Eleanor de Bohun ( – 3 October 1399) was the elder daughter and co-heiress (with her sister,

Mary de Bohun Mary de Bohun (c. 1369/70 – 4 June 1394) was the first wife of King Henry IV of England and the mother of King Henry V. Mary was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne. Early life Mary was a daughter of Humphrey de Boh ...

), of

Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, KG (March 25, 1342–January 16, 1373) was the son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson of Humphrey de Bohun, ...

(1341–1373) and

Joan Fitzalan Joan FitzAlan, Countess of Hereford, Countess of Essex and Countess of Northampton (1347 – 7 April 1419) was the wife of the 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton. She was the mother of Mary de Bohun, the first w ...

, a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his second wife

Eleanor of Lancaster Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; 11 September 1318 – 11 January 1372) was the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth. First marriage and issue Eleanor married first on 6 ...

Marriage

In 1376, Eleanor married

Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Early life Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodsto ...

. Thomas was the youngest son of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ro ...

and

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted as regent in 1346,Stricklan ...

. Following their marriage, the couple went to reside in

Pleshey Castle Pleshey Castle is a man-made motte and bailey castle in Pleshey in Essex, England. It was built in the 11th century and it is one of the best preserved motte and bailey castles in England. Pleshey Castle's earliest documentary reference dates fr ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. According to

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart (Old and Middle French: ''Jehan'', – ) (also John Froissart) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meliador'', a long Arthurian ...

, Eleanor and her husband had the tutelage of her younger sister, Mary, who was being instructed in religious doctrine in the hope that she would enter a convent, thus leaving her share of the considerable Bohun inheritance to Eleanor and Thomas.

Issue

Together Eleanor and Thomas had five children: #

Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham (1381 – September 2, 1399) was an English peer and member of the House of Lords. He was Lord High Constable of England. His father, Thomas of Woodstock, was the youngest son of King Edward III and 1st cousin ...

(c. 1381/1382 – 2 September 1399) # Anne of Gloucester (c. 1383 – 1438) married (1st)

Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford (c. 1368–4 July 1392) was the second son—but the senior surviving heir—of Hugh Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford and Philippa de Beauchamp, daughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick. His elder br ...

; (2nd)

Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford and 1st Baron Audley, KG, KB (2 March 1377 – 21 July 1403) was the son of Hugh de Stafford, 2nd Earl of Stafford, and his wife Philippa de Beauchamp. He inherited the earldom at the age of 18, the third ...

; and (3rd) William Bourchier, Count of Eu. Her son by 3rd marriage,

John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, KG (died May 1474) was an English peer. Bourchier was the fourth son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, and his wife Anne of Woodstock, Countess of Buckingham, daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of ...

, was grandfather of Richard Neville, 2nd

Baron Latimer The title Baron Latimer or Latymer has been created, by the definitions of modern peerage law, four times in the Peerage of England. Of these, one (of Snape) was restored from abeyance in 1913; one (of Braybrook) is forfeit; the other two (both ...

of Snape. #Joan (1384 – 16 August 1400) married

Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot, 8th Baron Strange of Blackmere, KG (1383 – 19 October 1418) of Blakemere, Whitchurch, Shropshire, was an English Knight of the Garter. He was born the eldest son of Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot, and Ankar ...

(1383–1419). Died in childbirth. #Isabel (12 March 1385/1386 – April 1402), became a

Minoress The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

, later abbess, in a religious house near Aldgate #Philippa (c. 1388) Died young

Order of the Garter

Eleanor de Bohun was made a

Lady of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George Cr ...

in 1384. She became a nun sometime after 1397 at

Barking Abbey Barking Abbey is a former royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as having been "one of the most important nunneries in the country". Originally established in the 7th century, f ...

. Prior to her death, Eleanor divided her holdings among her children. She died on 3 October 1399 and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

. Her executors included the chaplain in Pleshy, Essex.Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP 40/561; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no561/bCP40no561dorses/IMG_1843.htm; Peyntour, Hugh, chaplain of the free chapel within the Castle of Plessy

In fiction

Eleanor appears briefly in

Anya Seton Anya Seton (January 23, 1904 – November 8, 1990), born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels". Career Seton published her first novel, ''My Theodosia'', in 1941. Seton ...

's historical romance ''Katherine'', based upon the life of Eleanor's sister-in-law Katherine Swynford, the third wife of

John of Gaunt John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster (6 March 1340 – 3 February 1399) was an English royal prince, military leader, and statesman. He was the fourth son (third to survive infancy as William of Hatfield died shortly after birth) of King Edward ...

. She also appears in Act 1, Scene 2 of

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

'' Richard II'', where she unsuccessfully urges John of Gaunt to avenge her murdered husband.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

Eleanor of Bohun at Tudor Place
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohun, Eleanor de 1360s births 1399 deaths Date of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

Daughters of British earls

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

14th-century English people 14th-century English women Burials at Westminster Abbey 14th-century women rulers Ladies of the Garter Wives of knights