Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester

Thomas le Despenser was an English nobleman and supporter of Richard II who was created earl of Gloucester in 1397. After Henry IV’s accession he joined the failed Epiphany Rising, was captured by a hostile crowd at Bristol and summarily executed in 1400.

Anne O’Brien’s A Tapestry of Treason is set in 1399 Henry Bolingbroke deposes Richard II and becomes Henry IV. Overturning the position of families whose authority depended on the former king.