Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex
| Isabel of Cambridge | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Essex | |
 Remains of Beeleigh Abbey, first burial place of Isabel of York | |
| Born | 1409 |
| Died | 2 October 1484 (aged 74–75) |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Sir Thomas Grey Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex |
| Issue | William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier Sir Henry Bourchier Humphrey Bourchier, 1st Baron Cromwell John Bourchier Sir Thomas Bourchier Edward Bourchier Fulk Bourchier Isabel Bourchier |
| House | York |
| Father | Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge |
| Mother | Anne Mortimer |
Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex (1409 – 2 October 1484) was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge and Anne Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and like him a great-grandchild of Edward III of England.
Early life
Isabel of York, the only daughter of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Lady Anne de Mortimer, was born about 1409.[1] Through her father, she was the granddaughter of King Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and his first wife, Isabella of Castile. Her mother was the granddaughter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March (grandson of Lionel of Antwerp) and Lady Alianore Holland (granddaughter of Lady Joan of Kent, Princess of Wales).
Isabel's father, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, was beheaded on 5 August 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against King Henry V, and although the Earl's title was forfeited, he was not attainted,[2] and Isabel's brother, Richard, then aged four, was his father's heir.[3] Moreover within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, and Isabel's brother was eventually his uncle's heir as well.
Marriages and issue
In 1412, at three years of age, Isabel was betrothed to Sir Thomas Grey (1404 – d. before 1426), son and heir of Sir Thomas Grey (c.1385-1415) of Heaton in Norham, Northumberland, and his wife, Alice Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. They had one son.[4] The elder Sir Thomas Grey was an associate of Isabel's father who also lost his life in the Southampton Plot.
She married secondly, before 25 April 1426, the marriage being later validated by papal dispensation, Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, by whom she had seven sons and one daughter:[5]
- William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier (d. 1480), who married Anne Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg, parents of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex and Cecily Bourchier, wife of John Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley;
- Sir Henry Bourchier (d. 1462), who married Elizabeth Scales, 8th Baroness Scales.
- Humphrey Bourchier, 1st Baron Cromwell (d. 14 April 1471), slain at the Battle of Barnet.
- John Bourchier, 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby (d.1495), who married firstly Elizabeth Ferrers, and secondly Elizabeth Chichelle.
- Sir Thomas Bourchier (b. prior to 1448 d. 1492), who married Isabella Barre.
- Edward Bourchier (d. 30 December 1460), slain at the Battle of Wakefield.
- Fulk Bourchier, died young.
- Isabel Bourchier, died young.[6]
Death
Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, died on 4 April 1483. Isabel remained a widow and died on 2 October 1484.[7] A manuscript calendar records her death on VI Non Oct in 1484. Both were buried at Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon, Essex, but later reburied at Little Easton, Essex.[8]
Ancestry
Footnotes
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 400–404.
- ^ Cokayne states that he was attainted.
- ^ Harriss 2004.
- ^ Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition, Charles Mosley Editor-in-Chief, 1999 Page: 15, 1222
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.
- ^ Weir states that there were three additional children, Laura Bourchier (b.1440), who married John Courtenay, 7th Earl of Devon; Florence Bourchier (d. 1525); and Hugh Bourchier, died young.
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.
- ^ Richardson IV 2011, pp. 401–3.
References
- Cokayne, George Edward (1932). The Complete Peerage, edited by H.A. Doubleday. Vol. VIII. London: St. Catherine Press. pp. 445–53.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Harriss, G.L. (2004). Richard , earl of Cambridge (1385–1415). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) (subscription required) - Pugh, T.B. (1988). Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415. Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-86299-541-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 144996639X.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Vol. IV (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 1460992709.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)