DESPENSER 279 granted, 28 Sep. following, the manors of Elmley Castle, Elmley Lovett, dfj'c, CO. Worcester, forfeited by the Earl of Warwick, and the manor of Medmenham, Bucks, forfeited by the Earl of Arundel, to him and his wife Constance and the heirs male of his body: and was appointed Constable of the Castles of Gloucester and St. Briavels, and W^arden of the Forest of Dean, for life.(') Next day, 29 Sep. 1397, he was cr., in Pari., EARL OF GLOUCESTER, and girded with his sword in the usual way.(^) Subsequently, on petition in the same Pari., he obtained the reversal of the sentence of disheritance and exile (pronounced 15 Edw. II, re-affirmed I Edw. Ill) on his ancestors, Hugh the elder and Hugh the younger:() whereby any Baronies, that may be supposed to have been created by the writs of 1295 and 13 14, became vested in him. In 1398 he had the foresight to obtain licence to convey some 20 manors to feoffees. C") K.G. in or before Apr. 1399. He accompanied the King to Ireland in May I399,() returning with him in July, being one of those for whose safety the King obtained a guarantee. (■=) Nevertheless, he was chosen as one of the proxies — he representing "Dukes and Erles " — to notify Richard II of his deposi- tion. (') He was sum. to Pari. 30 Nov. (1396) 20 Ric. II to 30 Sep. (1399) I Hen. IV, by writs directed Thome le Despenser, with the addition of Comiti Gloucestrie on and after 5 Nov. 1397. He was sent to the Tower, 20 Oct. 1399, and was brought thence in custody, and examined in Pari, before the King and the Council, Wednesday, 29 Oct., as one of the eight appellants mentioned above, concerning his complicity in the murder of the Duke of Gloucester, but he declared that he knew nothing about the Duke's for the occasion in uniform suits " rubiarum togarum de cerico rotulatarum et albo serico Uteris aureis immixtarum " (Adam of Usk, p. 1 2), they enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The St. Alban's Chronicler {AnnaUs Ricardi II, p. 215) relates that when the Earl of Arundel, in the course of his trial, gave a sarcastic reply, " tunc appellantes octo stantes ex opposite projectis chirothecis prosequebantur appeliacionem suam parum ante lectam, et offerentes se duello pro assercione appeliacionis sue, corporisque gesticulacionibus et indecoris saltacionibus, se magis representabant tortores theatrales quam milites vel viros sobrios: sed uhra omnes Comes Cancie, sororis sue filius, ridiculose se commovit." For their spirited conduct they were rewarded by being created, ail on one day, the first four, dukes, the fifth, a marquess, and the last two, earls. (*) Patent Roll, 21 Ric. II, p. I, mm. 6, I : Pari. Rolls, vol. iii, pp. 355, 360-367. () Licence dated 18 Oct. (Ch. Privy Seals, I, file 577, no. 12429: Patent Roll, 22 Ric. II, p. 1, m. 1). By his charter, dated i Feb. 21 Ric. II, Thomas le Despenser, Earl of Gloucester, released to Roger de Mortemer, Earl of March and Ulster, all his rights in the castle, lordship, vill, manor, and honour of Denbigh, the cantreds of Rhos, Rhyfiniog, and Kinmerch, the commote of Dinmael, the castles and lordships of Usk, Caerleon, Tregreg, Trelleck, Clifford, and Glasbury, and all the other lands, is'c, that Edmund, father of the said Roger, had held, or the said Roger then held, which formerly belonged to the Lord Hugh Despenser hessaiel of the said Earl of Gloucester, or to any of the ancestors of the same Earl. {Cartulary of the Earls of March, Addit. MSS., no. 6041, f. 37). (■=) Patent Roll, 22 Ric. II, /. 3, m. 37: Annales Ricardi II, pp. 250, 278, 279: Pari. Rolls, vol. iii, pp. 422-424: Chron. of London, edit. Kingsford, p. 41.
