Margaret de Clare
d. 1333
Vitals
Family
About
Margaret de Clare was a daughter of Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond, and she married Bartholomew, Lord Badlesmere. In 1321 she refused Queen Isabella entry to Leeds Castle and had her escort shot at, which brought a royal army to the gates and is generally taken to be one of the sparks of the war that followed. She is said to have become the first woman imprisoned in the Tower of London. Her daughter Maud married the seventh Earl of Oxford, and so this family descends from her.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Entered 23 Jul 2026 under the relaxed rule (standard, undisputed peerage/royal account; provenance so noted).): MARGARET DE CLARE (b. ~1287), dau. of Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond; m. Bartholomew, Lord Badlesmere. THE LEEDS CASTLE AFFAIR IS HERS: in Oct 1321, in her husband's absence, she REFUSED QUEEN ISABELLA ADMISSION to Leeds Castle and her archers fired on the royal party - the King besieged the castle and Margaret was sent to the Tower, reputedly the first woman imprisoned there. Mother of Maud, Countess of Oxford (our line). Direct ancestress. Added 23 Jul 2026. ||DE CLARE ~ DAMORY COUSINSHIP (collateral note, 8 Aug 2026)|| Margaret's father Thomas de Clare of Thomond had an elder brother, GILBERT 'the Red' de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester (d.1295). Gilbert the Red, by JOAN OF ACRE (daughter of Edward I), was father of the three de Clare COHEIRESS SISTERS: Eleanor (m. Hugh le Despenser the Younger), Margaret (m. Piers Gaveston, then Hugh de Audley), and ELIZABETH DE CLARE, who married Sir ROGER DAMORY, Lord Damory. So our Margaret de Clare and Elizabeth de Clare were FIRST COUSINS (their fathers Thomas and Gilbert the Red were brothers), and the Damory heiress ELIZABETH DAMORY, Lady Bardolf (Elizabeth de Clare x Roger Damory's daughter) was Margaret's FIRST COUSIN ONCE REMOVED. i.e. the very Damory (Sir Roger, Lord Damory) behind the 'Damory Court' name married one branch over from our own de Clare ancestress - the closest blood-approach to the medieval Damorys the tree contains (a Bardolf-Damory descendant hunt, 8 Aug 2026, found NO direct descent; this cousinship is the nearest real link, note-only). SECOND brush: via the Despenser line, our Elizabeth le Despenser's brother Hugh le Despenser the Younger married the eldest of these sisters, Eleanor de Clare. ||UPDATED 8 Aug 2026 - ELEANOR NOW A DIRECT ANCESTRESS|| Since this note was written, the other chat wired the RALEIGH ROYAL DOOR, and three of these once-collateral people became DIRECT ANCESTORS: GILBERT the Red de Clare (I100594, correctly attached as another son of Richard de Clare x Maud de Lacy - i.e. Margaret's uncle, so this first-cousinship is now a WIRED fact, not just a note), JOAN OF ACRE (I100595, onto our existing Edward I x Eleanor of Castile), and ELEANOR DE CLARE herself (I100593). Eleanor's line to us: Edward I -> Joan of Acre -> Eleanor de Clare x Hugh le Despenser the Younger (I100592, wired onto our EXISTING Hugh le Despenser the Elder x Isabel de Beauchamp - so the Despenser house reaches us through BOTH of Hugh the Elder's children) -> Edward le Despenser -> ... -> Bridget Raleigh -> the Kingsmills -> Lavinia -> us. NET: we descend from TWO of the three de Clare cousins - ELEANOR (via Raleigh to Edward I) and MARGARET herself (this record, via Badlesmere to de Vere/de Ros). Only the THIRD sister, ELIZABETH DE CLARE, and her husband Sir ROGER DAMORY remain collateral - the Damory near-miss (Margaret's first cousin; the Damory heiress her first cousin once removed). NB the St Leger/Ursula Neville/Stafford 'royal door' was found to be a TRAP and correctly NOT wired.