Lanercost Chronicle. [27 Oct 1326]. Shortly afterwards Sir Hugh Despenser (age 65) the elder, Earl of Winchester, was captured, and drawn at Bristol in his coat of arms (so that those arms should never again be borne in England), and afterwards hanged and then beheaded.

Froissart Book 1 Chapter 12. When the queen (age 31) and her barons and all her company were lodged at their ease, then they besieged the castle [Map] as near as they might. The queen caused sir Hugh Spencer (age 65) the elder and the earl of Arundel (age 41) to be brought forth before Edward her son (age 13) and all the barons that were there present, and said how that she and her son should take right and law on them according to their deserts. Then sir Hugh Spencer said, 'Madam, God be to you a good judge and give you good judgment¹, and if we cannot have it in this world, I pray God we may have it in another.' Then stept forth Sir Thomas Wake (age 29), a good knight and marshal of the host, and there openly he recounted their deeds in writing, and then turned him to another ancient knight to the intent that he should bring him on that case fauty¹, and to declare what should be done with such persons, and what judgment they should have for such causes. Then the said knight counselled with other barons and knights, and so reported their opinions, the which was, how they had well deserved death for divers horrible deeds, the which they have commised, for all the trespass rehearsed before to justify to be of truth;³ wherefore they have deserved for the diversities of their trespasses to have judgment in three divers manners-first, to be drawn, and after to be headed, and then to be hanged on the gibbet. This in likewise as they were judged so it was done and executed before the castle of Bristow [Map] in the sight of the king and of sir Hugh Spencer the younger (age 40). This judgment was done in the year of our Lord MCCCXXVI., on Saint Denis' day in October [Note. Saint Denis' day is 09 Oct not 27 Oct?].

Note 1. This should be, 'God give us a good judge and good judgment '; but Verard's edition, from which the translation was made, has 'vous' for 'nous.'

Note 2. This appears to mean, ' To the intent that he should find him guilty on the charge' ('fauty' for 'faulty'); but the original means, 'To the intent that he should declare upon his fealty (féaulté) what should be done with such persons,' etc.

Note 3. Or rather as follows: 'That the accused had well deserved death for divers horrible deeds which they had heard in that place rehearsed, and held them for true and manifest.'

On 27 Oct 1326 Hugh "Elder" Despencer 1st Earl Winchester (age 65) was hanged at Bristol, Gloucestershire [Map]. Earl Winchester, Baron Despencer forfeit as a result of attainder.

Adam Murimuth Continuation. [17 Nov 1326]. Lord Hugh Despenser the Younger (age 40), Robert de Baldock, and Simon of Reading were brought to the Queen, who was at Hereford. However, before their arrival, the Earl of Arundel (age 41), John Daniel, and Thomas de Micheldever were beheaded in Hereford through the agency of Lord Roger Mortimer (age 39), who harbored a deep hatred for them and whose advice the Queen followed in all matters.

Dominum vero Hugonem Dispenser filium, Robertum de Baldok, et Simonem de Redynges ad reginam, que fuit Herefordiæ, conduxerunt. Sed ante eorum adventum fuerunt decollati Herefordiæ comes de Arundel, Johannes Daniel, et Thomas de Michedeure, per procurationem domini Rogeri de Mortuo mari, qui perfecto odio oderat illos et cujus consilium regina per omnia sequebatur.

The Brut. [17 Nov 1326]. And þis Symond, for encheson þat he despisede þe Quene Isabel, he was draw and hongede on a stage made in mydes þe forsaide Sir Hughes galwes. And þe same day, a litil fro þens, was Sir Iohn [Edmund] of Arundel (age 41) biheuede; for he was on of Sir Hugh þe Spensers conseilers. And anone after wa[s] Sir Hug[h] þe Spenser draw & hongede, & biheuedede at Bristow, and after hongede aȝeyn bi þe Armes bi ij strong ropes; and þe iiij day after, he was hew al to peces; & hundes eten him. And for þat enchesoun þat þe Kyng hade ȝeuen him þe Erldom of Winchestre, his heede was lad þider, and put oppon a spere; and þe false Baldok was sent to London, & þere he deide in prisone amonges þeues, for men dede him no more reuerence þan me wolde do vnto an hunde: and so deide the traitours of Engeland, blissede be Almyghty.

