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- 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. She was the wife of William Marshall, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 - 14 May 1219)
Family:
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, the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster and Mor O'Toole. 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, and abetted by Dermot MacMurrough.
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 died at the age of twelve having succeeded their father in 1176 as the 3rd Earl of Pembroke. 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.
Isabel was described as pleasant, gentle, and extremely attractive. After her brother Gilbert's death in 1185, she became one of the wealthiest heiresses in the kingdom, owning besides the suo jure titles of Pembroke and Striguil much land in Wales and Ireland. She inherited the numerous castles on the inlet of Milford Haven, guarding the South Channel, including Pembroke Castle.[1] She was a ward of King Henry II.
Marriage:
The new King Richard I arranged her marriage in August 1189 to William Marshall, the greatest knight and soldier in the realm. Henry II had promised Marshall he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son Richard upheld the promise one month after his ascension to the throne. William Marshall would serve as Lord Marshal of England, four kings in all: Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III. After his marriage to Isabel, Marshall became the jure uxoris 1st Earl of Pembroke, Earl of Striguil, and 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. In 1189, shortly after their marriage, Marshall 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 Marshalls 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 Marshall's arrival in Ireland and records that Isabella set about building a lovely city on the banks of the Barrow.
The marriage was happy, despite the vast difference in age between them. William Marshall and Isabel produced a total of five sons and five daughters.
List of 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, 6th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue, including John de Warenne, 7th 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, Lord of Abergavenny. She had issue, from whom descended, queens consort Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
Legacy
Isabel died in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1220 at the age of forty-eight. Her husband had died the year before. She is buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire.
Although her daughters had many children, her five sons, curiously, died childless. This is supposedly attributed to a curse placed upon William Marshal by the Irish Bishop of Ferns.[3]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.
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_de_Clare,_3rd_Countess_of_Pembroke
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1172 - 1220 (48 years)
