(© Portrait study by Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1533)
Whilst the name James Butler may not ring similar or hold any importance to you, my dear readers, he plays an important role in Tudor history, though a very small one. As is very common in history, it is only the names of those who made a lasting impact or caused scandal throughout the globe that we remember, with Queen Anne Boleyn being one of them. However, in today’s post, I would like to bring a certain James Butler into the limelight, a man who might have greatly impacted history as we know it today, if fate had not intervened.
. . .
James Butler, the 9th Earl of Ormond and the 2nd Earl of Ossory, was born circa.1496 in Ireland as the eldest son of Piers Butler, the 8th Earl of Ormond, and his wife Margaret FitzGerald. His parents’ marriage, along with the one they would later attempt for their son, was a political one; their marriage was a way of ending the long-standing rivalry between the Butler family and the FitzGerald family—almost in the exact same way that Henry VIII’s parents, Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, ended the war between their houses with their own marriage.
Unfortunately, although James’ parents had married to prevent less conflict, naturally history was rift with unwanted and sometimes unnecessary conflicts and James would be born into a family with a long-standing conflict—all over a title. Whilst a title might not be something as important to people today, in the Tudor era having a title of high importance and status was sought-after and everyone was constantly attempting to be bestowed with a title higher than the one they already possess.
Piers and Margaret Butler had nine children, three sons and six daughters, all of which reached adulthood. As not all the children’s birthdates are known, these are not in chronological order and there may be some discrepancies:
As we do not have the birthdates for all nine children, it can be assumed that the eldest child might have been Ellice Butler. Ellice was born circa.1481 approximately four years before her parents’ marriage, making her roughly fifteen years older than her brother James, and she was married two times with her second marriage being to Sir Gerald Fitzgerald (or FitzGerald), the 3rd Lord Decies, whom she had four children with. If we assume her birthdate is correct, Ellice was born prior to her parents’ marriage which seems a little unusual since purity before marriage was what all women were expected to have. It is possible that Ellice’s birthdate is incorrect or that her parents had an intimate relationship prior to their marriage however, the former is more probable than the latter due to societal expectations. Due to the fifteen-year gap between Ellice’s and James’ births, I believe that James’ numerous siblings may be older than him.
James’ brother, Thomas Butler, may have been older than him though sadly he would be killed in 1532 at Ballykeely by Dermod Mac Gillpatrick, most likely as a result of his family’s conflict over the title of Earl of Ormond and/or Earl of Ossory. He might have been a possible heir to the title of Earl of Ormond following his father although his brother James would eventually be the one inheriting the title. He might have been the first of the nine siblings to pass away. James’ sisters may have also been born before him or shortly after. These sisters were: Margaret Butler who married three times; Catherine Butler who married two times and died in 1553; Joan Butler, who married James Butler of Dunboyne (odd to marry a man with your brother’s name, no?); Eleanor Butler who married Thomas Butler, the 1st Baron Cahir and died after 1550 as her precise birthdate is not recorded; Helen Butler who married Donough O’Brien, the 2nd Earl of Thomond and died in 1597, making her the longest surviving sibling; and it may be possible that James’ brother, Richard Butler, the 1st Viscount Mountgarret, who was born in 1500, may have been the youngest of the siblings as there may have been a four-year gap between his and James’ births. However, we do not know as there is no information regarding this, all we know is that Richard Butler married Eleanor Butler (yes, another spouse with the same name as a sibling, a rather common occurrence in Tudor England) and died in 1571 at the age of seventy-one.
Piers, James’ father, also had an illegitimate son named Edmund Butler who would become Archbishop of Cashel and conformed to the religion (I believe it was Catholic or a similar religion) in 1539. Edmund’s mother is not known as there is no recordings of Piers having a mistress or anything regarding an affair.
By the time of James’ birth, his parents had been reduced to extreme poverty by Piers’ nephew, James Dubh Butler, who was the heir to the earldom. In pure 15th century fashion, Piers retaliated by killing his nephew in an ambush in 1497, when James was around one-year old. This made Piers the heir to the earldom but it also put him at risk of being severely punished for his crime; either by a lifetime prison sentence or a swift execution. Fortunately, Piers was pardoned for his crime in 1498, allowing him and his male heirs to maintain their claim to the earldom. Unfortunately, James Dubh Butler was not the first nor the last relative to challenge Piers or his own son James for the earldom as the Boleyns (relatives via the marriage of William Boleyn and Margaret Butler) would also challenge the Butlers for the earldom as we will explain later.
