Elizabeth de Montfort, Baroness Montagu

Elizabeth Montfort

Effigy of Elizabeth Montfort in Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Spouse(s) William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu
Thomas Furnivall, Baron Furnivall

Issue

John Montagu
William Montagu
Simon Montagu
Edward Montagu
Alice Montagu
Katherine Montagu
Mary Montagu
Elizabeth Montagu
Hawise Montagu
Maud Montagu
Isabel Montagu
Father Sir Peter Montfort
Mother Maud de la Mare
Died August 1354
Buried Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford

Lady Elizabeth de Montfort (died August 1354) was an English noblewoman.

Life

Elizabeth Montfort was the daughter of Peter de Montfort, Knight, of Beaudesert Castle, Warwickshire (d. before 4 March 1287) and Maud de la Mare, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry de la Mare (d.1257), of Ashtead, Surrey; Royal Justice, Seneschal to William Longspree II, Earl of Salisbury; by Joan Neville, daughter of John Neville, Knt and Hawise de Courtney;[1] granddaughter of Peter de Montfort of Beaudesert Castle by Alice Audley.[2][3] She was born at Beaudesert Castle in Warwickshire.

Her marriage to William Montagu was arranged by Eleanor of Castile, the first wife of King Edward I of England. Edward was eager to make peace with the aristocracy after the battle, and things were fairly well patched up within a few years. His wife’s role in arranging the marriage was part of an elaborate system of arranged marriages designed to reinforce the power of the King and his aristocracy.

Both Elizabeth and her husband came from wealthy families, and they donated some of their money to various causes. Elizabeth was a major benefactor of the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford, now Christ Church Cathedral at Oxford University. Her tomb now lies between the Latin Chapel, whose construction she funded, and the Dean’s Chapel, where she was originally buried under its magnificent painted ceiling (now faded by time).

She also donated a large piece of land to St. Frideswide in exchange for a chantry. This meant that two chantry priests would say daily mass in black robes bearing the Montacute and Montfort coats of arms. This continued until the Reformation. This piece of land, just south of the church is now called Christ Church Meadow. Later, the path through this was named Christ Church Walk and is now a very popular attraction in Oxford.

Marriages and issue

She married firstly, about 1292, William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu,[4] by whom she had four sons and seven daughters:[5]

She married secondly Thomas Furnivall, 1st Baron Furnivall (d. before 18 April 1332), who was pardoned and fined £200 on 8 June 1322 for marrying her without royal licence.[28][29]

Notes

  1. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition...page 28, by Douglas Richardson; https://books.google.ca/books?isbn=1461045207
  2. Cokayne 1936, pp. 82, 123-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wigram 1896, p. 9.
  4. Cokayne 1936, p. 82.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Gross 2004.
  6. 1 2 Cokayne 1936, p. 81.
  7. 1 2 Richardson IV 2011, p. 255.
  8. Cokayne 1926, pp. 583–4.
  9. Ormrod 2004.
  10. Waugh 2004.
  11. Richardson II 2011, pp. 631–5.
  12. Cokayne 1936, pp. 82, 84.
  13. 1 2 3 Richardson II 2011, p. 635.
  14. Cokayne 1936, p. 85.
  15. Cokayne 1916, pp. 96–7.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Robertson 1893-5, pp. 96-7.
  17. Wright 1836, p. 225.
  18. Katherine is not mentioned in the St Frideswide cartulary.
  19. Burls, Robin J., Society, Economy and Lordship in Devon in the Age of the First Courtenay Earls, c.1297-1377, PhD thesis, University of Oxford, 2002, p. 135 Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  20. 1 2 3 Sturman, Winnifred M., Barking Abbey: A Study in its External and Internal Administration from the Conquest to the Dissolution, PhD thesis, University of London, 1961, pp. 375, 382, 400-1, 404 Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  21. Copinger 1910, pp. 155-6.
  22. Shaw 1906, p. 5.
  23. Elwes 1876, pp. 263, 280.
  24. Richardson IV 2011, p. 183.
  25. Dauntsey, Sir John (d.1391), of Dauntsey, Wiltshire, History of Parliament Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  26. 'Norton Bavant', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 8: Warminster, Westbury and Whorwellsdown Hundreds (1965), pp. 47-58 Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  27. 'Parishes: Fifield Bavant', A History of the County of Wiltshire: Volume 13: South-west Wiltshire: Chalke and Dunworth hundreds (1987), pp. 60-66 Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  28. Cokayne 1926, p. 582.
  29. Cokayne 1936, pp. 82, 85.

References

External links

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