Alice (Toeni) la Zouche (abt. 1282 - bef. 1325)

Born about 1282 in England

Ancestors

Wife of Thomas (Leybourne) de Leyburne — married [date unknown] in England

Wife of Guy (Beauchamp) de Beauchamp — married before 28 Feb 1310 in England

Wife of William (Mortimer) la Zouche — married about 25 Feb 1317 in England

Descendants

Died before 8 Jan 1325 before about age 43 in England

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Biography

Alice was the daughter of Raoul/Ralph de Toeni and his wife Mary, whose family origins are uncertain.^[1][2] Her parents had lands in several counties and her birthplace is not known. It was probably in England, where most of her parents' property was, but her father also had interests in Wales.^[3][4][5] In 1309, when she was declared heir to her brother Robert, she was stated in Robert's Inquisitions Post Mortem to be, variously, 24 and more, 25 and more, 26 and more and 27 and more:^[6] this suggests a birth date in the range 1282-5.

Alice married three times. Her first husband was Thomas de Leyburne.^[1][2] The date of their marriage is uncertain. Thomas's father settled on them the castle of Leybourne, Kent.^[7] They had at least one child:

• Juliane,^[1][2] found to be three at her father's death in 1307: she was her father's heir^[8] and married John de Hastings, 2nd Lord Hastings, Thomas le Blount and William de Clinton who became Earl of Huntingdon^[7]

Thomas de Leyburn died before 30 May 1307 when a writ was issued for his Inquisitions Post Mortem. The castle and manor of Leybourne, Kent were briefly taken into the control of the Crown: Alice was given full possession of them on 17 September 1307, paying a fine of 100 shillings.^[8]

Two years later, in 1309, following the death of her childless brother Robert, Alice became a wealthy woman, inheriting property scattered across a number of counties in East Anglia and southern England, along with two castles in Radnorshire, Wales.^[6] Very soon after she became the wife of Guy de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick: they married between 12 January and 28 February 1309/10. His possible previous marriage, to Isabel de Clare (daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester), had been either annulled or may never have been completed or consummated.^[1][2][9] They had the following children:

• Thomas, who succeeded his father as Earl of Warwick^[1][2][9] and who was probably born on 14 February 1313/4^[1][2][10]
• John,^[1][2] who became 1st Lord Beauchamp of Warwick and who carried the royal standard at the Battle of Crecy in 1346^[11]
• Maud, who married Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Lord Say^[1][2][12]
• Emma, who married Roland de Oddingseles^[1][2]
• Isabel, said (probably wrongly) in Douglas Richardson's books to have married John de Clinton^[1][2] (see her profile for brief discussion)
• Elizabeth^[1][2] married Thomas Astley, 3rd Lord Astley^[13][14][15]
• Lucy, who married Roger de Napton^[1][2]

Guy de Beauchamp was one of the leading opponents of Edward II's favourite Piers Gaveston, whom Guy seized on 10 June 1312, taking him to Warwick Castle, where Gaveston was summarily condemned to death, the execution being carried out on 19 June at nearby Blacklow Hill.^[16][17]

Guy de Beauchamp died at Warwick Castle on 12 August 1315.^{[1][2] [9]} In his will he named his children Maud, Elizabeth, Thomas and John, and left Alice a proportion of plate, a crystal cup, half his bedding and all the vestments and books belonging to his chapel.^[18]

Alice remarried, her third husband being William la Zouche, a wealthy landowner who became 1st Lord Zouche. Like her second husband, William had been involved in the death of Piers Gaveston. The licence for their marriage was dated 26 October 1316.^[1][2][19] They had the following children:

• Ralph^[1][2]
• Alan, born in 1317, who became 2nd Lord Zouche^[1][2][19]
• Robert^[1][2]
• Philip^[1][2]
• Joyce, who married John Botetourt^[1][2]

Alice and her third husband found themselves in a dispute with Hugh Despenser the Elder, father of Edward II's favourite Hugh Despenser, over her dower lands from her marriage to Guy de Beauchamp. Orders were given for Alice's rights to be respected.^[20][21]

Alice died before 8 January 1325, when writs were issued for her Inquisitions Post Mortem. The Inquisitions record dower lands from her second marriage, scattered across seven counties.^[22] This suggests that she and William la Zouche succeeded in safeguarding her dower rights from the Despensers.

William la Zouche survived her, subsequently marrying Eleanor de Clare, who was half-sister of Guy de Beauchamp's possible first wife Isabel de Clare.^[1][2][19]

Research Notes

Disambiguation

Care need to be taken not to confuse the Alice of this profile with two other people of the same name:

• Alice de Toeni-51 daughter of Roger (V) de Toeni and Alice de Bohun, born before 1254, who married Walter de Beauchamp. Birth and death place not stated.
• Alice de Toeni-64, unsourced, said (at 4 March 2024) on her profile to have been born and died in Norfolk, to have married William de Mortimer and to have had a son Constantine.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 136-142, BEAUCHAMP 5, Google Books
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, pp. 287-293, BEAUCHAMP 10
3. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XII part I, St Catherine Press, 1953, pp. 773-775, viewable on Familysearch (image page 782)
4. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, IV, pp. 201-204, TONY 4, Google Books
5. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. V, pp. 175-178, TONY 9
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. V, Edward II, A.D. 1307-1313, HMSO, 1908, pp. 101-102 (Inquisitions Post Mortem for Robert de Tony alias Thony, Internet Archive
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, St Catherine Press, 1929, p. 638, Internet Archive
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. IV, Edward I, 1300-1307, HMSO, 1913, pp. 274-275, pp. 274-275, Internet Archive
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XII part II, pp. 370-372, viewable on Familysearch (image pages 378-380)
10. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by J S Hamilton for 'Beauchamp, Guy de, tenth earl of Warwick', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
11. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. II, St Catherine Press, 1912, pp. 50-51, Internet Archive
12. ↑ G E Cockayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XI, St Catherine Press, 1949, p. 477, viewable on Familysearch (image page 484)
13. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, p. 291, BEAUCHAMP 10iii. Elizabeth de Beauchamp
14. ↑ Dugdale, Sir William. The Baronage of England. (1675),pp. 229-231.
15. ↑ Baker, George. The History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton. London: J.B. Nichols and Son (1844), vol. 2, pp 218-219.
16. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by J S Hamilton for 'Gaveston, Piers, earl of Cornwall', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
17. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. III, St Catherine Press, 1913, pp. 433-435, Internet Archive
18. ↑ Nicholas Harris Nicolas. Testament Vetusta, Vol. I, Nichols and Son, 1826, pp. 53-54, Internet Archive
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. XII part II, pp. 957-960, viewable on Familysearch (image pages 965-968)
20. ↑ The National Archives, ref. SC 8/153/7633, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
21. ↑ The National Archives, ref. SC 8/153/7634, Discovery Centre catalogue entry
22. ↑ Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. VI, Edward II, 1316-1327, HMSO, 1910, pp. 384-385, Internet Archive

• Wikipedia: Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick
• Kathryn Warner, "Alice de Toeni and Juliana de Leyburne", Edward the Second Blogspot, 17 March, 2007
• Wikipedia: Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick
• Wikidata: Item Q3611715, en:Wikipedia

Acknowledgments

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 4 March 2024, and reviewed on the same date by Jen Hutton.

Alice (Toeni) la Zouche is a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun and appears in a trail to [[Category:Gateway Ancestors|Gateway Ancestor]} Elizabeth Marshall (MCA I:267-277 BOTETOURT) which was badged 4 March 2024. See the trail HERE.

See Base Camp for information about identified trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".