| Notes |
Isabel de Vermandois, Countess of Leicester was distantly related to En g l i s h k ings, Norman dukes, and Flanders counts. By Carolingian ancestry , s h e w a s a lso related to almost every major nobleman in Western Europe . N e v e r theless, Isabel was very much her own person. Her Capetian and C ar o l i n gian ancestry was a source of pride for some of her descendants.
Wonderfully controversial, her love life is something else. She had two h u s b a n ds -- both Anglo-Norman magnates -- and a lot of kids, among whose d e s c e n dants are numbered many kings and some queens of England and Scotl a n d .
Marriage to Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester
Elizabeth married Meulan around aged 9 or 11. Planche states Elizabeth a g r e e d w illingly but this means little in the context. Despite the age d i f f e r ence, this was a good marriage for its time. Meulan was a respecte d a d v i s or to three reigning monarchs: William II of England, Robert Cur th o s e a n d Philip I of France. Medieval brides were often betrothed you n g - 8 b e i n g the legal age for betrothal and 12 for marriage (for women ) . The y o u n g betrothed wife would often go to her husband's castle to b e r ais e d b y h is parents or other relatives and to learn the customs and w a y s o f h e r husband's family. The actual wedding would not take place un t i l m u c h later. Some genealogists speculate that the usual age at which a n o b l e b r ide could expect the marriage to be consummated would be 14. Thi s i s c o n s istent with the date of birth of Elizabeth's first child Emma i n 1 1 0 2 w h en she would be about 15 to 17. But the old count was at leas t 3 5 y e a r s her senior . .. Yes. Unusual even for this time period. But h e w a s a n o b leman of some significance in France, who inherited lands fr om h i s m a t ernal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan. He also fought his first b at t l e w i th distinction when he was only 16. His parents Roger de Beaumo n t , L o r d of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont -Audemar and Adeline of Meulan, h e i r e s s of Meulan died long before; Roger had been a kinsman and close a s s o c i ate of William the Conqueror. Meulan had inherited lands in Norman d y a f t e r his father died circa 1089 , and had also been given lands in t h e K i n g dom of England after his participation in the Norman conquest of E n g l a n d. He didn't have an English earldom when they got married, but hi s y o u n g er brother was Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick.
Buried with her husband, William de Warenne, in the Chapter House o f P r i o r y o f S t. Pancras (Lewes Priory), Lewes, East Sussex. He was buried t h e r e a t h is father's feet.
|
1081 - 1131 (50 years)