Lanercost Chronicle. [17 Nov 1326]. After a short interval the Earl of Arundel (age 41) was captured likewise. He had married the daughter of Sir Hugh the younger¹, and had been, with Hugh, one of the king's counsellors. He was condemned to death in secret, as it were, and afterwards beheaded. Meanwhile all who were captives and prisoners in England on account of their adherence to the oft-mentioned Earl of Lancaster were released, and the exiles were recalled, and their lands and heritages, whereof they had been disinherited, were restored to them in full ; wherefore they joined the party of the queen and her son eagerly and gladly.

Note. This is a mistake. Edmund Fitzalan 9th Earl of Arundel married Alice Warenne Countess Arundel daughter of William Warenne. It was Edmund' son Richard (age 20) who had married Isabel (age 14), daughter of Hugh "Younger" Despencer 1st Baron Despencer (age 40).

On 17 Nov 1326 Edmund Fitzalan 9th Earl of Arundel (age 41) was beheaded at Hereford [Map]. Earl Arundel Sussex forfeit. According to the Llandaff Chronicle he was executed by a "worthless wretch" ("villissimi ribaldi") with a blunt sword requiring twenty-two strokes although I have been unable to find a copy of the Chronicle to confirm this story. He was initially buried at the Franciscan Church, Hereford, subsequently reburied at his family's traditional place of burial Haughmond Abbey [Map].

The Brut. [24 Nov 1326]. And oppon þe morwe was Sir Hugh þe Spenser (age 40) þe sone dampnede to deþ; and was draw and hongede, biheuedet, & his boweiles taken out of his body, and his bowelles brent. And after he was quarterede, & his quarteres sent to iiij tounes of Engeland, and his heuede sent to London Brigge.

Froissart Book 1 Chapter 13. 24 Nov 1326. WHEN this feast was done, then sir Hugh Spencer (age 40), who was nothing beloved, was brought forth before the queen (age 31) and all the lords and knights, and there before him in writing was rehearsed all his deeds, against the which he could give no manner of answer. And so he was then judged by plain sentence, first to be drawn on an hurdle with trumps and trumpets through all the city of Hereford [Map], and after to be brought into the market-place [Map], whereas all the people were assembled, and there to be tied on high upon a ladder that every man might see him; and in the same place there to be made a great fire, and there his privy members cut from him, because they reputed him as an heretic and so deemed, and so to be burnt in the fire before his face; and then his heart to be drawn out of his body and cast into the fire, because he was a false traitor of heart, and that by his traitor's counsel and exhortation the king (age 42) had shamed his realm and brought it to great mischief, for he had caused to be beheaded the greatest lords of his realm, by whom the realm ought to have been sustained and defended; and he had so induced the king that he would not see the queen his wife nor Edward his eldest son (age 14), and caused him to chase them out of the realm for fear of their lives; and then his head to be stricken off and sent to London. And according to his judgment he was executed.

On 24 Nov 1326 Hugh "Younger" Despencer 1st Baron Despencer (age 40) was hanged, drawn and quartered in Hereford [Map]. Isabella of France Queen Consort England (age 31) and Roger Mortimer 1st Earl March (age 39) were present.

He was dragged naked through the streets, for the crowd's mistreatment. He was made a spectacle, which included writing on his body biblical verses against the capital sins he was accused of. Then he was hanged as a mere commoner, yet released before full asphyxiation could happen.

He was then tied firmly to a ladder and his genitals sliced off and burned while he was still conscious. His entrails were slowly pulled out; finally, his heart was cut out and thrown into a fire. His body was beheaded and cut into four pieces. His head was mounted on the gates of London.

Baron Despencer forfeit.