Despenser, Henry
Despenser, Henry (c.1343–1406). Bishop of Norwich (1370–1406). The younger son of a peer, Despenser studied civil law at Oxford. He became bishop in 1370 after serving in a papal war in Italy. In 1381, he was the first magnate to resort to arms against the rebellious commons, rescuing fenland abbeys from their tenants, restoring order in Cambridge and Norwich, and routing an assembly at North Walsham, Norfolk; he had ringleaders hanged. Parliament decided to send an expedition to support Flemish towns in revolt against their pro-French count in 1383, adopting the pretext that this was a crusade against adherents of a schismatic pope. Despenser was given command of this operation, doomed from the start because the towns had already been defeated. On his return, he was impeached for incompetence and his bishopric sequestrated, until 1385. In 1400 his loyalty to Henry IV was suspect, but he avoided open implication in treason.
R. L. Storey
More From encyclopedia.com
NEARBY TERMS
Despenser, Henry
