Hawise, Countess of Aumale (died 11 March 1214) was ruling

Countess of Aumale The County of Aumale, later elevated to a duchy, was a medieval fief in Normandy. It was disputed between England and France during parts of the Hundred Years' War. Aumale in Norman nobility Aumale was a medieval fief in the Duchy of Normandy an ...

from 1179 until 1194 with her husbands. She was the daughter and heiress of William, Count of Aumale and Cicely, daughter and co-heiress of William fitz Duncan. She became Countess of Essex by her marriage to

William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex William de Mandeville, 3rd Earl of Essex (1st Creation) (died 14 November 1189) was a loyal councillor of Henry II and Richard I of England. William was the second son of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex and Rohese de Vere, Countess of ...

Life

Hawise was countess in her own right when she married, on 14 January 1180, to William, Earl of Essex. On his death late in 1189 the widowed Hawise was described by chronicler Richard of Devizes as "a woman who was almost a man, lacking nothing virile except the virile organs." In addition to her inherited lands in Normandy and England (which included the

Honour of Holderness Holderness is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the north-east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common wit ...

, in the eastern part of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

), she received in

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...

one-third of the substantial Mandeville estates. After a widowhood of less than a year, she remarried. Her second husband was William de Forz (or in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''de Fortibus'') of Oleron. The Poitevin was one of the commanders of the crusading fleet of

King Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

, and the match is said to have been forced on Countess Hawise by that king.D.M. Stenton, ''The English Woman in History'', (London: 1957), p. 36 The countess gave birth to a son and eventual heir, also named

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. Her second husband died in 1195. King Richard gave her in marriage to Baldwin de Béthune, his companion on crusade and in captivity. Baldwin had previously served King Henry II as ambassador to the count of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

in 1178. The following year, in 1179, he and Earl William de Mandeville escorted

King Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

to visit the tomb of newly canonized Archbishop Thomas Becket in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. King Henry had promised Baldwin marriage to a certain rich heiress, but King Richard had chosen to give that heiress in marriage to another. Now Richard fulfilled his father's promise with an even wealthier heiress, but their enjoyment of her Aumale lands in Normandy was short-lived. King

Philip Augustus Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

took Aumale in August 1196 and it remained in the hands of the French king thereafter.Turner, R.V., and R.R. Heiser, ''The Reign of Richard Lionheart: Ruler of the Angevin Empire, 1189-1199'' (New York: 2000), p. 172 Baldwin died in October 1212. When King John proposed a fourth husband, Hawise declined. She paid 5,000 marks for her inheritance, her dower lands, and "that she be not distrained to marry". By September 1213 she had paid £1,000 of that fine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aumale, Hawise, Countess of 1214 deaths English countesses 12th-century English women Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown 12th-century women rulers 12th-century English nobility 13th-century English landowners 12th-century English landowners