Margaret (Clare) d'Audley (abt. 1293 - 1342)

Ancestors

Wife of Piers Gaveston — married 1 Nov 1307 (to 19 Jun 1312) in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England

Wife of Hugh (Audley) de Audley Knt — married 28 Apr 1317 in King's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England

Descendants

Died 9 Apr 1342 at about age 49 in Tunbrige Castle, Kent, England

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Magna Carta Surety Baron Descendant (see text). Join: Magna Carta Project Discuss: magna_carta

Margaret de Clare is a descendant of several Magna Carta surety barons (see text below).

Biography

Family and Early Life

Margaret de Clare was the second daughter of Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford, and his (second) wife Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I. ^[1][2] She was reported in various sources as being 18, 20, 21, and 22 years of age at the time her brother Gilbert died at Bannockburn in 1314; Richardson estimates her birthdate to have been about 1292/3 and that is the guesstimate used in this profile.^{[1][3] [4][5]} Her parents held vast estates in England, Wales, and Ireland and it is not known for certain on which of these properties Margaret was born.

Margaret's father was a soldier, statesman, and shrewd politician who held enormous influence throughout the kingdom.^[6] He died 7 December 1295,^[7] when she was only about two years old. She had three siblings: an older brother, Gilbert, and two sisters; Eleanor and Elizabeth. ^[7] After de Clare's death, her mother secretly married (second) Ralph Monthermer, a squire in earl Gilbert's household whom she had earlier persuaded her father to knight.^[8] The king was so infuriated by this that he had Monthermer thrown into prison in Bristol Castle, but relented and released him after several weeks.^[7][8] Monthermer eventually became a favorite of the king, received the title of earl of Hertford and Gloucester during Joan's lifetime, and the Clare estates were restored to both he and his wife.^[7][8] Joan had two sons and a daughter with Monthermer, ^[7][8] and Margaret likely grew up in her mother's household as part of this extended family.

Marriage to Piers Gaveston

Margaret was married (first) to Piers Gaveston, Knt., Earl of Cornwall, Lord of the Isle of Wight, Chamberlain of the Household, Guardian and Lieutenant of England, Lieutenant of Ireland, Keeper of the Castles and Honours of Knaresborough and Wallingford, Justice of the Forest North of Trent, and Constable of Berkhampstead, Carlisle, Nottingham, and Scarborough Castles, on 1 November 1307 at Berkhamsted.^[1][5][9] Gaveston, who was a younger son of Arnaud de Gabaston (a Gascon knight) and Caramonde de Marsan, was a favorite and close advisor to Edward II, Margaret's uncle, but his influence over the king led to rising hostility from the other magnates at court and eventually to Gaveston's exile.^[10] One of Edward II's first acts after his father's death was to recall Gaveston and to confer upon him the earldom of Cornwall and the Isle of Man, subsequently arranging a marriage between his niece, Margaret, and Gaveston which he hoped would earn his favorite at least the support of Margaret's brother, the influential earl of Gloucester.^[10][11]

Unfortunately the title conferred on Gaveston and his marriage into one of the kingdom's most prominent families only further infuriated the king's most senior advisors.^[10] Eventually even Margaret's own brother, Gilbert, earl of Gloucester, joined the other magnates in demanding that Piers once again be sent into exile.^[11] Parliament decreed that if Gaveston left the kingdom completely he would be given an annuity for life of £200 for himself and £100 for Margaret (if she were willing to leave the kingdom with him), but the king secretly arranged for Gaveston and Margaret to go to Ireland instead, giving him letters of introduction stating that "wheresoever he should go within the lands of the King of England, he should be received with the glory and honour due to the person of the king himself."^[12] Gaveston was also provided with many "precious and valuable articles" from the king's treasury and charters sealed with the Great Seal but which were blank..."whereon [Piers] might write whatever he chose."^[12] The magnates alarm at the influence Gaveston held over their king does not seem to have been unwarranted.

Margaret had one daughter from her marriage with Piers Gaveston: (see Research Note)

• Joan de Gavaston; born 12 January 1312;^[5] contracted as an infant to marry John Multon, son of Thomas Multon, lord of Egremont^[5] but died 13 January 1325^[5] before any marriage occurred.

