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Birth:          ABT 1 Apr 1287 of Thomond, Connaught, County Clare, Ireland
Death:          22 Oct 1333 of Castle, Badlesmere, Kent, England

Notes
b 1280/6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_de_Clare,_Baroness_Badlesmere
Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere (ca. 1 April 1287 – 22 October 1333/3 
January 1334, disputed) was a Norman-Irish noblewoman, suo jure heiress, and the 
wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere.[1]

She was arrested and subsequently imprisoned in the Tower of London for the 
duration of a year from November 1321 to November 1322, making her the first 
recorded female prisoner in the Tower's history.[2][3] She was jailed on account of 
having ordered an armed assault on Isabella of France, Queen consort of King Edward 
II of England. Before Margaret had instructed her archers to fire upon Isabella and her 
escort, she had refused the Queen admittance to Leeds Castle where her husband, 
Baron Badlesmere held the post of governor, but which was legally the property of 
Queen Isabella as part of the latter's dowry. Margaret surrendered the castle on 31 
October 1321 after it was besieged by the King's forces using ballistas. Edward's 
capture of Leeds Castle was the catalyst which led to the Despenser War in the 
Welsh Marches and the north of England.

Upon her release from the Tower, Margaret entered a religious life at the convent 
house of the Minorite Sisters outside Aldgate. King Edward granted her a stipend to 
pay for her maintenance.
Background[edit]
Margaret was born at an unrecorded place in either Ireland or England on or about 1 
April 1287, the youngest child of Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond and Juliana 
FitzGerald of Offaly, and was a granddaughter of Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford 
and Gloucester. She had two brothers, Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Thomond, and 
Richard de Clare, 1st Lord Clare, Lord of Thomond, who was killed at the Battle of 
Dysert O'Dea in 1318;[4] and an elder sister, Maud, whose first husband was Robert 
de Clifford, 1st Baron de Clifford. Margaret had an illegitimate half-brother, Richard.[5] 
Her parents resided in both Ireland and England throughout their marriage;[6] it has 
never been established where Juliana was residing at the time of Margaret's birth 
although the date is known.

Her father died on 29 August 1287, when she was almost five months of age. His 
cause of death has never been ascertained by historians. Her mother married her 
second husband, Nicholas Avenel, sometime afterwards, but the exact date of this 
marriage is not known. Between 11 December 1291 and 16 February 1292, Margaret 
acquired another stepfather when her mother married her third husband, Adam de 
Cretynges.

Inheritance[edit]
A series of inquisitions post mortem held in response to writs issued on 10 April 1321 
established that Margaret, the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere and Maud, wife of 
Sir Robert de Welle (sisters of Richard de Clare and both aged 30 years and above) 
were the next heirs of Richard's son Thomas.[7] Thomas' estate included the 
stewardship of the Forest of Essex, the town and castle at Thomond and numerous 
other properties in Ireland that are listed in the reference.

First Marriage[edit]
She married firstly before the year 1303, Gilbert de Umfraville, son of Gilbert de 
Umfraville, Earl of Angus, and Elizabeth Comyn. Upon their marriage, the Earl of Angus 
granted Gilbert and Margaret the manors of Hambleton and Market Overton; however, 
when Gilbert died childless prior to 1307, the manors passed to Margaret.

Second Marriage[edit]
On an unrecorded date earlier than 30 June 1308, when the couple were jointly 
granted the manor of Bourne, Sussex,[8] Margaret married Bartholomew de 
Badlesmere, an English soldier and court official who was afterwards created 1st 
Baron Badlesmere by writ of summons. He had held the post of Governor of Bristol 
Castle since 1307, and during his life accumulated many renumerative grants and 
offices. It is feasible that Margaret's marriage to Badlesmere had been arranged by her 
brother-in-law, Baron Clifford; Badlesmere having been one of Clifford's retainers 
during the Scottish Wars. Clifford was later killed at the Battle of Bannockburn, where 
Badlesmere also fought.

