Isabel Le Despencer

• Preferred Name: Isabel Le Despencer^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]}
  
• Gender: F
  
• Burial: AFT 11 JAN 1371 in Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Borough, Gloucestershire, England at LATI: N1.9857 LONG: E2.1625
  
• Divorced: 4 DEC 1344
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Countess of ArundelBET 1331 AND 1344
  
• Death: ABT 1374 in Arundel, Sussex, England
  
• FSID: L857-99H
  
• Birth: ABT 1312 in Gloucestershire, England at LATI: N1.8842 LONG: E2.1446
  
• NFS ID: with note: Description: LHQH-YDK NFS
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Isabel le Despenser (1312-1356) was the eldest daughter of Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare. She was descended from Edward I of England through her mother, while her father is famous for being the favorite of Edward II of England.
  
  Though he had stood against Edward II in the past, Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel had loyally supported him since the 1320s. Thus it must have seemed to be politically prudent to Edmund to marry his heir Richard to the eldest daughter of the King's closest friend and adviser Hugh le Despenser. For Hugh's part, a large incentive for him must have been that he could expect his daughter Isabel would one day become Countess of Arundel.
  
  On 9 February 1321 at the royal manor Havering-atte-Bower, Isabel was duly married to Richard FitzAlan, the heir to the earldom of Arundel. Isabel was only eight at the time, while Richard was fifteen (not seven as has been claimed). Their respective ages would come up later when Richard would try to seek an annulment.
  
  Annulment
  Richard and Isabel had one son, Edmund Fitzalan, born in 1327, and in 1331 Isabel's husband became earl of Arundel. However, in December 1344 Richard Fitzalan had their marriage annulled on the grounds that he had never freely consented to marry Isabel and that they both had renounced their vows at puberty but had been "forced by blows to cohabit, so that a son was born". Isabel retired to several manors in Essex that were given to her by her ex-husband. After receiving a papal dispensation, Richard married Isabel's first cousin Eleanor of Lancaster, with whom he had apparently been living.
  
  Richard and Isabel's only child, Edmund Fitzalan, was rendered illegitimate by this annulment and so was unable to inherit his father's earldom. When his father died in 1376 Edmund quarreled with his half-siblings, the children of his father's second marriage, over inheritance rights. Edmund was imprisoned in the Tower of London until he was released in 1377 by request of his brothers-in-law.
  
  Father's execution
  After their father was executed for treason in 1326, Isabel and her youngest sister Elizabeth were the only daughters of Hugh the Younger to escape being confined in nunneries, Isabel because she was already married and Elizabeth because of her youth.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_le_Despenser,_Countess_of_Arundel. Also see Source: The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom : extant, extinct, or dormant by G. E. Cokayne, 1910, Volume 1, with an account of the papal mandate.
  
  Sir Richard Sergeaux and 1st wife Elizabeth Bodrugan, 2nd wife Philippa FitzAllen
  Proving Richard Sergeaux and wife Elizabeth Bodrugan vs Philippa FitzAllen; the Cole Pedigree charts mistakenly name Philippa Bodrugan as Richard's wife, and assign Philippa FitzAllen as their son Ric
  
  === I try to be accurate, but you should ver ===
  I try to be accurate, but you should verify all info.
  If you find an error, please e-mail me.
  
  It seems likely that the 10th earl had only a son, Edmund, byhis first wife. As noted on page 243, note d, "in none of thedocuments bearing on the case [the divorce of Richard fromIsabel] is there a mention of daughters". Richard and Isabellater claimed that the conception of their son was the result oftheir having been forced by violence to cohabit.
  
  FIELD
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  FIELD
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  === My 19th ===
  Great Grandmother
  === Life Sketch ===
  Isabel le Despenser (1312–1356) was the eldest daughter of Hugh Despenser the Younger and Eleanor de Clare. She was descended from Edward I of England through her mother, while her father is famous for being the favorite of Edward II of England.
  
  Though he had stood against Edward II in the past, Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel had loyally supported him since the 1320s. Thus it must have seemed to be politically prudent to Edmund to marry his heir Richard to the eldest daughter of the King's closest friend and adviser Hugh le Despenser. For Hugh's part, a large incentive for him must have been that he could expect his daughter Isabel would one day become Countess of Arundel.
  
  On 9 February 1321 at the royal manor Havering-atte-Bower, Isabel was duly married to Richard FitzAlan, the heir to the earldom of Arundel. Isabel was only eight at the time, while Richard was fifteen (not seven as has been claimed). Their respective ages would come up later when Richard would try to seek an annulment.
  
  Annulment
  Richard and Isabel had one son, Edmund Fitzalan, born in 1327, and in 1331 Isabel's husband became earl of Arundel. However, in December 1344 Richard Fitzalan had their marriage annulled on the grounds that he had never freely consented to marry Isabel and that they both had renounced their vows at puberty but had been "forced by blows to cohabit, so that a son was born". Isabel retired to several manors in Essex that were given to her by her ex-husband. After receiving a papal dispensation, Richard married Isabel's first cousin Eleanor of Lancaster, with whom he had apparently been living.
  
