Katie Dungate – ‘He was an earl, all Wales was his’: William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke – 1461-1468.

Описание: Katie Dungate – ‘He was an earl, all Wales was his’: William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke – power, politics and support for the Yorkists in Wales, 1461-1468.
William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke (c. 1423-1469) is one of the forgotten men of the Wars of the Roses. Born in Raglan, south Wales Herbert’s career was meteoric, he rose from a knight to earl in only eight years and became a highly influential adviser to Edward IV. Feted by Welsh poets but loathed by the premier “overmighty subject” of England, Richard Nevill, Earl of Warwick, William Herbert’s story is one of a remarkable and ambitious man whose tactical skill and cultural identity made him ‘a bold lord with sword and dart / and keeper of Edward’s peace’ in Wales throughout the 1460s. Herbert was integral to the success of Edward IV, firstly in his ability to stir up trouble in Wales and the Marches for Richard, Duke of York in the late 1450s, and then later at the battle of Mortimer’s Cross and the ‘cleansing’ of Wales during the 1460s.

In this talk, the life of William Herbert will be outlined from the battle of Mortimer’s Cross in 1461, through to the pinnacle of his career, when Edward IV made him Earl of Pembroke in 1468 (the first Welshman in generations to enter the peerage). By the end of his life, nearly all the judicial offices of Wales were held by Herbert himself or one of his family or affinity. His pre-eminence in Wales was born of Edward IV’s trust and respect for him but also from Herbert’s effectiveness at pushing the Lancastrian resistance to a small corner of Wales. How and why did a man from the little understood and little trusted Wales become someone who ‘In the council the decision goes / in every matter according to the tall man’s opinion’ in Edward IV’s government?

Using government records, Welsh poetry and remaining examples of the material culture of Herbert’s life, the chronology of his career on behalf of the Yorkists in Wales, and occasionally in England, will be presented. The focus will be on what he did and how this was remarkable in the context not only of the Wars of the Roses but within his status as a Welshman favoured by an English king.

Katie Dungate completed a Masters in Medieval Studies at King’s College, London in September 2024. Her dissertation for that course focused on William Herbert and Richard Nevill, Earl of Warwick’s battle for supremacy in Edward IV’s government of the 1460s. Prior to that, in July 2021 Katie completed a BA in Art History and History with the Open University which turned her passion for the material, visual and written culture of European medieval and early modern society into an academic qualification.