Alice (Toeni) la Zouche (bef. 1283 - abt. 1325)

Born before 8 Jan 1283 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England

Ancestors

Wife of Guy (Beauchamp) de Beauchamp — married 13 Feb 1309 in of Warwick Castle, Warwickshire, England

Wife of William (Mortimer) la Zouche — married 25 Feb 1317 in Flamsted, Hertfordshire, England

Descendants

Died about 8 Jan 1325 in Castle Maud, Flamsted, Hertfordshire, England

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Alice (Toeni) la Zouche was a member of aristocracy in the British Isles. Join: British Royals and Aristocrats Project Discuss: euroaristo

Caution

Several diferent women bore the name Alice de Toeni:

• Alice de Toeni daughter of Roger (V) de Toeni and Alice de Bohun, born b. 1254, who married Walter de Beauchamp. Birth and death place not stated.
• Alice de Toeni, daughter of Ralph de Toeni and his wife Mary, born Flamstead, Herefordshire April 26, 1284, and married Thomas de Leybourne, Guy de Beauchamp and William de Mortimer la Zouche.
• Alice de Toeni, born Norfolk about 1252. No parents shown, no documentation. Married William de Mortimer. Died Norfolk 1298. Mother of Constantine. This person may be a conflation of the other two Alices.

Biography

Alice de Toeni, Countess of Warwick (bef 8 Jan 1283 – c 8 Jan 1325) ^[1][2]was a wealthy English heiress and the second wife of Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick (1272 – 12 August 1315), an English nobleman in the reign of Kings Edward I and Edward II. He was one of the principal opponents of Piers Gaveston, a favourite of Edward II. Alice married three times; Guy was her second husband. ^[3]

Names

Alice de Toeni Alice de Tosny

Name: Alice /de Toeni/

Source: #S48424 Page: page 93

Surname: Toeni

Given Name: Alice De

Name Suffix: Countess of Warwick

Birth and Parentage

Birth:

Date: 26 APR 1284

Place: Flamsted, Hertfordshire, , England^[4][5]

Alice de Toeni (or Tony or Tosny or Tosni) was born in 1283 or 1284, so was the same age as Edward II. Her father Ralph, or Raoul (1255-1295) was Lord of Flamstead in Hertfordshire; her mother Mary's parentage is unknown, but her paternal grandmother Alice was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford (great-grandfather of the earl of Hereford of Edward II's reign). The de Toeni family came over to England with William the Conqueror. ^[6]

Alice de Toeni was born on 26 April 1284 in Flamsted, Hertfordshire, the only daughter of Ralph VII de Toeni, Lord Toeni of Flamsted (1255–1295) and his wife, Mary, about whom nothing is known except that she was born in Scotland.

"The identity of Ralph de Tony's wife, Mary is uncertain, but a contemporary record indicates that their son Robert de Tony, was born in 1276, at "Thornby" in Scotland. This place appears to be identical with Turnberry Castle, home of Richard de Brus' older brother, Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick (died 1304).... Given the name of Ralph and Mary's son and heir, Robert, and the child's place of birth, the possibility exists that Mary de Tony was the sister of Richard and Robert de Brus."^[7]

ALICE de Tosny ([1282/85]-[7 Nov 1324/8 Jan 1325]). Possibly January 8, 1274 or April 26 1284: Interesting to note that Alice De Toeni; daughter of RogerV De Toeni and Alice De Bohun has a similar death date with a differing year.

Alice's paternal grandparents were Roger V de Toeni, Lord Flamsted and Alice de Bohun. The latter was a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford and Maud de Lusignan.

Alice's brother Robert, Lord de Toeni, was born on 4 April 1276, married the daughter of Malise, earl of Strathearn, but died childless in 1309, so Alice was her father's ultimate heir. The de Toeni lands included manors in Essex, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and the Welsh Marches, and were worth around £500 a year.^[6]

Upon his death, Alice became his heir. Her inheritance included manors in Essex, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, and the Welsh Marches.

1300 First Marriage to Thomas de Leyburne

Alice's first marriage, to Thomas de Leyburne (or Leyburn or Leybourne), took place sometime around 1300. The marriage produced one child, Juliana, born in 1303 or 1304. Thomas was the son of William, first Lord Leyburn, who outlived his son and died in 1310. Thomas himself was dead before 30 May 1307, so Juliana was the sole heiress of her grandfather William. Her inheritance comprised extensive estates in Kent and Sussex.^[6]

In 1300, when Alice was sixteen, she married her first husband, Sir Thomas Leybourne (died May 1307), son of Sir William Leybourne, by whom she had one daughter: Juliana de Leybourne (1303/1304–1367), married firstly, John, Lord Hastings, by whom she had issue, secondly Thomas le Blount, and thirdly, William Clinton.

