Lady Isabella of Mar

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• Reference Number: 146
• Death: 12 Dec 1296

Notes:

Isabella of Mar (modern Scottish Gaelic: Iseabail) (c. 1277 - 12 December 1296) was the first wife of Robert the Bruce and the grandmother of Robert II of Scotland, founder of the royal House of Stuart. She died before Robert was crowned King of Scots, and never became Queen.

She was the daughter of Domhnall I, Earl of Mar and Helen (or Ellen) of Wales (1246-1295), the illegitimate daughter of Llywelyn ab Iorwerth ("the Great") Prince of Wales; she had previously been the wife of Maol Choluim II, Earl of Fife. Her father was one of the seven guardians of Scotland who believed Robert Bruce to be the rightful King of Scotland. Despite the considerable risks, the Earl of Mar could foresee the advantage of the two families joining in marriage and bearing an heir to the throne, and the marriage of Isabella and Robert was arranged. Mar was the first to sign over the estates of his family to the Bruce.

Isabella was married to Robert at the age of 18 and legend has it that they were much in love. Shortly after their marriage Isabella became pregnant. She had a healthy pregnancy but she died soon after giving birth to a daughter, Marjorie Bruce in 1296. She is buried at Paisley Abbey, Renfrewshire.

Robert married his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh, six years later. Isabella's daughter Princess Marjorie (died 1316) married Walter Stewart, 6th High Steward of Scotland, and their son became Robert II of Scotland. From him descend the monarchs of the House of Stewart and the later royal families of the United Kingdom.

Isabella — Robert Bruce, I. Robert (son of Robert De Brus, VI and Margaret of Carrick) was born 11 Jul 1274, Kirkoswald, Ayrshire, Scotland; died 7 Jun 1329, Cardross, Dunbartonshire, Scotland; was buried , Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland. [Group Sheet]

1. Marjorie Bruce was born Dec 1296; died 2 Mar 1316; was buried , Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland.

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• Name: Domhnall mac Uilleim
• Name: Sir
• Reference Number: 80

Notes:

Domhnall I Earl of Mar - Domhnall mac Uilleim (Anglicized: Donald, William's son) - was the seventh known Mormaer of Mar, ruling from 1276 until his death somewhere between 1297 and 1302.

In 1284 he joined with other Scottish noblemen who acknowledged Margaret of Norway as the heir to King Alexander. Domhnall was later a strong supporter of the Bruce cause during the crisis of the late 13th century. He was at Norham in 1292, probably in the camp of Robert de Brus, then Earl of Carrick.

He was married to Helen (sometimes called Ellen), possibly the natural daughter of Llywelyn the Great of Wales, who herself had previously been married to Mormaer Maol Choluim II, Earl of Fife. By Helen, he had three sons, including his successor Gartnait, and two daughters. His daughter Isabella of Mar was the first wife of Robert I of Scotland and mother of Marjorie Bruce who married Walter, 6th High Steward, the parents of Robert II and the Royal Stewart Kings of Scotland.

The last record of a living Domhnall comes from 1297, and the earliest record of his son Gartnait as Mormaer is from 1305, creating the range of Domhnall's possible year of death to somewhere in between these two points. However, a document dating to 1302, containing terms of reconciliation between Edward I and Robert, stipulates that Robert should act as warden of Gartnait, implying that Domhnall had just died.

Domhnall — Helen Ferch Llywelyn. Helen (daughter of Llywelyn Ap Iorwerth and Joan) was born Abt 1206; died 1253. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 8813

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• Reference Number: 275

William — Muriel. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 232

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• Name: Llywelyn the Great
• Reference Number: 7690

Notes:

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales is the son of Iorwerth Drwyndwn. He was born in 1173. He married, secondly, Joan (?), daughter of John I 'Lackland', King of England and Clementina (?), in 1205. He died in 1240.

Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales also went by the nick-name of Llwelyn 'the Great'. He gained the title of Prince Llywelyn of North Wales.

He hanged the Anglo-Norman baron, William de la Braose, for having an affair with his wife.

