Eleanor de Bohun ( – 3 October 1399) was the elder daughter and co-heiress (with her sister, Mary de Bohun), of

Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford, 6th Earl of Essex, 2nd Earl of Northampton, Order of the Garter, KG (25 March 1342 – 16 January 1373) was the son of William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton, and Elizabeth de Badlesmere, and grandson o ...

(1341–1373) and

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 ...

, a daughter of

Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel Richard Fitzalan, 3rd Earl of Arundel, 8th Earl of Surrey ( 1313 – 24 January 1376) was an English nobleman and medieval military leader and distinguished admiral. Arundel was one of the wealthiest nobles, and most loyal noble retainer of the ...

and his second wife Eleanor of Lancaster.

Marriage

In 1376, Eleanor married

Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester (7 January 13558 or 9 September 1397) was the fifth surviving son and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Early life Thomas was born on 7 January 1355 at Woodstock Pal ...

. Thomas was the youngest son of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

and

Philippa of Hainault Philippa of Hainault (sometimes spelled Hainaut; Middle French: ''Philippe de Hainaut''; 24 June 1310 (or 1315) – 15 August 1369) was List of English consorts, Queen of England as the wife and political adviser of King Edward III. She acted a ...

. Following their marriage, the couple went to reside in Pleshey Castle,

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. According to

Jean Froissart Jean Froissart ( Old and Middle French: ''Jehan''; sometimes known as John Froissart in English; – ) was a French-speaking medieval author and court historian from the Low Countries who wrote several works, including ''Chronicles'' and ''Meli ...

, Eleanor and her husband had the tutelage of her younger sister, Mary, who was being instructed in religious doctrine in the hope that she would enter a convent, thus leaving her share of the considerable Bohun inheritance to Eleanor and Thomas.

Issue

Together Eleanor and Thomas had five children: # Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham (c. 1381/1382 – 2 September 1399) # Anne of Gloucester (c. 1383 – 1438) married (1st) Thomas Stafford, 3rd Earl of Stafford; (2nd) Edmund Stafford, 5th Earl of Stafford; and (3rd) William Bourchier, Count of Eu. Her son by 3rd marriage, John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, was grandfather of Richard Neville,

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds, The Second, or (The) 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Minute and second of arc, ...

Baron Latimer The title Baron Latimer or Latymer has been created, by the definitions of modern peerage law, four times in the Peerage of England. Of these, one (of Snape) was restored from abeyance in 1913; one (of Braybrook) is forfeit; the other two (both ...

of Snape. #Joan (1384 – 16 August 1400) married

Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot Gilbert Talbot, 5th Baron Talbot, 8th Baron Strange of Blackmere, KG (1383 – 19 October 1418) of Blakemere, Whitchurch, Shropshire, was an English Knight of the Garter. He was born the eldest son of Richard Talbot, 4th Baron Talbot, and Ank ...

(1383–1419). Died in childbirth. #Isabel (12 March 1385/1386 – April 1402), became a Minoress, later abbess, in a religious house near Aldgate #Philippa (c. 1388 - c. 1399) Died young

Order of the Garter

Eleanor de Bohun was made a Lady of the Garter in 1384. She became a nun sometime after 1397 at

Barking Abbey The Abbey of St Mary and St Ethelburga, founded in the 7th-century and commonly known as Barking Abbey, is a former Roman Catholic, royal monastery located in Barking, in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It has been described as havi ...

. Prior to her death, Eleanor divided her holdings among her children. She died on 3 October 1399 and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. Her executors included the chaplain in Pleshy, Essex.Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP 40/561; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT2/H4/CP40no561/bCP40no561dorses/IMG_1843.htm; Peyntour, Hugh, chaplain of the free chapel within the Castle of Plessy

In fiction

Eleanor appears briefly in Anya Seton's historical romance ''Katherine'', based upon the life of Eleanor's sister-in-law

Katherine Swynford Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster (born Katherine de Roet, – 10 May 1403) was the third wife of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the fourth (but third surviving) son of King Edward III. Daughter of a knight from County of Hainaut, Ha ...

, the third wife of

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 surviving) of King Edward III of England, and the father of King Henry IV. Because ...

. She also appears in Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's '' Richard II'', where she unsuccessfully urges John of Gaunt to avenge her murdered husband.

Notes

References

Sources

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External links

Eleanor of Bohun at Tudor Place
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bohun, Eleanor de 1360s births 1399 deaths Date of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

Daughters of British earls

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

14th-century English nobility 14th-century English women Burials at Westminster Abbey 14th-century women monarchs Ladies of the Garter Wives of knights Duchesses of Gloucester