Edward le Despenser

Notes:

Slain at the Battle of Morlaix.

Edward married Anne de Ferrers on 20 Apr 1335 in Groby in Ratby, Leicestershire, England. Anne (daughter of William de Ferrers and (Unknown) de Segrave) died on 8 Aug 1367. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Edward le Despenser was born about 24 Mar 1336 in Essendine, Rutland, England; died on 11 Nov 1375 in Llanblethian, Glamorgan, Wales; was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, England
• Alternate death: 29 Nov 1326, Hereford, Herefordshire, England

Notes:

"The Younger". Favorite of Edward II; ultimately convicted of treason. "Outside the city he was stripped and then reclothed with his arms reversed, and he was crowned with stinging nettles. Condemned to death as a traitor, on 24 November 1326 he was drawn on a hurdle to the gallows, and then hanged from a height of 50 feet. Still alive, he was cut down and eviscerated before finally being beheaded. His head was displayed on London Bridge; his quarters were sent to Bristol, Dover, York, and Newcastle. In December 1330 Eleanor de Clare received royal permission to collect her husband's bones and inter them in Tewkesbury Abbey." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]

Hugh married Eleanor de Clare after 14 Jun 1306 in Westminster, Middlesex, England. Eleanor (daughter of Gilbert de Clare and Joan of Acre) was born in Oct 1292 in Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales; died on 30 Jun 1337. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 23 Nov 1292, Caerphilly, Glamorgan, Wales

Notes:

"She was imprisoned in the Tower of London, 17 Nov 1326, later released, and had her lands restored to her, 22 Apr 1328. Before 26 Jan 1329 she was abducted from Hanley Castle by Sir William la Zouche who subsequently married her. She was imprisoned again in the Tower, shortly after 5 Feb 1329, and then in Devizes Castle, until after 6 Jan 1330 as a result of accompanying her husband in his siege of her castle of Caerphilly." [The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, citation details below.]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1 Mar 1261, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England

Notes:

Earl of Winchester. Called "The Elder", despite being the second of three consecutive Hughs Despenser. Fought at Falkirk, at the siege of Caerlaverock, and at Bannockburn.

