Isabel DE CLARE (1172-1220)

Name:	Isabel DE CLARE 1
Sex:	Female
Father:	Richard DE CLARE (1130?-1176?)
Mother:	Aoiffe (Eva) OF LEINSTER (1145-1188)

Individual Events and Attributes

Birth	1172
Occupation		Countess of Pembroke, Leinster, Bienfaite and Orbec
Death	1220 (age 47-48)

Marriage

	Effigy above the tomb of William Marshal in Temple Church, London		William Marshall effigy at The Temple Church. Photo by Dana Otstott Shear January 2012.		Effigy above the tomb of William Marshal in Temple Church, London		Temple Church, London. Photo by Dana Otstott Shear January 2012

	Pembroke Castle, Wales, the birthplace of Eva Marshal		Isabel Marshal, Countess of Hertford; Countess of Cornwall

Spouse	William MARSHAL (1146?-1219)
Children	Eve MARSHAL (1203-bef1246)
	Maud MARSHAL (1192?-1248)
	Isabel MARSHAL (1200-1240)
Marriage	Aug 1189 (age 16-17)	London, England

Individual Note

Isabel de Clare, suo jure Countess of Pembroke and Striguil (1172–1220), was a Cambro-Norman-Irish noblewoman and one of the greatest heiresses in Wales and Ireland.[1] She was the wife of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who served four successive kings as Lord Marshal of England. Her marriage had been arranged by King Richard I.

 

Isabel was born in 1172 in Ireland, the eldest child of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1130 – 20 April 1176), known to history as "Strongbow", and Aoife of Leinster, who was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, the deposed King of Leinster and Mor Ui Thuathail. The latter was a daughter of Muitchertach O'Toole and Cacht Inion Loigsig O'Morda. The marriage of Strongbow and Aoife took place in August 1170, the day after the capture of Waterford by the Cambro-Norman forces led by Strongbow.

 

Isabel's paternal grandparents were Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella de Meulan. She had a younger brother Gilbert de Striguil who, being a minor, was not formally invested with either the earldom of Pembroke or of Striguil. It is unlikely that his father could have passed on the title to Pembroke as he himself did not possess it. When Gilbert died in 1185, Isabel became Countess of Pembroke in her own right (suo jure) until her death in 1220. In this way, she could be said to be the first successor to the earldom of Pembroke since her grandfather Gilbert, the first earl. By this reckoning, Isabel ought to be called the second countess, not the fourth countess of Pembroke. In any event, the title Earl was re-created for her husband as her consort. She also had an illegitimate half-sister Basile de Clare, who married three times. Basile's husbands were: Robert de Quincy; Raymond Fitzgerald, Constable of Leinster: Geoffrey FitzRobert, Baron of Kells[disambiguation needed].

 

Isabel was described as having been "the good, the fair, the wise, the courteous lady of high degree".[2] She allegedly spoke French, Irish and Latin.[3] After her brother Gilbert's death, Isabel became one of the wealthiest heiresses in the kingdom, owning besides the titles of Pembroke and Striguil, much land in Wales and Ireland.[4] She inherited the numerous castles on the inlet of Milford Haven, guarding the South Channel, including Pembroke Castle.[5] She was a legal ward of King Henry II, who carefully watched over her inheritance.[6]

 

The new King Richard I arranged her marriage in August 1189 to William Marshal, regarded by many as the greatest knight and soldier in the realm. Henry II had promised Marshal he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son and successor Richard upheld the promise one month after his accession to the throne. At the time of her marriage, Isabel was residing in the Tower of London in the protective custody of the Justiciar of England, Ranulf de Glanville.[7] Following the wedding, which was celebrated in London "with due pomp and ceremony",[8] they spent their honeymoon at Stoke d'Abernon in Surrey which belonged to Enguerrand d'Abernon.[9]

 

Marriage to Isabel elevated William Marshal from the status as a landless knight into one of the richest men in the kingdom. He would serve as Lord Marshal of England, four kings in all: Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III. Although Marshal did not become the jure uxoris 1st Earl of Pembroke, Earl of Striguil until 1199, he nevertheless assumed overlordship of Leinster in Ireland, Pembroke Castle, Chepstow Castle, as well as Isabel's other castles in Wales such as the keep of Haverford, Tenby, Lewhaden, Narberth, Stackpole.[10]

 

Shortly after their marriage, Marshal and Isabella arrived in Ireland, at Old Ros, a settlement located in the territory which belonged to her grandfather, Dermot MacMurrough. A motte was hastily constructed, a medieval borough quickly grew around it, and afterwards the Marshals founded the port town by the river which subsequently became known as New Ross. The Chronicles of Ros, which are housed in the British Museum, described Isabella and Marshal's arrival in Ireland and records that Isabella set about building a lovely city on the banks of the Barrow.