The king was eventually able to arrange for Gaveston's return from exile but at a great cost politically. On 19 June 1312 Gavaston was assassinated by his political enemies, on the orders of the Earl of Lancaster and the Earl of Warwick.^[10][13] In September 1312 the king granted to Margaret lands valued at 2000 marks per annum (an amount equal to the value of the earldom) for her support (this arrangement was changed on December 1316 but the new settlement gave her an identical annual revenue).^[5]

In 1314, Margaret was co-heiress to her brother, Gilbert de Clare, Knight, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, by which she inherited the Castle, borough, and lordship of Newport; manors of Wentlloog and Machen, Monmouthshire; the Castle and manor of Tonbridge, Kent; and various other manors including in Chipping Ongar, Essex, Campden and Thornbury, Gloucestershire, Naseby, Rothwell, and Whiston, Northamptonshire, Rotherhithe, Surrey.^[1][3]

Marriage to Hugh Audley

On 28 April 1317, in King's Chapel at Windsor, Berkshire, England, Margaret married (second) Hugh de Audley, Knt., second son of Hugh de Audley, Lord Audley, Justice of North Wales, Steward of the King's Household, Constable of Montgomery Castle, and Sheriff of Staffordshire, by his wife Iseult Rous.^[1][3][14] Margaret's inherited wealth (as her brother's co-heir) had once again made her a valuable matrimonial prospect, and Edward II arranged the marriage to Audley, one of his most trusted remaining advisors, as a reward for services Audley had previously rendered the king.^[15] There was one child from this marriage, a daughter:

• Margaret de Audley; born before 1324;.^[16] married before 6 July 1336 Ralph de Stafford;^[16][17] died 7 September 1349^[18]

Audley's status as a trusted senior advisor of the king ended when, along with his father, he supported the earl of Lancaster in the insurrection of 1321-2 and in March of that year he was taken prisoner at the Battle of Boroughbridge, his lands were seized, and his life spared only due to Margaret's direct appeal to her uncle, the king.^[1][15][19] Margaret herself was held at Sempringham Priory during this time and not allowed to leave the priory's grounds.^[1] It is likely that their daughter was born during the early months of Margaret's captivity.

When Edward III took the throne, Audley pledged his allegiance to the new king and his lands were restored to him.^[19] He served in nine parliaments under Edward III; was one of the marshals of the royal army and later an ambassador to France; and on 16 March 1336/7 was created earl of Gloucester.^[1][19][20]

Death

Margaret predeceased her (second) husband, dying 9 (or 13) April 1342.^[1][21] She was buried at Queenhithe, London (St. Michael Queenhithe, a church in the City of London in what is now Upper Thomas Street, first mentioned in the 12th century but destroyed during the Great London Fire of 1666, rebuilt by famed 17th century architect Sir Christopher Wren, and demolished in 1876).^[1][3] At her death, the Countess of Gloucester held several manors in Devon and Newport in Essex as part of the dower lands she had received from her marriage to Gaveston.^[5] Her heir was her daughter Margaret, Countess Stafford.^[5]

Hugh de Audley, earl of Gloucester, died 10 November 1347.^[1][15]

Research Notes

2nd Daughter with Piers Gaveston?

