Isabel de Verdun
Encyclopedia
Isabel de Verdun, Lady Ferrers of Groby (21 March 1317 – 25 July 1349) was an heiress, who was related to the English royal family as the eldest daughter of Elizabeth de Clare
, herself a granddaughter of King Edward I of England
. When she was a child, Isabel was imprisoned in Barking Abbey
, along with her mother and half-sister, after her stepfather had joined the Earl of Lancaster's ill-fated rebellion
against King Edward II
. Her husband was Henry de Ferrers, 2nd Lord Ferrers of Groby.
, on 21 March 1317, the only child of the marriage of Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Lord Verdun, Justiciar
of Ireland (born 8 September 1278) and Lady Elizabeth de Clare
. She was born eight months after her father died of typhoid on 27 July 1316. He had abducted her mother from Bristol Castle in early 1316, and married her shortly afterwards on 4 February. Elizabeth was his second wife, his first wife having been Maud Mortimer (c.1289- 18 September 1312). Isabel had three half-sisters from her father's prior marriage, Joan de Verdun, Elizabeth de Verdun, and Margery de Verdun.
Isabel, along with her three de Verdon half-sisters, was a co-heiress of her father. She is occasionally referred to as Heiress of Ludlow
.
Theobald was Elizabeth's second husband, her first husband John de Burgh had died in a minor skirmish in Galway
, Ireland on 18 June 1313. She had a son by de Burgh, William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
(17 September 1312- 6 June 1333), who was Isabel's uterine half-brother. William would later marry Maud of Lancaster, by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth de Burgh, suo jure 4th Countess of Ulster (6 July 1332- 10 December 1363).
Following the death of her brother Gilbert
at Bannockburn
in 1314, Elizabeth, along with her two sisters, Margaret and Eleanor, became one of the greatest heiresses in England.
Her uncle, King Edward II of England
, ordered her to return to England, where he planned to select a husband for her from among his supporters. She was placed in Bristol Castle where Verdun would afterwards abduct her, to the fury of King Edward.
After her husband's death, Elizabeth, pregnant with Verdun's child, fled to Amesbury Priory and placed herself under the protection of her aunt, Mary de Burgh, who was one of the nuns. It was there that she gave birth to Isabel.
Isabel's birth is recorded in an entry of King Edward II's Wardrobe Accounts, as well as the King's gift of a silver-gilt cup which valued at one pound, ten shillings.
Her paternal grandparents were Theobald de Verdun, 1st Lord Verdun and Margery de Bohun, and her maternal grandparents were Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre
, the daughter of King Edward I of England
and Eleanor of Castile
.
, Lord D'Amory, Baron of Armoy (c.1290- 14 March 1322) a favourite of King Edward II, who encouraged the match. Isabel's wardship and marriage rights were awarded to her stepfather. From her mother's marriage to D'Amory, Isabel had a uterine half-sister, Elizabeth D'Amory, (born shortly before 23 May 1318- 5 February 1361), who would later marry Sir John Bardolf, by whom she had issue.
Following D'Amory's participation in the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion of 1322, against his former friend and patron, the King and the latter's new favourites, the Despensers, Isabel's wardship and marriage rights were forfeit to the Crown and eventually passed to Queen Isabella
. Isabel's aunt Eleanor de Clare
was married to Hugh le Despenser the Younger, who had angered her stepfather after seizing the larger portion of the vast de Clare inheritance for himself. On account of Despenser's greed and increasing influence over the king, D'Amory joined forces with Roger Mortimer and the other disgruntled Marcher Lords
becoming one of the key figures in the resulting Despenser War
. Roger D'Amory died on 14 March 1322, two days before the Battle of Boroughbridge
where Lancaster and the rebels were defeated by the Royalist forces. Isabel, not quite five years old, together with her sister Elizabeth and her mother, was imprisoned at Barking Abbey
.
. He was the son of William de Ferrers, 1st Lord Ferrers of Groby and Ellen de Seagrove. She was eleven years old at the time of her marriage. The marriage produced at least five children, four of whom survived infancy. Following the birth of her eldest child in February 1331, when Isabel was not quite 14 years of age, her mother sent her presents for her "churching". This was a special religious ceremony performed for the benefit of a woman shortly after childbirth. The child, whose sex was not recorded, died in early infancy.
Elizabeth de Clare
Elizabeth de Clare was the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl...