  Richard and Isabel's only child, Edmund Fitzalan, was rendered illegitimate by this annulment and so was unable to inherit his father's earldom. When his father died in 1376 Edmund quarreled with his half-siblings, the children of his father's second marriage, over inheritance rights. Edmund was imprisoned in the Tower of London until he was released in 1377 by request of his brothers-in-law.
  
  Father's execution
  After their father was executed for treason in 1326, Isabel and her youngest sister Elizabeth were the only daughters of Hugh the Younger to escape being confined in nunneries, Isabel because she was already married and Elizabeth because of her youth.
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_le_Despenser,_Countess_of_Arundel. Also see Source: The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom : extant, extinct, or dormant by G. E. Cokayne, 1910, Volume 1, with an account of the papal mandate.
  
  Sir Richard Sergeaux and 1st wife Elizabeth Bodrugan, 2nd wife Philippa FitzAllen
  Proving Richard Sergeaux and wife Elizabeth Bodrugan vs Philippa FitzAllen; the Cole Pedigree charts mistakenly name Philippa Bodrugan as Richard's wife, and assign Philippa FitzAllen as their son Ric
  
  === My 19th ===
  Great Grandmother
  
  === I try to be accurate, but you should ver ===
  I try to be accurate, but you should verify all info.
  If you find an error, please e-mail me.
  
  It seems likely that the 10th earl had only a son, Edmund, byhis first wife. As noted on page 243, note d, "in none of thedocuments bearing on the case [the divorce of Richard fromIsabel] is there a mention of daughters". Richard and Isabellater claimed that the conception of their son was the result oftheir having been forced by violence to cohabit.
  
  FIELD
  NAME Page
  FIELD
  NAME Page

• m. 9 FEB 1321 in Havering-atte-Bower, Essex, England

1. Sir Edmund Fitz Alan de Arundell, b. 1327     d. AFT 1377

1. Title: UK and Ireland, Find a Grave Index, 1300s-Current
   Publication: Name: https://search.ancestry.com/collections/60526/records/247059;
   
2. Title: The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct, or dormant, Vol. 1
   Publication: Name: https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/556879-the-complete-peerage-of-england-scotland-ireland-great-britain-and-the-united-kingdom-extant-extinct-or-dormant-vol-1?viewer=1&offset=0#page=282&viewer=picture&o=search&n=0&q=243;
   
3. Title: Pedigree Charts in "The Genealogie or Pedegree" by Sir William Segar, Garter
   Author: Book: Coles Of Devon, 1867 (25.html) by James Edwin-Cole Source 7:www Genealogy or pedegree of the .... Sir William Cole... written in 1630 by Segar, William, Sir, -1633
   Publication: Name: http://ephotocaption.com/a/25/1391150.pdf;
   Note: There are 33 pages of Charts of the Cole Family and the collateral lines drawn from the original Cole Pedigree dated 1585. This is copied from the original Roll, in the possession of the Right Honourable the Earl of Enniskillen. This information was compiled by Sir William Segar, Garter in 1630, referencing the family of Thomas Cole who compiled the Escheats. William Segar, Garter was the Principall King of Armes. Wikipedia: Sir William Segar (c. 1554–1633) was a portrait painter and officer of arms to the court of Elizabeth I of England; he became Garter King of Arms under James I. He had the responsibility of granting coats of arms to noble families. THE PEDIGREE AS IT RELATES TO THE BODRUGAN FAMILY CONTAINS ERRORS. Firstly, it incorrectly shows that Henry Bodrugan the son of Otto, and his wife Isabelle Whalesborough, had 3 sons: William, Otto & Nicholas. This is wrong. the 3 sons were in fact his brothers. Henry died, aged 20, leaving no issue, his next heir being his brother William. This is evident from Henry's IPM. Secondly, the pedigree conflates William the bastard son of Otto Bodrugan with William Bodrugan the son of Ralph Treneweth. This is an unreliable source in so far at it relates to the Bodrugan family.
   
4. Title: Isabella le Despenser FitzAlan, "Find A Grave Index"
   Author: "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV23-2BHK : 12 May 2022), Isabella le Despenser FitzAlan, ; Burial, Tewkesbury, Tewkesbury Borough, Gloucestershire, England, Tewkesbury Abbey; citing record ID 62397103, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
   Publication: Name: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV23-2BHK;
   
5. Title: The Manor and Parish Records of Medmenham, Buckinghamshire Relating to the Annulment
   Author: Plaisted, Arthur Henry. The Manor and Parish Records of Medmenham, Buckinghamshire (Longmans, Green and Company, 1925), pg 41.
   Publication: Name: https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Manor_and_Parish_Records_of_Medmenha/NfQgAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22isabel+le+despenser%22+%22fitzalan%22&pg=PA41&printsec=frontcover;
   Note: The following record indicates the divorce of Richard FitzAlan and Isabel le Despenser.
   Page: Secondary source describing the marriage and divorce of Richard and Isabel le Despenser
   
6. Title: House of FitzAlan (Arundel) in The Complete Peerage
   Author: Source: The complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom : extant, extinct, or dormant by G. E. Cokayne, 1910, Volume 1, pp 237 to 252
   Publication: Name: https://archive.org/details/completepeerageo01coka/page/236/mode/2up;
   Note: Pages 237 to 252; pedigrees on pages 237 and 253
   Page: Gives the circumstances of the annulment of her marriage to Richard.