Buried:
Aberconwy Abbey

Llywelyn married Joan Abt 1204. (daughter of John Lackland Plantagenet and Isabel De Taillefer) was born Abt 1191; died 2 Feb 1237. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 15697

Notes:

Joan, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon, (c. 1191 - 2 February 1237) was the wife of Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales and Gwynedd and effective ruler of most of Wales.

Early life

Joan was a natural daughter of King John of England and Agatha de Ferrers. She should not be confused with her half-sister Joan, Queen Consort of Scotland.
Little is known about her early life. Her mother's name is known only from Joan's obituary in the Tewkesbury Annals, where she is called "Regina Clementina" (Queen Clemence). Joan seems to have spent part of her childhood in France, as King John had her brought to the Kingdom of England from Normandy in December 1203 in preparation for her wedding to prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth.
[edit]Marriage

Joan married Llywelyn the Great between December 1203 and October 1204. She and Llywelyn had at least two children together:
Elen ferch Llywelyn (Helen or Ellen) (1207-1253), married (1) John the Scot, Earl of Chester and (2) Robert II de Quincy
Dafydd ap Llywelyn (c. 1215-1246) married Isabella de Braose, died at Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, (Aber).
Some of Llywelyn's other recorded children may also have been Joan's:
Gwladus Ddu (1206-1251), married (1) Reginald de Braose and (2) Ralph de Mortimer.
Susanna, who was sent to England as a hostage in 1228.
Margaret, who married Sir John de Braose, the grandson of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and had issue.
In April 1226 Joan obtained a papal decree from Pope Honorius III, declaring her legitimate on the basis that her parents had not been married to others at the time of her birth, but without giving her a claim to the English throne.
[edit]Adultery with William de Braose

At Easter 1230, William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny, who was Llywelyn's prisoner at the time, was discovered with Joan in Llywelyn's bedchamber. William de Braose was hanged at Aber Garth Celyn on 2 May 1230; the place was known as 'Gwern y Grog' and the incident remembered down the generations by the local community. A recent suggestion that the execution might have taken place at Crogen near Bala rests on the suggestion that 'Crogen' and 'Crokein' are one and the same: there is however no further eveidence in the area to lend this substance.
Joan was placed under house arrest for twelve months after the incident. She was then, according to the Chronicle of Chester, forgiven by Llywelyn, and restored to favour. She may have given birth to a daughter early in 1231.
Joan was never called Princess of Wales, but, in Welsh, "Lady of Wales". She died at the royal home, Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn, on the north coast of Gwynedd in 1237. Llywelyn's great grief at her death is recorded; he founded a Franciscan friary on the seashore at Llanfaes, opposite the royal home, in her honour. The friary was consecrated in 1240, shortly before Llywelyn died. It was destroyed in 1537 by Henry VIII of England during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Joan's stone coffin can be seen in Beaumaris parish church, Anglesey. Above the empty coffin is a slate panel inscribed: "This plain sarcophagus, (once dignified as having contained the remains of JOAN, daughter of King JOHN, and consort of LLEWELYN ap IOWERTH, Prince of North Wales, who died in the year 1237), having been conveyed from the Friary of Llanfaes, and alas, used for many years as a horsewatering trough, was rescued from such an indignity and placed here for preseravation as well as to excite serious meditation on the transitory nature of all sublunary distinctions. By THOMAS JAMES WARREN BULKELEY, Viscount BULKELEY, Oct 1808"
[edit]Fiction

Joan and her affair with William de Braose is the subject of Saunders Lewis's Welsh verse play Siwan.
Edith Pargeter's novel The Green Branch.
Sharon Kay Penman's novel Here Be Dragons.
[edit]References

[edit]Sources

Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi I, p. 12.
Henry Luard. Annales Monastici 1, 1864
Tewkesbury Annals
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 By Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 27-27, 29A-28, 29A-29, 176B-27, 254-28, 254-29

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• Reference Number: 87

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• Reference Number: 4304

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• Reference Number: 11218

Notes:

Died:
Newark Castle

John married Isabel De Taillefer 29 Aug 1189. Isabel (daughter of Aymer De Taillefer and Aliz De Courtenay) was born Abt 1175; died 1246. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 3893