James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire (24 November 1420 – 1 May 1461) was an Anglo-Irish

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

and

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

. Butler was a staunch Lancastrian and supporter of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou during the

Wars of the Roses 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 was beheaded by the victorious Yorkists following the

Battle of Towton The Battle of Towton took place on 29 March 1461 during the Wars of the Roses, near Towton in North Yorkshire, and "has the dubious distinction of being probably the largest and bloodiest battle on English soil". Fought for ten hours between ...

Family

James Butler, born on 24 November 1420, was the eldest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, by his first wife, Joan de Beauchamp, Countess of Ormond (d. 3 or 5 August 1430). He had two younger brothers, John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond, and

Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond PC (1426 – 3 August 1515) was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was attainted, but restored by Henry VII's first Parliament in November 1485, and the statutes made at Westminster, by ...

, as well as two sisters, Elizabeth Butler, who married

John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 2nd Earl of Waterford, 8th Baron Talbot, KG (12 DEC 1413 – 10 July 1460) was an English nobleman and soldier. He was the son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, 1st Earl of Waterford, 7th Baron Talbot ...

, and Anne Butler (d. 4 January 1435), who was contracted to marry

Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond Thomas FitzJames FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond (died 1467/68), called 'Thomas of Drogheda', and also known as the Great Earl, was the son of James FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Desmond and Mary de Burgh. He was Lord Deputy of Ireland under the Lieu ...

, although the marriage appears not to have taken place.

Career

He was created

Earl of Wiltshire The title Earl of Wiltshire is one of the oldest in the Peerage of England, going back to the 12th century. It is currently held by the Marquess of Winchester, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the marquess. The earldom was f ...

, in the Peerage of England, by King Henry VI on 8 July 1449, for his fidelity to the Lancastrian interest. In 1451 he became

Lord Deputy The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland. The plural form is '' ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

; the next year he succeeded his father in the Earldom of Ormond and was additionally appointed Lord Lieutenant for ten years. From March to May 1455, he served as

Lord High Treasurer of England The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State i ...

and was made a

Knight of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George ...

in 1459. Butler served as Lord High Treasurer again from 1458 to 1460. Butler's tenure as Lord High Treasurer occurred during the

Great Bullion Famine The Great Bullion Famine was a shortage of precious metals that struck Europe in the 15th century, with the worst years of the famine lasting from 1457 to 1464. During the Middle Ages, gold and silver coins saw widespread use as currency in Eur ...

and the Great Slump in England. By virtue of the rights of his wife, Avice, in the manor of

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in eastern Somerset, England. The town is built on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, and centres on the River Frome. The town, about south of Bath, is the largest in the Mendip d ...

he exercised patronage of the chantry of

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

in the parish church at Frome in appointments made in 1452, 1453 and 1458. When the dynastic civil wars - known as the

- broke out, Wiltshire fought on the Lancastrian side, becoming one of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou's staunchest supporters. He raised a significant force of

Gaelic Irish The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...

troops to serve in England. He was present at the

First Battle of St Albans The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles (35 km) north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses in England. Richard, Duke of York, and his allies, the Neville earls of Salisb ...

in 1455, Battle of Wakefield in 1460,

Battle of Mortimer's Cross The Battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought on 2 February 1461 near Kingsland, Herefordshire (between Leominster and Leintwardine, by the River Lugg), not far from the Welsh border. It was a major battle of the Wars of the Roses. The opposing ...

in 1461 and the

Death

He died on 1 May 1461, beheaded at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

by the Yorkists after the Lancastrian army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Towton. He has been described by Dan Jones (The Hollow Crown) as "perhaps the greatest coward of his generation, (having) previously run away from the first battle of St. Albans and the battle of Mortimer's Cross. He brought his tally to three desertions by abandoning Towton, but this time his luck had run out". He was succeeded by his brother, John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond.

Marriages and children

He married firstly Avice Stafford (1423-1457), daughter and heiress of Sir Richard Stafford by Maud Lovell, daughter and heiress of Robert Lovell, esquire, by whom he had no children. He married secondly

Eleanor Beaufort Lady Eleanor Beaufort (1431 – 16 August 1501) was the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1406-1455), KG, and was a sister of the 3rd and 4th Dukes of Somerset. Origins She was the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somer ...

(1431-1501), daughter of

Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, 4th Earl of Somerset, 1st Earl of Dorset, 1st Marquess of Dorset styled 1st Count of Mortain, KG (140622 May 1455), was an English nobleman and an important figure during the Hundred Years' War. His rival ...

, by

Eleanor Beauchamp Lady Eleanor Beauchamp, Baroness de Ros and Duchess of Somerset (September 1408 – 6 March 1467) was the second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick and Elizabeth de Berkeley, daughter of Thomas de Berkeley, 5th Baron Berkele ...

, daughter of

Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (25 or 28 January 138230 April 1439) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander. Early life Beauchamp was born at Salwarpe Court Richard Gough, ''Description of the Beauchamp chapel, adjoi ...

. The couple had no children.

Appearance and character

The Earl of Wiltshire was described as the most handsome man in the Kingdom and as Gregory records, at the

in 1455, Wiltshire "fought mainly with the heels, for he was frightened of losing his beauty"; prudently he had taken off his armour and hidden it in a ditch, donning a monk's habit.Desmond Seward: "The Wars of the Roses" pp.43-44

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, James Butler, 5th Earl of 1420 births 1461 deaths

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...

Lords Lieutenant of Ireland Lord High Treasurers of England Knights of the Garter People of the Wars of the Roses Executed English people Executed Irish people People executed under the Yorkists 15th-century Irish people People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation Earls of Wiltshire Earls of Ormond (Ireland) Irish soldiers