Butler–FitzGerald dispute
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Sir James Ormond ''alias'' Butler (died 17 July
1497 Year 1497 ( MCDXCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events January–December * February 7 (Shrove Tuesday) – Followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn thousands of ...
) was the son of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond. He was Lord Treasurer of Ireland from 1492 to 1494, and helped to defend the
Lordship of Ireland The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...
against the forces of Perkin Warbeck. He was murdered by Sir Piers Butler on 17 July 1497. Piers would later hold the title of Earl of Ormond.


Family

James Ormond was the eldest of three sons of John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (d. 14 October 1476), by his wife Reynalda O'Brien, daughter of Turlogh "The Brown" O'Brien,
King of Thomond The kings of Thomond ( ga, Rí Tuamhain) ruled from the establishment of Thomond during the High Middle Ages, until the Early modern period. Thomond represented the legacy of Brian Bóruma and the High Kings of Ireland of his line who could n ...
. In 1458 one of his younger brothers, John Ormond (d. 5 October 1503) married the heiress Joan Chaworth (d.1507), by whom he had three daughters. Nothing is known of his other younger brother, Edward Ormond, apart from his name.


Career

He is thought to have been raised at court by his uncle,
Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond PC (1426 – 3 August 1515) was the youngest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond. He was attainted, but restored by Henry VII's first Parliament in November 1485, and the statutes made at Westminster, by ...
. In June 1486 he was admitted to Lincoln's Inn. In 1487 his uncle, the 7th Earl, appointed him as his deputy in Ireland after the death of Sir
James Butler of Polestown Sir James Butler of Polestown (died 1487) was a warlord in Yorkist Ireland. Career James was the eldest son of Sir Edmund MacRichard Butler, whom he succeeded in 1464 as Lord Deputy of Ireland over his absentee cousins John and Thomas, the 6th ...
; however the appointment was disputed by the latter's son, Sir Piers Butler. In December 1491 Ormond was sent by King
Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...
in company with Thomas Garth and 200 soldiers to defend the interests of the
Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
against the
pretender A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...
Perkin Warbeck, and was appointed Governor of both Kilkenny and
Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...
. In June 1492, having become one of Henry VII's councillors, he succeeded
Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester (c. 1430 – 19 December 1496) was an Irish peer, statesman and judge. He was one of the dominant political figures in late fifteenth-century Ireland, rivalled in influence probably only by his son-in-law ...
as
Lord High Treasurer of Ireland The Lord High Treasurer of Ireland was the head of the Exchequer of Ireland, chief financial officer of the Kingdom of Ireland. The designation ''High'' was added in 1695. After the Acts of Union 1800 created the United Kingdom of Great Britain a ...
, and he and Walter Fitzsimons, Archbishop of Dublin, were appointed jointly as governors of Ireland, to replace
Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare KG (born – ), known variously as "Garret the Great" (Gearóid Mór) or "The Great Earl" (An tIarla Mór), was Ireland's premier peer. He served as Lord Deputy of Ireland from 1477 to 1494, and from 1496 ...
. The Earl's dismissal 'stoked the old Butler–Fitzgerald feud' until, in the early summer of 1493, Ormond and Kildare were reconciled in St Patrick's Cathedral, where Ormond had sought refuge, by shaking hands 'through a hole cut in the chapter house door'. To forestall a second invasion by Perkin Warbeck, Henry VII sent forces to Ireland, and in September 1493 replaced Ormond and Fitzsimons as joint governors by Viscount Gormanston. Ormond and other prominent Irish officials spent the winter of 1493 in England at Henry VII's court preparing to defend Ireland against Warbeck. The King appointed Sir Edward Poynings as Deputy Lieutenant of Ireland, and he sailed for Ireland with a force of 653 soldiers. Ormond was replaced as Lord Treasurer by Sir Hugh Conway, but in recompense was granted several manors by the King, and returned to Ireland in June 1494. He was appointed Constable of
Limerick Castle King John's Castle ( ga, Caisleán Luimnigh) also known as Limerick Castle is a 13th-century castle located on King's Island in Limerick, Ireland, next to the River Shannon. Although the site dates back to 922 when the Vikings lived on the ...
, and worked closely with Poynings, accompanying him on an expedition to
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
in November 1494. In February 1495 the Earl of Kildare was arrested for treason. His brother seized Carlow Castle, which Poynings and Ormond besieged in the spring and retook in July. Warbeck and Desmond then laid siege to
Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...
. Ormond brought troops to Waterford, and shortly thereafter Warbeck's support in Ireland collapsed. Sir Edward Poynings was recalled to England, together with most of his forces, and as a result, Ormond assumed a greater role in Irish military affairs. However, in the spring of 1496, Henry VII decided to restore the Earl of Kildare as Governor, and Ormond was summoned to England in July of that year for a formal reconciliation between the Earl of Ormond and the Earl of Kildare and their supporters. The English troops which Ormond had commanded in Ireland were ordered back to England, and according to Ellis, 'Kildare favoured Ormond's rival, Piers Butler'. Butler alleged that Ormand was claiming to be the rightful Earl of Ormond, and plotting with Perkin Warbeck. Allegations of this nature prompted Henry VII to summon Ormond to England early in 1497 and again in May. However, Ormond ignored both summonses, and was slain by his rival and kinsman Sir Piers Butler on 17 July 1497 'in a kind of impromptu duel near Kilkenny'. His brothers were John Ormond, esquire, Sir William Butler of
Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...
, and Edward Ormond. James and his brother John were born in
Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...
,
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
. They were the grandsons of the Irish King Turlogh ''The Brown'' O'Brien, King of
Thomond Thomond (Classical Irish: ; Modern Irish: ), also known as the kingdom of Limerick, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Clare and County Limerick, as well as parts of County Tipperary around Nena ...
(d.1460). He was knighted in 1493 by King
Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beauf ...
for services in battle for the Tudor cause. He held lands in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. The year before his murder he was made an Irish peer by Henry VII. He was hailed as Earl of Ormond by the Irish, but never attained that title.


Footnotes


Citations


References

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External links


Door of Reconciliation, St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Retrieved 16 December 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ormond, James 1497 deaths 15th-century Irish people People of the Tudor period Irish murder victims Irish knights Lord High Treasurers of Ireland
James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguati ...
Year of birth unknown