Person Page - 1275

     Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland (c. 1364 – 21 October 1425) was born in Raby Castle, County Durham, England, the son of John de Neville and Maud Percy.

He was created 1st Earl of Westmorland in 1397. He had become the fifth Baron Neville de Raby in 1388. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1402, taking the place left vacant by the death of Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York. Neville was a supporter of King Henry IV of England.

In the later part of his career, Neville was mainly engaged with defense of the northern border in his capacity as warden of the west march. In 1415, for example, he decisively defeated an invading Scottish army at the Battle of Yeavering.

Like the first lords of Richmond and Peter II of Savoy before him, Ralph was endowed with the lordship of Richmondshire but without the peerage.

Marriages:
1) Margaret de Stafford, 1382, daughter of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp. Her paternal grandparents were Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford and Margaret de Audley.
2) Joan Beaufort, 29 November 1396, daughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and his third wife, Katherine Swynford, and half-sister of Henry IV of England.¹

     Margaret de Stafford (1364 – 18 October 1396 in Brancepeth, County Durham, England) was the second daughter of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp. She became the first wife of Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland.

She was a maternal first cousin of the 1st Earl of Worcester and the 13th Earl of Warwick; as well as a maternal aunt of the soldier and commander William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk and a paternal aunt of the military commander Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham.

In 1382, Lady Margaret married Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. They had nine children.¹

     Margaret de Audley, Baroness Audley and Countess of Stafford (1318 – 7 September 1347) was the only daughter of Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester by his wife Margaret de Clare.[1] She was a great-granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

Margaret was abducted by Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford. A complaint was filed by her parents, but King Edward III of England supported Stafford. He appeased Hugh and Margaret by creating Hugh Earl of Gloucester.¹

     1st Earl of Gloucester. Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester (1289 - 10 November 1347) was the English Ambassador to France in 1341.

He was born in Stratton Audley in the English County of Oxfordshire, the son of Hugh I de Audley (born c. 1250 in Audley, Staffordshire) and Isolde de Mortimer (born c. 1270 in Wigmore, Herefordshire) and a member of the Mortimer family of Marcher Lords, many of whom were Earl of March.

He married Margaret de Clare, the widow of Piers Gaveston, by whom he had a daughter, Margaret de Audley (born c. 1318 in Stafford), who was abducted as a wife by Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford.¹

     Margaret de Clare (October 1293 – April 1342) was one of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester and his wife, Joan of Acre, and thus a granddaughter of King Edward I of England.

She was married to Piers Gaveston, the favourite of her uncle Edward II, in October 1307. According to the Vita Edwardi Secundi, this marriage was arranged by the King "to strengthen Piers and surround him with friends." Gaveston celebrated the marriage with a lavish tournament at Wallingford Castle. The marriage of such a high-born lady to a foreigner was not popular among the English nobility. They had one child. King Edward threw a grand celebration after the birth of this child, complete with minstrels. However, Piers Gaveston was executed only six months later, leaving Margaret a widow with a small child. Her dower rights as Countess of Cornwall were disputed, and so King Edward instead assigned her Oakham Castle and other lands. She joined the Royal household and in 1316 accompanied the King in his journey from London to York.

Following the death of their brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Hertford, at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Margaret and her sisters, Elizabeth and Eleanor de Clare received a share of the inheritance. Margaret was now one of the co-heiresses to the vast Gloucester estate, and King Edward arranged a second marriage for her to another favourite, Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester.

On April 28, 1317 Margaret de Clare wed Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester at Windsor Castle. They had one daughter.¹

     Joan of Acre (April 1272 – 23 April 1307) was the daughter of King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile.[2] She is most notable for her marriage to Ralph de Monthermer and the claim that miracles have allegedly taken place at her grave. She is also notable for the multiple references of her in literature.

Joan (or Joanna, as she is sometimes called) of Acre was born in the spring of 1272 in Syria, while her parents, Edward I and Eleanor of Castile, were on crusade.[3] At the time of Joan's birth, her grandfather, Henry III, was still alive and thus her father was not yet king of England. Her parents departed from Acre shortly after her birth, traveling to Sicily and Spain[4] before leaving Joan with Eleanor's mother, Joan, Countess of Ponthieu, in France.[5] Joan lived for several years in France where she spent her time being educated by a bishop and “being thoroughly spoiled by an indulgent grandmother.”[6] Joan was free to play among the “vine clad hills and sunny vales”[7] surrounding her grandmother’s home, although she required “judicious surveillance.”[8]

As Joan was growing up with her grandmother, her father was back in England, already arranging marriages for his daughter. He hoped to gain both political power and more wealth with his daughter's marriage, so he conducted the arrangement in a very “business like style”.[9] He finally found a man suitable to marry Joan (aged 5 at the time), Hartman, son of King Rudoph I, of Germany. Edward then brought her home from France for the first time to meet him.[10] As she had spent her entire life away from Edward and Eleanor, when she returned she “stood in no awe of her parents”[6] and had a fairly distanced relationship with them.

