Elizabeth de Clare

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Elizabeth de Clare
11th Lady of Clare
Lady de Burgh
Baroness d'Amory
Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford[3][4]
MotherJoan of Acre[3][4]

Elizabeth de Clare, 11th Lady of Clare (16 September 1295 – 4 November 1360) was the heiress to the lordships of

John de Burgh. Her two successive husbands were Theobald II de Verdun (of the Butler-de Verdun family) and Roger d'Amory.[3][4][2][1]

Marriages

Elizabeth de Clare married three times and had three children; one by each husband. Her father had been one of England's wealthiest and most powerful nobles, and her mother was a daughter of King Edward I of England. When Elizabeth's only brother Gilbert, 7th Earl of Hertford was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 aged only 23 and leaving no surviving issue, his property, estimated to be worth £6,000/year, was equally divided between his three full sisters, Elizabeth, Eleanor and Margaret. This made Elizabeth one of the greatest heiresses in England. Her maternal uncle, King Edward II, recalled her to England so he could select a husband for her. She left Ireland for good in 1316, leaving behind her young son, William.

First marriage

She accompanied her brother Gilbert to Ireland for their double wedding to two siblings: the son and daughter of the

John de Burgh on 30 September 1308. He was the heir to the Earl of Ulster, and Elizabeth could expect to be a countess in due course. She gave birth to their only child, a son, in 1312; he would become William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster. Only a year later, her husband John was unexpectedly killed in a minor skirmish. A widow, Elizabeth remained in Ireland until the death of her brother, Gilbert, at the Battle of Bannockburn compelled her immediate return to England in July 1314.[6]

Second marriage

Edward II placed her in

Isabel de Verdun (named for the Queen), was born on 21 March 1317.[7]

Third marriage

Just a few weeks later after Isabel's birth, Edward II married Elizabeth to Sir

Thomas, Earl of Lancaster in the rebellion known as the Despenser War. He died of his wounds at Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire after 16 March 1322, having been captured by the royalist forces at the Battle of Boroughbridge where the rebels were soundly defeated. Elizabeth was captured at Usk Castle and imprisoned at Barking Abbey
with her children by the victorious faction.

Loss and recovery of property

Elizabeth's brother-in-law, Hugh Despenser the younger, lord of Glamorgan, became a particular favourite of King Edward II. With the support of the king he began to take over the adjacent lordships in south Wales, with the aim to consolidate a huge landholding by fair means or foul. He concentrated on the lordships held by his sisters-in law and their husbands: Margaret and Hugh D'Audley (lordship of

Marcher lords
of south Wales, led by Damory, rose up against Despenser in May 1321 capturing his castles at Caerphilly and Cardiff. Their success contributed to the king's banishment of Hugh and his father on 14 August that year. This success was only short-lived as the king recalled the Despensers in October 1321 and launched a counter-offensive against the Marcher lords and their allies. Elizabeth was taken prisoner at Usk Castle in January 1322, and imprisoned in Barking Abbey, London, with her husband dying two months later. Elizabeth was forced by the king to exchange her lordship of Usk with Despenser's less-valuable lordship of Gower.

The rebellion of Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, saw King Edward II and Hugh Despenser flee to south Wales in October 1326. By this date Elizabeth seems to have been back in residence at Usk Castle, and she regained this lordship after Despenser's execution.[8] She held a very elaborate Christmas feast that year in Usk Castle, perhaps partly in celebration of her adversary's death, for which the long list of food and drink survives (see the National Archives PRO E101/91/14). She also undertook building works at Usk and nearby Llangibby Castles,[8] where she would entertain her friends, Marie de St Pol, countess of Pembroke, first amongst these. She stayed at Usk from October 1348 until April 1350, perhaps to escape the Black Death.[9]

Later life

After Damory's death, Elizabeth de Clare never remarried and styled herself the 'Lady of Clare' after her principal estate in Suffolk. She also had a residence at

Richard de Badew, in 1326. When Richard handed over his rights as patron to Elizabeth in 1346, she made further grants and it became known as Clare Hall.[5]

Death

Elizabeth de Burgh died on 4 November 1360 and was buried at the convent of the Minoresses following a funeral costing £200. Her tomb has not survived but must have been elaborate. Her will with its extensive bequests is published along with her household records.

Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. William had been murdered in Ireland in 1333, 27 years before her own death on 4 November 1360.[6]

Ancestry

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-404-61349-5
  2. ^
    ISBN 9781461045205
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e Browning, C. H. (2009). The Magna Charta Barons and Their American Descendants (1898): Together with the Pedigrees of the Founders of the Order of Runnemede. Genealogical Publishing.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Richardson, D., & Everingham, K. G. (2005). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Coloncial And Medieval Families. Genealogical Publishing.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1130690033
    .
  6. ^
    doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5435. (Subscription or UK public library membership
    required.)
  7. ^ The Complete Peerage, vol XII, p. 252.
  8. ^
    doi:10.5284/1059270
    .
  9. ISBN 9780312213558.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  10. ISBN 978-1-84383-891-3
    .
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