Background
James Butler, born 1420, was the eldest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, by his first wife, Joan de Beauchamp (d 3 or 5 August 1430).
James Butler, born 1420, was the eldest son of James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, by his first wife, Joan de Beauchamp (d 3 or 5 August 1430).
A staunch Lancastrian and supporter of Margaret of Anjou during the Wars of the Roses, he was beheaded by the victorious Yorkists following the Battle of Towton. He had two younger brothers, John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond, and Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond, as well as two sisters, Elizabeth Butler, who married John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, and Anne Butler (d 4 January 1435), who was contracted to marry Thomas Fitzgerald, 7th Earl of Desmond, although the marriage appears not to have taken place. He was created Earl of Wiltshire, in the Peerage of England, by Henry VI of England on 8 July 1449, for his fidelity to the Lancastrian interest.
In 1451 he became Lord Deputy of Ireland.
The next year he succeeded his father in earldom of Ormond and was additionally appointed Lord Lieutenant for ten years. In 1454, he was constituted Lord High Treasurer of England and made a Knight of the Garter 1459.
When the dynastic civil wars - known as the Wars of the Roses - broke out, Wiltshire fought on the Lancastrian side, becoming one of Queen consort Margaret of Anjou"s staunchest supporters. He was present at the first battle of Street Albans in 1455, Mortimer"s Cross in 1461 and at the Battle of Towton.
He died on 1 May 1461, beheaded at Newcastle by the Yorkists after the Lancastrian army was soundly defeated at the Battle of Towton.
The Earl of Wiltshire was described as the most handsome man in the Kingdom and as Gregory records, at the First Battle of Saint Albans in 1455, Wiltshire "fought mainly with the heels, for he was frightened of losing his beauty". Prudently he had taken off his armour and hidden it in a ditch, donning a monk"s habit.