Unfortunately for King Edward, his daughter’s suitor died before he was able to meet or marry Joan. The news reported that Hartman had fallen through a patch of shallow ice while “amusing himself in skating” while a letter sent to the King himself stated that Hartman had set out on a boat to visit his father amidst a terrible fog and the boat had smashed into a rock, drowning him.[11]

Edward arranged a second marriage almost immediately after the death of Hartman.[12] Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester, who was almost thirty years older than Joan and newly divorced was his first choice.[13] The earl resigned his lands to Edward upon agreeing to get them back when he married Joan, as well as agreed on a dower of two thousand silver marks.[14] By the time all of these negotiations were finished, Joan was twelve years old.[14] Gilbert de Clare became very enamored with Joan, and even though she had to marry him regardless of how she felt, he still tried to woo her.[15] He bought her expensive gifts and clothing to try to win favor with her.[16] The couple were married on 30 April 1290 at Westminster Abbey, and had four children together.¹

     Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford (1180 – 25 October 1230) was the son of Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford, from whom he inherited the Clare estates. He also inherited from his mother, Amice Fitz William, the estates of Gloucester and the honour of St. Hilary, and from Rohese, an ancestor, the moiety of the Giffard estates. In June 1202, he was entrusted with the lands of Harfleur and Montrevillers.

In 1215 Gilbert and his father were two of the barons made Magna Carta sureties and championed Louis "le Dauphin" of France in the First Barons' War, fighting at Lincoln under the baronial banner. He was taken prisoner in 1217 by William Marshal, whose daughter Isabel he later married.

In 1223 he accompanied his brother-in-law, Earl Marshal, in an expedition into Wales. In 1225 he was present at the confirmation of the Magna Carta by Henry III. In 1228 he led an army against the Welsh, capturing Morgan Gam, who was released the next year. He then joined in an expedition to Brittany, but died on his way back to Penrose in that duchy. His body was conveyed home by way of Plymouth and Cranborne to Tewkesbury. His widow Isabel later married Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall & King of the Romans. His own arms were: Or, three chevronels gules.

Hertford had six children by his wife Isabel, née Marshal.¹ 7th Earl of Clare, Hertford, and Gloucester.

     Edward le Despenser (1310–1342) was the third eldest son of Hugh le Despenser the Younger by his wife Eleanor de Clare.[1] His father is famous for being the favourite of Edward II of England, and consequently being executed for it. Through his mother, he was a great grandson of Edward I of England.

Although his exact whereabouts before the execution of his father are unknown, it is believed that he was among the children living with their mother Eleanor during her imprisonment in the Tower of London (November 1326 - February 1328).[2] He was clearly too young to be seen as a threat to Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, unlike his older brother, Hugh (who was imprisoned by the two in 1327).

After coming into his estates in November 1334, he soon married Anne Ferrers of Groby, (sister of Henry, Lord Ferrers). They had four surviving sons:

Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer - he inherited the Despenser estates from his paternal uncle Hugh.

Like a few of his brothers, Edward served in Edward III's military campaigns. In 1342, he accompanied his older brother Hugh to mainland Europe.[3] Although they were originally heading for Gascony, they were diverted to Brest to aid King Edward's ally the Countess of Montfort in the Breton Civil War. On September 30, 1342, he and his brother's forces joined the English and helped achieve a victory against the French army at Morlaix. Unfortunately, Edward died during the battle.[4] He was the highest-ranking English casualty there.¹

     Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer (also called Despenser) (c. 24 March 1335 or 1336 – 11 November 1375) was the son of another Edward le Despenser and Anne, the sister of Henry, Lord Ferrers of Groby.

Le Despencer went with Edward the Black Prince to France, and was present at the Battle of Poitiers. In recognition of his conduct in the French wars, he was summoned to Parliament as a baron in 1357. At the same time, he also became a Knight of the Garter.

Edward married Elizabeth de Burghersh, daughter of Bartholomew de Burghersh, 2nd Baron Burghersh. They had the following children:

Thomas, who succeeded his father to the barony.
Hugh
Cicely
Elizabeth, who married firstly John Arundel, and then Hugh, Lord Zouch
Anne, who married firstly to Hugh Hastings, and then Thomas, Lord Morley
Margaret, who married Robert, Lord Ferrers of Chartley.
He was a friend and patron of Jean Froissart[1].¹ 1st Baron le Despencer.