Person Page - 1274

     3rd Earl of Ormonde.

     Isabel le Despenser (1312 – 1356) was the eldest daughter of Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare. She was descended from Edward I of England through her mother, while her father is famous for being the favorite of Edward II of England.

Though he had stood against Edward II in the past, Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel had loyally supported him since the 1320's. Thus it must have seemed to be politically prudent to Edmund to marry his heir Richard to the eldest daughter of the King's closest friend and adviser Hugh le Despenser. For Hugh's part, a large incentive for him must have been that he could expect his daughter Isabel would one day become Countess of Arundel.[1]

On 9 February 1321 at the royal manor Havering-atte-Bower, Isabel was duly married to Richard FitzAlan, the heir to the earldom of Arundel.[2] Isabel was only eight at the time, while Richard was only seven. Their respective ages would come up later when Richard would try to seek an annulment.[3]

Richard and Isabel had one son, Edmund Fitzalan, born in 1327, and in 1331 Isabel's husband became earl of Arundel. However in December 1344 Richard Fitzalan had their marriage annulled on the grounds that he had never freely consented to marry Isabel and that they both had renounced their vows at puberty but had been "forced by blows to cohabit, so that a son was born".[4] Isabel retired to several manors in Essex that were given to her by her ex-husband. Richard quickly remarried to Eleanor of Lancaster, who he had apparently been having an affair with.[5]

Richard and Isabel's only child, Edmund Fitzalan, was rendered illegitimate by this annulment and so was unable to inherit his father's earldom. When his father died in 1376 Edmund quarreled with his half-siblings, the children of his father's second marriage, over inheritance rights. Edmund was imprisoned in the Tower of London until he was released in 1377 by request of his brothers-in-law.¹ The marriage of Isabel le Despenser and Richard Fitzalan was annulled in December 1344.

     Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton (1313- 8 June 1356) was the wife of two English noblemen, Sir Edmund Mortimer and William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton. She was a co-heiress of her brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere.

Elizabeth was born at Castle Badlesmere, Kent, England in 1313 to Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere and Margaret de Clare. She was the third of four daughters. She had one younger brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere (18 October 1314- 7 June 1338) who married Elizabeth Montagu, by whom he had four daughters.

Her paternal grandparents were Guncelin de Badlesmere and Joan FitzBernard. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond and Juliana FitzGerald of Offaly.

Elizabeth's father was hanged on 14 April 1322 for treason against King Edward II of England, and her mother imprisoned in the Tower of London until 3 November 1322. She had been arrested the previous October for refusing Queen Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle, where Lord Badlesmere held the post of castellan.[1]

In 1328, Elizabeth's brother Giles obtained a reversal of his father's attainder, and he succeeded to the barony as the 2nd Baron Badlesmere. Elizabeth, along with her three sisters, was a co-heiress of Giles who had no male issue. Upon his death in 1338, the barony fell fell into abeyance. The Badlesmere estates were divided among the four sisters.

On 27 June 1316, when she was just three years old, Elizabeth married her first husband Sir Edmund Mortimer (1310- 16 December 1331)[2] son of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville. The marriage produced two sons.

A papal dispensation was required for their marriage as de Bohun and her first huband, Sir Edmund Mortimer were related in the third and fourth degrees of consanguinity by dint of their common descent from Enguerrand de Fiennes, Seigneur de Fiennes.

By her second marriage, Elizabeth had two more children.¹

     William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (ca. 1312-1360) was an English nobleman and military commander.

He was the fifth son of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan. He had a twin brother, Edward.

His maternal grandparents were Edward I of England and his first Queen consort Eleanor of Castile.

He was created Earl of Northampton in 1337, one of the six earls created by Edward III to renew the ranks of the higher nobility. Since de Bohun was a younger son, and did not have an income suitable to his rank, he was given an annuity until suitable estates could be found.

In 1339 he accompanied the King to Flanders. He served variously in Brittany and in Scotland, and was present at the great English victories at Sluys and was a commander at Crécy.

In addition to being a warrior, William was also a renowned diplomat. He negotiated two treaties with France, one in 1343 and one in 1350. He was also charged with negotiating in Scotland for the freedom of David Bruce, prisoner of the English.

De Bohun was succeeded by his son Humphrey, who also succeeded his uncle and became 7th Earl of Hereford.

His daughter Elizabeth de Bohun was married to Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel.

De Bohun's wife and the mother of his children was Elizabeth de Badlesmere, daughter of Bartolomew De Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere, and Margaret de Clare.¹ 6th Earl of Northampton.

     7th Earl of Hereford.

     Lady Joan Fitzalan, Countess of Hereford, Essex, and Northampton (1347/1348- 7 April 1419), was the wife of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, and 2nd Earl of Northampton. Joan was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first wife of Henry of Bolingbroke who later reigned as King Henry IV of England, and Eleanor de Bohun, Duchess of Gloucester. She was the maternal grandmother of King Henry V of England.

Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster, parents of Lady Joan FitzalanIn 1400, she gave the order for the beheading of John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter in revenge for the part he had played in the execution of her brother, Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel.

