Eleanor de Clare

Eleanor de Clare, suo jure 6th Lady of Glamorgan (3 October 1292 – 30 June 1337) was a powerful Anglo-Welsh noblewoman who married Hugh Despenser the Younger, the future favourite of Edward II of England, and was a granddaughter of Edward I of England. With her sisters, Elizabeth de Clare and Margaret de Clare, she inherited her father's estates after the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl of Hereford at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. She was born in 1292 at Caerphilly Castle in Glamorgan, Wales and was the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 5th Lord of Glamorgan and Princess Joan of Acre. De Clare inheritance As a co-heiress with her sisters Elizabeth de Clare (wife of Roger d'Amory), and Margaret de Clare (wife of Hugh Audley), in 1314 she inherited the de Clare estates including the huge feudal barony of Gloucester, following the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Gloucester at the Battle of Bannockburn. The partition was not fully settled until 1317. During this period the family seat of Caerphilly Castle was held by the king under the stewardship of Payn de Turberville of Coity Castle. In protest against Turberville's mistreatment, the Welsh nobleman Llywelyn Bren and his supporters launched a surprise attack on 28 January 1316, and besieged Caerphilly Castle, which successfully held out under the command of "The lady of Clare" (almost certainly Eleanor) and a small garrison until relieved by Sir William Montacute on 12 March 1316. Marriage to Hugh Despenser the younger In May 1306 at Westminster, Eleanor married Hugh le Despenser the Younger, the son of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester by his wife Isabella de Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. Despenser thereby became Lord of Glamorgan. Her grandfather, King Edward I, granted Eleanor a dowry of 2,000 pounds sterling. Eleanor's husband rose to prominence as the new favourite of her uncle, King Edward II of England. The king strongly favoured Hugh and Eleanor, visiting them often and granting them many gifts. Eleanor's fortunes changed drastically after the invasion in September 1326 of Edward's estranged wife, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who overthrew the King; two months later, her husband Hugh was convicted of high treason and subsequently hanged, drawn, and quartered.