Introduction
In the annals of medieval English history, few noble families reached the height of wealth and influence attained by the Clares in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. As the earls of Gloucester and Hertford, they were among the greatest landowners in the realm, with estates stretching across England, Wales, and Ireland. But this power and proximity to the crown was a double-edged sword, as the three daughters of Gilbert "the Red" de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, would discover in their dramatic lives as pawns of the medieval monarchy.
Born between 1292 and 1295 to Earl Gilbert and his wife Joan of Acre, the daughter of King Edward I, the sisters Eleanor, Margaret, and Elizabeth de Clare were destined from birth to play a pivotal role in the politics and power struggles of the era. As granddaughters of the king and co-heiresses to the vast de Clare inheritance after the death of their brother Gilbert at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, the sisters were prime marriage material. Their uncle King Edward II would waste no time in using their hands in marriage to reward his court favorites and keep the de Clare wealth under crown control.
The Favorite‘s Wife
The eldest sister Eleanor‘s marriage in 1306 to Hugh Despenser the Younger, the grandson of the Earl of Winchester, initially seemed a good match. But her husband‘s close relationship with Edward II would bring Eleanor both favor and misfortune in the years to come.
Despenser exploited his position as the king‘s chamberlain and favorite to become the de facto ruler of England from 1319 to 1326. His greed and tyranny made him many enemies among the nobility, including Eleanor‘s two sisters and their husbands. In 1321, Margaret‘s husband Hugh Audley joined a baronial rebellion against the king and Despenser. In retaliation, Edward had Margaret imprisoned at Sempringham Priory while seizing some of Elizabeth‘s lands after briefly confining her at Barking Abbey.
The most shocking rumors, reported by several contemporary chroniclers, alleged that Edward II and Eleanor were engaged in an affair around this time. The king‘s account books lend some credence to this, detailing extravagant gifts and time spent with his "dear niece" that exceeded the norm. One chronicler even claimed that Edward treated Eleanor as his queen while his wife Isabella was abroad in 1325-26. Whether or not the relationship was sexual, it was clear that the king relied heavily on the counsel and company of both Eleanor and Despenser during this period.
The Invasion
By 1326, Queen Isabella could no longer tolerate her humiliation by her husband and his favorite. Allying with the exiled baron Roger Mortimer and Edward II‘s many opponents, Isabella launched an invasion that quickly overthrew Despenser‘s regime. The king‘s lover was executed and Edward forced to abdicate in favor of his teenage son, Edward III, in January 1327.
Despenser‘s widow Eleanor was imprisoned in the Tower of London for over a year at the orders of Queen Isabella, who also seized most of her lands and granted them to herself and her daughter-in-law Queen Philippa. Meanwhile, Margaret was freed from her long confinement at Sempringham Priory and Elizabeth had her estates restored. But at the nadir of her fortunes, Eleanor was abducted from the Tower and forcibly married to her second husband William la Zouche, one of Mortimer‘s retainers.
Restoration and Legacy
The Clare sisters‘ roller-coaster ride of reversals began to even out after the young King Edward III asserted his personal rule in 1330 by toppling the regency of his mother Isabella and her lover Mortimer. Edward showed favor to his aunts Margaret and Elizabeth, while eventually releasing Eleanor and allowing her to settle into her new marriage.
In their later years, the sisters led less turbulent lives but remained influential figures. Eleanor, who died in 1337, was styled as the king‘s "beloved aunt" and had her remaining lands restored. Margaret, the widow of the executed Gaveston and rebel Audley, held substantial estates until her death in 1342.
It was Elizabeth, the youngest sister, who lived the longest and left perhaps the most enduring legacy. Married a total of three times, to John de Burgh, Theobald de Verdon, and finally Roger Damory (another of Edward II‘s favorites who perished fighting the king in 1322), she spent the last three decades of her life as a wealthy widow. In 1338, she used her fortune to found Clare College, Cambridge, one of the most prestigious and venerable institutions at that university. Her granddaughter Elizabeth de Burgh would go on to become one of the most powerful heiresses of the next generation.
Conclusion
The dramatic rises and falls of the Clare sisters illustrate in microcosm the precarious yet influential position of wealthy noblewomen in 14th-century England. Born with royal blood and vast estates, they were the most sought-after brides in the realm. Yet even these lofty heiresses were ultimately pawns subject to the whims of kings, shuffled into arranged marriages and punished when their husbands fell out of favor.
Though rarely able to control their own fates, the sisters still played a crucial role in the politics of the time through their alliances and connections. Like their Mortimer cousins and other contemporaries, they served as key vectors for the transmission of wealth and land between noble families and the crown.
Despite the social constraints of their gender, the Clare sisters at times wielded significant agency as well, whether through Eleanor‘s probable affair with Edward II or Elizabeth‘s munificent endowment of Clare College. Their remarkable lives offer a window into the complex and often dangerous world of the medieval English aristocracy, where great fortunes could be won or lost based on the shifting sands of royal power. In the end, while the sisters were indisputably hostages to the turbulent politics of their age, they were far from passive victims, leaving a lasting mark on the history of the 14th century.
| Sister | Lifespan | Marriages | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eleanor de Clare | 1292-1337 |
Hugh Despenser the Younger (m. 1306, d. 1326) William la Zouche, 1st Baron Zouche (m. 1329, d. 1337) |
Hugh Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser Edward Despenser Isabella Despenser Elizabeth Despenser 10 others |
| Margaret de Clare | 1293-1342 |
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall (m. 1307, d. 1312) Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester (m. 1317, d. 1347) |
Joan Gaveston Margaret de Audley |
| Elizabeth de Clare | 1295-1360 |
John de Burgh (m. 1308, d. 1313) Theobald de Verdon, 2nd Baron Verdon (m. 1316, d. 1316) Roger Damory, 1st Baron Damory (m. 1317, d. 1322) |
William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster Isabel de Verdon Elizabeth Damory |
Table: The Marriages and Issue of the Clare Sisters
type: bar
title: Estimate of Clare Sisters‘ Wealth After 1314 Inheritance
width: 600
height: 400
x.title: Sister
y.title: Estimated Annual Income (£)
y.min: 0
y.max: 4000
y.step: 500
colors:
- gray
data:
- ["Eleanor", 2290]
- ["Margaret", 2290]
- ["Elizabeth", 2290] Chart: The Clare sisters each inherited an estimated £2,290 per year after their brother Gilbert‘s death in 1314, making them among the wealthiest heiresses in England. Source: Holmes, G.A. (1957). The Estates of the Higher Nobility in Fourteenth-Century England. Cambridge University Press, p. 38.