Lady Joan was born in about 1347 or 1348 at Arundel Castle, Sussex, one of seven children, and the eldest daughter of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.[1] Her paternal grandparents were Edmund Fitzalan, 9th Earl of Arundel and Alice de Warenne. Her maternal grandparents were Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

Sometime after 9 September 1359, Joan married Humphrey de Bohun, one of the most powerful noblemen in the realm. His titles included 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, and he was the hereditary Constable of England. He was the son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. Their marriage united two of the most prominent noble families in the kingdom; an alliance which was further strengthened by her elder brother Richard's marriage to Humphrey's sister, Elizabeth.

Together Humphrey and Joan produced two daughters, whom upon the death of their father, divided his vast estates between them:

- Eleanor de Bohun (c.1360- 3 October 1399), co-heiress of her father. In 1376 she married Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, the youngest son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. The marriage produced five children, including Anne of Gloucester. Eleanor died as a nun at Barking Abbey.
- Mary de Bohun (1369- 4 June 1394), co-heiress of her father. On 27 July 1380 she married Henry of Bolingbroke, who would later be crowned King Henry IV. She died before he ascended the throne. The marriage produced six children including King Henry V of England.

     Earl of Leicester (1324), succeeded as Earl of Lancaster by 1326.

     Eleanor de Clare (3 October 1292 – June 30, 1337) was the wife of the powerful Hugh Despenser the younger. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly in Glamorgan, Wales. She was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile; thus she was a granddaughter to Edward I of England. With her sisters, Elizabeth de Clare and Margaret de Clare, she inherited her father's estates after the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Gloucester at Bannockburn in 1314.¹

     1st Lord Despenser. Hugh Despenser, 1st Lord Despenser (1286 – 24 November 1326, sometimes referred to as "the younger Despenser", was the son and heir of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, by Isabella de Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick.

He was knight of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, King's Chamberlain, Constable of Odiham Castle, Keeper of the castle and town of Portchester, Keeper of the castle, town and barton of Bristol and, in Wales, Keeper of the castle and town of Dryslwyn, and the region of Cantref Mawr, Carmarthenshire. Also in Wales, he was Lord of Glamorgan which gave him possession of Cardiff Castle. He was also Keeper of the castles, manor, and lands of Brecknock, Hay, Cantref Selyf, etc., in County Brecon, and, in England of Huntington, Herefordshire. He was given Wallingford Castle although this had previously been given to Queen Isabella for life.

In May 1306 Hugh was knighted, and that summer he married Eleanor de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 9th Lord of Clare and 7th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre. Eleanor's grandfather, Edward I, owed Hugh's father vast sums of money, and the marriage was intended as a payment of these debts. When Eleanor's brother was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn, she unexpectedly became one of the three co-heiresses to the rich Gloucester earldom, and in her right Hugh inherited Glamorgan and other properties. In just a few short years Hugh went from a landless knight to one of the wealthiest magnates in the kingdom.

Eleanor was also the niece of the new king, Edward II of England, and this connection brought Hugh closer to the English royal court. He joined the baronial opposition to Piers Gaveston, the king's favourite, and Hugh's brother-in-law, as Gaveston was married to Eleanor's sister. Eager for power and wealth, Hugh seized Tonbridge Castle in 1315. In 1318 he murdered Llywelyn Bren, a Welsh hostage in his custody.

Eleanor and Hugh had nine children.¹

     4th Earl of Hereford and 3rd Earl of Essex. Humphrey VIII de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (1276 – 16 March 1322) was a member of a powerful Anglo-Norman family of the Welsh Marches and was one of the Ordainers who opposed Edward II's excesses.¹

     Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (also Elizabeth Plantagenet; 7 August 1282 – 5 May 1316) was the eighth daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. Of all of her siblings, she was closest to her younger brother Edward II of England, as they were only two years apart in age.

In April 1285 there were negotiations with Floris V for Elizabeth's betrothal to his son John I, Count of Holland. The offer was accepted and John was sent to England to be educated. On 8 January 1297 Elizabeth was married to John at Ipswich. In attendance at the marriage were Elizabeth's sister Margaret, her father, Edward I of England, her brother Edward, and Humphrey de Bohun. After the wedding Elizabeth was expected to go to Holland with her husband, but did not wish to go, leaving her husband to go alone.

After some time traveling England, it was decided Elizabeth should follow her husband. Her father accompanied her, traveling through the Southern Netherlands between Antwerp, Mechelen, Leuven and Brussels, before ending up in Ghent. There they remained for a few months, spending Christmas with her two sisters Eleanor of England, Countess of Bar and Margaret Plantagenet. On 10 November 1299, John died of dysentery, though there were rumours of his murder. No children had been born from the marriage.

On her return trip to England, Elizabeth went through Brabant to see her sister Margaret. When she arrived in England, she met her stepmother Margaret of France, whom Edward had married whilst she was in Holland. Reportedly, they became inseparable. On 14 November 1302 Elizabeth was married to Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd of Essex, also Constable of England, at Westminster Abbey.

