View source for James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond

{{Short description|Anglo-Irish nobleman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox noble
| name         = James Butler
| title        = 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire
| image        = Coat of Arms of Sir James Butler, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, KG.png
| image_size   = 240px
| caption      = Quartered arms of Sir James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire, KG
| noble family = [[Butler dynasty|Butler]]
| father       = [[James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond]]
| mother       = [[Joan Butler, Countess of Ormond|Joan de Beauchamp]]
| spouse       = Avice Stafford<br />[[Eleanor Beaufort]]
| issue        =
| birth_date   = 24 November 1420
| birth_place  = [[Kilkenny]], Ireland
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1461|05|01|1420|11|24|df=yes}}
| death_place  = [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]], England
| burial_place =
}}
'''James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, Earl of Wiltshire''' {{postnominals|country=GBR|KG}} (24 November 1420 – 1 May 1461) was an [[Old English (Ireland)|Anglo-Irish]] [[nobleman]] and [[soldier]]. Butler was a staunch [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] and supporter of [[List of English consorts|Queen consort]] [[Margaret of Anjou]] during the [[Wars of the Roses]]. He was beheaded by the victorious [[House of York|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.{{sfn|Richardson I|2011|pp=380-3}}
==Career==
[[Image:Ireland 1450.png|thumb|right|200px|Ireland in 1450 showing the Earldom of Ormond.]]
He was created [[Earl of Wiltshire]], in the [[Peerage of England]], by King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] on 8 July 1449, for his fidelity to the [[House of Lancaster|Lancastrian]] interest. In 1451 he became [[Lord Deputy]] of [[Ireland]]; the next year he succeeded his father in the [[Earl of Ormond (Ireland)|Earldom of Ormond]] and was additionally appointed [[Lord Lieutenant]] for ten years. From March to May 1455, he served as [[Lord High Treasurer|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 (15th century)|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 upon Tyne|Newcastle]] by the [[House of York|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]].{{sfn|Richardson I|2011|p=382}}
==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.{{sfn|Richardson I|2011|p=381}}
He married secondly [[Eleanor Beaufort]] (1431-1501), daughter of [[Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset]], by [[Eleanor Beauchamp, Duchess of Somerset|Eleanor Beauchamp]], daughter of [[Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick]]. The couple had no children.{{sfn|Richardson I|2011|p=381}}
==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.<ref>Desmond Seward: "The Wars of the Roses" pp.43-44</ref>
==See also==
* [[Butler dynasty]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==References==
*{{cite ODNB |last=Ellis |first=Steven G. |year=2004 |title=Butler, John, sixth earl of Ormond (d. 1476/7) |id=4195}}
*{{Cite book |last=Richardson |first=Douglas |year=2011 |title=Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families |editor-first=Kimball G. |editor-last=Everingham |location=Salt Lake City |edition=2nd |volume=I |ref={{sfnref |Richardson I |2011}} |isbn=978-1449966379 }}
*{{Cite ODNB |last=Watts |first=John |id=4188 |title=Butler, James}}
*{{Rayment|date=February 2012}}
{{S-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester|John Tiptoft]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord High Treasurer]]|years=1455}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex|Henry Bourchier]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury|John Talbot]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Lord High Treasurer]]|years=1458-1460}}
{{s-reg|ie}}
{{succession box|before=[[James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond|James Butler]]|after=[[John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond|John Butler]]|title=[[Earl of Ormond (Ireland)|Earl of Ormond]]|years=1452–1461}}
{{s-end}}
{{House of Lancaster Lord High Treasurers}}{{Wars of the Roses}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, James Butler, 5th Earl of}}
[[Category:1420 births]]
[[Category:1461 deaths]]
[[Category:Butler dynasty|James]]
[[Category:Lords Lieutenant of Ireland]]
[[Category:Lord high treasurers of England]]
[[Category:Knights of the Garter]]
[[Category:People of the Wars of the Roses]]
[[Category:Executed English nobility]]
[[Category:Executed people from County Kilkenny]]
[[Category:People executed under the Yorkists]]
[[Category:15th-century Irish nobility]]
[[Category:People executed under the Plantagenets by decapitation]]
[[Category:Earls of Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Earls of Ormond (Ireland)]]
[[Category:Irish soldiers]]