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William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1392–1461), was a powerful landowner in southwest England. Undertaking royal service, he fought in France in the later years of the Hundred Years' War. In 1415, he joined the English invasion of France in the retinue of Thomas, Duke of Clarence, Henry V's brother, and fought on the Agincourt campaign. In 1437, King Henry VI granted Bonville the profitable office of steward of the Duchy of Cornwall, passing over and enraging Bonville's powerful neighbour Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon. His dispute with Bonville descended into violence, and the feud continued intermittently for the next decade. In 1453, Henry became ill and entered a catatonic state for eighteen months; Bonville generally seems to have remained loyal to the king, although his guiding motivation was to support whoever would aid him in his feud. In 1461, he took part on the losing side in the Second Battle of St Albans during the Wars of the Roses and was beheaded for it. (Full article...)