Elizabeth of Rhuddlan

14th-century English princess and noblewoman

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan

Countess of Hereford

Elizabeth in a 14th century family tree

Countess consort of Holland
Tenure| 8 January 1297 – 10 November 1299

Born| 7 August 1282
Rhuddlan Castle, Denbighshire
Died| 5 May 1316 (aged 33)
Quendon, Essex
Spouse|

John I, Count of Holland

(m. 1297; died 1299)​

Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford

(m. 1302)​

Issue
Among others...| Lady Eleanor de Bohun
John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford
Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford
Margaret de Bohun, Countess of Devon
William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton
House| Plantagenet
Father| Edward I of England
Mother| Eleanor of Castile

Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (7 August 1282 – 5 May 1316) was the eighth and youngest daughter of King Edward I of England and Queen Eleanor of Castile. Of all of her siblings, she was closest to her younger brother King Edward II, as they were only two years apart in age.[1]

## First marriage[edit]

In April 1285 there were negotiations with Floris V for Elizabeth's betrothal to his son John I, Count of Holland.[2] The offer was accepted and John was sent to England to be educated.[3] On 8 January 1297 Elizabeth was married to John at Ipswich.[4] In attendance at the marriage were Elizabeth's sister Margaret, her father, Edward I of England, her brother Edward, and Humphrey de Bohun. After the wedding Elizabeth was expected to go to Holland with her husband, but did not wish to go, leaving her husband to go alone. It is recorded that while in Ipswich the King, in some outburst, threw his daughter's coronet into the fire.[5] A great ruby and a great emerald, stones supplied by Adam the Goldsmith, were lost as a result.[6]

After some time travelling England, it was decided Elizabeth should follow her husband. Her father accompanied her, travelling through the Southern Netherlands between Antwerp, Mechelen, Leuven and Brussels, before ending up in Ghent.[7] There they remained for a few months, spending Christmas with her two sisters Eleanor and Margaret.[8] On 10 November 1299, John died of dysentery, though there were rumours of his murder. The marriage did not produce any heirs.[9]

## Second marriage[edit]

On her return trip to England, Elizabeth went through Brabant to see her sister Margaret.[10] When she arrived in England, she met her stepmother Margaret, whom Edward had married while Elizabeth was in Holland. On 14 November 1302 Elizabeth was married to Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford, 3rd of Essex, also Constable of England, at Westminster Abbey.[11][12]

In 1302, she was pregnant and travelled from Dunfermline Abbey in Scotland to Tynemouth.[13] She gave birth to her first child, Margaret de Bohun, in September, assisted by a holy relic of the girdle of the Virgin, brought especially from Westminster Abbey.[14] Margaret died young[15] but Elizabeth would go on to have a large family, giving birth to numerous children in quick succession.[16]

## Issue[edit]

The children of Elizabeth and Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford were:

1. Margaret de Bohun (born 1302 – died 7 Feb. 1304).[17]
2. Humphrey de Bohun (born c. Oct. 1303 – died c. Oct. 1304).[18]
3. Lady Eleanor de Bohun (17 October 1304 – 1363)
4. John de Bohun, 5th Earl of Hereford (23 November 1306 – 20 January 1336)
5. Humphrey de Bohun, 6th Earl of Hereford (6 December c. 1309 – 1361)
6. Margaret de Bohun, 2nd Countess of Devon (3 April 1311 – 1391)
7. William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton (1312–1360).
8. Edward de Bohun (1312–1334), twin of William
9. Agnes, Married Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Baron Ferrers of Chartley, son of John de Ferrers, 1st Baron Ferrers of Chartley[19]
10. Eneas de Bohun, (1314 – after 1322); he is mentioned in his father's will
11. Isabel de Bohun (born and died 5 May 1316)

## Later life[edit]

During Christmas 1315, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with her eleventh child, was visited by her sister-in-law, Queen Isabella of France. On 5 May 1316 she went into labour, giving birth to her daughter Isabella. Both Elizabeth and her daughter Isabella died shortly after the birth.[20]

Elizabeth was interred at Waltham Abbey, Essex, together with her infant daughter & other members of the de Bohun family.[21]

## Ancestry[edit]

Ancestors of Elizabeth of Rhuddlan[22]