"Sir Hugh le Despenser, of Loughborough, Arnesby, Parlington, Ryhall, &c., Wycombe, Compton-Basset and Wootton-Basset, &c., s. and h. [of Sir Hugh le Despenser who d. 4 Aug. 1265], b. 1 Mar. 1260/1. In 28 May 1281 he was given the administration of the lands which his father had forfeited, and had livery of his mother's lands, 8 Aug. 1281, although he was not of age till 1 Mar. following. He had livery of the manor of Martley, co. Worcester, 3 Mar. 1281/2, as h. of his father's first cousin, John le Despenser. He was with the King in Gascony in 1287. Was one of those ordered, 22 Aug. 1288, during the King's absence abroad, to abstain from violations of the peace. Was appointed Constable of Odiham Castle, 12 June 1294. Was appointed an envoy to treat with the King of the Romans, June 1294, with the King of France, 1 Jan. 1295/6, and with the King of France and the King of the Romans, Nov. 1296. He accompanied the King to Scotland in 1296. Was one of the proxies who swore to the treaty with the Count of Flanders, 5 Feb. 1296/7 to 18 Aug. 1307. Received instructions to threaten the Clergy, 21 Mar. 1296/7. One of the King's Council, 1297. Accompanied the King to Flanders in Aug. 1297. He was with the King in Scotland in 1300, 1303, 1304, and 1306. Was appointed an envoy to the Pope, Sep. 1300, to treat of peace with the King of France, 25 Apr. 1302, and an envoy to the Pope, Oct. 1305. In 1305 he was appointed and sworn, in Parl., a commissioner to treat with the Scots. At the Coronation of Edward II, 25 Feb. 1307/8, he was one of the four who carried the table (saccarium) on which were laid the royal robes. Constable of the castles of Devizes and Marlborough, 12 Mar. 1307/8 to 2 Dec. 1308. Constable of the Castle of Strigoil and Keeper of the town of Chepstow, 12 Mar. 1307/8 to 17 July (or 21 Aug.) 1310. Appointed Justice of the forests South of Trent during the King's pleasure, 16 Mar. 1307/8, and for life, 28 Aug. 1309. In the quarrel about Gavastone in 1308 he alone sided with the King against the Barons, who induced the King to promise to dismiss him from Court. He took part in the Baron's letter to the Pope, 6 Aug. 1309. Had licence to crenellate all his dwelling houses throughout the kingdom, 29 Sep. 1311. Keeper of the forests South of Trent, 14 June 1312 to 19 Feb. 1314/5. He was one of the King's deputies in the treaty with the magnates concerning the death of Gavastone, 20 Dec. 1312. Was pardoned for all arrears and debts to the King, 25 Mar. 1313, and accompanied him to Pontoise, 23 May following. He was excluded from the peace that was arranged between the King and the discontented barons in the autumn of 1313. Was at the battle of Bannockburn, 24 June 1314, and accompanied the King in his flight to Dunbar, and thence by sea to Berwick. A few months afterwards the party of the Earl of Lancaster obtained his dismissal from Court, and his removal from the council in Feb. 1314/5. A commission was appointed, 13 July 1315, to hear complaints against his acts of oppression as Keeper of the forests South of Trent. He was in the Scottish Wars in 1317. He was again specially excluded when peace was made with the Earl of Lancaster in Aug. 1318: to avoid the Earl, he is said to have gone "on pilgrimage" to Compostella. Was sent to set in order the affairs of Gascony, 28 Feb. 1319/20, and on missions to the King of France and the Pope in Mar. following. Was appointed Constable of Marlborough Castle, 2 May 1321. He was sum. for Military Service from 14 Mar. (1282/3) 11 Edw. I to 11 May (1322) 15 Edw. II, to attend the King at Shrewsbury, 28 June (1283) 11 Edw. II, to attend the King at Salisbury, 26 Jan. (1296/7) 25 Edw. I, to Councils from 8 Jan. (1308/9) 2 Edw. II to 1 July (1317) 10 Edw. II, and to Parl. from 24 June (1295) 23 Edw. I to 14 Mar. (1321/2) 15 Edw. II, by writs directed Hugoni le Despenser, whereby he is held to have become LORD LE DESPENSER. In May and June 1321 the barons of the Welsh Marches and their adherents ravaged the lands of the younger Despenser in Wales, and those of the elder throughout the country. In Aug. of that year both Despensers were accused in Parl., chiefly on account of the son's misconduct, of many misdeeds, viz., of accroaching to themselves royal power, counselling the King evilly, replacing good ministers by bad ones, &c. Wherefore they were disinherited for ever (19 Aug.), and exiled from the realm, not to return without the assent of the King and Parl. The elder Hugh accordingly retired to the Continent. His lands were taken into the King's hand, 15 Sep. 1321. The sentence on the Despensers was pronounced unlawful at a provincial council of the clergy about 1 Jan. 1321/2. In Mar. following the elder Hugh accompanied the King against the contrariants, and was present at the judgment on the Earl of Lancaster. The proceedings against the Despensers were annulled and cancelled in the Parl. of York, the lands of the elder Hugh being formally restored, 7 May 1322. Three days later, 10 May, the King granted him £20 a year from the issues of co. Hants, to be received nomine et honore comitis Wyntonie, and girded him with the sword as EARL OF WINCHESTER. He accompanied the King in his expedition against the Scots in Aug. 1322. He was appointed Keeper of the forests South of Trent, 27 June 1324, for life. He was sum. for Military Service from 20 Sep. (1322) 16 Edw. II to 1 May (1325) 18 Edw. II, to Councils from 20 Nov. (1323) 17 Edw. II to 20 Feb. (1324/5) 18 Edw. II, and to Parl. from 18 Sep. (1322) 16 Edw. II to 10 Oct. (1325) 19 Edw. II, by writs directed Hugoni le Despenser Comiti Wynton. He m. in or before 1286, without the King's lic. (fine of 2,000 marks, afterwards remitted), Isabel, widow of Sir Patric de Chaurces or Chaworces, of Kidwelly, co. Carmarthen, Somborne, Hants, &c. (who d.s.p.m. shortly before 7 July 1283), and da. of William (de Beauchamp), Earl of Warwick, by Maud, sister and coh. of Sir Richard fitz John, of Shere, Surrey, Fambridge, Essex, &c. [Lord FitzJohn], and 1st da. of Sir John fitz Geoffrey, of Shere and Fambridge. She d. shortly before 30 May 1306. On the King's flight to Wales in Oct. 1326 the Earl was dispatched to defend Bristol, which, however, he at once surrendered on the arrival of the Queen, 26 Oct. Next day he was tried--without being allowed to speak in his own defence--condemned to death as a traitor, and hanged on the common gallows. On his death, 27 Oct. 1326, at the age of 65, all his honours were forfeited, the sentence of 'Exile' passed on him in 1321 being re-affirmed in Parl., 1 Edw. III." [Complete Peerage]

