Margaret of Windsor, Countess of Pembroke

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Norman Gate in the Middle Ward at Windsor Castle, built by Margaret’s father King Edward III; Credit – By Itto Ogami, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78104768

Margaret of Windsor, Countess of Pembroke was the tenth of the fourteen children and the youngest of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. She was born on July 20, 1346, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. King Edward III was also born at Windsor Castle and used it extensively throughout his reign. In 1348, two years after Margaret’s birth, her father established the Order of the Garter, with Windsor Castle being the order’s headquarters. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Margaret was called “of Windsor”. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Margaret’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Margaret had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.

Woodstock Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the favorite residence of Margaret’s mother Philippa and the birthplace of several of her children. Marriage plans began for Margaret the year after her birth. A marriage was being negotiated for her with one of the sons of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria but due to political situations, the negotiations were canceled. Several years later, Margaret was betrothed to Jean of Châtillon, the son of Charles of Blois. The betrothal was canceled because Margaret’s sister Mary was betrothed to John IV, Duke of Brittany, and Charles of Blois was a rival claimant to the throne of the Duchy of Brittany.

Among the children of the nobility who lived in the court of King Edward III was John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1347 – 1375), the only son of Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Agnes Mortimer. John’s father died when was one year old, and John became a ward of King Edward III. John was brought up with King Edward III’s children and was particularly close to Margaret and her brother Edmund of Langley. Since Margaret was a younger daughter, it was more permissible for her to marry an English noble. On May 19, 1359, at Reading Abbey in Reading, England, 11-year-old Margaret married 12-year-old John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

Coat of Arms of Hastings, Earls of Pembroke; Credit – By Rs-nourse – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30837060

After their marriage, Margaret and her husband John remained at the royal court. John’s royal connection meant that he was referred to as the King’s son in official records. In 1359, John and his close friend Edmund of Langley, the son of King Edward III, accompanied King Edward III on a military campaign in France. When the Treaty of Brétigny was ratified in 1360, King Edward III, his son Edmund, and his son-in-law John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke returned to England. Margaret’s unmarried sister Mary was at court along with her fiancé Jean IV, Duke of Brittany, who had been raised at King Edward III’s court. Arrangements were being made for Mary’s wedding and this was a happy period in the life of the royal family.

Margaret’s sister Mary and Jean IV, Duke of Brittany were married at Woodstock Palace around July 3, 1361. Mary and Jean remained at the English court after their marriage. Arrangements were being made for them to leave England and take up residence in Brittany, now in France, as the Duke and Duchess of Brittany. However, within weeks, Mary became quite ill, and she died sometime before September 13, 1361. Sadly, 15-year-old Margaret, Countess of Pembroke died unexpectedly a short while later, after October 1, 1361, the last date there is a record that she was living. Both Margaret and her sister Mary were buried at Abingdon Abbey in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Abingdon Abbey was dissolved in 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Nothing of Abingdon Abbey remains.

Abingdon Abbey Church, where Margaret and her sister Mary were interred, covered the whole of this park space as far as the Queen Victoria statue to the west. Credit – By Motmit at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4572679

The death of his young wife Margaret greatly upset 14-year-old John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Seven years later, in July 1368, John married Anne Manny, 2nd Baroness Manny and this marriage reinforced his position in the royal circle. Anne Manny was the daughter and heiress of Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny, one of King Edward III’s bravest military commanders, and Margaret of Norfolk, Duchess of Norfolk in her own right, a first cousin of King Edward III. John and Anne had one child John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, born in 1372, six months after his father’s death.

The 1372 naval Battle of La Rochelle; Credit – Wikipedia

John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was in royal service for the rest of his short life, mostly as a military commander. King Edward III remained attached to the husband of his deceased daughter Margaret and always referred to John as “my dear son”. John led the English fleet against a Castilian fleet in the 1372 Battle of La Rochelle. The Castilians were the victors and John was captured and imprisoned in the Kingdom of Castile where he was treated very poorly. Ransom for John was finally arranged in 1375 but by that time John was quite ill. He was released from prison in Castile but never made it back to England. John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke died, aged 27 on April 16, 1375, in Picardy, France. The news of John’s death was greeted with shock in England because of his youth and high status. King Edward III did not attend the Order of the Garter ceremonies of 1375 due to being in formal mourning for his former son-in-law. John’s remains were returned to England where he was interred at the Blackfriars Friary in Hereford, England, in ruins since the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII.

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