Elizabeth de Badlesmere, Countess of Northampton
My 20th Great Grandmother
Born:
1313 in Castle Badlesmere, Kent, England
Died: 8 June 1356 in London, England
Buried: Black Friars Priory
Father:
Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere
Mother: Margaret de Clare
First Husband: Sir Edmund Mortimer
Children: Roger Mortimer, 2nd Earl of March; John Mortimer (died in childhood)
Second Husband: William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, KG
Children: Humphrey de Bohun, Elizabeth de Bohun
Elizabeth de Badlesmere was married to her first husband Sir Edmund Mortimer when she was three years old, in what was essentially a real estate contract between Elizabeth’s father Bartholomew, and Sir Edmund’s father Roger Mortimer, future consort of Queen Isabella.
At age eight, Elizabeth spent a year with her mother and siblings as prisoners in the Tower of London.
Although her marriage was not consummated for many years, Elizabeth’s first child was born when she was just fifteen years old.
When Roger Mortimer was hanged for assuming royal powers, his estates were forfeited to the crown and therefore his son Edmund did not inherit the earldom. Edmund died a year later, and Elizabeth was left with a few estates in the Welsh Marches.
Three years after her first husband’s death, Elizabeth married William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton. Their marriage was arranged as an attempt to make peace between the Mortimer and Bohun families – although ironically in spite of this feud, Elizabeth’s first and second husbands were third cousins, both having been descended from Enguerrand de Fiennes, which meant that Elizabeth and William first had to solicit a papal dispensation for their marriage.
Elizabeth de Badlesmere died on 8 June 1356, at age 43. She was buried in Black Friars Priory, London.