"When the queen landed in England with an armed force in September 1326, she put out a proclamation against the Despensers. On the king's flight to Wales in October 1326, Earl Hugh was dispatched to defend Bristol, which, however, he at once surrendered on the arrival of the Queen. The next day, 27 October 1326, Sir Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester, was tried -- without being allowed to speak in his own defence -- condemned to death as a traitor, and hanged on the common gallows, all honors forfeited. His head was sent to Winchester." [Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry]

Hanged in his armor, then beheaded and his body cut into pieces for the dogs.

Hugh married Isabel de Beauchamp between 10 Sep 1285 and 27 Jan 1287. Isabel (daughter of William de Beauchamp and Maud fitz John) died before 30 May 1306. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1299

Notes:

Called "Red Gilbert" and "The Red Earl". Earl of Gloucester. Earl of Hertford. Steward of St. Edmund's Abbey. Held, among many other manors and lordships, the lordship of Glamorgan, one of the most wealthy holdings in the Welsh Marches. Built Caerphilly Castle.

A turbulent figure who fought on both sides of the Second Barons' War of 1263-64, first alongside Simon de Montfort at the battle of Lewes (where according to some accounts he personally took Henry III prisoner), and then on the side of the king, commanding one of the royal divisions at the decisive battle of Evesham where de Montfort was killed.

His subsequent relationships with Henry III and Edward I were complex and fraught. As one of the two or three most powerful non-royal individuals in the realm, he was both a desirable ally and also the very model of the kind of overweening subject that Edward was determined to tame -- and ultimately did.

As a side note, it is worth noting that while de Clare was still allied to the baronial party, he led the massacre of the Jews at Canterbury, which took place while other rebel leaders were conducting similar massacres in London. Ian Stone writes in "The Rebel Barons of 1264 and the Commune of London," quoted here: "The Dunstable annals report rumours that the Jews of London were preparing to betray the citizens: they had Greek fire to burn the city, copies of the keys to the city gates, and subterranean passages to each gate. Such tales were used to excuse an outbreak of looting and murder. One chronicler says that the Jews were suspected of betraying the barons and citizens, and almost all were killed. Another says that the Jewish quarter was pillaged, and any Jews who were caught were stripped, robbed and murdered. Estimates of the number killed range from 200 to 500, with the remainder forcibly converted or imprisoned (or, looking at it another way, the rest were saved by the justices and the mayor, who sent them to the Tower for protection). The chronicler Wykes, who tended to be less favourable to the baronial party, singled out the baronial leader John fitz John, who was said to have killed the leading Jew, Kok son of Abraham, with his own hands, and seized his treasure. Fitz John was then forced to share the proceeds with Simon de Montfort. It is possible that de Montfort was taking the Jewish treasure, not to enrich himself, but to finance his forces. At the same time, the cash of Italian and French merchants, deposited in religious houses around London, was also seized and taken to the city."

Gilbert married Joan of Acre in May 1290 in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England. Joan (daughter of Edward I, King of England and Eleanor of Castile, Queen Consort of England) was born in 1272 in Acre, Palestine; died on 23 Apr 1307 in Clare, Suffolk, England; was buried in Austin Friars, Clare, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 7 Apr 1307
• Alternate death: 28 Apr 1307, Clare, Suffolk, England

Notes:

Also called Joan of England.

