Ela Longespee, Lady of Ashby (1244 – c. 19 July 1276) was a wealthy heiress and daughter of

Stephen Longespée Stephen Longespée ( 1216 – 1260) was an English knight who served as Seneschal of Gascony and as Justiciar of Ireland. Life Longespée was a son of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury and Ela of Salisbury. He was a cousin of the King ...

Justiciar of Ireland The chief governor was the senior official in the Dublin Castle administration, which maintained English and British rule in Ireland from the 1170s to 1922. The chief governor was the viceroy of the English monarch (and later the British monarch) ...

, and Emmeline de Riddlesford, granddaughter of

Walter de Riddlesford Walter de Riddlesford ('' fl.'' 1150 – d. 1226) was an Anglo-Norman lord who was granted in Ireland the baronies of Bray, County Wicklow and Kilkea, County Kildare between 1171 and 1176. De Riddlesford was born in Carriebenan, Kildare, Irel ...

. She was the wife of Sir Roger La Zouche, Lord of Ashby.

Family

Ela was born in 1244 at

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

and was the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Stephen Longespée,

, Seneschal of

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

, and son of William Longespee, the illegitimate son of Henry II. Her paternal grandmother was Ela, Countess of Salisbury, who had founded

Lacock Abbey Lacock Abbey in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, England, was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the suppression of Roman Catholic inst ...

, and for whom she was named. Her maternal grandmother was the daughter of

Henry FitzRoy (d. 1158) Henry FitzRoy (born c. 1100–1104, died 1158) was an illegitimate son of Henry I of England, possibly by Princess Nesta, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last king of Deheubarth (d. 1093), and his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn, and was a ...

. Ela had a younger sister, Emmeline, who became the second wife of

Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

in 1273.

Marriage and issue

In about 1266 in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, she married Sir Roger La Zouche, Lord of Ashby, the son of Sir Alan La Zouche and Helen de Quincy. Their marriage produced one son: *

Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (9 October 1267 – shortly before 25 March 1314) was born at North Molton, Devonshire, the only son of Roger La Zouche and his wife, Ela Longespée, daughter of Stephen Longespée and Emmeline de ...

(19 October 1267 – 25 March 1314), married Eleanor de Segrave, by whom he had three daughters. Ela died on about 19 July 1276 at the age of 32. Her younger sister Emmeline, was co-heiress to their father and the wife of Maurice fitz Maurice. She had one daughter, Juliana, who married

Thomas de Clare, lord of Thomond Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond (1244×1247Robin Frame (2005)"Clare, Thomas de (1244x7–1287), magnate and administrator" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Retrieved 11 November 2018.29 August 1287) was an Anglo-Norman peer and so ...

. Emeline battled her daughter, Juliana, and her step-daughter Amabilia (Maurice's daughter from a previous marriage) for many years for her dower. Juliana had been granted in frankmarriage to Thomas de Clare, and Maurice had given

Inchiquin Inchiquin ( ga, Inse Uí Chuinn) is a barony in County Clare, Ireland.Placenames Database of ...

and

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

, both in co. Cork, to the newly-wed couple. Amabilia and John fitz Thomas (later the first

earl of Kildare Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...

) spent many years trying to recover the marriage lands from Juliana and dower lands from Emmeline.G.H. Orpen, Normans, iv, p. 654; Black Book of Limerick, pp 31, 102, 105; R. Frame, 'King Henry III and Ireland, n. 151.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Longespee, Ela 1244 births 1276 deaths 13th-century English people 13th-century English women