William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (5 March 145116 July 1491) was an English nobleman and politician.

Early life

He was the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and

Anne Devereux Anne Devereux, Countess of Pembroke (c. 1430 – after 25 June 1486), was an English noblewoman, who was Countess of Pembroke during the 15th century by virtue of marriage to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. She was born in Bodenham, t ...

. His paternal grandparents were

William ap Thomas Sir William ap Thomas (died 1445) was a Welsh nobleman, politician, knight, and courtier. He was a member of the Welsh gentry family that came to be known as the Herbert family through his son William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (8th creati ...

and

Gwladys Saint Gwladys ferch Brychan () or St Gladys ( la, Gladusa), daughter of King Brychan of Brycheiniog, was the queen of the saint-king Gwynllyw Milwr and the mother of Cadoc "the Wise", whose ''Vita'' may be the earliest saint's life to mention ...

, daughter of

Dafydd Gam Dafydd ap Llewelyn ap Hywel (c. 1380 – 25 October 1415), better known as Dafydd Gam, anglicized to David or Davy Gam, was a Welsh warrior, a prominent opponent of Owain Glyndŵr. He died at the Battle of Agincourt fighting for Henry V, King o ...

, and his maternal grandparents were Walter Devereux, Lord Chancellor of Ireland and

Elizabeth Merbury Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS Elizabeth, HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * Elisa ...

. He succeeded his father in the

earldom Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant " chieftain", particula ...

in 1469. In 1479, he was forced by Edward IV to surrender the earldom with its accompanying lands in Wales to Edward's son, the future Edward V, and was created

Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Huntingdon is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. The medieval title (1065 creation) was associated with the ruling house of Scotland ( David of Scotland). The seventh and most recent creation dates t ...

. William had hoped to restore to his family the Earldom of Pembroke. Awarding lands in the south-west of England meant that Edward had moved the family influence out of Wales. A

Yorkist The House of York was a cadet branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet. Three of its members became kings of England in the late 15th century. The House of York descended in the male line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, t ...

, he married

Mary Woodville Mary Woodville, Countess of Pembroke (c. 1456–1481) was a sister of Edward IV's Queen consort, Elizabeth Woodville, and of Anthony Woodville, 2nd Earl Rivers. She later became the first wife of William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, by whom ...

, sister of the queen, Elizabeth Woodville, and they had one daughter,

Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert Elizabeth Herbert, 3rd Baroness Herbert (c. 1476 – 27 August 1507) was the sole heir and daughter of William Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, and his first wife, Mary Woodville. Her father died on 16 July 1491, and she inherited extensive ...

Later career

Herbert remained loyal to Richard III. After the

rebellion of 1483 The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...

he received the post of Chief Justice of South Wales, which had been the

Duke of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

's. After his marriage to his second wife, Katherine, an illegitimate daughter of Richard III in 1484, he received an annuity of some £1,000 pounds a year, nearly doubling his income.Charles Ross, ''Richard III'', (University of California Press, 1981), 158. Katherine is presumed to have died by 1487, because when William participated in the coronation of his first wife's niece,

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which mark ...

, he was noted to have been a widower. When Henry of Richmond landed in south Wales in 1485 Herbert's position forced Henry to take a roundabout route into England. It is likely that a Herbert agent first notified Richard III of Henry's landing.Charles Ross, ''Richard III'', 211. Herbert did not, however, fight at Bosworth.

Death and succession

When he died, his only child, Elizabeth Herbert, received the Herbert lands, including

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle ( cy, Castell Rhaglan) is a late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th centuries, when the succ ...

, but not his title. However, his earldom did not pass to his younger brother, Walter Herbert, as it had already been merged into the crown. The earldom would however be granted again to the Herbert family in 1551 as the tenth creation to his nephew, Sir William Herbert, the son of

Sir Richard Herbert Sir Richard Herbert (died 1510) of Ewyas, Herefordshire, was a Welsh knight, gentleman, landowner, and courtier. He was an illegitimate son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1423–1469), and Maud ap Howell Graunt, a daughter of Adam a ...

, an illegitimate son of William's father. The Herbert family today still retains the earldom of Pembroke, among others.

Notes

References

*Cokayne, George E. ''Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, or Dormant.'' London: G. Bell & Sons, 1887. (p. 207
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Retrieved May 4, 2008 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembroke, William Herbert, 02nd Earl Of 1451 births 1491 deaths William Herbert, 02nd Earl of Pembroke 2

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 ...

15th-century English people People of the Tudor period Earls of Huntingdon