William Herbert, 1st Earl of PembrokeKG (c. 1423 – 27 July 1469), known as "Black William", was a Welsh nobleman, soldier, politician, and courtier.[1]
Soon after the decisive Yorkist victory at the
Battle of Towton in 1461, Herbert replaced
Jasper Tudor as
Earl of Pembroke which gave him control of
Pembroke Castle – and with it, he gained the wardship of young
Henry Tudor. However, he fell out with
Lord Warwick "the Kingmaker" in 1469, when Warwick turned against the King. Herbert was denounced by Warwick and the
Duke of Clarence as one of the king's "evil advisers".[2] William and his brother
Richard were executed by Warwick in Northampton, after the
Battle of Edgcote, which took place in South Northamptonshire, near Banbury.[3]
Herbert was succeeded by his son,
William, but the earldom was surrendered in 1479. It was later revived for a grandson,
another William Herbert, the son of Black William's illegitimate son,
Sir Richard Herbert of
Ewyas.
^The Battle of Edgecote or Banbury (1469) Through the Eyes of Contemporary Welsh Poets, Barry Lewis, Journal of Medieval Military History: Volume IX, ed. Anne Curry, Adrian R. Bell, (Boydell Press, 2011), 101.
1 Briefly joined the Lancastrians. 2 Briefly joined the Yorkists. 3 Defected from the Yorkist to the Lancastrian cause. 4 Initially a Yorkist who later supported the Tudor claim. 5 Initially a Lancastrian who later supported the Tudor claim.