Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley

Ralph Boteler, 1st Baron Sudeley and 6th Baron Sudeley KG (c. 1394 – 2 May 1473) was an English baron and aristocrat. He was the Captain of Calais and Treasurer of England (from 7 July 1443).

Family

Ralph Boteler was the youngest surviving son of Thomas Boteler of Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire and Alice Beauchamp (d. 1443), daughter of Sir John Beauchamp of Powick, Worcestershire.

Marriage

Sudeley married twice. About 1418 he married commercial wealth, in the person of Elizabeth, widow of John Hende (d. 1418), late Mayor of London. She died in 1462, and in the following year he married Alice (d. 1474), daughter of John, Baron Deyncourt, and widow of William, Baron Lovel of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire, who survived him.

Lord Sudeley

The Boteler's elevation to the aristocracy arose from the marriage of Ralph's grandfather, William le Botiler of Wem to heiress Joan de Sudeley which led to his father succeeding to the title of Lord of Sudeley. The Barony of Sudeley was conferred upon him by Letters Patent. The title passed to both his elder brothers, John who died unmarried and childless in 1410 and William, who despite being married, also died childless seven years later. William's widow, Alice, was appointed governess of Henry VI in 1424.

He is thought to have served with King Henry V of England in France as he was awarded grants of land there in 1420-21. He was captain of Arques and Crotoy in 1423 and took muster in Calais in 1425. He served as Lord High Treasurer of England from 1443 to 1446.

Along with the title, Ralph inherited Sudeley Castle, which he rebuilt in the 1440s. Unfortunately he failed to gain royal permission to crenellate it and had to seek Henry VI's pardon. He lost it in 1469 due to his support for the Lancastrian cause.

Descendants

Sudeley left no surviving male heir from either marriage, for his son Thomas predeceased him, also without a male heir. Thomas' widow Eleanor was the Lady Eleanor Butler (known as the Holy Harlot) whose alleged precontract of marriage to Edward IV of England was claimed to have invalidated Edward's marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, and so legitimized the usurpation of Richard III of England. The Sodrés, Portuguese corruption of "Sudley", were a well-connected Portuguese family of English origin, said to have been descended from Frederick Sudley, of Gloucestershire, who accompanied the Earl of Cambridge to Portugal in 1381, and subsequently settled down there.