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 16\. Henry II of England

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|
|
|
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| 8\. John of England|

|  |  |
| 17\. Eleanor of Aquitaine

| 4\. Henry III of England|

|  |  |  |  |
| 18\. Aymer, Count of Angoulême

| 9\. Isabella of Angoulême|

|  |  |
| 19\. Alice of Courtenay

| 2\. Edward I of England|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 20\. Alfonso II, Count of Provence

| 10\. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence|

|  |  |
| 21\. Garsenda, Countess of Forcalquier

| 5\. Eleanor of Provence|

|  |  |  |  |
| 22\. Thomas I, Count of Savoy

| 11\. Beatrice of Savoy|

|  |  |
| 23\. Marguerite of Geneva

| 1\. Elizabeth of Rhuddlan|
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 24\. Ferdinand II of León

| 12\. Alfonso IX of León|

|  |  |
| 25\. Urraca of Portugal

| 6\. Ferdinand III of Castile|

|  |  |  |  |
| 26\. Alfonso VIII of Castile

| 13\. Berengaria of Castile|

|  |  |
| 27\. Eleanor of England

| 3\. Eleanor of Castile|

|  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 28\. Alberic II, Count of Dammartin

| 14\. Simon de Dammartin|

|  |  |
| 29\. Mathilde of Mahaut

| 7\. Joan, Countess of Ponthieu|

|  |  |  |  |
| 30\. William III, Count of Ponthieu

| 15\. Marie, Countess of Ponthieu|

|  |  |
| 31\. Alice of France

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |

## References[edit]

1. ^ Green 1857, p. 4.
2. ^ Green 1857, p. 6.
3. ^ Green 1857, p. 7.
4. ^ Green 1857, p. 13.
5. ^ Green 1857, p. 15.
6. ^ T.H. Turner (ed.), Manners and Household Expenses of England in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, Illustrated by Original Records (William Nicol/Shakspeare Press, London 1841), pp. lxxvi–vii, note (Internet archive).
7. ^ Green 1857, p. 18.
8. ^ Green 1857, p. 20.
9. ^ Green 1857, p. 30.
10. ^ Green 1857, p. 32.
11. ^ Weir, Alison (2011). Britain's Royal Families (New ed.). New York: Pimlico. p. 85\. ISBN 9781446449110. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
12. ^ Green 1857, p. 37.
13. ^ Green 1857, p. 38.
14. ^ Green 1857, p. 39.
15. ^ Green 1857, p. 47.
16. ^ Green 1857, p. 50.
17. ^ Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, vol. 1, 2nd ed., (2011): p. 306 (author states, "i. MARGARET DE BOHUN, born 1302, died 7 Feb. 1304, aged 1-1/2 years, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.").
18. ^ Richardson, Douglas. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, vol. 1, 2nd ed., (2011): p. 306 (author states, "ii. HUMPHREY DE BOHUN, 1st son, born shortly before 30 Oct. 1303. He died by the end of Oct. 1304, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.").
19. ^ Burke, John, Esq. A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant and in Abeyance. London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1831. (p. 196) googlebooks Retrieved 4 May
20. ^ Green 1857, p. 55.
21. ^ Green 1857, p. 56.
22. ^ Selby, Walford Dakin; Harwood, H. W. Forsyth; Murray, Keith W. (1895). The genealogist. London: George Bell & Sons. pp. 30–31.

## Sources[edit]

* Cutter, William Richard (1910). Genealogical and Personal Memoirs Vol. III. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Co. p. 1399. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
* Green, Mary Anne Everett (1857). Lives of the Princesses of England Vol. III. London. pp. 1–59. Retrieved 2 November 2023.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
* Verity, Brad. "The Children of Elizabeth, Countess of Hereford, Daughter of Edward I of England," Foundations, Volume 6, June 2014, pages 3–10.
* Weir, Alison (2002). Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy. The Bodley Head London, U.K. pp. 83–85. ISBN 0-7126-4286-2.
* Weis, Frederick Lewis (2004). Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700. Genealogical Pub Co. ISBN 0-8063-1752-3. Lines 6-29, 6-30, 7-29, 7-30, 15-29, 15-30, 97-31, 97-32.

## External links[edit]

* Media related to Elizabeth of England, Countess of Holland at Wikimedia Commons

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* Netherlands

People|

* Netherlands

*[m.]: married