John B. Hunt theorized in 1959 that Gaveston and Margaret's daughter Joan was actually born in 1309 and that they had a second daughter, named Amie, who was born in 1312.^[22] Hunt further expanded on this idea in a second article, published in the American Genealogist in 1961.^[23] Although he presents fairly convincing (circumstantial) evidence that Gaveston may have had a natural daughter named Amie, there is no documentary evidence supporting Margaret de Clare as her mother. More recently, J.S. Hamilton has debunked Hunt's arguments by pointing out, among oher things, the huge fuss and expenditures that Edward II made both when his niece married and when Joan was born: the king not only threw a lavish celebration on the occasion of Joan's birth, but after Gaveston's death arranged to have his daughter educated at the convent at Amesbury with another royal niece, Eleanor of Hereford. The two girls received a joint annual allowance of 100 marks.^[24] It is almost inconceivable that Margaret could have given birth to another child with no record surviving of this, either in the royal wardrobe books, other exchequer accounts, or in any contemporary chronicles, and that the king would have made no effort to provide for a second legitimate daughter belonging to his own niece..^[25]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. 2nd edition, Salt Lake City: by the author (2011), vol. 4, pp. 69-72 STAFFORD 5. Margaret de Clare.
2. ↑ Lipscomb, George. The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham. London: J. & W. Robins (1847), vol. 1, pp. 200-201.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: by the author (2013), vol. 5, pp. 79-81 STRATTON AUDLEY 10. Hugh de Audley.
4. ↑ Cokayne, George Edward. The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom: extant, extince, or dormant. London: St Catherine Press (1910), vol. 1, pp. 346-347
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7} Hamilton, J.S. Clare, Margaret de, Countess of Gloucester (c.1291/2?-1342). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004, rev. 3 Jan 2008), available here by subscription.
6. ↑ Knowles, Clive H. Clare, Gilbert de [called Gilbert the Red], seventh earl of Gloucester and sixth earl of Hertford (1243-1295). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: by the author (2013), vol. 2, pp. 195-206 CLARE 8. Gilbert de Clare.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} Ward, Jennifer C. Joan [Joan of Acre], countess of Hertford and Gloucester (1272-1307). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004, rv 7 Jan 2016), available here by subscription.
9. ↑ Doyle, James E. Official Baronage of England. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. (1886), vol. 1, p. 438. Doyle erroneously gives the date of their marriage as 1309.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3} Hamilton, J.S. Gaveston Piers, earl of Cornwall (d. 1312). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004, rv 3 Jan 2008), available here by subscription.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Maxwell, Sir Herbert (translator). The Chronicles of Lanercost 1272-1346. Glasgow: J. Maclehose (1913), pp. 186.
12. ↑ ^{12.0 12.1} Maxwell, Sir Herbert (translator). The Chronicles of Lanercost 1272-1346. Glasgow: J. Maclehose (1913), pp. 187.
13. ↑ Maxwell, Sir Herbert (translator). The Chronicles of Lanercost 1272-1346. Glasgow: J. Maclehose (1913), pp. 198.
14. ↑ Archaeologia. London: Society of Antiquaries of London (1836), vol. 26, pp. 337-337
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} Maddicott, J.R. Audley, Hugh, Earl of Gloucester (c.1291-1347). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online edition (23 Sep 2004), available here by subscription.
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} Richardson, Douglas. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition. Salt Lake City: the author (2011), volume 4, pp. 72-74 STAFFORD 6. Margaret de Audley.Google books
17. ↑ Beltz, George Frederick. Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter. London: W. Pickering (1841), p. 33.
18. ↑ Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author (2013), vol. 5, pp. 9-11 STAFFORD. 7. Ralph de Stafford.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1 19.2} Cooke, William Henry. Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of Hereford. London: John Murray (1882), pp.8-9.
20. ↑ Banks, Thomas Christopher. Baronies in Fee. Ripon: William Harrison (1844), p. 103
21. ↑ Weever, John. Ancient Funerall Monuments... London: Thomas Harper (1631), p. 323.
22. ↑ Hunt, John. G. Piers de Gavaston. The American Genealogist, vol. 35 (1959), pp. 100-106, available here by subscription.
23. ↑ Hunt, John G. Piers de Gavaston: Second Paper. The American Genealogis, vol. 37 (1961), pp. 47-47, available here by subscription.
24. ↑ PRO E 101/325/13 m.5, cited in Hamilton, J. S. “Another Daughter for Piers Gaveston? Amie de Gaveston, Damsel of the Queen’s Chamber.” Medieval Prosopography 19 (1998): 177–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44946288.
25. ↑ Hamilton, J. S. “Another Daughter for Piers Gaveston? Amie de Gaveston, Damsel of the Queen’s Chamber.” Medieval Prosopography 19 (1998): 177–86. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44946288.

See also:

• Hardy, Thomas Duffus. Syllabus (in English) of the documents relating to England and other kingdoms... London: Longmans, Green (1869), pp. 189 (Oct. 9); 196 (May 26). (Joan Gaveston)

• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris. The Siege of Carlaverock. London: J.B. Nichols (1828), pp. 109-111. (Multon)

• Nicolas, Nicholas Harris. A Synopsis of the Peerage of England. London: J. NIchols and Son (1825), vol. 1, pp. 35-36.

• Nichols, John Gough. Herald and Genealogist. London: J.B. Nichols and Sons (1870), vol. 5, pp. 63-68. (Audley)

• Sanders, Ivor John. English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086-1327. Oxford: Clarendon Press (1960), p.6.

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project on 25 December 2023 by Jen Hutton.

Margaret (Clare) d'Audley is in a project-approved/badged trail (reviewed January 2015 by a Magna Carta project member) from Gateway Ancestor George Reade to Magna Carta Surety Barons John de Lacy. The Lacy trail branches off into badged trails to Saher de Quincy, Gilbert de Clare and Richard de Clare. These trails are set out in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

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