Isabel Despenser (abt. 1313 - aft. 1356)

Ancestors

Wife of Richard (FitzAlan) de Arundel — married 9 Feb 1321 (to 4 Dec 1344) in King's Chapel at Havering-atte-Bower, Essex

Descendants

Died after 1356 after about age 43 in Essex, England

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Isabel is a descendant of the Bigods, through her father (see text, below).

Biography

Isabel le Despenser^[1][2]

Isabel was born about 1313 (aged 8 in 1321).^[3] Her parents were Hugh, 2nd Lord le Despenser, and his wife Eleanor de Clare.^[1][4]

On 9 February 1320/1, in the King's Chapel at Havering-atte-Bower, Essex, Isabel married Richard de Arundel, Knt., 10th Earl of Arundel, son of Edmund de Arundel (or Fitz Alan), Knt., and Alice de Warenne. It was the first marriage for both Richard and Isabel.^[5]

They had one son:

• Edmund FitzAlan, Knt.,^[3] born c1329,^[6] married Sibyl de Montagu^[3]

By Papal mandate dated 4 December 1344, the marriage was annulled, which bastardized Edmund.^[3] In February 1344/5, Richard married "in the presence of King Edward III" Eleanor of Lancaster, widow of John Beaumont and daughter of Henry, Earl of Lancaster. They had three sons and two daughters. Richard also had at least one illegitimate child by an unknown mistress.^[7]

Isabel le Despenser died after 1356 and was buried in the Chapter House of Austin Friars, London.^[3] She probably was living in Essex when she died. She held various manors for life in Essex, and she "repeatedly brought action from 1349 to 1356" concerning property in Essex.^[7][8]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} 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), volume II, pages 64-78 DESPENSER.
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), volume II, pages 447 DESPENSER 11.vi.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4}
   Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, II:185 FITZ ALAN 6.
4. ↑ Sources do not give a birth location, so "Stoke, Gloucestershire, England" was removed from the datafield for birth place on 8 January 2020.
5. ↑ Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, II:178-197 FITZ ALAN.
6. ↑ Marlyn Lewis. Isabel le Despenser, entry in "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors and Cousins" database (accessed 8 January 2020).
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Richardson, Royal Ancestry, II:606 FITZ ALAN 11.
8. ↑ Sources do not give a death location. As it is doubtful that she was living at Arundel Castle after the annulment, "Arundel Castle, Sussex, England" was removed from the datafield for death place on 8 January 2020 and replaced with Essex.

• 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. See also WikiTree's source page for Magna Carta Ancestry.
• Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Salt Lake City: the author, 2013. See also WikiTree's source page for Royal Ancestry.
• Lewis, Marlyn. "Our Royal, Titled, Noble, and Commoner Ancestors" (free database online). Useful for leads; see cautions about use on the Magna Carta Project Reliable Sources page.

See also:

• Wikipedia: Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel
• Weis, Frederick Lewis. The Magna Charta Sureties, 1215, 4th ed.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: Fitzalan, Richard, third earl of Arundel and eighth earl of Surrey (c. 1313–1376) C. Given-Wilson

Acknowledgements

See the Changes tab for edits to this profile. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Magna Carta Project

This profile was updated against the Magna Carta Project's checklist by Liz Shifflett. It was reviewed/approved for the Project by Michael Cayley on 11 January 2020.

Isabel Despenser is a descendant of Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod, Roger le Bigod, John de Lacy, Gilbert de Clare and Richard de Clare and Robert de Vere in badged trails to the following Gateway Ancestors:

• Saint Leger Codd: badged 2019. See trail HERE.
• Edward Digges: badged in 2020. See the trails HERE.
• Warham Horsmanden: badged 2020. See trail HERE.

Isabel Despenser also appears in unbadged trails (needing work) to the following Gateways:

• Lovelace Gateways (Anne and Thomas): trails need further development and are set out HERE.

Isabel le Despenser was descended from six Magna Carta sureties. In fact, she and Idoine de Clifford were genealogical doubles. Their mothers were 1st cousins, by descent from the Clare-Lacy marriage. Their fathers were 2nd cousins, by descent from the Fitzgeoffrey-Bigod marriage. So the two ladies had the same Magna Carta blood in the same quantities. Idoine de Clifford is in badged trails to Roger and Hugh Bigod, Richard and Gilbert de Clare, John de Lacy, and Saher de Quincy.

See Base Camp for more information about Magna Carta trails; see the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as "badged trail".