Mary de Bohun (c. 1369/70 – 4 June 1394) was the first wife of King

Henry IV of England Henry IV ( April 1367 – 20 March 1413), also known as Henry Bolingbroke, was King of England from 1399 to 1413. He asserted the claim of his grandfather King Edward III, a maternal grandson of Philip IV of France, to the Kingdom of F ...

and the mother of King

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

. Mary was never queen, as she died before her husband came to the throne.

Early life

Mary was a daughter 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) by his wife

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 ...

(1347/8–1419), a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, and Eleanor of Lancaster. Mary and her elder sister, Eleanor de Bohun, were the heiresses of their father's substantial possessions. Eleanor became the wife of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, the youngest child of

Edward III 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 r ...

. In an effort to keep the inheritance for himself and his wife, Thomas of Woodstock pressured the child Mary into becoming a nun. In a plot with

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 ...

, Mary's aunt took her from Thomas' castle at Pleshey back to Arundel whereupon she was married to Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV.

Marriage and children

Mary married Henry—then known as Bolingbroke—on 27 July 1380, at

Arundel Castle Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established during the reign of Edward the Confessor and completed by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War a ...

. It was at

Monmouth Castle Monmouth Castle ( cy, Castell Trefynwy) is a castle close to the centre of the town of Monmouth, the county town of Monmouthshire, on a hill above the River Monnow in south east Wales. Once an important border castle, and birthplace of Henry V ...

, one of her husband's possessions, that Mary gave birth to her first child, the future

, on 16 September 1386. Her second child,

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

, was born probably at London shortly before 25 November 1387. Her children were: *

Henry V, King of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the Hu ...

(1386–1422) * Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (1387–1421) *

John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford KG (20 June 138914 September 1435) was a medieval English prince, general and statesman who commanded England's armies in France during a critical phase of the Hundred Years' War. Bedford was the third son of ...

(1389–1435) * Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (1390–1447) * Blanche of England (1392–1409) married in 1402 Louis III, Elector Palatine * Philippa of England (1394–1430) married in 1406 Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Death

Mary de Bohun died at

Peterborough Castle Peterborough Castle, also known as Mount Thorold and Touthill, was a medieval motte and bailey castle in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. Details Peterborough Castle was built by Abbot Thorold of Peterborough, a Norman appointed to the ...

, giving birth to her last child, a daughter, Philippa of England. She was buried in the collegiate

Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke The Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke in Leicester, was a collegiate church founded by Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, in 1353. The name "Newarke" is a translation of the Latin "novum opus" i.e. "new work" and was use ...

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, on 6 July 1394.

Ancestry

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * *

External links

Middleages.org article on Mary de BohunDocument on Women and Spirituality
from the University of the West of England – contains information on Mary de Bohun's spiritual life {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohun, Mary de 1360s births 1394 deaths 14th-century English people 14th-century English women Mary Date of birth unknown Daughters of British earls Deaths in childbirth Henry IV of England Mary de Bohun Ladies of the Garter Wives of knights