1309 Second Marriage to Guy de Beauchamp

The widowed Alice made an excellent second marriage in early 1309: to Guy Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, arguably Edward II's most implacable enemy. Guy was probably born in 1272, succeeded his father William Beauchamp as earl of Warwick in 1298, and was the younger brother of Isabel, wife of Hugh Despenser the Elder. He was thirty-six or thirty-seven at the time of his marriage to Alice; it's odd that he was still unmarried and childless at such an advanced age. It's possible that he was married to Isabella de Clare, elder daughter of Gilbert 'the Red', earl of Gloucester, by his first marriage; she and her sister were disinherited in favour of Gilbert's children by Edward I's daughter Joan of Acre. However, Isabella was at least eight or nine years Guy's senior, which would make it a very odd match, and if the marriage did take place, it had ended in divorce by the early 1300s. In 1306 Guy, concerned by his lack of heirs, made the decision to entail all his estates to his nephew Philip Despenser (younger son of Hugh the Elder), but his issue by Alice, and the fact that Philip died young in 1313, meant that this plan never came to fruition.^[6]

On 28 February 1310, less than three years after the death of her first husband, Alice married secondly Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, the only son of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick and Maud FitzJohn. ^[8]

He had been previously married to Isabel de Clare, the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester and Alice de Lusignan of Angouleme, but the marriage, which had produced no children, was annulled.

Another account (unsourced) gives the date and place of the marriage as February 13, 1309 in of Warwick Castle, Warwickshire.

Yet another account gives the dates as 12 Jan/28 Feb, 1310.

Residence of Alice and Guy

Warwick Castle was the principal residence of Guy de Beauchamp and Alice de Toeni.

Conflict of Guy de Beauchamp and Piers Gaveston

Guy was famously well-educated and cultured, possessing an extensive library, yet was the greatest opponent of Piers Gaveston and played a leading role in his murder; he was a 'cultivated, aristocratic ruffian' [T. F. Tout], the only earl whose opposition to Edward II was unrelenting. His name appears in contemporary documents as Guy de Bello Campo; this is comparable to Roger Mortimer, who was often called 'Roger de Mortuo Mari', and the name Beaumont is often seen as 'de Bello Monte'.^[6]

Guy had already distinguished himself in the Scottish Wars and was one of the Ordainers, who sought to restrict the powers of the King. Guy de Beauchamp was one of the chief adversaries of Piers Gaveston, King Edward's favourite, who often referred to Guy as The Mad Hound, due to the Earl's habit of foaming at the mouth when angry. In 1312, Guy de Beauchamp captured Gaveston and took him to his principal residence Warwick Castle where Gaveston was held prisoner and afterwards murdered.

Issue of Alice and Guy

Guy and Alice's marriage was extremely fruitful. They had two sons and five daughters, in about six and a half years of marriage. Guy's heir, Thomas, later earl of Warwick, was born in February 1314 and (presumably) named after Guy's friend and ally, Thomas, earl of Lancaster. There was a younger son, John, who played a large role in the Hundred Years War, carrying the royal standard at Crecy in 1346, and daughters Maud, Emma, Isabel, Elizabeth and Lucia. All the children lived long enough to marry. (Either Alice was perpetually pregnant, or some of her children were multiple births).^[6]

Death of Guy de Beauchamp

Guy died at the age of forty-three in August 1315; rumour had it that he was poisoned by Edward II for his role in Gaveston's death, but modern historians give the story little credence. He left Alice some of his plate, a crystal cup, half his bedding and all the vestments and books of his chapel. The extreme youth of their son - about eighteen months old - was a huge problem. Thomas wouldn't receive seisin of the Beauchamp lands until he was twenty-one; in the meantime, they would come into the possession of the Crown, and the king had the right to give or sell custody of them to anyone he wished. In this situation, neglect of lands, and a subsequent drop in their value, was common. Not long before he died, Guy managed to wrest from Edward II a valuable concession - amazingly enough, considering their mutual enmity - that the executors of his will would have full custody of the lands until Thomas came of age. Unfortunately - and probably predictably - Edward II didn't keep the promise, and within two years, Hugh Despenser the Elder had gained possession of his brother-in-law's lands. (This was one of the articles of complaint against the Despensers in 1321). After 1327, possession passed to Roger Mortimer.^[6]

1316 Third Marriage to William la Zouche de Mortimer

On or shortly after 26 October 1316, Alice married, as her third husband, William la Zouche de Mortimer, Lord of Ashby in Leicestershire, a distant cousin of Roger Mortimer. ^[6]

