The Five Wills of Humphrey Stafford, Earl of Devon

Probate records have long been recognized as important sources for the lives and concerns of medieval individuals, and the value of those wills and testaments that evolved over a period of years, rather than being drafted in a single sitting on a testator’s death bed is all the greater. The will of Humphrey Stafford of Southwick, the Yorkist Earl of Devon, stands out among the latter category as an example of a small number of wills drafted by the victims of the political violence of the Wars of the Roses on the eve of their executions. It sheds new light on the character of an otherwise obscure and poorly documented royal favourite.