"The agreement for Joan's marriage to Gilbert de Clare, earl of Hertford and Gloucester, was made in 1283. Gilbert and his first wife, Alice de la Marche, had had only two daughters; this marriage was dissolved in 1285, and a papal dispensation for the marriage to Joan was obtained four years later. Gilbert surrendered all his lands to the king, and they were settled jointly on Gilbert and Joan for their lives, and were then to pass to their children; if however the marriage was childless, the lands were to pass to Joan's children by any later marriage. The wedding took place at Westminster in early May 1290." [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]

Because of this agreement, Joan remained in control of the estates following Gilbert's death in 1295. Her father intended for her to marry Amadeus V of Savoy, but instead she secretly married Ralph de Monthermer, a squire of Earl Gilbert's household whom she had previously persuaded her father to knight. "She is reputed to have said 'It is not ignominious or shameful for a great and powerful earl to marry a poor and weak woman; in the reverse case it is neither reprehensible or difficult for a countess to promote a vigorous young man.'" [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] Her enraged father slapped de Monthermer into prison and seized all of Joan's lands, but through the mediation of Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, father and daughter were reconciled and her estates restored to her. Subsequently the king "became much attached to his new son-in-law, who was summoned to Parliament as Earl of Gloucester and Hertford during the minority of his step-son Gilbert de Clare." [Royal Ancestry] De Monthermer went on to serve in a variety of offices and military roles.

Notes:

Royal Ancestry gives the date of their marriage as 23 April 1290; Complete Peerage as 30 April; the ODNB as "early May."

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Bef 1224, of Ryhall, Rutland, England

Notes:

"Sir Hugh le Despenser of Loughborough, Burton, Hugglescote, Freeby, and Arnesby, co. Leicester, Parlington and Hilliam, co. York, Sibsey and Aukborough, co. Lincoln, Ryhall and Belmesthorp, Rutland, s. and h. of Sir Hugh le Despenser, of the same (who d. between 23 Feb. and 30 May 1238). He was b. in or before 1223. Had respite of knighthood, 11 July 1244. On 7 Nov. 1255 he was appointed Constable of Horston Castle for five years from the preceding Michaelmas. In Apr. 1257 he accompanied Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to Aachen, for the latter's coronation, on 17 May, as King of the Romans. At the Parl. of Oxford, in Jun 1258, he was one of the twelve elected by the Barons to redress grievances, and also one of the twelve elected to treat with the King's Council in Parl. Appointed Justiciar of England, 25 Oct. 1260, being the nominee of the Barons: he was deprived of his office by the King, May or June 1261. Attended Montfort's Parl. at Oxford in Apr. 1263. Appointed Justiciar of England and Constable of the Tower of London, about 15 July 1263, by the Barons, with the assent of the King. In Mar. 1264, when Constable of the Tower, he led the rioters who sacked the mansion at Isleworth of the King of the Romans. Was at the battle of Lewes, 14 May 1264. Appointed, by the counsel of the Barons, Constable of the Castles of Devizes and Oxford, 12 July, of Orford Castle, 18 July, and of Nottingham Castle, 15 Dec. 1264. Was appointed an arbiter to consider the peace between the King and the Barons, 11 Sep. 1264. He was sum. for Military Service against the Welsh, 14 Mar. (1257/8) 42 Hen. III and 25 May (1263) 47 Hen. III, by writs directed Hugoni le Despenser Justic' Anglie. He was appointed an arbiter between the Earls of Leicester and Gloucester in May 1265. He m., in or before 1260, Aline, da. and h. of Sir Philip Basset, of Wycombe, Bucks, Compton-Bassett and Wootton-Basset, Wilts, &c., Justiciar of England, by his 1st wife, Hawise, da. of Sir Matthew de Lovaine, of Little Easton, Essex. He joined the Earl of Leicester in his last campaign, and with him was slain at the battle of Evesham, 4 Aug. 1265. He was bur. in Evesham Abbey." [Complete Peerage IV:259.]