 

In 1192, Isabel and her husband assumed the task of managing their vast lands; starting with the rebuilding of Kilkenny Castle and the town, both of which had been damaged by the O'Brien clan in 1173. Later they commissioned the construction of several abbeys in the vicinity.[11]

 

The marriage was happy, despite the vast difference in age between them. William Marshal and Isabel produced a total of five sons and five daughters.[12]

 

Children:

William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190 – 6 April 1231). Chief Justiciar of Ireland. He married firstly, Alice de Bethune, and secondly, Eleanor Plantagenet, daughter of King John. He died childless.

Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191 – 1 April 1234) Kilkenny Castle, Ireland), married Gervase le Dinant. He died childless.

Maud Marshal (1192 – 27 March 1248). She married firstly, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, by whom she had issue; she married secondly, William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue, including John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey who married Alice le Brun de Lusignan; she married thirdly, Walter de Dunstanville.

Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1194 – 27 June 1241). He married firstly, Margaret of Scotland; and secondly, Maud de Lanvaley. He died childless.

Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke (1196 – 24 November 1245). He married Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, widow of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln, as her second husband. The marriage was childless.

Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (1198 – 22 December 1245). He married Maud de Bohun. He died childless.

Isabel Marshal (9 October 1200 – 17 January 1240). She married firstly, Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford; and secondly, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. She had issue by both marriages.

Sibyl Marshal (1201 – before 1238), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, by whom she had issue.

Joan Marshal (1202–1234), married Warin de Munchensi, Lord of Swanscombe, by whom she had issue.

Eva Marshal (1203–1246), married William de Braose (died 1230). She had issue, from whom descended, queens consort Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.

 

Isabel died in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1220 at the age of forty-eight. Her husband had died the year before. She was buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire; however a cenotaph was discovered inside St. Mary's Church in New Ross, Ireland whose slab bears the partial inscription "ISABEL: LAEGN" and her engraved likeness.[13]

 

It was suggested in 1892 by Paul Meyer that Isabel might have encouraged the composition of the Song of Dermot which narrates the exploits of her father and maternal grandfather. However, the Song of Dermot as now known was composed a few years after her death (though based on earlier writings).[14]

 

Although her daughters had many children, Isabel's five sons, curiously, died childless. This is supposedly attributed to a curse placed upon William Marshal by the Irish Bishop of Ferns.[15] The title of marshal subsequently passed to Hugh de Bigod, husband of Isabel's eldest daughter Maud, while the title of Earl of Pembroke went to William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, the husband of Joan de Munchensi, daughter of Joan Marshal. He was the first of the de Valence line of the earls of Pembroke.

 

NOTES:

1 Costain, Thomas B. (1949, 1962). The Conquering Family. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc. p.267

2 Painter, Sidney (1933). William Marshal, Knight-Errant, Baron, and Regent of England. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press. p.76. Google Books, retrieved 28-10-10 ISBN 0-8020-6498-1

3 Turtle Bunbury (2000). History, Heroes and Villains, William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke ,1147-1219 - Crusader, Templar, Kingmaker. An article. Retrieved 29-10-10.

4 Costain, p.267

5 Costain, p. 267

6 Costain, p.267

7 Painter, p.76

8 Painter, p.76

9 Painter, pp.76-77

10 Costain, p.267

11 Turtle Bunbury

12 Costain, p.267

13 JSTOR: The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Vol.78, No (July 1948), p.65. Retrieved 29-10-10.

14 Meyer, Paul (1892). Romania vol. 21 (1892) pp. 444-451; Gransden, Antonia (1996). Historical Writing in England I: c.500 to c.1307. London: Routledge. p.518. Google Books. Retrieved 30-10-10.

15 Costain, Thomas B. (1959). The Magnificent Century. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc. pp. 104-05

 

SOURCES:

Thomas B. Costain "The Conquering Family", Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York, 1949, 1962

The Peerage.com

Thomas B. Costain "The Magnificent Century", Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York, 1959²

Sources

1	Weis, Frederick Lewis & Sheppard, Walter Lee, Jr, "Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700: Lineages from Alfred the Great, Charlemagne, Malcolm of Scotland, Robert the Strong, and other Historical Individuals". p 71, 63-28; 73, 66-27; 74, 69-27.

2	"Wikipedia". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Clare,_4th_Countess_of_Pembroke.