Eleanor de Montfort

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Eleanor de Montfort. Illumination from the 13th century

Eleanor de Montfort (also Alienor de Montfort ) (* around 1258, † June 19, 1282 ) was an English noblewoman who became Princess of Wales by marriage .

Origin and childhood

Eleanor was the only daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, and his wife Eleanor , a daughter of King John Ohneland . Her father became the leader of an aristocratic opposition against his brother-in-law, King Henry III. and fell in August 1265 during the War of the Barons fighting against the heir to the throne, Lord Edward . Eleanor had been betrothed as a child to Lord Llywelyn of Wales , who had been allied with her father since 1263. In October 1265, the victorious king allowed her mother to go into exile with her in France, where her father had also owned properties.

Marriage to Lord Llywelyn

In 1275 Eleanor was married by proxy to Lord Llywelyn, and towards the end of the year her brother Amaury planned to take her to Wales. However, the relationship between Prince Llywelyn and the English King Edward I was extremely tense. The king therefore wanted to prevent Llywelyn, whom he regarded as an apostate vassal , from marrying the daughter of his mortal enemy. He therefore had the ship with Amaury and Eleanor arrested in the Bristol Channel . After a brief detention in Bristol , Eleanor was taken to Windsor Castle . The capture of his bride strengthened the Welsh prince, who had already been more than 50 years old but was unmarried and childless, further in his conviction that he could not trust the English king. An open war broke out between Wales and England , which the English king was able to win through a swift campaign. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Aberconwy and the homage of Prince Llywelyn, Edward I was generous. Eleanor was released in January 1278, and on October 13, 1278, she and Lord Llywelyn were remarried in Worcester Cathedral . The ceremony was attended by the King and Queen, who also paid for the wedding reception and the bridal party’s trip to Wales. In January 1281 Eleanor visited her royal cousin again at Windsor Castle, but in early March there was a new uprising against English rule in Wales . During the rebellion, Eleanor died giving birth to their daughter Gwenllian . She was buried in the Franciscan branch at Llanfair , Anglesey .

Fate of her daughter

Prince Llywelyn fell in December 1282 fighting the English who completely conquered Wales by 1283. Their daughter Gwenllian was brought to England, where she grew up in Sempringham Abbey . There she died as a nun in 1337.

Web links

Commons : Eleanor de Montfort  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 327
  2. ^ Rees R. Davies: The Age of Conquest. Wales 1063-1415. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1991, ISBN 0-19-820198-2 , p. 341
personal data
SURNAME Montfort, Eleanor de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES De Montfort, Eleanor; Montfort, Alienor de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English noblewoman, Princess of Wales
DATE OF BIRTH around 1258
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1282