Alice de Lusignan of Angouleme

Alice of Lusignan or Alice of Angouleme (born after October 1236 - May 1290) was the first wife of Marcher baron Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester and half-niece of King Henry III of England. [The Complete Peerage.]

Family

Alice was born on an unknown date, sometime after October 1236 [Medieval Lands"Angouleme".] in Angouleme, Poitou, France. She was the daughter of Hugh XI of Lusignan, Seigneur de Lusignan,Couhe, et de Peyrat, Count of La Marche and Angouleme, and Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and de Porhoet. [The Complete Peerage.] Her brother was Hugh XII of Lusignan. Her paternal grandparents were Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angouleme and Isabella of Angouleme, Queen-Consort of King John of England and mother of King Henry III. Her maternal grandparents were Peter of Dreux, Duke of Brittany and Alix of Thouars, Duchess of Brittany. [The Complete Peerage] She had three sisters and three brothers. [Medieval Lands"Angouleme".]

List of siblings

# Isabelle of Lusignan, Dame de Belleville (1248-1304). Married Maurice de Belleville.
# Marie of Lusignan (1242- after 11 July 1266). Married Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby.
# Yolande of Lusignan (died 10 November 1305). Married Pierre I, Sire de Preaux.
# Guy of Lusignan, Seigneur de Cognac and d'Archiac de Couhé, Seigneur da la Fere-en-Tardenois (died 1288/89).
# Geoffrey of Lusignan (died 1264).
#Hugh XII of Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angouleme. (c.1240- after 25 August 1270). Married Jeanne, Dame de Fougères on 29 January 1254 [Medieval Lands "Angouleme".] Died on Crusade.

Marriage

She arrived in England on an unrecorded date. On 6 April 1250, her father was killed in battle in Faruskur, Egypt. [Medieval Lands"Angouleme".] In 1253, Alice married Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester (2 September1243- 7 December1295. He was the son of Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford and Maud de Lacy. He was 10 years old at the time of his marriage. In later years, "Red" Gilbert would become one of the the most powerful and important noblemen in the kingdom. The marriage produced two daughters.

List of children

# Isabel de Clare (10 March1263-1333). Married firstly Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick and secondly Maurice de Berkeley 2nd Baron Berkeley. Died childless.
# Joan de Clare (1264-( after 1302). Married firstly Duncan Macduff, 7th Earl of Fife and secondly Gervase Avenel. Had issue.

Prince Edward

Alice was described as being very beautiful with dark hair and dark eyes. She was also flirtatious and provocative [Thomas B. Costain "The Magnificent Century", Page236] She was said to strongly resemble her grandmother Queen Isabella [Costain, page 236] In the late summer of 1259, she formed a friendship with her cousin, Prince Edward who would later ascend the throne as King Edward I. When civil war broke out and the barons rose up against the King led by Simon de Montfort, Alice's husband supported them. Prince Edward, who headed the Royalist Army, quickly went to war against the traitors who had betrayed his father. Tonbridge Castle, one of Gloucester's properties was captured by Prince Edward's troops and Alice, who was resident in the castle at the time, taken prisoner. It is alleged that the Prince and his cousin became lovers while she was imprisoned. [Costain,page 261.] Edward's young wife, Eleanor of Castile was in France at the time. Alice was released shortly afterward. At the Battle of Lewes on 14 May 1264 King Henry's forces were defeated by those led by Simon and Gloucester who commanded the second line of battle. After the victory, Gilbert and his brother Thomas were both knighted. Simon de Montfort became the de facto ruler of England. On 20 October the Earl of Gloucester was excommunicated. A month later, he fell out with Montfort and transferred his allegiance to Prince Edward. Later after the Battle of Evesham, in which Simon de Montfort was killed, Gloucester was richly rewarded for his support of Prince Edward and was granted the castle and title of Abergavenny and the castle of Brecknock. He became the most powerful lord in the Welsh Marches. In 1267, he and Alice began to live apart; on 18 July 1271 they formally separated, and the marriage was annulled on 16 May 1285. Gloucester married secondly, on 30 April 1290, Joan of Acre, daughter of Prince Edward who had acceeded in 1272 as King Edward I of England. Alice died in May 1290. Through her daughter Joan, Alice was the grandmother of Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, who placed the crown of Scotland upon the head of Robert the Bruce at Scone.

References