He was the son of
William ap Thomas, founder of
Raglan Castle, and
Gwladys ferch Dafydd Gam, and grandson of
Dafydd Gam, an adherent of King
Henry V of England. His father had been an ally of
Richard of York, and Herbert supported the
Yorkist cause in the
Wars of the Roses. In 1461 Herbert was rewarded by
King Edward IV with the title
Baron Herbert of Raglan (having assumed an English-style surname in place of the Welsh
patronymic), and was invested as a
Knight of the Garter. Soon after the decisive Yorkist victory at the
Battle of Towton in 1461, Herbert replaced
Jasper Tudor as
Earl of Pembroke which gave him control of
Pembroke Castle – and with it, he gained the wardship of young
Henry Tudor. However, he fell out with
Lord Warwick "the Kingmaker" in 1469, when Warwick turned against the King. Herbert was denounced by Warwick and the
Duke of Clarence as one of the king's "evil advisers". William and his brother
Richard were executed by Warwick in Northampton, after the
Battle of Edgcote, which took place in South Northamptonshire, near Banbury. Herbert was succeeded by his son,
William, but the earldom was surrendered in 1479. It was later revived for a grandson,
another William Herbert, the son of Black William's illegitimate son,
Sir Richard Herbert of
Ewyas. ==Marriage and children==