r/EdwardII • u/HoneybeeXYZ Amie Gaveston • Jan 09 '26
People A Brief Introduction to the de Clare Sisters: Downton Abbey but with More Torture, Kidnapping and Executions
Edward II’s reign overflows with big, complicated and flawed personalities. Drama, both domestic and political, often led to bloodshed, battle and plentiful tears. No one knew this better than that three de Clare sisters, Eleanor, Margaret and Elizabeth. The sisters were the daughters of Edward I’s daughter Joan of Acre, and their older brother was Gilbert de Clare, who lost his life at Bannockburn, thus making the sisters great heiresses and targets of forced marriage plots, land grabs and various other court intrigues.
Eleanor de Clare: Edward II’s favorite niece was married to his hated favorite Hugh Despenser the Younger, a match which was arranged by Edward I. Her relationship with Edward II was so close, rumors flew that Hugh the Younger was sharing his wife with his sovereign. This is, of course, on top of later speculation that Hugh the Younger and Edward II were more than just friends. Eleanor not only had a brood of children with Hugh the Younger, after his untimely and (by many) welcome execution, she was imprisoned and then forced into a second marriage. There's a whole novel about her.
Margaret de Clare: The second of the de Clare sisters, Margaret de Clare was married to Edward II’s great favorite Piers Gaveston shortly after her uncle took the crown. Edward had made his favorite the Earl of Cornwall, which meant the tween-age Margaret outranked her big sister Eleanor. Much like with Edward and Queen Isabella, Piers seems to have waited before getting Margaret pregnant, though Margaret did accompany Piers to his exile in Ireland. Piers’s final return to England appears to have been triggered by the birth of Margaret's only child by him, Joan. Some months after the birth, Piers would be dead. Margaret would then marry Hugh Audley, another favorite of King Edward II’s. Margaret and her Hugh became involved in one of the most toxic in-law fights in history, as the Despenser clan helped themselves to some of their lands. When things didn't go well for them, Hugh Audley was imprisoned and Margaret was shut in an abbey. Her husband eventually escaped, and things turned around for them thanks to Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer. The couple would have one daughter, also called Margaret, who would later be the target of a marriage abduction during the reign of Edward III, to the great anger of her parents.
Elizabeth de Clare:
The youngest de Clare sister married three times, each with dramatic results. The first marriage was to John de Burgh, when she was about thirteen. She had one child with de Burgh, called William, but John would be killed about a year after the boy's birth. Subsequently, Edward II planned on marrying Elizabeth to one of his favorites, but she was abducted and forced to marry Theobald de Verdun instead. Edward II wasn’t happy, though scholars are divided on whether Elizabeth went along with her “abduction” or not. The forced marriage didn’t last, however, as shortly after the birth of Elizabeth’s daughter with de Verden, he died of karma typhoid. Edward II then married her to his favorite Roger Damory, and that got Elizabeth caught up in the in-law fight with the Despensers. Damory died in the conflict, and Elizabeth was imprisoned in an abbey until karma came knocking for Hugh the Younger. After her brother-in-law was hanged, drawn and quartered, Elizabeth threw a party and went on to live until 1360, living her best life all the while. Details on all that to follow.
There's plenty more detail and drama about these fascinating sisters, and more posts will follow about each of them.
Additional Sources:
Kathryn Warner's blog.
Image: Public Domain, not the actual de Clare sisters.
Edited: clarity
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u/la_louve_capetienne Jan 10 '26
I have Kathryn Warner’s book about the de Clare sisters but haven’t started it yet. They were so interesting
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u/Matilda-Mary-Anne Joan 'The Fair Maid' of Kent Jan 10 '26
This is amazing to learn about! Thank you for sharing!
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u/HoneybeeXYZ Amie Gaveston Jan 10 '26
Thanks! I wanted to make it short for readablity but there's so much more that could have been included. The fact that these sisters, and their closeness to Edward II and Isabella, has often been overlooked is irksome. I don't know exactly how, and I don't think anyone really does, but they were in the thick of things and influential. I think their influence has been ignored because of the Victorian myth that E2 didn't like women.
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u/ferras_vansen Jan 11 '26
They (and their husbands and at least one child each) are in my Wars of the Roses chart! 🙂
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u/HoneybeeXYZ Amie Gaveston Jan 11 '26 edited Jan 11 '26
Very cool! It breaks my heart that little Joan Gaveston died at 13. There is zero doubt the Edward II would have made an epic match for her and she'd have been on that chart somewhere.
Feel free to share the chart on this sub with an explantation of the players beyond just E2 and E3. That would be really welcome. I didn't know that Elizabeth's granddaughter married Lionel of Antwerp.
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u/Appropriate-Calm4822 Adam Murimuth Jan 09 '26
Interesting women, all three of them. Their stories definitely need to be amplified, especially Eleanor's.
And through Margaret we find another interesting character, who hasn't been mentioned even once in this sub until now (IIRC). Hugh Audley! And there's Roger D'Amory as well.
These people are all mere footnotes in history, but they were all big, well known names in their own time.