The Contrariants were an aristocratic faction in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in the early 14th century. They favoured the policies of the
Lords Ordainers (1311) and opposed the Despensers,
Hugh the Elder and
Hugh the Younger. They were most prominent in the
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches () is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods.
The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ''Marchia W ...
and northern England.
[
During the civil war of 1321–1322, they fought against the Despensers and King ]Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also known as Edward of Caernarfon or Caernarvon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir to the throne follo ...
. In war, however, they displayed marked disunity. Defeated, many were executed or else had their lands confiscated. Among those executed for treason were Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster ( 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman of the first House of Lancaster of the royal Plantagenet Dynasty. He was Earl of Lancaster, Leicester, and Derby from 1296 to 1322, and Earl of Lincoln and Sa ...
; Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford
Humphrey (VII) de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford ( 1276 – 16 March 1322) was a member of a powerful Anglo-Norman family of the Welsh Marches and was one of the Ordainers who opposed Edward II's excesses.
Family background
Humphrey de Bohun's ...
; and Bartholomew Badlesmere.[
One of the Contrariant leaders who escaped to France, Roger Mortimer, led an invasion of England in 1326, overthrowing Edward and executing the Despensers.][ Ronald H. Fritze, "Contrariants", in Ronald H. Fritze and William B. Robison (eds.), ''Historical Dictionary of Late Medieval England, 1272–1485'' (Greenwood Press, 2002), p. 125–126.]
References
{{reflist
Further reading
* Fryde, Natalie. ''The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II, 1321–1326''. Cambridge University Press, 1979.
* Waugh, Scott L. ''The Confiscated Lands of the Contrariants in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire in 1322: An Economic and Social Study''. PhD diss., Royal Holloway, University of London, 1975.
14th-century English nobility
Despenser War
Factions
Political history of medieval England