Maud de Lacy, Countess of Gloucester
Maud de Lacy | |
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Margaret de Quincy , 2nd Countess of Lincoln |
Maud de Lacy (25 January 1223 – 10 March 1289) was an
Life
Maud de Lacy had a personality that was described as "highly competitive and somewhat embittered".[1] She became known as one of the most litigious women in the 13th century[1] as she was involved in numerous litigations and lawsuits with her tenants, neighbours, and relatives, including her own son. Author Linda Elizabeth Mitchell, in her Portraits of Medieval Women: Family, Marriage, and Politics in England 1225-1350', states that Maud's life has received "considerable attention by historians".[2]
Maud was styled Countess of Hertford and Countess of Gloucester upon her marriage to Richard de Clare. Although her mother, Lady
Her eldest son was
Family
Maud de Lacy was born on 25 January 1223 in
Maud had a younger brother
Her paternal grandparents were
Maud and her mother, Margaret, were never close; in point of fact, relations between the two women were described as strained.[3] Throughout Maud's marriage, the only interactions between Maud and her mother were quarrels regarding finances, pertaining to the substantial Marshal family property Margaret owned and controlled due to the latter's second marriage on 6 January 1242 to Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke almost two years after the death of Maud's father, John de Lacy in 1240.[4] Despite their poor rapport with one another, Maud was, nevertheless, strongly influenced by her mother.[2]
The fact that her mother preferred her grandson, Henry over Maud did not help their relationship; Henry, who was also her mother's ward, was made her heir, and he later succeeded to the earldom of Lincoln.[3]
Marriage to the Earl of Gloucester
On 25 January 1238 which was her fifteenth birthday, Maud married Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, and 6th Earl of Gloucester, son of
Throughout her marriage, Maud's position as the wife of the most politically significant nobleman of the 13th century was diminished by her mother's control of a third of the Marshal inheritance and her rank as Countess of Lincoln and dowager countess of Pembroke.[7]
Richard being the heir to one-fifth of the Pembroke earldom was also the guarantor of his mother-in-law's dowry.[4]
In about 1249/50, Maud ostensibly agreed to the transfer of the manor of
Issue
Together Richard and Maud had seven children:[citation needed]
- Isabel de Clare (1240 – before 1271), married as his second wife, William VII, Marquess of Montferrat, by whom she had one daughter, Margherita. She was allegedly killed by her husband.[citation needed]
- Alice de Lusignan of Angouleme by whom he had two daughters; he married secondly Joan of Acre, by whom he had issue.
- Juliana FitzGerald, daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly and Maud de Prendergast, by whom he had issue including Richard de Clare, 1st Lord Clare and Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere.
- Bovo de Clare, Chancellor of Llandaff (21 July 1248 – 1294)
- Margaret de Clare (1250 – 1312/1313), married Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. Their marriage was childless.
- Rohese de Clare (17 October 1252 – after 1316), married Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray, by whom she had issue.
- Eglantine de Clare (1257 – 1257)
Widowhood
On 15 July 1262, her husband died near Canterbury. Maud designed and commissioned a magnificent tomb for him at Tewkesbury Abbey where he was buried. She also donated the manor of Sydinghowe to the "Priory of Leigh" (i.e. Canonsleigh Abbey, Devon, for the soul of Richard, formerly her husband, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford by charter dated to 1280.[citation needed] Their eldest son Gilbert succeeded Richard as the 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester. Although Maud carefully arranged the marriages of her daughters, the King owned her sons' marriage rights.[1]
She was involved in numerous lawsuits and litigations with her tenants, neighbours, and relatives, including her eldest son Gilbert, who sued her for admeasurement of her dowry.
Maud died sometime between 1287 and 10 March 1288/9.[10]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Mitchell 2002, p. 37.
- ^ a b Mitchell 2002, p. 30.
- ^ a b c Mitchell 2002, p. 34.
- ^ a b Mitchell 2002, p. 33.
- ^ Mitchell 2002, p. 31.
- ^ a b c d e Mitchell 2002, p. 36.
- ^ Mitchell 2002, p. 35.
- ^ Mitchell 2002, p. 40.
- ^ Mitchell 2002, p. 38.
- ^ In Calendar of Close Rolls, 1288-1296, p. 6 an entry dated 10 March 1288/9 refers to the death of Maud, countess of Gloucester.
Sources
- Mitchell, Linda Elizabeth (2002). Portraits of Medieval Women: Family, Marriage, and Politics in England 1225-1350. Saint Martin's Press Inc. ISBN 978-0-312-29297-3.