Elizabeth le Veel, also known as Elizabeth Calf (d. after 1417), was an

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

noblewoman, and wife of

Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

, King of Leinster. Her marriage to Art violated the

Statutes of Kilkenny The Statutes of Kilkenny were a series of thirty-five acts enacted by the Parliament of Ireland at Kilkenny in 1366, aiming to curb the decline of the Hiberno-Norman Lordship of Ireland. Background to the statutes By the middle decades of the ...

, and resulted in her property being forfeited to the English crown. This caused her husband to declare war in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

against the forces of King

Richard II of England Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Jo ...

Family

Elizabeth was born at Norragh,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

, Ireland on an unknown date, the daughter and heiress of Sir Robert le Veel of Norragh. Norragh had been in her family since the manors of Norragh and Skethness (now

Skerries, County Dublin Skerries () is a coastal town in Fingal, in the north of County Dublin, Ireland. Skerries was historically a fishing port and later a centre of hand embroidery. These industries declined in the early 20th century, however, and it became both a ...

) were granted to her ancestor Sir Michael le Veel in 1320. Her family is better known by the name Calf, which is the Anglicised version of le Veel.

Marriages and issue

In 1374 upon the death of her father she married her first husband Sir John Staunton of Otymy,

, (now

Clane Clane (; ) is a town in County Kildare, Ireland, from Dublin. With a population of 8,152 in 2022, it is the ninth largest town in Kildare and the 66th largest in Ireland. The town is on the River Liffey. Clane gives its name to the associate ...

) who died before 1390. She had at least one child by Sir John, a daughter Elizabeth who would marry into the Wellesley family. In 1390, Elizabeth married her second husband, Art mac Art MacMurrough-Kavanagh, King of Leinster (1357–1417). The marriage produced at least three sons: * Diarmait Lavderg (died 1417) * Donnchadh mac Art MacMurrough, Lord of Garyshill, King of Leinster (reigned 1417–1455), fathered a son, Murtough Kavanagh, who was the heir to the kingdom of Leinster * Gerald Kavanagh, Lord of

Ferns The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

(died 1431). He is the direct ancestor of the present-day MacMurrough-Kavanaghs. The marriage between Art and Elizabeth violated the

which prohibited intermarriage between the English and the Irish. Art also claimed the important barony of Norragh by right of his wife who had inherited the barony

suo jure ''Suo jure'' is a Latin phrase, used in English to mean 'in his own right' or 'in her own right'. In most nobility-related contexts, it means 'in her own right', since in those situations the phrase is normally used of women; in practice, especi ...

in 1374, when her father died. When the barony was forfeited to the English crown in 1391, Art declared war against the English. King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

arrived in Ireland in 1394, at the head of an army which consisted of over 8,000 men. The English suffered many casualties due to the covert attacks Art perpetrated against King Richard's men. Finally, a truce was reached in 1395; Art went to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

where he swore

fealty An oath of fealty, from the Latin (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Definition In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fealty" also r ...

to King Richard and received the honour of a knighthood. The barony on Norragh was restored to him. However, when the king departed for England in May 1395, Art renounced his fealty and proceeded to harass the English who lived in the

Pale Pale may refer to: Jurisdictions * Medieval areas of English conquest: ** Pale of Calais, in France (1360–1558) ** The Pale, or the English Pale, in Ireland *Pale of Settlement, area of permitted Jewish settlement, western Russian Empire (179 ...

. In 1398, when

Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March Roger de Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, 6th Earl of Ulster (11 April 137420 July 1398) was an English nobleman. He was considered the heir presumptive to King Richard II, his mother's first cousin, which made him a great-grandson of King Edward ...

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the K ...

, and King Richard's

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of a person with a better claim to the position in question. This is in contrast to an heir app ...

, was killed at the Battle of Kells in a skirmish with an Irish clan, the English king sought revenge against Art. King Richard led a second expedition to Ireland in 1399, and Art's lands of Norragh were once again forfeited to the English crown. However, it was this last expedition to Ireland which cost the king his throne; as he had brought with him most of his household knights and loyal nobles. Upon his return to England, King Richard discovered that the kingdom had fallen into the hands of his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who would subsequently imprison and depose Richard, and reign as King Henry IV.

Later life

Elizabeth seems to have been in good standing with the English Crown in her later years. In January 1410, she obtained a favour from Henry IV for John Cansham of Dublin. In 1417 she was confirmed in her title of Baroness and her right to the lands of Norragh.''Patent Roll 5 Henry V '' Her precise date of death is unknown.

Notes

References

* Thomas B. Costain, ''The Last Plantagenets'', published by Popular Library, New York, 1962, originally published by Doubleday and Co., Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Calf, Elizabeth Queens consort 14th-century Irish women Normans in Ireland Irish royal consorts People from County Kildare MacMorrough Kavanagh dynasty Anglo-Norman women 14th-century Irish people