Margaret was styled as Baroness Badlesmere on 26 October 1309 (the date her 
husband was by writ summoned to Parliament by the title of Baron Badlesmere) and 
henceforth known by that title.[9]

When Margaret was visiting Cheshunt Manor in Hertfordshire in 1319, she was taken 
hostage by a group of sixty people, both men and women.[10] Her captors demanded 
a ransom of £100 for her release. She was held prisoner for one night before being 
rescued on the following day by the King's favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger.
[10] Hugh was married to Margaret's first cousin, Eleanor de Clare, eldest daughter of 
Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester and Joan of Acre and also Eleanor was 
Edward II's niece. The King ordered the arrest and imprisonment of twenty of 
Margaret's kidnappers; they all, however, were eventually pardoned.

Issue[edit]
The five children of Margaret and Baron Badlesmere were:

Margery de Badlesmere (1308/1309- 18 October 1363), married before 25 November 
1316 William de Ros, 2nd Baron de Ros of Hamlake, by whom she had six children.
Maud de Badlesmere (1310- 24 May 1366), married firstly, Robert FitzPayn; secondly, 
John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had seven children.
Elizabeth de Badlesmere (1313- 8 June 1356), married firstly in 1316 Sir Edmund 
Mortimer, eldest son of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Joan de Geneville, 2nd 
Baroness Geneville; she married secondly in 1335, William de Bohun, 1st Earl of 
Northampton and had children by both marriages.
Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere (18 October 1314- 7 June 1338), married 
Elizabeth Montagu, but did not have any children by her.
Margaret de Badlesmere (born 1315), married Sir John Tiptoft, 2nd Lord Tiptoft, by 
whom she had one son, Robert Tiptoft.
The siege of Leeds Castle[edit]

Queen consort Isabella, whom Margaret offended by refusing her admittance to Leeds 
Castle
Margaret's husband, Baron Badlesmere was appointed Governor of the Royal Castle of 
Leeds in Kent in the fifth year of Edward II's reign (1312).[11] In October 1321, nine 
years after his assumption of the office, the queen consort Isabella went on a 
pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas at Canterbury. She decided to interrupt her 
journey by stopping at Leeds Castle which legally belonged to her as the fortress and 
its demesne were Crown property and part of her dowry to be retained in widowhood.
[12] Badlesmere, who by then had become disaffected with King Edward and had 
joined the swelling ranks of his opponents, was away at a meeting of the Contrariants
[n 1] in Oxford at the time and had left Margaret in charge of the castle.

Shortly before, Baron Badlesmere had deposited all of his treasure and goods inside 
Leeds Castle for safe-keeping.[13]

Due to her strong dislike of Isabella as well as her own belligerent and quarrelsome 
character,[14][n 2] Margaret refused the Queen admittance.[15] It was suggested by 
Francis Lancellott that Margaret's antipathy towards Queen Isabella had its origins in 
about 1317 when she had asked Isabella to use her influence on behalf of a friend 
who was seeking an appointment in the Exchequer Office. When Isabella refused her 
request, for reasons unknown, a quarrel ensued and henceforth Margaret became the 
Queen's enemy.[16] Margaret allegedly told Isabella's marshal, whom she met on the 
lowered drawbridge, that "the Queen must seek some other lodging, for I would not 
admit anyone within the castle without an order from my lord [Baron Badlesmere]".[17] 
After issuing her message, she subsequently ordered her archers to loose their arrows 
upon Isabella from the battlements when the Queen (having apparently ignored 
Margaret's communication) approached the outer barbican,[18][19] in an attempt to 
enter the castle by force.[20] The unexpected, lethal volley of arrows, which killed six 
of the royal escort, compelled Isabella to make a hasty retreat from the castle and to 
seek alternative accommodation for the night.[21] Historian Paul C. Doherty suggests 
that the pilgrimage was a ruse on the part of the King and Queen in order to create a 
casus belli. Edward would have known beforehand that Baron Badlesmere was with 
the Contrariants in Oxford and had left Leeds Castle in the hands of the belligerently 
hostile Baroness Badlesmere; therefore he had given instructions for Isabella to 
deliberately stop at Leeds aware she would likely be refused admittance. Using the 
insult against the Queen as a banner, he would then be able to gather the moderate 
nobles and outraged populace to his side as a means of crushing the Contrariants.[22]