Following the sudden death of Guy de Beauchamp at Warwick Castle on 28 July 1315, which was rumoured to have been caused by poisoning, Alice married thirdly on 26 October 1316, William la Zouche de Mortimer, 1st Lord Zouche de Mortimer, by whom she had a son and daughter:

• Alan la Zouche de Mortimer. (born 15 September 1317), participated in the Battle of Crécy, and died shortly afterwards.
• Joyce la Zouche de Mortimer (born 1318)

Another date (unsourced) for the marriage is February 25, 1317 in Flamsted, Hertfordshire, , England

William's Birth and Parentage

William was a younger son and had been a retainer of Guy Beauchamp; he is assumed to have been born about 1280, and there's no evidence I know of that he had a wife before Alice. ^[6]

William La Zouche, Lord Zouche of Mortimer, was son of Robert de Mortimer of Richard´s Castle, Herefordshire & his wife Joyce la Zouche (-28 Feb 1337, bur Tewkesbury Abbey).

Issue of Alice and William

Their son Alan, William's heir, was born on 15 September 1317, and they also had a daughter, Joyce, born about 1318 or 1320. Altogether, Alice bore ten children to her three husbands.^[6]

1324 Death of Alice

Alice de Toeni de Leyburne de Beauchamp la Zouche (!!), countess of Warwick, died on 1 January 1324, three years before the end of Edward II's reign, aged forty or just under. Her eldest child, Juliana, was about twenty, her youngest, Joyce, perhaps only about four. Five years after her death, her widower William la Zouche abducted Eleanor de Clare from Hanley Castle, and married her. Eleanor of course was the widow of Hugh Despenser the younger, Alice's nephew by marriage (son of Guy Beauchamp's sister). William was, amusingly enough, one of the men who captured Despenser in Wales in late 1326, and besieged his son Hugh at Caerphilly. ^[6]

Alice de Toeni died on 1 January 1324/25. The de Toeni lands and manors passed to her eldest son Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick.

Her widower, Lord Zouche, later abducted and married Eleanor de Clare, widow of Hugh Le Despenser, the Younger. Lord Zouche had been one of Le Despenser's captors and had led the siege of Caerphilly Castle --------------------

Issue

From First Marriage to Thomas de Leyburne

1. Juliana de Leybourne, Baroness Leyburn, born 1303 or 1304, died 1367) who married firstly, John, Lord Hastings, by whom she had issue, secondly Thomas le Blount, and thirdly, William Clinton.

From Second Marriage to Guy de Beauchamp

Alice and Guy had two sons and five daughters:

1. Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick (14 February 1313/1314 – 13 November 1369), married Katherine Mortimer, by whom he had fifteen children.
2. John de Beauchamp, Lord Beauchamp KG (1315 – 2 December 1360), carried the royal standard at the Battle of Crecy
3. Elizabeth de Beauchamp, Baroness Astley (c. 1316 – 1359), married in 1328, Thomas of Astley, 3rd Lord Astley, by whom she had a son William of Astley, 4th Lord Astley.
4. Maud de Beauchamp (died 1366), married Geoffrey de Say, 2nd Lord Say, by whom she had issue.
5. Isabell or Isabella de Beauchamp, married John Clinton.
6. Emma de Beauchamp, married Rowland Odingsells.
7. Lucia de Beauchamp, married Robert de Napton.

An additional daughter, Maud is sometimes shown with the family.

From Third Marriage to William la Zouche de Mortimer

1. Alan de la Zouche de Mortimer, Baron Zouche, born 15 September 1317, participated in the Battle of Crécy, and died shortly afterwards.
2. Joyce la Zouche de Mortimeer, born 1318

Sources

• Royal Ancestry by Douglas Richardson Vol. V. p. 178

1. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd Edition, Vol. I, p. 136-138
2. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. I, p. 287-289.
3. ↑ Wikipedia
4. ↑ Source: #S004320
5. ↑ Source: #S004330
6. ↑ ^{6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10} Kathryn Warner, "Alice de Toeni and Juliana de Leyburne" Edward the Second Blogspot, 17 March, 2007
7. ↑ Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), vol. V, pp 176, footnote 11
8. ↑ Douglas Richardson - Magna Carta Ancestry - p. 137

See also:

• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy; MedLands

• Richardson, Douglas: Plantagenet Ancestry, 2nd edn. (2011), 3 vols, Volume 3, page 344.

• Marlyn Lewis.

• U.S. and International Marriage Records, 1560-1900 Author: Yates Publishing Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Note: #NS043203

Note NS043203

NAME Ancestry.com

ADDR http://www.Ancestry.com

• http://www.camelotintl.com/royal/cgi

Acknowledgements

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