Eleanor de Clare

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Seal of Eleanor de Clare

Eleanor de Clare (October 1292 - June 30, 1337 ) was an English noblewoman. She was the wife of Hugh le Despenser . After the death of her brother, she was one of the heiresses of the Clare family .

Origin and youth

Eleanor was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester and Johanna , a daughter of King Edward I. Her father was one of the richest and most powerful nobles in England, but died in 1295. The king directed her mother and children to Bristol Castle as a residence, she secretly married Ralph de Monthermer in 1297 .

Life

Wife of Hugh le Despenser

Eleanor married Hugh le Despenser on May 26, 1306 at Westminster Abbey , who at the time was only a young knight and the heir of a little baron. However, the king owed Despenser's father money, which is why his son was allowed to marry the king's granddaughter. In 1309 the new King Edward II Despenser handed over the Sutton estate in Norfolk . At this time Eleanor was often at the royal court as the lady in waiting of Queen Isabella and enjoyed the favor of her uncle, the king.

After the death of her brother Gilbert , who died in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 and left no heirs, her father's extensive property was divided between her and her two sisters Margaret and Elizabeth in 1317 . Eleanor received Tewkesbury as the center of the Honor of Gloucester and Glamorgan in the Welsh Marches . In addition, she received Rotherfield in Sussex , estates in Devon and Somerset and a third of the Irish rule Kilkenny . Over her two sisters, Eleanor was preferred by her uncle, the king. He provided for her livelihood until his death, through her her husband probably won the favor of the king and made a steep career at the royal court from 1317. He became Chamberlain of the Household in 1318 and quickly rose to become its new favorite . He used his position to increase his share of the Clare family inheritance in an inheritance dispute with his brothers-in-law Hugh de Audley and Roger Damory . This led to a rebellion of the barons in 1321, the so-called Despenser War , in which Audley and Damory took part. The king was able to put down the rebellion in 1322. Damory died during the rebellion, and Audley and Eleanor's sisters lost the king's favor. Eleanor and her husband Despenser, however, continued to enjoy the favor of the king, who ruled tyrannically together with his favorite. Queen Isabella lost her husband's favor after November 1322, probably through the intrigues of Hugh le Despenser . On behalf of her husband, Eleanor, as the queen's maid, supervised the household. She also served as a spy and oversaw the Queen's correspondence. When the king sent the queen on a diplomatic mission to her brother, the French king, in France in March 1325, she never returned to her husband. Eleanor is said to have behaved like a queen at the English court. Allegedly the king even had a relationship with her, but this is considered unlikely.

Fall and Captivity

In the autumn of 1326 Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer landed with an army in England. Despenser and King Edward II fled London in early October, while Eleanor stayed in the Tower of London . However, in the face of a revolt by the Londoners, she had to hand over the Tower on October 15. The King and Despenser were captured on the run in Glamorgan in November. Despenser was executed that same month, while the king was deposed in early 1327 and finally murdered in September. By order of the Queen, Eleanor was imprisoned in the Tower on November 17, 1326. Their five daughters were deported to convents by the victors.

Wife of William la Zouche

However, Queen Isabelle apparently did not want to punish Eleanor permanently. Eleanor's daughter, Isabel, was allowed to return to live with her husband, heir to the Earl of Arundel , and their daughter, Elizabeth, married a son of Thomas de Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley , an important supporter of Roger Mortimer. In April 1328 Eleanor was released from captivity by parliamentary resolution and was assigned a Wittum , including Glamorgan. A rich widow, she was kidnapped in Hanley Castle in Worcestershire in early 1329 by William la Zouche, 1st Baron Zouche of Mortimer . Zouche had once been an opponent of her husband and had led the siege of Caerphilly Castle in 1327 , where Eleanor's son Hugh le Despenser was in the care of a strong garrison. He married Eleanor without obtaining the required royal approval. Then Queen Isabella took military action against Zouche and besieged him from February 1329 in Caerphilly Castle, while Eleanor was captured and again imprisoned in the Tower before she was transferred to Devizes Castle . Zouche finally had to surrender in May 1329. Eleanor was released in January 1330, but they were to pay the impossibly heavy fine of £ 50,000 while Glamorgan fell under royal administration until the fine was paid. After the reign of Queen Isabella and Mortimer in the same year by the young King Edward III. ended, Eleanor asked the king to reduce the fine. The king forgave her a part and apparently waived the further payments, in addition he gave her Glamorgan again at the beginning of 1331.

Window in Tewkesbury Abbey with portraits of members of the Clare family, drawing from 1802

Thereafter, Eleanor lived with her husband William la Zouche until her death. By 1333 John Gray, 1st Baron Gray of Rotherfield complained in vain that he had married her before William de la Zouche. Where Eleanor was buried is unknown, but she was probably buried in Tewkesbury Abbey . Eleanor, like many of her ancestors, had promoted the abbey. After the fall of Queen Isabelle and Mortimer in 1330, she was allowed to have the remains of Hugh le Despenser buried in a magnificent tomb in the abbey church. She donated the magnificent glass paintings for the church , which were only completed after her death around 1340 and on which numerous members of the Clare and Despenser families are depicted. A small kneeling naked woman may represent the founder Eleanor, but this cannot be proven.

progeny

Eleanor had children from both marriages. From her first marriage to Hugh le Despenser, she had several children including:

From her marriage to William de la Zouche she had two children:

  • William
  • Joyce ⚭ John de Botecourt

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 170.
  2. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , pp. 113-114.
  3. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 161.
  4. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 213.
  5. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 231.
  6. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 241.
  7. ↑ Alison Weir: Isabella. She-Wolf of France, Queen of England . Pimlico, London 2006, ISBN 0-7126-4194-7 , p. 241.
  8. ↑ Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales: An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments in Glamorgan: III - Part 1b: Medieval Secular Monuments, the Later Castles from 1217 to the present, Her Maj. Stat. Office, London 2000, ISBN 978-1-871184-22-8 , p. 71.
  9. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 47.
  10. ^ Moriarty: Chancel Windows - Tewkesbury Abbey. Retrieved April 15, 2015 .
personal data
SURNAME Eleanor de Clare
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobles
DATE OF BIRTH October 1292
DATE OF DEATH June 30, 1337