When King Edward heard of the violent reception his consort was given by Margaret, 
he was predictably outraged and personally mustered a sizeable force of men "aged 
between sixteen and sixty", including at least six earls,[23] to join him in a military 
expedition which he promptly led against Margaret and her garrison at Leeds Castle to 
avenge the grievous insult delivered to the Queen by one of his subjects. Following a 
relentless assault of the fortress, which persisted for more than five days[n 3] and with 
the King's troops using ballistas, Margaret surrendered at curfew on 31 October 
having received a "promise of mercy" from Edward.[24] Throughout the siege, she had 
expected the Earl of Lancaster to arrive with his soldiery to relieve her, but this he 
had refused to do;[23][n 4] nor had any of the other Contrariants or the Marcher Lords
[n 5] come to her assistance, which left her to defend the castle with merely her 
husband's nephew, Bartholomew de Burghersh, and the garrison troops.[23] Baron 
Badlesmere, although supportive of Margaret's conduct, had during that crucial time, 
sought refuge at Stoke Park[disambiguation needed], seat of the Bishop of Lincoln; 
however he did manage to despatch some knights from Witney to augment the 
garrison troops in the defence of Leeds.[15] Once King Edward had gained possession 
of the castle and the Badlesmere treasure within, the seneschal, Walter Colepepper 
and 12 of the garrison were hanged from the battlements.[23][25][n 6] Margaret was 
arrested and sent as a prisoner, along with her five children and Bartholomew de 
Burghersh, to the Tower of London;[14][26] she therefore became the first recorded 
woman imprisoned in the Tower.[2][3] On her journey to the fortress, she was insulted 
and jeered at by the citizens of London who, out of loyalty to Isabella, had followed 
her progression through the streets to vent their fury against the person who had 
dared maltreat their queen.[27]

Aftermath[edit]
Main article: Despenser War
The King's military victory at Leeds, accomplished with the help of six influential earls 
including the Earls of Pembroke and Richmond, encouraged him to reclaim and assert 
the prerogative powers that Lancaster and the Lords Ordainers had so long denied 
him.[28][n 7] The dominant baronial oligarchy broke up into factions. Many of the 
nobles who had previously been hostile to Edward rushed to his side to quell the 
insurrection of the Marcher Lords, known as the Despenser War, which had erupted in 
full force after the King defiantly recalled to England the two Despensers (father and 
son,) whom the Ordainers had compelled him to banish in August 1321.[29] The first 
sparks to the uprising had been ignited when, prior to his expulsion, the rapacious 
Hugh le Despenser the Younger had persuaded the infatuated King to grant him lands 
in the Welsh Marches which rightfully belonged to entrenched Marcher barons such as 
Roger Mortimer,[30] his uncle Roger Mortimer de Chirk, and Humphrey de Bohun, 4th 
Earl of Hereford, a staunch Ordainer albeit the King's brother-in-law.[n 8] They had 
formed a confederation and made devastating raids against Despenser holdings in 
Wales; and Mortimer led his men in an unsuccessful march on London. These 
mutinous events, in addition to other incidents which created a tense situation and 
called for a mobilisation of forces throughout the realm, eventually led to the Ordainers 
constraining the King to exile the favourites. However, subsequent to his capture of 
Leeds Castle and the harsh sentences he had meted out to the insubordinate Margaret 
de Clare and her garrison, King Edward defied the Contrariants by persuading the 
bishops to declare the Despensers' banishment illegal at a convocation of the clergy, 
and he summoned them home.[28] This act had dire consequences in addition to the 
Despenser War: it paved the way for the complete domination of the grasping 
Despensers over Edward and his kingdom, leading to Roger Mortimer and Queen 
Isabella's 1326 Invasion of England, their assumption of power, the execution of the 
two Despensers, and finally, Edward's deposition.

