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James Butler
5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire
Quartered arms of Sir James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire, KG
Born	24 November 1420 Kilkenny, Ireland
Died	1 May 1461(1461-05-01) (aged 40) Newcastle, England
Noble family	Butler
Spouse(s)	Avice Stafford Eleanor Beaufort
Father	James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond
Mother	Joan de Beauchamp

James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire KG (24 November 1420 – 1 May 1461) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman and soldier. Butler was a staunch Lancastrian and supporter of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses. He was beheaded by the victorious Yorkists following the Battle of Towton.

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, as well as two sisters, Elizabeth Butler, who married John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, and Anne Butler (d. 4 January 1435), who was contracted to marry Thomas FitzGerald, 7th Earl of Desmond, although the marriage appears not to have taken place.

Career

He was created Earl of Wiltshire, 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 of Ireland; 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 and was made a Knight of the Garter 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 and the Great Slump in England.

By virtue of the rights of his wife, Avice, in the manor of Frome he exercised patronage of the chantry of St Andrew in the parish church at Frome in appointments made in 1452, 1453 and 1458.

When the dynastic civil wars - known as the Wars of the Roses - 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 troops to serve in England. He was present at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, Battle of Wakefield in 1460, Battle of Mortimer's Cross in 1461 and the Battle of Towton.

Death

He died on 1 May 1461, beheaded at 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 (1431-1501), daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, by Eleanor Beauchamp, daughter of Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick. 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 First Battle of St Albans 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.

See also

• Butler dynasty

Notes

1. Richardson I 2011, pp. 380–3.
2. Richardson I 2011, p. 382.
3. ^ Richardson I 2011, p. 381.
4. Desmond Seward: "The Wars of the Roses" pp.43-44

References

• Ellis, Steven G. (2004). "Butler, John, sixth earl of Ormond (d. 1476/7)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4195. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. I (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 978-1449966379.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Watts, John. "Butler, James". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/4188. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages

v t e English Lord High Treasurers under the House of Lancaster (1399–1461; 1470–1471)
Henry IV (1399–1413)	John Norbury (1399–1401) Laurence Allerthorp (1401–February 1402) Henry Bowet (February–October 1402) Guy Mone (October 1402–1403) William de Ros, 6th Baron Ros (1403–1404) 5th Baron Furnivall (1404–1407) Nicholas Bubwith (1407–1408) John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft (1408–1410) Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (1410–1411) John Pelham (1411–1413)
Henry V (1413–1422)	Thomas FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel (1413–1415) Hugh Mortimer (January–April 1416) Roger Leche (April–November 1416) Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh (December 1416–1421) William Kinwolmarsh (1421–December 1422)
Henry VI (1422–1461) (1470–1471)	John Stafford (1422–1426) Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford (1426–1432) John Scrope (1432–1433) Ralph Cromwell, 3rd Baron Cromwell (1433–1443) Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley (1443–1446) Marmaduke Lumley (1446–1449) James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele (1449–1450) John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Powick (1450–1452) John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester (1452–1455) James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond (March–May 1455) Henry Bourchier, Baron Bourchier (May 1455–1456) John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury (1456–1458) James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond (1458–1460) Henry Bourchier, Baron Bourchier (1460–1461) John Langstrother (October 1470–April 1471)

v t e Wars of the Roses
Red Rose of Lancaster White Rose of York Tudor rose Family tree
Key figures	Monarchs Henry VI Edward IV Edward V Richard III Henry VII Lancaster Tudor Margaret of Anjou, Queen of England Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset John Beaumont, Viscount Beaumont Henry Beaufort, Duke of Somerset John Sutton, 1st Baron Dudley James Butler, Earl of Ormond John Butler, Earl of Ormond John Clifford, Baron Clifford John Courtenay, Earl of Devon Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter John Neville, Baron Neville John Neville, Marquess of Montagu Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick Thomas Neville, Bastard of Fauconberg Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland Thomas Ros, Baron Ros Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham Thomas Stanley, Earl of Derby George Stanley, Baron Strange William Stanley George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury Andrew Trollope Thomas Clifford, 8th Baron Clifford James Tuchet, Baron Audley Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke Margaret Beaufort Owen Tudor Edward Woodville, Lord Scales York Anne Neville, Queen of England John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln Thomas FitzGerald, Earl of Desmond William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke William Hastings, Baron Hastings John Howard, Duke of Norfolk Francis Lovell, Viscount Lovell John Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk Richard Neville, Earl of Salisbury Sir Thomas Neville William Neville, Earl of Kent Sir Richard Herbert Edmund Plantagenet, Earl of Rutland George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon Margaret of York Richard of York
Events	St Albans (First) Loveday (1458) Blore Heath Ludford Bridge Sandwich Siege of the Tower of London Northampton Worksop Wakefield Mortimer's Cross St Albans (Second) Ferrybridge Towton Piltown Hedgeley Moor Hexham Edgcote 1470 Lincolnshire Rebellion Losecoat Field Readeption of Henry VI Barnet Tewkesbury Siege of London Buckingham's rebellion Bosworth Field Stafford and Lovell rebellion Stoke Field
See also	Act of Accord Issue of Edward III of England Titulus Regius Princes in the Tower Bonville–Courtenay feud Percy–Neville feud Neville–Neville feud Perkin Warbeck Battle of Deal Second Cornish uprising of 1497
Briefly joined the Lancastrians. Briefly joined the Yorkists. Defected from the Yorkist to the Lancastrian cause. Initially a Yorkist who later supported the Tudor claim. Initially a Lancastrian who later supported the Tudor claim. Category

• 1420 births
• 1461 deaths
• Butler dynasty
• Lords Lieutenant of Ireland
• Lord high treasurers of England
• Knights of the Garter
• People of the Wars of the Roses
• Executed English people
• Executed people from County Kilkenny
• 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