Margaret de Fiennes (after 1269 – 7 February 1333), was a French

noblewoman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

who married an English

marcher lord A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales. A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in ...

Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (c. 1251 – 17 July 1304) was the second son and eventual heir of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore. His mother was Maud de Braose. Life As a younger son, Edmund had been intended for ...

, and was mother of

Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer of Wigmore, 1st Earl of March (25 April 1287 – 29 November 1330), was an English nobleman and powerful Marcher Lord who gained many estates in the Welsh Marches and Ireland following his advantageous marria ...

.Douglas Richardson. ''Magna Carta Ancestry'', Genealogical Publishing Com, 2005. pg 247-49.

Origins

She was a daughter of Guillaume II de Fiennes (William II de Fiennes, Baron of Tingry; died 1302) and his wife, Blanche, the daughter of Jean de Brienne (d. 1296),

Grand Butler of France The Grand Butler of France (french: Grand bouteiller de France) was one of the great offices of state in France, existing between the Middle Ages and the Revolution of 1789. Originally responsible for the maintenance of the Royal vineyards, and pro ...

, and his first wife Jeanne de Châteaudun (his second marriage was to

Marie de Coucy Marie de Coucy (c. 1218 – 1285) was queen of Scotland by marriage to King Alexander II. She was a member of the royal council during the two last years of the minority of her son, King Alexander III, in 1260–1262. Background Marie was ...

, widow of King

Alexander II of Scotland Alexander II ( Medieval Gaelic: '; Modern Gaelic: '; 24 August 1198 – 6 July 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually un ...

). Her grandfather, Sir

John II of Brienne {{Infobox noble, type , name = John II of Brienne , title = , image = , caption = , alt = , CoA = , more = no , succession = , reign ...

, was the third son of

John of Brienne John of Brienne ( 1170 – 19–23 March 1237), also known as John I, was King of Jerusalem from 1210 to 1225 and Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1229 to 1237. He was the youngest son of Erard II of Brienne, a wealthy nobleman in Champagn ...

King of Jerusalem The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was conquered in 1099. Godfrey of Bouillon, the first ruler of ...

and Emperor of Constantinople, and his third wife

Berengaria of León Berengaria of León (1204 – 12 April 1237) was the third wife but only empress consort of John of Brienne, Latin Emperor of Constantinople. She was a daughter of Alfonso IX of León and Berengaria of Castile. She was a younger sister of Ferd ...

, which made Margaret a cousin of Queen

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I, whom she married as part of a political deal to affirm English sovereignty over Gascony. The marriage was known to be particularly close, and ...

. Her paternal grandparents were Enguerrand II de Fiennes and Isabel de Condé. Her brother, Jean (d. 1340), married Isabel, daughter of Guy de Dampierre,

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the ...

and his second wife Isabel of Luxembourg.

Life

In September 1285, when she was fourteen or fifteen years old, Margaret married Edmund Mortimer, the second son of

Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer of Wigmore (1231 – 27 October 1282), of Wigmore Castle in Herefordshire, was a marcher lord who was a loyal ally of King Henry III of England and at times an enemy, at times an ally, of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, ...

and his wife Maud de Braose. He had succeeded to his father's lands and barony in 1282 and was already a national hero after killing

Llywelyn ap Gruffudd Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (c. 1223 – 11 December 1282), sometimes written as Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, also known as Llywelyn the Last ( cy, Llywelyn Ein Llyw Olaf, lit=Llywelyn, Our Last Leader), was the native Prince of Wales ( la, Princeps Wall ...

, his cousin, in battle. They had eight known children.Sir Bernard Burke. ''A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the British empire'', Harrison, 1866. pg 384
''Google eBook''
/ref> Her husband died in 1304 and she lived until 1333, probably being buried in

Wigmore Abbey Wigmore Abbey was an abbey of Canons Regular with a Wigmore Abbey Grange, grange, from 1179 to 1530, situated about a mile (2 km) north of the village of Wigmore, Herefordshire, Wigmore, Herefordshire, England: grid reference SO 410713. Onl ...

References

Fiennes Fiennes or Ffiennes may refer to: Places * Fiennes, a commune of the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France. People A toponymic surname pronounced and borne by a prominent English family, descendant from Eustace I Fiennes, a nobleman ...

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular through ...

English baronesses Wives of knights {{England-baron-stub