buckingham, who was later executed for treason.
Death
In his will, which was dated 8 March 1523, Compton made provisions for Lady Hastings, his first wife, Werburga and his children. His will was made while his first wife was still living and not updated to provide for his second wife, Elizabeth, who was expecting a child at the time of his death. He died 30 June 1528 of the
sweating sickness
Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning ...
which killed several courtiers including
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
's brother-in-law,
William Carey. He was buried in the chapel at
Compton Wynyates
Compton Wynyates is a Tudor country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellated and turreted in parts. Following actio ...
.
His widow, Elizabeth, was still attempting to claim her
jointure
Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the de ...
at the time of her second marriage to Walter Walshe, a page of the Privy chamber in November 1529, and the matter had not been resolved by June 1538, when her father wrote to
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...
on his daughter's behalf: "We both desire your Lordship's favour in her causes, else she is like to be wronged".
Fictional portrayals
A fictionalized
William Compton was portrayed by
Kris Holden-Ried in 2007 on the
Showtime
Showtime or Show Time may refer to:
Film
* ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film
* ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur
Television Networks and channels
* Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...
television series ''
The Tudors
''The Tudors'' is a historical fiction television series set primarily in 16th-century England, created and written by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime. The series was a collaboration among ...
'', loosely based upon the reign of Henry VIII. He was portrayed by
Luke Mullins in 2019 on the
Starz television series ''
The Spanish Princess
''The Spanish Princess'' is a historical drama television limited series developed by Emma Frost and Matthew Graham for Starz. Based on the novels ''The Constant Princess'' (2005) and ''The King's Curse'' (2014) by Philippa Gregory, it is a seque ...
'', loosely based upon the life of Catherine of Aragon.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
All the King's Men: Sir William Compton - Part IA biography
Sir William Compton, KntSir William Compton's will in ''Testamenta Vetusta,'' volume II, pp. 591–594
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compton, William
1482 births
1528 deaths
People from Warwickshire
15th-century English people
Lord chancellors of Ireland
High Sheriffs of Hampshire
High Sheriffs of Somerset
High Sheriffs of Dorset
High Sheriffs of Worcestershire
Ushers of the Black Rod
English courtiers
English knights
Deaths from sweating sickness
Grooms of the Stool
Knights Bachelor
Court of Henry VIII