Isabel Marshal
Encyclopedia
Isabel Marshal was a medieval English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 countess. She was the wife of both Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and 1st Earl of Gloucester and Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...

 (son of King John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

). With the former, she was a great grandparent of King Robert the Bruce
Robert I of Scotland
Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

 of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Family

Born at Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle
Pembroke Castle is a medieval castle in Pembroke, West Wales. Standing beside the River Cleddau, it underwent major restoration work in the early 20th century. The castle was the original seat of the Earldom of Pembroke....

, Isabel was the seventh child, and second daughter, of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke , also called William the Marshal , was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton...

 and Isabel de Clare
Isabel de Clare, 3rd Countess of Pembroke
Isabel de Clare, suo jure Countess of Pembroke and Striguil , was a Cambro-Norman-Irish noblewoman and one of the greatest heiresses in Wales and Ireland. She was the wife of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who served four successive kings as Lord Marshal of England...

. She had 10 siblings, who included the 2nd
William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was a medieval English nobleman, and the son of the famous William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.-Early life:William was born in Normandy probably during the spring of 1190...

, 3rd
Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke
Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke was the brother of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, whom he succeeded to the Earldom of Pembroke and Lord Marshal of England upon his brother's death on 6 April 1231....

, 4th
Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke
Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke was the third son of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, the daughter of Richard de Clare....

, 5th
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke was the fourth son of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke who succeeded his childless brother Gilbert as the 5th Earl of Pembroke and Earl Marshal of England in 1242 a year after the latter's death...

 and 6th
Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke
Anselm Marshal was the sixth Earl of Pembroke and Earl Marshal of England, the youngest and last of the five sons of William Marshal to hold that post...

 Earls of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title created ten times, all in the Peerage of England. It was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, which is the site of Earldom's original seat Pembroke Castle...

; each of her brothers dying without a legitimate male heir, thus passing the title on to the next brother in line. Her last brother to hold the title of Earl of Pembroke died without legitimate issue, and the title was passed down through the family of Isabel's younger sister Joan. Her sisters married, respectively, the Earls of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod was the eldest son of Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk, and for a short time the 3rd Earl of Norfolk.In 1215 he was one of the twenty-five sureties of Magna Carta of King John...

, Surrey, and Derby
William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby
William III de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby was an English nobleman and head of a family which controlled a large part of Derbyshire including an area known as Duffield Frith....

; the Lord of Abergavenny and the Lord of Swanscombe
Swanscombe
Swanscombe is a small town, part of the Borough of Dartford on the north Kent coast in England. It is part of the civil parish of Swanscombe and Greenhithe.-Prehistory:...

.

First marriage

On her 17th birthday, Isabel was married to Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and 1st Earl of Gloucester, who was 20 years her senior, at Tewkesbury Abbey
Tewkesbury Abbey
The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

. The marriage was an extremely happy one, despite the age difference, and the couple had six children:
  • Agnes de Clare  (b. 1218)
  • Amice de Clare
    Amice de Clare
    Amice de Clare was the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford and Isabel Marshal. She married, firstly, Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon, and secondly Robert de Guinness.-Family and children:...

     (1220–1287), who married the 6th Earl of Devon
    Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon
    Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon and Lord of the Isle was the son of Baldwin de Redvers and Margaret FitzGerold and grandson of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon.-Family and children:...

  • Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford
    Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford
    Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester was son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and Isabel Marshal. On his father's death, when he became Earl of Gloucester , he was entrusted first to the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh. On Hubert's fall, his guardianship was...

     (1222–1262)
  • Isabel de Clare (2 November 1226– 10 July 1264), who married the 5th Lord of Annandale; through this daughter, Isabel would be the great grandmother of Robert the Bruce
    Robert I of Scotland
    Robert I , popularly known as Robert the Bruce , was King of Scots from March 25, 1306, until his death in 1329.His paternal ancestors were of Scoto-Norman heritage , and...

  • William de Clare (1228–1258)
  • Gilbert de Clare
    Gilbert de Clare
    Gilbert de Clare may refer to:* Gilbert Fitz Richard known also as Gilbert de Clare , lord of Clare, Tonbridge and Ceredigion* Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke...

