Henry Bodrugan

Sir Henry Bodrugan of Restonget (also Henry Bodryngam , * around 1430 † 1487 ) was an English knight .

Life

Henry was a son of William Bodrugan. He was an influential and wealthy landowner from Restronguet in southern Cornwall and sympathized with Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and the House of York . His life was like that of a bandit, a criminal who began to terrorize Cornwall in the late 1440s. The list of robberies, robberies and involvement in murder cases is endless. There have also been a number of cases where Henry Bodrugan threatened to force people to change their wills in his favor and he embezzled funds from royal commissions that he was entrusted with. For example, in 1449 he was accused of instigating two of his men to murder Thomas Brown. A year later he raided the lands of Laurence Trewonwall and in 1455 some of his feudal men were said to have murdered John Fortescue at his behest. In 1459, due to the innumerable complaints and petitions, Parliament passed an Act of Parliament and ordered Bodrugan's imprisonment, which was never implemented.

In the years that followed, Bodrugan did not cease his criminal activities and continued unabated. Often the victims were too intimidated and were afraid to take action against Bodrugan and still countless petitions reached parliament. Over the years he was ostracized several times and yet again received pardon . In 1474 the king even imposed a Bill of Attainder on Henry Bodrugan, but here too pardon was ultimately granted again .

Bodrugan was simply too important and influential for King Edward IV in Cornwall , so that he repeatedly managed to avoid punishment and he was even given many commissions that he continued to use for his embezzlement.

In October 1473 he was commissioned to besiege and liberate St. Michael's Mount , which was occupied by John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford . Here, too, Henry found a way to generate a benefit for himself by selling food to the besieged and thus delaying the siege in order to make a profit. Bodrugan was withdrawn from the siege due to the lack of success.

On April 18, 1475, as part of the celebrations for the investiture of the heir to the throne, Eduard Plantagenet , as Prince of Wales , Henry Bodrugan received the accolade as Knight of the Bath .

When in 1483 Richard III. seized the crown, Sir Henry had a loyal and uncompromising supporter. Sir Henry helped put down the uprising known as the Buckingham Rebellion in 1483 . For this he was rewarded with rebel lands. Bodrugan was also tasked with confiscating and imprisoning the estate and lands of his rival Richard Edgcumbe , a Lancaster supporter and insurgent in the rebellion. Sir Henry then raided the Edgcumbes estate.

In August 1485 Sir Henry fought for his king at the Battle of Bosworth and was given a Bill of Attainder by the victorious Henry VII .

His rival Richard Edgcumbe was ordered to arrest Sir Henry and confiscate his property. But when he saw the approaching rival, he fled and saved himself by jumping over a cliff, where a boat was waiting to take him into exile. This place on the cliff is still called Bodrugan's Leap today. Sir Henry joined the rebellion of Lambert Simnel and John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln in 1487, and was present at Simnel's coronation on May 24th in Dublin.

Then Sir Henry fought Henry VII in the final battle of the Wars of the Roses at Stoke and most likely fell. However, some sources report that he only died in 1488/89.

Marriage and offspring

Sir Henry was married twice. First marriage to Jane, daughter of Sir William Courteney and widow of Sir William Beaumont.

The couple had a son who was born out of wedlock while Jane was still married to William Beaumont.

• John Beaumont

Second marriage to Margaret, daughter of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke and widow of Sir Thomas Talbot, 2nd Viscount Lisle

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} John McLean: The Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor Cornwall , Nichols & Sons London 1873, pp. 551/552
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n} Peter Bramley: A Companion and Guide to the Wars of the Roses , The History Press 2011, ISBN 978-0-752-49691-7
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s} David Baldwin: Stoke Field: The Last Battle of the Wars of the Roses , Pen & Sword 2006, ISBN 978-1-781-59693-7
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} John C. Appleby: Outlaws in medieval and early modern England , Routledge 2016, ISBN 978-1-317-08464-8 , pp. 136–142
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Charles Derek Ross: Edward IV. , University of California Press 1974, ISBN 978-0-520-02781-7 , p. 410/411
6. ↑ ^{a b} James Ross: The Foremost Man in the Kingdom: John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford , Boydell & Brewer Ltd. 2015, ISBN 978-1-783-27005-7 , p. 74
7. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Terry Breverton: Henry VII the Maligned Tudor King , Amberley Publishing Ltd. 2016, ISBN 978-1-445-64606-0
8. ^ ^{A b} Mathew Lewis: The Wars of the Roses: Key Players in the Struggle for Supremacy , Amberley Publishing 2015, ISBN 978-1-445-64636-7
9. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 1, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 136.
10. ^ ^{A b c} John Ashdown-Hill: The Dublin King: The True Story of Edward Earl of Warwick, Lambert Simnel and the Princes in the Tower , The History Press 2015, ISBN 978-0-750-96316-9
11. ↑ ^{a b} Richard III. Foundation Inc. ( Memento of the original from January 22nd, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
12. ^ ^{A b} Daniel and Samuel Lyson: Magna Britannia Vol. III. , T. Cadell London 1814, p. 123
13. ^ ^{A b c} Towton Battlefield Society