Margaret de Bohun, 2nd Countess of Devon

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Margaret de Bohun, 2nd Countess of Devon (3 April 1311-16 December 1391) was an English noblewoman of the fourteenth century who lived most of her life in the county of Devonshire.

Contents

[edit] Family

Margaret was the third eldest daughter, and sixth child of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, Lord Constable of England and Elizabeth of Rhuddlan. Her paternal grandparents were Humphrey de Bohun, 3rd Earl of Hereford and Maud de Fiennes and on her mother's side, her grandparents were King Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. She was born on 3 April 1311 at Caldecote, Northampton. Margaret was left an orphan shortly before her tenth birthday. On 16 March 1321 at The Battle of Boroughbridge, her father was brutally murdered in an ambush by the Welsh. Her mother had died five years previously in childbirth. She, along with her siblings, received a classical education under a Sicilian Greek, Master Diogenes. As a result, Margaret became a life-long scholar, and avid book collector. At the age of fourteen, on 11 August 1325 she married Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (12 July 1303- 2 May 1377). She had been betrothed to him since 27 September 1314. He was the son of Hugh Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon and Agnes St.John. Part of her dowry was the manor of Powderham, near Exeter. Margaret acceded to the title of 2nd Countess of Devon on 23 December 1340. Her eldest brother John de Bohun (23 November 1306-20 January 1336) succeeded as 5th Earl of Hereford in 1326,having married Alice Fitzalan of Arundel in 1325. Her elder sister Lady Eleanor de Bohun (17 October 1304-7 October 1363 married in1327 her first husband, James Butler, 1st Earl of Ormonde. They were the ancestors of Anne Boleyn. Hugh and Margaret had a total of eighteen children. More than half reached adulthood. Their notable descendants include Charles, Prince of Wales, and British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill.

[edit] List of Children

  1. Sir Hugh Courtenay KG (22 March 1327 Tiverton Castle, Devon -2 September 1349). Married 1341 Lady Elizabeth Brian. (Died 23 September 1375. Daughter of Guy Brian, Lord of Tor-Brian. Had one son, Hugh.(Born 1343).
  2. Sir Edward Courtenay of Godlington.( Born 1329.Died 1372). Married 1356 Emmeline Dauney.
  3. Margaret Courtenay.(1328- 2 August 1385). Married John Cobham, 3rd Lord Cobham.
  4. Sir Thomas Courtenay (1331- before 1374).
  5. Sir Phillip Courtenay of Powderham, Lord Deputy of Ireland. (1340- 29 July 1406). Married Anne Wake. Their son was Richard Courtenay, Bishop of Norwich.
  6. Elizabeth Courtenay. (Born c.1333- 7 August 1395). Married as her first husband, John de Vere 1335-1350, and as her second husband in 1359, Sir Andrew Luttrell.
  7. Catherine Courtenay.(1335-31 December 1399. Married three times: William Mohun, Thomas Engain, and Lord William Harrington
  8. Joan Courtenay. (Born1337). Married John Chiverton.
  9. Matilda Courtenay (Born 1339)
  10. Eleanor Courtenay.
  11. Guinora Courtenay (Born 1348).
  12. Isabel Courtenay. (Born 1353).
  13. Philippa Courtenay. (Born 1357).
  14. William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (1381-1396).( Born 1342, St. Martin's, Exeter.Died 31 July 1396).
  15. John Courtenay. (Born 1346)
  16. Sir Peter Courtenay, Constable of Windsor.(1349-2 February 1404). Married Margaret Clyveden.
  17. Sir Humphrey Courtenay.(Born c.1355)
  18. Anne Courtenay (Born 1351).Died unmarried.

[edit] Death

Margaret died on 16 December 1391 at the age of eighty. She is buried in Exeter Cathedral.

[edit] References

  1. http://www.tudorplace.com.
  2. http://www.worldRoots.com.
  3. The Medieval Combat Society
  4. Edward II Website 17 February 2007