During Christmas 1315, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with her eleventh child, was visited by her sister-in-law Isabella of France. This was a great honour, but the stress of it may have caused unknown health problems that later contributed to Elizabeth's death in childbirth. On 5 May 1316 she went into labour, giving birth to her daughter Isabella. Both Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella died shortly after the birthing, and were buried together in Waltham Abbey.¹

     Edward I (17 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English Barons. In 1259 he briefly sided with a baronial reform movement, supporting the Provisions of Oxford. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained loyal throughout the subsequent armed conflict, known as the Barons' War. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, but escaped after a few months and joined the fight against Simon de Montfort. Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward left on crusade to the Holy Land. The crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and he was crowned king at Westminster on 19 August.

Edward's reign had two main phases. He spent the first years reforming royal administration. Through an extensive legal inquiry Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edward's attention was drawn towards military affairs. After suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside and settled them with Englishmen. Next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a succession dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war that followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same time there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns led to unbearable levels of taxation, and Edward met with both lay and ecclesiastical opposition. These crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the king died in 1307, he left behind a number of financial and political problems to his son Edward II, as well as an ongoing war with Scotland.

Edward I was a tall man for his age, hence the nickname "Longshanks". He was also temperamental and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man and he often instilled fear in his contemporaries. Nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way in which he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, both as a soldier, administrator and a man of faith. Modern historians have been more divided on their assessment of the king; while some have praised him for his contribution to the law and administration, others have criticised him for his uncompromising attitude to his nobility. Currently, Edward I is credited with many accomplishments during his reign, including restoring royal authority after the reign of Henry III, establishing parliament as a permanent institution and thereby also a functional system for raising taxes, and reforming the law through statutes. At the same time, he is also often criticised for other actions, such as his brutal conduct towards the Scots, and the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290.¹

     Her numerous descendants included English kings Henry V, Edward IV, Richard III, Mary, Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, and Diana, Princess of Wales. The current British Royal Family directly descend from her, as do most of the other European royal families. Lady of Thomond.

     3rd Lord of Offaly.

     Elizabeth had four husbands and at least six children. Through her daughters Joan and Elizabeth Goushill, Elizabeth Fitzalan is an ancestor of Sir Winston Churchill and U.S. Presidents James Madison, Zachary Taylor, George W. Bush and Franklin D. Roosevelt, among others, while Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Jane Grey, Sarah Ferguson and Audrey Hepburn can be counted with the descendants of her daughters Margaret and Isabel Mowbray.

     Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and 10th Earl of Surrey (1346 – 21 September 1397) was an English medieval nobleman and military commander.

He was the son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster and was born in 1346.[1] He succeeded his father on 24 January 1376.

His brother was Thomas Arundel who was Bishop of Ely from 1374 to 1388, then Archbishop of York from 1388 to 1397, then Archbishop of Canterbury.[2]

At the coronation of Richard II, Richard FitzAlan carried the crown.[1]¹ 11th or 4th Earl of Arundel and 10th Earl of Surrey.

     Elizabeth de Bohun, Countess of Arundel, Countess of Surrey (c.1350- 3 April 1385), was a member of the Anglo-Norman Bohun family, which wielded much power in the Welsh Marches and the English government. She was the first wife of Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, Earl of Surrey, (1346- 21 September 1397 Tower Hill, Cheapside, London), a powerful English nobleman and military commander in the reigns of Edward III and Richard II. She was the mother of seven of his children, and as the wife of one of the most powerful nobles in the realm enjoyed much prestige and took precedence over most of the other peers' wives.

Lady Elizabeth de Bohun was born around 1350, the daughter of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton and Elizabeth de Badlesmere. Her older brother Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford married Joan Fitzalan, a sister of the 11th Earl of Arundel, by whom he had two daughters. Elizabeth had a half-brother Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March by her mother's first marriage to Sir Edmund Mortimer.

Her paternal grandparents were Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, daughter of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere and Margaret de Clare.

Lady Elizabeth's parents both died when she was young, her mother having died in 1356, and her father in 1360.

Arundel Castle, principal residence of Richard Fitzalan and Elizabeth de Bohun[edit] Marriage and children
On 28 September 1359, by Papal dispensation,[1] Elizabeth married Richard Fitzalan, who succeeded to the earldoms of Arundel and Surrey upon the death of his father, Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel in 1376. Their marriage was especially advantageous as it united two of the most powerful families in England. The alliance was further strengthened by the marriage of Elizabeth's brother, Humphrey to Fitzalan's sister Joan.

As the Countess of Arundel, Elizabeth was one of the most important women in England, who enjoyed much prestige, and after the Queen, the Duchesses of Lancaster and York, and the Countess of Buckingham, took precedence over the other noble ladies in the realm.¹

     7th Earl of Arundel.

     1st Duke of Norfolk.

     Mary de Bohun was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V, but was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne.

     Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death. From an unassuming start, his military successes in the Hundred Years' War, culminating with his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt, saw him come close to uniting the realms of England and France under his rule.

     2nd Lord Beaumont, Earl of Buchan.