Isabella de Say ( 1132 – 1199) was an Anglo-Norman heiress. Isabella was the only surviving child of

Helias de Say Henry de Say was a Norman nobleman who lived in Clun near Shrewsbury, along the medieval Welsh Marches. Henry de Say Henry de Say inherited the important fortification Clun Castle from his father, Robert de Say (also called Picot de Say), in 1098 ...

upon his death in 1165; Helias was the third lord of

Clun Clun ( cy, Colunwy) is a town in south west Shropshire, England, and the Shropshire Hills AONB, Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The 2011 United Kingdom census, census recorded 680 people living in the town.Combined populat ...

, a powerful

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

stronghold in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England, along the Welsh border. She is notable for helping to create the powerful medieval house of the FitzAlans. Isabella married William FitzAlan, the lord of nearby

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Boroug ...

, as his second wife in 1156. William died in 1160, leaving a son by his first wife, Christiana, William FitzAlan II. Isabella passed

Clun Castle Clun Castle is a medieval ruined castle in Clun, Shropshire, England. Clun Castle was established by the Norman lord Robert de Say after the Norman invasion of England and went on to become an important Marcher lord castle in the 12th century, ...

to him. The combined lordship of Oswestry and Clun was a significant power in the borderlands with Wales.Brown, p.93. Isabella had married Geoffrey de Vere II, brother of the

earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

by early 1166. After de Vere's death in 1170 she married William Boterel, probably by 1175, the year her stepson William reached his majority. She was certainly married to him by 1188. Isabella's death date is disputed, but she probably lived to 1199. Robert Seton
''An Old Family: Or, The Setons of Scotland and America'', Brentano's, 1899, p. 14
/ref> A charter of Isabella's to

Wenlock Priory Wenlock Priory, or St Milburga's Priory, is a ruined 12th-century monastery, located in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, at . Roger de Montgomery re-founded the Priory as a Cluniac house between 1079 and 1082, on the site of an earlier 7th-century mo ...

in Shropshire, purportedly issued on her deathbed, granted the church and chapels of Clun to that monastery.Dugdale, et al., ''Monasticon Anglicanum,'' vol. V, p. 76, num. iv Her grant was confirmed by her third husband William Boterel.

References

Bibliography

* Brown, Reginald Allen. (1989) ''Castles from the Air.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . * Dugdale, William,

John Caley John Caley (1760–1834) was an English archivist and antiquary. Life He was the eldest son of John Caley, a grocer in Bishopsgate Street, London. Acquaintance with Thomas Astle led to a place in the Record Office in the Tower of London. In 17 ...

Sir Henry Ellis Sir Henry Ellis (29 November 177715 January 1869) was an English librarian and antiquarian, for a long period principal librarian at the British Museum. Early years Born in London, Henry Ellis was educated at the Mercers' School, and at Merc ...

Bulkeley Bandinel Bulkeley Bandinel (21 February 1781 – 6 February 1861) was a British scholar, ecclesiastic and librarian. Early life He was born in the parish of St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford, first-born son of Rev. Dr. James Bandinel of Netherbury by his wi ...

(1819) ''Monasticon Anglicanum'' vol. 5 * Eyton, William. (1860) ''Antiquities of Shropshire, Volume XI.'' London: John Russell Smith. * Eyton, William. (1862) "The Castles of Shropshire and its Border." in ''Collectanea Archæologica: communications made to the British Archaeological Association'' Vol. 1. London: Longman. {{DEFAULTSORT:Say, Isabella De Anglo-Normans 12th-century births 1199 deaths 12th-century English women 12th-century English people