     (b. 1229), a priest


Isabel's husband Gilbert joined in an expedition to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

 in 1229, but died 25 October 1230 on his way back to Penrose, in that duchy. His body was conveyed home by way of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

 and Cranborne
Cranborne
Cranborne is a village in East Dorset, England. In 2001 the village had a population of 779 people. The town is situated on chalk downland called Cranborne Chase, part of a large expanse of chalk in southern England which includes the nearby Salisbury Plain and Dorset Downs.-History:The village...

, to Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury is a town in Gloucestershire, England. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and also minor tributaries the Swilgate and Carrant Brook...

, where he was buried at the abbey.

Second marriage

Isabel was a young widow, only 30 years old. She had proven childbearing ability and the ability to bear healthy sons; as evidenced by her six young children, three of whom were sons. These were most likely the reasons for both the proposal of marriage from Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...

, and Isabel's acceptance of it, despite the fact that her husband had just died five months previously. The two were married on 30 March 1231 at Fawley
Fawley, Buckinghamshire
Fawley is a village and civil parish in Wycombe district in the south-western corner of Buckinghamshire, England. It is on the boundary between Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, about seven miles west of Great Marlow and north of Henley-on-Thames....

 Church, much to the displeasure of Richard's brother King Henry
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

, who had been arranging a more advantageous match for Richard. Isabel and Richard got along well enough, though Richard had a reputation as a womanizer and is known to have had mistresses during the marriage. They were the parents of four children, three of whom died in the cradle.
  • John of Cornwall (31 January 1232 – 22 September 1233), born and died at Marlow, Buckinghamshire
    Marlow, Buckinghamshire
    Marlow is a town and civil parish within Wycombe district in south Buckinghamshire, England...

    , buried at Reading Abbey
    Reading Abbey
    Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors...

  • Isabella of Cornwall (9 September 1233 – 10 October 1234), born and died at Marlow, Buckinghamshire, buried at Reading Abbey
  • Henry of Almain
    Henry of Almain
    Henry of Almain , so called because of his father's German connections as King of the Romans , was the son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall and Isabel Marshal.As a nephew of both Henry III and Simon de Montfort, he wavered between the two at the beginning of the Barons' War, but...

      (2 November 1235 – 13 March 1271), murdered by his cousins Guy
    Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola
    Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola was the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England.He participated in the Battle of Evesham against the royalist forces of his uncle, King Henry III of England, and his cousin, Prince Edward...

     and Simon de Montfort, buried at Hailes Abbey
    Hailes Abbey
    Hailes Abbey is two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England.The abbey was founded in 1245 or 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, called "King of the Romans" and the younger brother of King Henry III of England. He was granted the manor of Hailes by Henry, and settled it with...

    .
  • Nicholas of Cornwall (b. & d. 17 January 1240 Berkhamsted Castle
    Berkhamsted Castle
    Berkhamsted Castle is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey castle at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England.The original fortification dates from Saxon times. Work on the Norman structure was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror who later passed the castle to his half-brother, Robert, Count of...

    ), died shortly after birth, buried at Beaulieu Abbey
    Beaulieu Abbey
    Beaulieu Abbey, , was a Cistercian abbey located in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203-1204 by King John and peopled by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order...

     with his mother

Death and burial

Isabel died of liver failure
Liver failure
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs of liver disease , and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage . The complications are hepatic encephalopathy and impaired protein synthesis...

, contracted while in childbirth, on 17 January 1240, at Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle
Berkhamsted Castle is a ruined Norman motte-and-bailey castle at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England.The original fortification dates from Saxon times. Work on the Norman structure was started in 1066 by William the Conqueror who later passed the castle to his half-brother, Robert, Count of...

. She was 39 years old.

When Isabel was dying she asked to be buried next to her first husband at Tewkesbury Abbey
Tewkesbury Abbey
The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

, but Richard had her interred at Beaulieu Abbey
Beaulieu Abbey
Beaulieu Abbey, , was a Cistercian abbey located in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203-1204 by King John and peopled by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order...

, with her infant son, instead. As a pious gesture, however, he sent her heart, in a silver-gilt casket http://www.thepeerage.com/e660.htm, to Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury Abbey
The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

.

Media

  • Isabel and her husband Richard appear as characters in Virginia Henley's historical novels, The Marriage Prize and The Dragon and the Jewel.
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