Isabel (Clare) Marshal (abt. 1172 - abt. 1220)

Born about 1172 in Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales

Ancestors

Wife of William Marshal — married Aug 1189 in London, England

Descendants

Died about 7 Mar 1220 at about age 48 in Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales

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Biography

Isabel de Clare, suo jure Countess of Pembroke and Striguil (1172-1220), was a Cambro-Norman-Irish noblewoman and one of the greatest heiresses in Wales and Ireland.

Isabel was described as pleasant, gentle, and extremely attractive. After her brother Gilbert's death in 1185, she became one of the wealthiest heiresses in the kingdom, owning besides the suo jure titles of Pembroke and Striguil much land in Wales and Ireland. She inherited the numerous castles on the inlet of Milford Haven, guarding the South Channel, including Pembroke Castle. She was a ward of King Henry II.

Marriage and Issue

m. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 - 14 May 1219)

Isabel's five sons had no issue.^[1]

• William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. No issue.
• Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. No issue.
• Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke. No issue.
• Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke. No issue.
• Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke. No issue.

Her line continued through her daughters.

• Maud m. Hugh Bigod^[2]
• Isabel Marshal
• Sibyl Marshal
• Joan Marshal
• Eva Marshal

Death

Isabel died in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1220 at the age of forty-eight.Her husband had died the year before. She is buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire. (Cawley, 2006)

Burial information of Isabel FitzGilbert de Clare at Tintern Abbey:

On July 7, 2006 Alton Rogers received an email from Richard Turner with the Wales government regarding the burial of Isabel, wife of William Marshal at Tintern Abbey. He provided the following from M.P. Siddons (ed) 1996, Visitations by the Heralds in Wales, Alan Sutton Publishing, Stroud, pp 37-39: Isabel de Clare is known to have been buried in the Abbey Church with two of her sons, Walter and Anselm. The chapter house at Tintern is early 13th century in date and the present Abbey Church was started in 1269. So none of these burial slabs will have been in their original position in 1531 when William Fellows visited the tomb of Aoife/Eva of Leinster, Isabel's mother: (Ive Burgh) "in the northe part of sayde Church Lyeth Ive Burgh, doughter to Makmure, King of Lymster in Irelande, and wife to Richard Strangebowe aforewrytten on the other side."

Sources

1. ↑ Legend has that William Marshal was cursed by the Irish Bishop of Ferns.
2. ↑ The title of marshal passed to Hugh de Bigod

• Royal Ancestry 2013 D. Richardson Vol. IV p. 40-47
• Cawley, C. (2006). "England, Earls created 1138-1143: Pembroke: A. Earls of Pembroke 1138-1185/8." Medieval Lands v.3. fmg.ac
• Wikipedia: Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke
• Wikipedia: Chepstow Castle
• The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (Devizes, Wiltshire, England, 1855) Vol.2, Page 138
• Fenton, Richard. A Historical Tour Through Pembrokeshire (Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme & Co., 1811) Page 379.
• Baddeley, Welbore St. Clair. A Cotteswold Shrine, Being A Contribution To The History of Hailes, County Gloucester, Manor, Parish and Abbey (John Bellows, Gloucester, 1908) Page 35.