Elizabeth de Badlesmere

Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton (1313- 8 June 1356) was the wife of two English noblemen, Sir Edmund Mortimer and William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton.

Family

Elizabeth was born at Castle Badlesmere, Kent, England in 1313 to Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere and Margaret de Clare. She was the third of four daughters. She had one younger brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere (18 October 1314- 7 June 1338) who married Elizabeth Montagu, but died without issue. Upon his death, the barony of Badlesmere fell into abeyance.Her paternal grandparents were Guncelin de Badlesmere and Joan FitzBernard. Her maternal grandparents were Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond and Juliane FitzGerald of Offaly.Elizabeth's father was hanged on 14 April 1322 for treason against King Edward II of England, and her mother imprisoned in the Tower of London until 3 November 1322. She had been arrested the previous October for refusing Queen Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle, where Lord Badlesmere was castellan.

Marriages and children

On 27 June 1316, when she was just three years old, Elizabeth married her first husband Sir Edmund Mortimer (1310- 16 December 1331) [Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of March 1328- 1425 (Mortimer)] son of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville. The marriage produced two sons:

#Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March (11 November 1328 Ludlow Castle- 26 February 1360), married Philippa Montacute, daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Catherine Grandison, by whom he had issue, including Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March).
# John Mortimer (died young)In 1335, just over three years after the death of Edmund Mortimer, Elizabeth married secondly William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (1312- 1360), fifth son of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan. By her second marriage she had two more children: [thePeerage.com]

# Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton (24 March 1342- 16 January 1373), after 9 September 1359, married Joan Fitzalan, by whom he had two daughters, Eleanor de Bohun Duchess of Gloucester, and Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry of Bolingbroke (who later reigned as King Henry IV).
# Elizabeth de Bohun (c.1350- 3 April 1385), on 28 September 1359, married Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, by whom she had seven children including Thomas Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel, Elizabeth FitzAlan and Lady Joan FitzAlan, Baroness Bergavenny.

Death

Elizabeth de Badlesmere died on 8 June 1356. She was about forty-three years old.Her many descendants included King Edward IV of England, Anne Mortimer, Anne Boleyn, Mary Boleyn, and Diana, Princess of Wales.

References

#Charles Cawley,"Medieval Lands",Earls of March 1328-1425 (Mortimer)
#thePeerage.com