Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family

A historian’s fascinating account of two centuries in the lives of the powerful Despensers, famed for tragedy and scandal in medieval England.

The Despensers were a baronial English family who rose to great prominence in the reign of Edward II (1307-27) when Hugh Despenser the Younger became the king’s chamberlain, favorite, and perhaps, lover. He and his father Hugh the Elder wielded great influen...