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Not much is known about James’ early life however, due to his father’s title and status, we can assume that he was well educated alike many other men of his station and was taught in the ways of politics and foreign affairs in order to advice or help the King. In either 1512 or 1513, James Butler accompanied Henry VIII to France during the war. He would have been roughly seventeen years old when he accompanied the twenty-three-year-old King of England on the first of many wars within his thirty-eight-year reign.
At the siege of Thérouanne in 1513, James sustained a wound in one of his legs which earned him the nickname James the Lame, which he is often referred by throughout history. There is no record of what was happening in James’ life from that point apart from being made heir to the earldom after his father Piers became the 8th Earl of Ormond on 3rd August 1515 due to the death of his predecessor in London. It is only in the year 1520 that we see him in the records again as he enters the household of Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor of England, and the King’s chief adviser. This would have been a most prestigious and highly sought-after position for James; being within the household of the King’s chief adviser would have offered him many opportunities that other young men his age would have killed for and it paid off for James as Cardinal Wolsey would praise him for being a ‘both wise and discreet’ young gentleman. In other words, he was intelligent enough to know to keep quiet and not spill any of his master’s closely guarded secrets. Loyalty in Tudor England was sacred and those who broke the trust of a man like Cardinal Wolsey would surely pay the price, so James was fortunate to be praised by such a man.
You might be wondering how James is connected to Anne Boleyn, well…
It is in the household of Cardinal Wolsey that he would meet Henry Percy, the 6th Earl of Northumberland, another intelligent man of high status who would also be considered a good match for the hand of Anne Boleyn.
That is correct, James Butler was a potential husband for Anne Boleyn. Now, why was this?
As mentioned before, the Butlers and the Boleyns were distant relatives and both James’ father, Piers Butler, and Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn, were disputing over which of them was the rightful claimant to the Ormond earldom.
Neither Thomas Boleyn or Piers Butler were willing to withdraw their claim to the earldom; both had sons whom they wished to inherit the earldom after them and disputes over land or titles was common during this period. You might argue that this long-standing dispute was partly due to the men’s arrogance, ambition, or egos. However, many forget that almost everyone in the 15th and 16th centuries was ambitious and sadly men who rose to great positions of power such as Thomas Boleyn were often called power-hungry as a result.
For a while, it seemed as though there would never be a solution to the dispute. That is, until a proposal was made to satisfy the two disputing men and their families. And this is where Anne Boleyn comes in.
Just as James Butler’s parents had married for political reasons, so had Anne’s parents although the exact reason is unknown but it is believed that it may have been due to Anne’s mother, Elizabeth Boleyn’s family as she was a member of the influential and powerful Howard family. Politically advantageous marriages were more common than marriages of love in the 15th and 16th centuries as marriage proposals usually only went ahead if both parties could benefit from the union. And this was precisely the reason for James Butler’s connection to Anne Boleyn.
A marriage contract was proposed by Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn, in 1521 or 1522 to betroth Anne (who may have been around twenty-one or fifteen if the birthdates of 1501 or 1507 are correct) to her Irish cousin James (who would have been around twenty-six at the time). This marriage contract would resolve the dispute between both of their fathers; Piers and James Butler would be allowed to maintain their claim to the earldom and whilst Thomas Boleyn would never inherit the earldom himself, his descendants would through his daughter’s offspring which would satisfy him in a sense. It is believed that Anne left the court of Queen Claude of France in order to marry James Butler as the marriage contract was approved and supported by many including Cardinal Wolsey who thought it was a good match. However, for reasons unknown, the marriage negotiations came to a halt and were ultimately scrapped. This might have been that Thomas Boleyn was not happy with the match nor the fact that he would lose the earldom or it might have been an issue on the Butler’s side, we do not know.
Whilst Anne would soon become more acquainted with James’ fellow housemate, Henry Percy, we do not have much information on what James was up to during those years. There is a rather inaccurate belief that Henry VIII himself was the reason why Anne did not marry James but this is simply not true. Henry VIII did not become interested (or infatuated, shall we say) with Anne until at least 1525/1526 when she was a member of Queen Catherine’s household, the first and longest-married wife of Henry VIII. This marriage contract was proposed in late 1521/early 1522, four/five years before Henry even supposedly met Anne so this could not have happened.