Hugh married Aline Basset before 1261. Aline (daughter of Philip Basset and Hawise de Hastings) was born about 1240 in of Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England; died before 11 Apr 1281. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Between 1241 and 1249
• Alternate birth: 1245

Notes:

Also called Aliva.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1240, of Elmley, Worcestershire, England
• Alternate death: 5 Jun 1298, Elmley, Worcestershire, England
• Alternate death: 9 Jun 1298, Elmley, Worcestershire, England

Notes:

Earl of Warwick. Hereditary Chamberlain of the Exchequer, an office he inherited from the Mauduit family. Hereditary Sheriff of Worcestershire.

William married Maud fitz John before 1270. Maud (daughter of John fitz Geoffrey and Isabel le Bigod) died on 16 Apr 1301; was buried on 7 May 1301 in Friars Minor, Worcester, Worcestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 18 Apr 1301

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 15 Jul 1262, Ashenfield, Waltham, Kent, England

Notes:

Earl of Gloucester; Earl of Hertford; High Marshal and Chief Butler to the Archbishop of Canterbury; Privy Councillor 1255, 1258; Warden of the Isle of Portland, Weymouth, and Wyke, 1257.

From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

Richard de Clare was a minor at the time of his father's death, and heir to one of the greatest collections of estates and lordships in all of England and Wales. His wardship and marriage were thus matters of the keenest interest to the politically powerful and ambitious of the day. The justiciar Hubert de Burgh, using his position in the government of Henry III, managed to have custody of Richard assigned to himself. On Hubert's fall from power in 1232, the king transferred custody of both Richard and his lands to the new royal favourites, Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, and his nephew Peter des Rivaux. Hubert de Burgh's wife, in an apparent effort to rescue the family fortunes, secretly married Richard de Clare to her daughter Margaret; but the marriage was apparently never consummated, and was in any event mooted by Margaret's death in 1237. In the meantime both Peter des Roches and Peter des Rivaux had themselves fallen from power in 1234, and thereafter King Henry kept the wardship in his own hands, although allowing custody of at least some of the Clare lands to be secured by Richard de Clare's uncle Gilbert Marshal, earl of Pembroke. During this time the king began searching for a suitable marriage. A proposed arrangement with the great French comital family, the Lusignans, fell through, and in 1238 Richard de Clare was married to Maud, daughter of John de Lacy, earl of Lincoln. The prime mover in the marriage negotiations seems to have been the king's brother, Richard of Cornwall, who was Richard de Clare's stepfather, having married the widowed Isabel Marshal in 1231. Notwithstanding his marriage Clare remained the ward of the king until 1243, when he came of age and received both official seisin of his inheritance and formal dubbing to knighthood.

The complexities, intricacies, and rivalries involved in the story of Richard de Clare's wardship are an excellent case study of the stakes and resources at issue when contemplating the lives of the upper aristocracy in the thirteenth century. A connection to Richard de Clare was a prize well worth pursuing at full tilt. His inheritance was vast. [...] Richard de Clare was, by every criterion--annual income (close to £4000), knight's fees (nearly 500), and both the sheer number of and the strategic location of his estates and lordships--easily the richest and potentially the most powerful baron, next to the members of the immediate royal family, in the British Isles (excluding Scotland) as a whole.

From Wikipedia:

He joined in the Barons' letter to the Pope in 1246 against the exactions of the Curia in England. He was among those in opposition to the King's half-brothers, who in 1247 visited England, where they were very unpopular, but afterwards he was reconciled to them.

In August 1252/3 the King crossed over to Gascony with his army, and to his great indignation the Earl refused to accompany him and went to Ireland instead. In August 1255 he and John Maunsel were sent to Edinburgh by the King to find out the truth regarding reports which had reached the King that his son-in-law, Alexander III, King of Scotland, was being coerced by Robert de Roos and John Balliol. If possible, they were to bring the young King and Queen to him. The Earl and his companion, pretending to be two of Roos's knights, obtained entry to Edinburgh Castle, and gradually introduced their attendants, so that they had a force sufficient for their defense. They gained access to the Scottish Queen, who made her complaints to them that she and her husband had been kept apart. They threatened Roos with dire punishments, so that he promised to go to the King.

