Eleanor de Montfort

Eleanor de Montfort, Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon (1252 - 19 June 1282) was a daughter of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Countess Eleanor of England.

Early life

Eleanor's maternal grandparents were John of England and his queen consort Isabella of Angoulême. Her maternal uncles included Henry III of England and Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. Her maternal aunts included Joan of England, Queen of Scotland, and Isabella of England, and Joan, Lady of Wales.

When Eleanor was thirteen years old, her father Earl Simon and brother Lord Henry were killed at the Battle of Evesham (4 August, 1265). According to the chroniclers, Nicholas Trivet, William Rishanger and others, Earl Simon had earlier made an alliance with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, whereby it was agreed that Llywelyn and Eleanor would marry. After Earl Simon's death, his family was forced to flee the Kingdom of England: Countess Eleanor took her daughter to the safety of the Dominican nunnery at Montargis, France, a Montfort foundation.

Marriage to Llywelyn ap Gruffydd

Countess Eleanor died in Spring 1275, and shortly afterwards Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the Prince of Wales, and Eleanor de Montfort married by proxy, (per nuncios) "per verba de presenti" (Canon law endorsed a marital bond that was made in this way, with the full consent of both of the individuals, before witnesses).

Capture and imprisonment by Edward I

Eleanor began the sea voyage from France to north Wales, avoiding making a land passage through England. The two ships carrying Eleanor, her brother Amaury and their entourage, sailing off the south coast of England, were captured by sailors from the port of Bristol, just off the Isles of Scilly. Six named men together with the crews of four ships of Bristol were rewarded with a payment of 220 marks (Calendar Patent Rolls, 1272-81, 161; PRO Liberate Rolls C62).'Thomas Larchdeacon', 'Thomas the Archdeacon', who masterminded the capture on behalf of her first cousin Edward I of England was paid £20 in May 1276 by the king's orders, through the sheriff of Cornwall.(Calendar of Close Rolls, 1272-79, 292).

Eleanor was taken by ship to Bristol, then held prisoner at Windsor for nearly three years (PRO: Liberate Rolls, C62/ 52). In 1278, following the signing of the Treaty of Aberconwy, she was released.

Married life

Eleanor and Llywelyn were formally married ("secundum formam ecclesie") at the cathedral door, as was the custom, of the cathedral church at Worcester, on the Feast Day of St Edward, 1278; Edward gave the bride, his cousin, away and paid for the wedding feast. Before the wedding mass was celebrated, Edward insisted that Llywelyn should put his seal to an adjustment to the agreement that they had previously made. Llywelyn had no alternative but to comply, and he later stated that he did it under duress, 'moved by the fear that can grip a steadfast man' (see "Registrum Epistolarum Fratis Johannis Peckham Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis", Lambeth Palace Archives).

Following the ceremony, Eleanor became officially known as Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon. (see Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1272-81, 306; CPR, 1281-92, 11; Calendar of Ancient Correspondence, 75-76; "Foedera" I, ii, 576, 584, 587).

Death and legacy

Eleanor died in childbirth on 19 June 1282 (see The chronicle of Bury St Edmunds, 74-76) at the royal home Garth Celyn, Aber Garth Celyn on the north coast of Gwynedd; her body was carried across the Lafan Sands to the Franciscan Friary of Llanfaes, Anglesey (sse Brut y Tywysogion, Peniarth MS20, 223; Peniarth MS20Tr, 117). The Friary, on the opposite shore of the Menai to Garth Celyn, had been founded by Llywelyn Fawr, the grandfather of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, in memory of his wife Joan.

On 12 July 1282, members of Eleanor's personal household were given 'safe-conduct' to travel to England (see Calendar of Welsh Rolls, 234).

Llywelyn was killed on 11 December 1282. The child, Gwenllian of Wales, was captured the following year by the armies of King Edward I of England, and taken to be held at Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire.