Isabel, Countess of Gloucester

Isabel, Countess of Gloucester
Countess of Gloucester
Reign 1186–1189
Successor The Earl of Cornwall
Spouse John Lackland
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex
Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent
Noble Family Fitz Robert
Father William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester
Mother Hawise de Beaumont
Born c. 1173
Died 14 October 1217(1217-10-14) (aged c. 43)
Burial Canterbury Cathedral

Isabel of Gloucester (Isabel de Clare; c. 1173 – 14 October 1217) was the first wife of King John of England. This historical figure is known by an exceptionally large number of alternative names: Hadwisa, Hawisia, Hawise, Joan, Eleanor, Avise and Avisa.

Contents

Lineage

Isabel was the daughter of William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and his wife, Hawise. Her paternal grandfather, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, was the illegitimate son of Henry I, King of England. Her father died in 1183 at which time she became, in her own right, Countess of Gloucester.

Royal marriage and annulment

On 28 September 1176, she was betrothed to John, the youngest son of King King Henry II.[1][2] According to the marriage agreement, King Henry agreed to find the best husband possible for Isabel should the pope refuse to grant a dispensation; also Isabel was declared the sole heir to Gloucester, disinheriting her two sisters.[2]

On 29 August 1189 they were married at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire and John assumed the title in her right.[2][3] Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, declared the marriage null and placed their lands under interdict for marrying within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity (they were half-second cousins as great-grandchildren of King Henry I). The interdict was lifted by Pope Clement III. The pope granted a dispensation to marry but forbade the couple from having sexual relations.[3]

Shortly after John's accession as King in 1199, and before the end of August, he had the marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity. The annulment was granted by the bishops of Lisieux, Bayeux and Avranches sitting in Normandy.[4] John, however, kept her lands, and Isabel did not contest the annulment.[4]

Earldom of Gloucester

After the divorce King John granted the title of Earl of Gloucester to Isabel's nephew Amaury, count of Evreux. He did this to compensate Amaury for the loss of his French title which was surrendered in the Treaty of Le Goulet. Upon his death without issue in 1213 Isabel once again became Countess of Gloucester.[2]

Later marriages

Isabel later married Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, the Earl of Essex, on 20 January 1214. He died in 1216. A year after Essex's demise she married Hugh de Burgh (later Earl of Kent), later the justiciar of England, in September 1217.[2]

Death and burial

Isabel died just a month later that year, probably at Keynsham Abbey, which was founded by her father, and was interred in Canterbury Cathedral.[2]

Isabel in fiction

References

  1. ^ Alison Weir. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A life, (1999) p. 218 ISBN 0-345-43487-0
  2. ^ a b c d e f Robert B. Patterson, ‘Isabella, suo jure countess of Gloucester (c.1160–1217)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 2005 accessed 24 Nov 2006
  3. ^ a b Weir, p. 252
  4. ^ a b Weir, p. 319
Royal titles
New Creation
 Consort of Ireland
1189–1199		 Vacant
Title next held by
Isabella of Angoulême
Peerage of England
Preceded by
William Fitz Robert		 Countess of Gloucester
1183–1199		 Succeeded by
Amaury, count of Évreux, 4th Earl of Gloucester
Peerage of England
Preceded by
Amaury, 4th Earl of Gloucester		 Countess of Gloucester
1213–1217		 Succeeded by
Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Gloucester