What we do know is that when Henry was in fact interested in Anne, he began bestowing grants of land and higher-ranking titles upon the Boleyns. The King himself ended the dispute between Thomas Boleyn and Piers Butler when he forced Piers to resign the earldom of Ormond on 18th February 1528 which was given to Thomas Boleyn. He would later be created the Earl of Wiltshire on 8th December 1529 whilst Piers Butler was created the Earl of Ossory five days later, a title which James would inherit upon his father’s death.
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James Butler was very fortunate to have held many offices i.e. important roles with a prestigious title during his lifetime. Prior to his father’s resigning of the Earldom of Ormond which stripped James of any claim to that earldom, James was an Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII in the year 1527 which was a fancy title for being the King’s personal attendant. He was then made Lord High Treasurer of Ireland in 1532, just two years after he married, and he held this office until his death in 1546. His other notable offices were; Privy Counsellor of Ireland in 1535, Admiral of Ireland from 1535 to 1539, Constable of Kilkea Castle in 1537, Constable of Carlow Castle in 1537 and finally he was made a General in the Irish Forces, just one year before he died, in 1545.
James would not marry until 1530 when he married Joan Fitzgerald, a woman many years his senior.
Joan Fitzgerald was born circa.1514 in Munster, Ireland which made her roughly eighteen years younger than her future first husband. She was the only daughter of James FitzGerald, the 10th Earl of Desmond who would plotted twice against King Henry VIII, and his wife Amy O’Brien who was the daughter of a bishop who never renounced celibacy upon entering the church. Although Joan had two illegitimate half-sisters on her father’s side, she had no brothers and without a living male heir, she was named the heiress to her father’s earldom until her father’s death in 1529 whereupon her granduncle succeeded her father and became the 11th Earl of Desmond.
The reason behind the match is unknown but it might have possibly been that the marriage was precontracted prior to her father’s death so that James would inherit the earldom of Desmond. Regardless, their marriage was a very successful one as James and Joan would go on to have an impressive seven sons in a time where seven sons was practically unheard of.
Their eldest son was Thomas Butler, the 10th Earl of Ormond, who was born a year into his parent’s marriage in February 1531. Known as Black Tom because of his darker complexion, he was an influential courtier in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I who would become Lord Treasurer of Ireland from 1559 until his death in 1614. His brother, Sir Edmund Butler, would be born three years later in 1534 and, alike his maternal grandfather, was a rebel against the reign of the Tudors. He would die in 1602, a year before the death of Queen Elizabeth I and the succession of James I, Elizabeth’s Stuart cousin. The couple’s third son, John Butler of Kilcash, was born around 1537 and he would be known as an Irish landowner and soldier as he was not bestowed with any title but he was received Kilcash Castle as appanage. He would die on 10th May 1570. The fourth son, Walter Butler of Nodstown was most likely born two or three years after John as the brothers seem to be quite close in age and there is not much information regarding Walter other than his marriage to Anne O'Gonagh.
James of Duiske, the couple’s fifth son who was named after his father, also has no known date of birth but we do know that he was married to Mary Edwards circa 1540 (although this date may be incorrect as he would have been an infant or not even born if his brothers’ birthdates are correct) and was then awarded with the lands of Duiske Abbey in 1576. The sixth son was Edward of Ballinahinch and the only information we have of him is his two marriages; first to Eleanor Fitzgerald (a distant relative of his mother) and then to Mary Bourke, the eldest daughter of Richard Burke, the 4th Earl of Clanricarde, and his wife Frances Walsingham, the daughter of Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster. And finally, the couple’s youngest son was Piers of Grantstown, named after his paternal grandfather who died years before his birth in 1539 (whereupon James Butler became the 9th Earl of Ormond), who would marry Katherine, the daughter of the 2nd Lord Power of Curraghmore. Sadly, not a lot of information is available regarding James’ younger sons as his eldest sons are the ones who had more of an impact on their family history but all his sons would be involved in their own conflict which is a little too complicated to go over in this short post.
Sadly however, not unlike many of the other men that are associated with Anne Boleyn, James Butler’s life did not end happily. In fact, he suffered just as horrific a death as the beheaded Queen.