, herself a granddaughter of King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. When she was a child, Isabel was imprisoned in Barking Abbey
Barking Abbey
The ruined remains of Barking Abbey are situated in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London, England, and now form a public open space.- History :...
, along with her mother and half-sister, after her stepfather had joined the Earl of Lancaster's ill-fated rebellion
Despenser War
The Despenser War was a baronial revolt between 1321-2 led by the Marcher Lords Roger Mortimer, Baron Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford against Edward II of England and his favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger.Some historians use the label the "Despenser War" to refer to just...
against King Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
. Her husband was Henry de Ferrers, 2nd Lord Ferrers of Groby.
Family and lineage
Isabel was born at Amesbury Priory, WiltshireWiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, on 21 March 1317, the only child of the marriage of Theobald de Verdun, 2nd Lord Verdun, Justiciar
Justiciar
In medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
of Ireland (born 8 September 1278) and Lady Elizabeth de Clare
Elizabeth de Clare
Elizabeth de Clare was the heiress to the lordships of Clare, Suffolk in England and Usk in Wales. She was the youngest of the three daughters of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Joan of Acre, and sister of Gilbert de Clare, who later succeeded as the 7th Earl...
. She was born eight months after her father died of typhoid on 27 July 1316. He had abducted her mother from Bristol Castle in early 1316, and married her shortly afterwards on 4 February. Elizabeth was his second wife, his first wife having been Maud Mortimer (c.1289- 18 September 1312). Isabel had three half-sisters from her father's prior marriage, Joan de Verdun, Elizabeth de Verdun, and Margery de Verdun.
Isabel, along with her three de Verdon half-sisters, was a co-heiress of her father. She is occasionally referred to as Heiress of Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
.
Theobald was Elizabeth's second husband, her first husband John de Burgh had died in a minor skirmish in Galway
Galway
Galway or City of Galway is a city in County Galway, Republic of Ireland. It is the sixth largest and the fastest-growing city in Ireland. It is also the third largest city within the Republic and the only city in the Province of Connacht. Located on the west coast of Ireland, it sits on the...
, Ireland on 18 June 1313. She had a son by de Burgh, William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster
William de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster and 4th Baron of Connaught , was a noble in the Peerage of Ireland.-Background:...
(17 September 1312- 6 June 1333), who was Isabel's uterine half-brother. William would later marry Maud of Lancaster, by whom he had a daughter Elizabeth de Burgh, suo jure 4th Countess of Ulster (6 July 1332- 10 December 1363).
Following the death of her brother Gilbert
Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford
Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester was a powerful English noble. Also known as "Red" Gilbert de Clare, probably because of his hair colour.- Lineage :...
at Bannockburn
Bannockburn
Bannockburn is a village immediately south of the city of Stirling in Scotland. It is named after the Bannock Burn, a burn running through the village before flowing into the River Forth.-History:...
in 1314, Elizabeth, along with her two sisters, Margaret and Eleanor, became one of the greatest heiresses in England.
Her uncle, King Edward II of England
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
, ordered her to return to England, where he planned to select a husband for her from among his supporters. She was placed in Bristol Castle where Verdun would afterwards abduct her, to the fury of King Edward.
After her husband's death, Elizabeth, pregnant with Verdun's child, fled to Amesbury Priory and placed herself under the protection of her aunt, Mary de Burgh, who was one of the nuns. It was there that she gave birth to Isabel.
Isabel's birth is recorded in an entry of King Edward II's Wardrobe Accounts, as well as the King's gift of a silver-gilt cup which valued at one pound, ten shillings.
Her paternal grandparents were Theobald de Verdun, 1st Lord Verdun and Margery de Bohun, and her maternal grandparents were Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 3rd Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre
Joan of Acre
Joan of Acre was an English princess, a daughter of the King Edward I of England and queen Eleanor of Castile...
, the daughter of King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
.
Despenser War and imprisonment
On 3 May 1317, when Isabel was just about six weeks old, her mother married Sir Roger D'AmoryRoger d'Amory
Sir Roger d'Amory, Lord d'Amory, Baron of Amory in Ireland, was a nobleman and Constable of Corfe Castle.He was the younger son of Sir Robert d'Amory, Knight, of Bucknell and Woodperry, Oxfordshire...
