Margaret de Clare

Female 1292 - 1342  (~ 49 years)


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  • Name Margaret de Clare 
    Born Oct 1292  Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female 
    Died 13 Apr 1342 
    Person ID I148904  Little Chute Genealogy
    Last Modified 22 Aug 2007 

    Father Gilbert III Earl of Gloucester De Clare,   b. 02 Sep 1243, Christchurch, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 07 Dec 1295, Mammouth Castle, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 52 years) 
    Mother Joan Princess of England,   b. 1265, Acre, Palestine, Israel Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 23 Apr 1307, Clare, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 42 years) 
    Married 30 Apr 1290  Westminster Abbey, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F25014  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Hugh de Audley,   b. cir 1289,   d. 10 Nov 1347, Tonbridge, Strafford, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 58 years) 
    Married Oct 1307 
    Children 
     1. Margaret de Audley,   b. cir 1315, Stafford, Staffordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 07 Sep 1347, Tonbridge, Strafford, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 32 years)
    Last Modified 21 Jul 2022 
    Family ID F59483  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Countess of Gloucester and Hertford Countess of Cornwall She was married to Piers Gaveston, the favorite of her uncle Edward II, in October 1307. According to the Vita Edwardi Secundi, this marriage was arranged by the king "to strengthen Piers and surround him with friends." The marriage of such a high-born lady to a foreigner was not popular among the English nobility. They had one child. King Edward threw a grand celebration after the birth of this child, complete with minstrels. However, Piers Gaveston was executed only six months later, leaving Margaret a widow with a small child. Her dower rights as Countess of Cornwall were disputed, and so King Edward instead assigned her Okham castle and other lands. She joined the royal household and in 1316 accompanied the king in his journey from London to York. Following the death of their brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Hertford, at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Margaret and her sisters, Elizabeth and Eleanor de Clare each received a share of the inheritance. Margaret was now one of the co-heiresses to the vast Gloucester estate, and King Edward arranged a second marriage for her to another favorite, Hugh Audley. Hugh and Margaret were among the victims of their brother-in-law, Hugh the younger Despenser. In his rashness and greed for the Clare lands, he robbed Margaret of much of her rightful inheritance. In 1321, Hugh joined the other Marcher barons in looting, burning, and causing general devastation to Despenser's lands. Hugh was captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322, and was saved from a hanging thanks to the pleas of his wife. He was imprisoned, and two months later Margaret was sent to Sempringham priory. She remained there until 1326, when Hugh escaped prison and she was released from Sempringham. In the meantime, her daughter Joan Gaveston had been sent to Amesbury priory. A marriage was arranged for Joan with the son of Thomas Multon, but the girl died in early 1325 Hugh and Margaret were reunited sometime in 1326. In summer 1336, their only daughter, Margaret Audley, was abducted by Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford. Her parents filed a complaint, but King Edward III of England supported Stafford. He appeased Hugh and Margaret by creating Hugh earl of Gloucester.

      Margaret died in April 1342 and her sister Elizabeth de Clare paid for prayers to be said for her soul at Tonbridge priory. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)