After the fall and subsequent execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, the remaining members of the Boleyns and their distant relatives fell into exile or kept themselves out of the limelight. Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn, luckily did not suffer the same fate as his beloved Anne and George, whom were just two of the six individuals innocently beheaded by the order of King Henry VIII, as he retreated to Hever where he remained until his death on 12th March 1539. As Thomas Boleyn had died without a son, and his only surviving child Mary Boleyn was now living both in poverty and exile, the earldom of Ormond was now restored back to James’ father, Piers, who would also die months later on 26th August 1539, which now made James the 9th Earl of Ormond.
In the following years, James’ newfound power and influence in Ireland granted him the status, wealth, and ability to make an impact within society. However, conflict was rift in Ireland during this period and would continue through the reigns of Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth I—and this would inevitably lead to James’ tragic demise.
In the early 1540s, Lord Ormond, as James now was, was given command of the Irish forces in the Anglo-Scottish War of 1544 by Lord Deputy of Ireland; Sir Anthony St. Leger, a man known for causing quarrels unnecessarily. Whilst this was an honour for James to be given such a power and control, it would lead many of his allies to question St. Leger’s motives. The Anglo-Scottish War was a dangerous period in Ireland; it had taken the lives of many men and left countless injured for life. James’ allies believed that St. Leger had deliberately sent James into danger, knowing that he may die, simply out of jealousy and a need to eradicate any political rivalries, as James surely was.
Although James would personally demand the Privy Council to investigate the claims that St. Leger had committed the crime of attempted murder/assassination, the Council would ultimately find St. Leger to be innocent of the alleged crimes and ordered that James and St. Leger work amicably in the future. This event led to many of James’ allies such as John Alan and Walter Cowley being removed from office and soon after, James would pay a larger price for the inquiry.
On 17th October 1546, James and many of his household were invited to dine at Ely Palace in Holborn. His host was John Dudley, the 1st Duke of Northumberland, who was the father of Lord Guildford Dudley, the husband of the future queen Lady Jane Grey, otherwise known as The Nine Days Queen. Although I prefer the title of Queen Jane I but that is another topic for another day. Not unlike the other men of his time, John Dudley was noted for his ruthlessness towards his enemies and his willingness to do anything to consolidate more power for him and his family. However, it is was not unusual for political rivals to dine with one another, especially if they had no quarrel or recent conflict between them.
Nonetheless, this would be the last meal that James Butler would ever eat as he along with his steward, James Whyte, and sixteen members of his household were poisoned that night. Although James survived that night, the poison worked its magic and he would die eleven days later, on the 28th October 1546 at the age of fifty, leaving behind his beloved wife Joan now a widow in her thirties.
James’ murder was never properly investigated nor is there any clue regarding his murderer, which is surprising considering his high social standing would have warranted a proper investigation into who killed him. It is possible that his host John Dudley might have been behind his murder however there is no evidence to suggest that the two men had any bad blood between them, so to speak, and therefore John had no motive. Many believe that it was all the plan of St. Leger who clearly had a motive behind the assassination of James Butler and it would prove very coincidental indeed if he did not have a part to play in the removal of his rival, a man whose death would greatly benefit him.
Sadly, with no proper investigation, even if St. Leger were behind the death of James Butler and seventeen innocent individuals, there is no proof to support this.
. . .
It is quite upsetting to think that so many individuals lost their lives unnecessarily and some even brutally over such things. Unfortunately, both James and his intended Anne Boleyn both suffered the consequences of their good fortune and their rise to power as it seems both of their opponents (with Thomas Cromwell being behind Anne’s demise) causing their tragic and cruelly conducted demises.
I often wonder if James thought of Anne during his later years as he lived an extra ten years after Anne’s execution in 1536. Might he have wished he could have saved her from such a fate if their marriage had gone ahead? Might Anne have heard of James’ good fortune in his marriage and wished that she had experienced the same in her own? Might James have wondered if Anne’s family might have spared him from his own death years down the line, as Anne’s family still held some considerable wealth and power prior to her marriage to Henry VIII.
We do know that Anne is believed to have met James at least once prior to their engagement not moving forward so it is difficult to tell whether they might have formed a friendship or anything of that sort in such a short period of time. If Anne had married James, I hope that they would have experienced more happiness in their marriage than she did with King Henry VIII and that she might have been blessed with sons as well as her darling Elizabeth but sadly, we will never know what might have been.
Are there any other figures in Tudor history you would like us to discuss?
Tell us in the comments below!
Until next time!
- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!
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