Imprisonment[edit]

Margaret was the first recorded woman imprisoned in the Tower of London[2][3]
Baron Badlesmere excused his wife's bellicose actions at Leeds with his declaration 
that when he had left Margaret in charge of Leeds, he had given her strict instructions 
not to admit anyone inside the castle without his specific orders.[18] This, he had 
insisted, included the Queen, with the words that "the royal prerogative of the King in 
the case of refusal of entry should not be assumed to provide a legal right for the 
Queen, who was merely his wife".[25] As a result of Margaret's imprisonment, 
Badlesmere remained firmly aligned with the King's opponents; shortly afterwards he 
participated in the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion. Badlesmere was captured after taking 
part in the Battle of Boroughbridge on 16 March 1322 which had ended with a royalist 
victory. Following trial at Canterbury, he was executed at Blean on 14 April 1322.[20]

Margaret remained imprisoned in the Tower until 3 November 1322, when she was 
released on the strength of a bond from her son-in-law William de Ros and five 
others.[31] Presumably her children were released with her, but a record of the exact 
dates of their liberation has not been found.

Later life[edit]
Margaret retired to the convent house of the Minorite Sisters, outside Aldgate,[32] 
where the abbess Alice de Sherstede was personally acquainted with Queen Isabella, 
who took an interest in the convent's business affairs.[33] On 13 February 1322/3, the 
King granted Margaret a stipend of two shillings a day for her maintenance, which was 
paid to her by the Sheriff of Essex.[34] She also received a considerable proportion of 
her late husband's manors for her dowry.[35]

Edward demonstrated his good will toward Margaret again on 1 July 1324, by giving 
her "permission to go to her friends within the realm whither she will, provided that she 
be always ready to come to the king when summoned".[36] It appears that after then 
she lived at Hambleton, Rutland as it was from there that on 27 May 1325 she 
submitted a petition in connection with property at Chilham.[37]

Her son Giles obtained a reversal of his father's attainder in 1328, and succeeded by 
writ to the barony as the 2nd Baron Badlesmere. By this time Edward III had ascended 
the throne; however, the de facto rulers of England were Queen Isabella and her 
lover, Marcher Lord Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March (father-in-law of Margaret's 
daughter Elizabeth), who jointly held the Office of Regent for the new king. Edward II 
had been deposed in January 1327 and allegedly murdered in September by Mortimer's 
hired assassins.[38] The regency of Queen Isabella and Lord Mortimer ended in 
October 1330 when Edward III now nearly 18 had Mortimer hanged as a traitor and 
Queen Isabella exiled for the remaining 28 years of her life at Castle Rising in Norfolk.

Margaret died between 22 October 1333 [39] and 3 January 1333/4.[40]

Seal[edit]
In 1328, Margaret's seal displayed three shields, consisting of those of each of her 
parents and a shield impaling the arms of her two dead husbands.[41]

Parents
DE CLARE Thomas (ABT 1245 - Feb 1288)
FITZ GERALD Juliana (12 Apr 1266 - 29 Sep 1300)

Siblings
DE CLARE Maud (ABT 1282 - 1 Feb 1327)
DE CLARE Margaret (ABT 1 Apr 1287 - 22 Oct 1333)

Marriage To DE BADLESMERE Bartholomew (18 Aug 1275 - 14 Apr 1322)
    m. BEF 30 Jun 1308 

Notes

Parents
DE BADLESMERE Guncelin (Gunselm) (ABT 1232 - 1301)
FITZ BERNARD Joan (ABT 1234 - 1310)

Children by DE BADLESMERE Bartholomew 18 Aug 1275 - 14 Apr 1322
DE BADLESMERE Margery (1308 - 18 Oct 1363)
DE BADLESMERE Maud (1310 - May 1366)
DE BADLESMERE Elizabeth (1313 - 8 Jun 1356)
DE BADLESMERE Margaret (1315 - )

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