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 1215 - 1275 (60 years)
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| Name |
Eleanor of England |
| Title |
Princess |
| Born |
1215 |
Gloucester, Gloucershire, England  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Died |
13 Apr 1275 |
Montargis, Loiret, Centre, France |
| Buried |
Montargis Abbey, Loiret, Centre, France |
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| Notes |
- Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Leicester
She was the youngest child of King John of England and Isabella of Angoulême. At the time of Eleanor's birth at Gloucester, King John's London was in the hands of French forces, John had been forced to sign the Magna Carta and Queen Isabella was in shame. Eleanor never met her father, as he died at Newark Castle when she was barely a year old.
The only lands loyal to her brother, Henry III of England, were in the Midlands and southwest. The barons ruled the north, but they united with the royalists under William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who protected the young king Henry, and the French were defeated.
Before William the Marshal died in 1219 Eleanor was promised to his son, also named William. They were married on 23 April 1224 at New Temple Church in London. The younger William was 34 and Eleanor only nine. He died in London on 6 April 1231, days before their seventh anniversary. There were no children of this marriage.
Eleanor had brought a dowry of 10 manors and 200 pounds per year to this marriage. According to the law of the time, widows were allowed to retain one third of the estates of the marriage. However, her brother-in-law Richard took all of the estates and sold many, including her dowry, to pay William's debts. Eleanor strove for many years to try and recover her lost property.
The widowed Eleanor swore a holy oath of chastity in the presence of Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury. Seven years later, she met Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. According to Matthew Paris, Simon was attracted to Eleanor's beauty and elegance as well as her wealth and high birth. They fell in love and married secretly on 7 January 1238 at the King's chapel in Westminster Palace. Her brother King Henry later alleged that he only allowed the marriage because Simon had seduced Eleanor. The marriage was controversial because of the oath Eleanor had sworn several years before to remain chaste. Because of this, Simon made a pilgrimage to Rome seeking papal approval for their union.
Simon and Eleanor had seven children:
Henry de Montfort (November 1238-1265)
Simon the younger de Montfort (April 1240-1271)
Amaury de Montfort, Canon of York (1242/1243-1300)
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244-1288)
Joanna, born and died in Bordeaux between 1248 and 1251
Richard de Montfort (1252-1281)
Eleanor de Montfort Princess of Wales (1258-1282)
Simon de Montfort had the real power behind the throne, but when he tried to take the throne, he was defeated and killed with his son at the Battle of Evesham on 4 August 1265. Eleanor fled to exile in France where she became a nun at Montargis Abbey, a nunnery founded by her deceased husband's sister Amicia, who remained there as abbess. There she died on 13 April 1275, and was buried there. She was well treated by Henry, retained her incomes, and her proctors were allowed to pursue her litigation concerning the Leicester inheritance in the English courts; her will and testament were executed without hindrance.
Through her son Guy, Eleanor was an ancestor of Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV.
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| Person ID |
I35256 |
Master File |
| Last Modified |
26 Jun 2016 |
| Father |
John I Plantagenet, King of England, b. 24 Dec 1166, Beaumont Palace, Oxford, England , d. 19 Oct 1216, Newark Castle, Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, England (Age 49 years) |
| Mother |
Isabel d'Angoulême, Countess of Angoulême, b. ca 1188, Angoulême , d. 04 Jun 1246, Fontevraud Abbey, France (Age ~ 58 years) |
| Family ID |
F14557 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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