Margaret de Clare (1293-1342)

21GGM Margaret de Clare: Countess of Cornwall, Countess of Gloucester: Middle daughter (of three) of 22GGP Gilbert de Clare and Princess Joan of Acre (aka Joan of England). Her first husband was Piers Gaveston (c.1284-1312) the scandalous favorite of the heir to the throne, later to reign as Edward II, who made him the first Earl of Cornwall. The scandal was sufficient to earn him exile on three occasions; when he returned in despite of the third, he was hunted down and killed by some of his enemies. King Edward arranged a second marriage for her to another favorite, 21GGF Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester. They had one daughter: 20GGM Margaret de Audley, born between January 1318 and November 1320. Hugh and Margaret were among the victims of their brother-in-law, Hugh the younger Despenser. In his rashness and greed for the Clare lands, he robbed Margaret of much of her rightful inheritance. In 1321, Hugh de Audley joined the other Marcher Barons in looting, burning, and causing general devastation to Despenser’s lands which subsequently became the Despenser War. Hugh was captured at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322, and was saved from a hanging thanks to the pleas of his wife. He was imprisoned, and two months later Margaret was sent to Sempringham Priory in Lincolnshire. She remained there until 1326, when Hugh escaped prison and she was released from Sempringham. Hugh and Margaret were reunited sometime in 1326. In summer 1336, their only daughter, Margaret de Audley, was abducted by 20GGF Ralph Stafford, 1st Earl of Stafford. Her parents filed a complaint, but King Edward III of England supported Stafford. He appeased Hugh and Margaret by creating Hugh Earl of Gloucester. Margaret was henceforth styled Countess of Gloucester.

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