Isabella FitzWilliam (abt. 1160 - 1217)

Born about 1160 in England

Ancestors

Wife of John (Plantagenet) of England — married 29 Aug 1189 (to 30 Aug 1199) in Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire, England

Wife of Hubert (Burgh) de Burgh — married about Oct 1217 in England

Died 14 Oct 1217 at about age 57 in Somerset, England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Isabel was the youngest daughter of William FitzRobert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester, and Hawise de Beaumont.^[1][2] Her birth date is uncertain: her entry in the Oxford Dictionary of Biography estimates it as about 1160.^[3] She and her two sisters Mabel and Amice were their father's co-heirs when he died in 1183,^[3] their brother Robert having died in 1166.^[2]

Marriage to King John

On 28 September 1176 Isabel was betrothed to the future King John. Like him she was a great-grandchild of Henry I and the betrothal contract allowed for the possibility that the Pope might prevent the marriage on grounds of consanguinity: in that event, Henry II was to arrange the best possible marriage for her. As part of the marriage agreement, her father declared John heir to his earldom, depriving Isabella's sisters of their share.^[3]

Following her father's death in 1183, rather than allow the marriage to take place soon after, Henry II made her a royal ward, allowing him to benefit from the income from her estates. The marriage finally went ahead after Henry II's death: they married on 29 August 1189 at Marlborough, Wiltshire. No papal dispensation from the consanguinity rules had been obtained, and the Archbishop of Canterbury summoned John to defend himself. John did not obey the summons, and his lands were placed under interdict. When John appealed to the Pope, the interdict was lifted by the papal legate,^[3] who accepted the validity of the marriage subject to the outcome of the appeal: John, though, did not pursue the appeal, and this left the status of the marriage in a degree of ambiguity.^[4] They had no children.^[1] During her marriage to John Isabella is recorded as having the title Countess of Gloucester.^[2]

Soon after his accession to the throne in 1199, King John ended his ambiguous marriage to Isabel, securing an official annulment on grounds of consanguinity. With the ending of the marriage, he had no formal right to the earldom, and Isabel held the title. John, though, made her a royal ward again, which gave him access to her estates and the associated revenues. Irregularly, in 1200 John made her nephew Aumari, son of her sister Mabel, Earl of Gloucester as compensation for the Normandy County of Évreux which John agreed to transfer to Philippe Auguste of France as part of the settlement for the marriage of John's niece Blanche to Philippe Auguste's son Louis.^[3][2]

Detention, and Regaining of her Title

Isabel appears to have been held as, in effect, a royal prisoner. In September 1207 she was recorded in Sherborne Castle, Dorset, in the charge of William de Montagu. In December William was instructed to hand her over to William Briwere, but this seems to have been for a very short term: in 1207-8 Guy de Chanceaux was awarded £20 from the County of Gloucester, probably for her costs. Guy was recorded as custodian of the Honour of Gloucester in 1213. In January 1213-14 Isabel was in Bristol Castle, in the charge of Piers de Chanceaux, who was ordered to bring her to King John at Portsmouth, Hampshire.^[2]

Isabel made a will relating to her moveable property in 1213, which suggests she may have been expecting to die soon.^[2][3]

Marriage to Geoffrey de Mandeville

Isabel's nephew died, without heirs, in 1213, and the title to the earldom of Gloucester reverted to her. In January 1213-14 Isabel was in Bristol Castle, in the charge of Piers de Chanceaux, who was ordered to bring her to King John at Portsmouth, Hampshire.^[2] On 26 January 1214 John announced that he had sold the right to marry her to Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex for the then huge sum of 20000 marks, payable in four instalments that year. Bristol was specifically excluded from the agreement, and retained in John's hands. Isabel was referred to as Countess of Gloucester in the announcement. When Geoffrey fell behind with the payments, John confiscated the Earldom estates, but they were soon restored and John offered to agree new terms.^[2][3] Geoffrey and Isabel had no children.^[2]

In 1215 Geoffrey and Isabel joined in the baronial rebellion which followed the signing of the Magna Carta. Geoffrey died on 23 February 1215/6 from wounds received in a London tournament.^[3] Because he died a rebel, the estates of the Gloucester earldom reverted to King John.^[2] Isabel then referred to herself as "Countess of Gloucester and Essex in my free widowhood".^[3]

Marriage to Hubert de Burgh, and Death

Isabel's estates were entrusted to Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent and Justiciar of England, and he was given formal seisin of them on 13 August 1217, along with the manor of Walden (probably Saffron Walden, Essex), which was part her dowry from her second marriage.^[2] By 17 September Isabel had returned to allegiance to the Crown, and lands which had been confiscated were restored to her, along with her residence of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.^[5] Around this time, Isabel and Hubert married, but the marriage was extremely short-lived: she died on 14 October 1217 (probably at Keynsham Abbey, Somerset, which her father had founded^[3]) and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, Kent.^[2][3]

The Earldom of Gloucester was inherited by her nephew Gilbert de Clare.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} 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. 43-48, ENGLAND 5
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} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. V, St Catherine Press, 1926, pp. 689-692, Internet Archive
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Robert B Patterson for 'Isabella, suo jure countess of Gloucester', print and online 2004, revised online 2005
4. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by John Gillingham for King John, print and online 2004, revised online 2021
5. ↑ '1217, membranes 4, 3, 2, 1', in Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry III: Volume 1, 1216-1225, ed. H C Maxwell Lyte (London, 1901), pp. 83-106, British History Online, accessed 27 January 2024 (subscription required)

See also:

• Cawley, Charles. King John, entry in “Medieval Lands” database (accessed 17 January 2024
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, pp. 247-251, BARDOLF 8
• Sanders, I J. English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford University Press, 1960, p. 6
• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 29, pp. 402-417, entry for King John, Wikisource
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by F J West for 'Burgh, Hubert de, earl of Kent (c. 1170–1243)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
• Wikipedia: Isabella, Countess of Gloucester