Meanwhile the Scottish magnates, indignant at their Castle of Edinburgh's being in English hands, proposed to besiege it, but they desisted when they found they would be besieging their King and Queen. The King of Scotland apparently traveled South with the Earl, for on 24 September they were with King Henry III at Newminster, Northumberland."

*****

In July 1258 Richard de Clare and his brother William both fell ill. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography describes contemporary reports that this was due to an attempted poisoning, "supposedly instigated by King Henry's uncle, William de Valence, earl of Pembroke, in retaliation for Clare's support of the baronial reform movement; and Valence's purported agent in the plot, Clare's seneschal, Walter de Scoteny, was tried and hanged." William died, but Richard survived with the loss of his hair and nails. In 1259 Richard was appointed chief ambassador to the Duke of Brittany, presumably in hopes of frightening the duke by sending a hairless, nailless creature to his court. Three years later, Richard died at Ashenfield, Waltham, Kent, on the 15th, the 16th, or the 22nd of July 1262. It was again bruited about that he had been poisoned, this time by the Queen's uncle Peter of Savoy, but the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, noting that "the annals of Tewkesbury Abbey are the single most valuable literary source for the reconstruction of [de Clare] family history for this period", points out that "the silence of the Tewkesbury account on this point strongly indicates that such rumours were unfounded."

In a perfectly medieval series of postmortem events, Richard de Clare's body was borne to the Cathedral Church of Christ at Canterbury, where his entrails were buried before the altar of St. Edward the Confessor; it was then taken to the Collegiate Church of Tonbridge, Kent, where his heart was buried; finally, what remained of his body was taken to Tewkesbury Abbey in Gloucestershire where it was buried in the choir at his father's right hand.

Richard married Maud de Lacy about 25 Jan 1238. Maud (daughter of John de Lacy and Margaret de Quincy) died before 10 Mar 1289. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Between 1288 and 1289
• Alternate death: Aft 1288

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 18 Jun 1239, Westminster Palace, Westminster, Middlesex, England
• Alternate death: 8 Jul 1307, Burgh-by-Sands, Carlisle, Cumberland, England

Notes:

Edward Longshanks, Hammer of the Scots, conqueror of Wales. Although he is acclaimed for his many administrative accomplishments and for establishing Parliament as a permanent institution, he also expelled the Jews from England; significant numbers of them returned only 350 years later. He was tall (6' 4"), personally intimidating, and rigid in personal morality, in marked contrast to most earlier post-Conquest English rulers.

Edward married Eleanor of Castile, Queen Consort of England on 18 Oct 1254 in Abbey of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, Burgos, Castile, Spain. Eleanor (daughter of St. Fernando III, King Of Castile, León, Galicia, Toledo, Córdoba, Jaén, and Seville and Jeanne de Dammartin) was born in 1240; died on 28 Nov 1290 in Hardby, Nottinghamshire, England; was buried in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, Middlesex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1241, Burgos, Castile, Spain
• Alternate birth: Abt 1241

Notes:

Countess of Ponthieu.

Eleanor of Castile, first wife of Edward I, was a daughter of Ferdinand III, King of Castile, Leon, and Galicia, and the French noblewoman Jeanne de Dammartin, suo jure Countess of Ponthieu. Although her marriage (in 1254) to then-prince Edward was a political match designed to affirm English control of Gascony, the couple were unusually close; she even accompanied Edward on the Fourth Crusade, where he was wounded at Acre in Palestine. She was notably well-educated and maintained her own scriptorium, the only one in northern Europe at the time. Her preference for Spanish-style home decorations, kitchen utensils, and personal comforts had a great influence on English domestic life. She brought a considerable personal fortune to her marriage, and increased it all her life through shrewd purchases of lands and manors. Although this had a negative effect on her personal popularity, her husband always encouraged her in it.

Her heart was buried in the Dominican priory of Blackfriars in London, along with that of her son Alphonso. Her entrails were buried in Lincoln Cathedral.