, Lord D'Amory, Baron of Armoy (c.1290- 14 March 1322) a favourite of King Edward II, who encouraged the match. Isabel's wardship and marriage rights were awarded to her stepfather. From her mother's marriage to D'Amory, Isabel had a uterine half-sister, Elizabeth D'Amory, (born shortly before 23 May 1318- 5 February 1361), who would later marry Sir John Bardolf, by whom she had issue.
Following D'Amory's participation in the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion of 1322, against his former friend and patron, the King and the latter's new favourites, the Despensers, Isabel's wardship and marriage rights were forfeit to the Crown and eventually passed to Queen Isabella
Isabella of France
Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...
. Isabel's aunt Eleanor de Clare
Eleanor de Clare
Eleanor de Clare was the wife of the powerful Hugh Despenser the younger. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly in Glamorgan, Wales. She was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile; thus...
was married to Hugh le Despenser the Younger, who had angered her stepfather after seizing the larger portion of the vast de Clare inheritance for himself. On account of Despenser's greed and increasing influence over the king, D'Amory joined forces with Roger Mortimer and the other disgruntled Marcher Lords
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
becoming one of the key figures in the resulting Despenser War
Despenser War
The Despenser War was a baronial revolt between 1321-2 led by the Marcher Lords Roger Mortimer, Baron Mortimer and Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford against Edward II of England and his favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger.Some historians use the label the "Despenser War" to refer to just...
. Roger D'Amory died on 14 March 1322, two days before the Battle of Boroughbridge
Battle of Boroughbridge
The Battle of Boroughbridge was a battle fought on 16 March 1322 between a group of rebellious barons and King Edward II of England, near Boroughbridge, northwest of York. The culmination of a long period of antagonism between the king and Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, his most powerful subject, it...
where Lancaster and the rebels were defeated by the Royalist forces. Isabel, not quite five years old, together with her sister Elizabeth and her mother, was imprisoned at Barking Abbey
Barking Abbey
The ruined remains of Barking Abbey are situated in Barking in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham in east London, England, and now form a public open space.- History :...
.
Marriage
Isabel married Henry de Ferrers, 2nd Lord Ferrers of Groby (born before 1303- 15 September 1343) in 1328 at Newbold Verdon, LeicestershireLeicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
. He was the son of William de Ferrers, 1st Lord Ferrers of Groby and Ellen de Seagrove. She was eleven years old at the time of her marriage. The marriage produced at least five children, four of whom survived infancy. Following the birth of her eldest child in February 1331, when Isabel was not quite 14 years of age, her mother sent her presents for her "churching". This was a special religious ceremony performed for the benefit of a woman shortly after childbirth. The child, whose sex was not recorded, died in early infancy.
Issue
- Infant (b.February 1331), whose name and sex is not known, died shortly after birth.
- William de Ferrers, 3rd Lord Ferrers of Groby (28 February 1333 Newbold Verdon- 8 January 1371), married Margaret de Ufford, daughter of Robert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of SuffolkRobert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of SuffolkRobert d'Ufford, 1st Earl of Suffolk, KG was born in Thurston, Suffolk, England to Robert d'Ufford and Cecily de Valoines. On 13 November 1334 he married Margaret de Norwich, daughter of Sir Walter Norwich and Catherine de Hedersete. They had four children. He was made Earl of Suffolk in...
and Margaret de Norwich, by whom he had issue, including Henry de Ferrers, 4th Lord Ferrers of Groby, who married Joan de Hoo, and Margaret de Ferrers, who married Thomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of WarwickThomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of WarwickThomas de Beauchamp, 12th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English medieval nobleman, and one of the primary opponents of Richard II.- Birth and Marriage:...
. - Ralph de Ferrers, married Joan de Grey of Codnor.
- Elizabeth de Ferrers (died 22 October 1375), married firstly David de Strathbogie, 12th Earl of AthollEarl of AthollThe Mormaer of Earl of Atholl refers to a medieval comital lordship straddling the highland province of Atholl , now in northern Perthshire. Atholl is a special Mormaerdom, because a King of Atholl is reported from the Pictish period. The only other two Pictish kingdoms to be known from...
, by whom she had issue. She married secondly, John Malewayn. - Philippa de Ferrers (died 10 August 1384), married Guy de Beauchamp, son of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of WarwickThomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of WarwickThomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War...
and Katherine Mortimer, by whom she had two daughters.