Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster

Philippa of Clarence
Countess of Ulster Countess of March
Arms of Philippa of Clarence, 5th Countess of Ulster
Born	16 August 1355 Eltham Palace, Kent
Died	5 January 1382 (aged 26) Cork, Ireland
Burial	Wigmore, Herefordshire
Spouse	Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March
Issue	Elizabeth Mortimer, Lady Camoys Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Philippa Mortimer, Countess of Pembroke and Arundel Sir Edmund Mortimer Sir John de Mortimer
House	Plantagenet
Father	Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence
Mother	Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Ulster

Philippa of Clarence (16 August 1355 – 5 January 1382) was the suo jure Countess of Ulster.

Biography

She was born at Eltham Palace in Kent on 16 August 1355, the only child of Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, and Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster.^[1] Her father was the third son, but second son to survive infancy, of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault.^[2]

Philippa married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March, in 1368 at the age of twelve in the Queen's Chapel at Reading Abbey,^[1] an alliance that would have far-reaching consequences in English history. During her own lifetime (in the years 1377-1382), Philippa was the heir presumptive to her first cousin Richard II, although she would have been displaced in the succession by any legitimate children of the king. Richard remained childless, so after her death, her position as first in line for the throne passed to her son, Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March. He was killed in a skirmish at Kells, County Meath, in Ireland in 1398,^[3] making his six-year-old son, Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, Richard's heir presumptive.

However, the throne was usurped by Philippa's first cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt, an event that later precipitated the Wars of the Roses. As a result of Philippa's seniority in the line of succession to the throne of the Kingdom of England and her marriage into the powerful Mortimer family, her descendants eventually succeeded to the throne as the House of York under Edward IV.

Philippa died in 1378,^[4] and was buried at Wigmore Abbey, Herefordshire.

Marriage and issue

Her children with Edmund Mortimer were as follows:

Name	Birth	Death	Notes
Lady Elizabeth Mortimer	12 February 1371	20 April 1417	She first married Sir Henry 'Hotspur' Percy, with whom she had two children, Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, and Lady Elizabeth Percy. Her second husband was Thomas de Camoys, Baron Camoys, with whom she had a son, Lord Roger de Camoys. Elizabeth Mortimer was an ancestor of the third Queen Consort of Henry VIII, Jane Seymour.
Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March	11 April 1374	20 July 1398	He married Lady Alianore Holland, by whom he had four children, Anne, Edmund, 5th Earl of March, Eleanor, and Roger. The House of York's claim to the throne was through his eldest daughter, Anne Mortimer.
Lady Philippa Mortimer	21 November 1375	26 September 1400	She first married John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. Her second husband was Richard Fitzalan, 11th Earl of Arundel, with whom she had a son, John, who died young. Her third husband was Sir Thomas Poynings of Basing, 5th Baron St. John.
Sir Edmund Mortimer	9 November 1376	13 May 1411	Married Catrin (Catherine) Glyndŵr, the daughter of Owain Glyndŵr. They had issue, possibly a son named Lionel, said to have died young,[5] and three daughters who died in the Tower of London alongside their mother.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster

16. Edward I of England[6]               8. Edward II of England[7]                       17. Eleanor of Castile[6]               4. Edward III of England[8]                             18. Philip IV of France[9]               9. Isabella of France[7]                       19. Joan I of Navarre[9]               2. Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence[8]                                   20. John II, Count of Holland               10. William I, Count of Hainaut[10]                       21. Philippa of Luxembourg               5. Philippa of Hainault[8]                             22. Charles of Valois (brother of 18)[10]               11. Joan of Valois[10]                       23. Marguerite of Anjou and Maine               1. Philippa, 5th Countess of Ulster                                         24. Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster[11]               12. John de Burgh[11]                       25. Margaret de Burgh               6. William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster[8][11]                             26. Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford[11]               13. Elizabeth de Clare[11]                       27. Joan of Acre (sister of 8)[11]               3. Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster[8]                                   28. Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (brother of 16)               14. Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster                       29. Blanche of Artois               7. Maud of Lancaster[8]                             30. Sir Patrick de Chaworth               15. Maud Chaworth                       31. Isabella de Beauchamp

Notes

1. Leese 2007, p. 91.
2. Ormrod 2008.
3. Davies 2004.
4. Holmes 2004.
5. Weir 2008, p. 99.
6. Weir 2008, pp. 82, 90.
7. Weir 2008, pp. 92–6.
8. Weir 2008, p. 96.
9. Weir 2008, p. 91.
10. Weir 2008, p. 93.
11. Ward 2004.

References

• Davies, R.R. (2004). "Mortimer, Roger (VII), fourth earl of March and sixth earl of Ulster (1374–1398)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19356. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Holmes, George (2004). "Mortimer, Edmund (III), third earl of March and earl of Ulster (1352-1381)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19342. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Leese, Thelma Anna (2007). Blood Royal: Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England, 1066–1399. Heritage Books.
• Ormrod, W. M. (January 2008) [2004]. "Lionel, duke of Clarence (1338–1368)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/16750. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Richardson, Douglas (2011). Everingham, Kimball G., ed. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City. ISBN 144996639X.
• Ward, Jennifer (2004). "Clare, Elizabeth de (1294/5–1360)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/5435. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
• Weir, Alison (2008). Britain's Royal Families, The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5.