CP Addition: Marriage of John d'Arundel, Lord Mautravers & Elizabeth Talbot
Brad Verity
"He [John d'Arundel, Lord Mautravers, 13th or 7th Earl of Arundel] m.,
before 1407, Eleanor, da. of Sir John Berkeley, of Beverstone, co.
Gloucester..."
Arundel's marriage to Eleanor Berkeley of Beverstone was his second.
His first marriage was to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Richard, 4th
Lord Talbot and Ankaret le Strange, Lady of Blakemere.
>From 'Accounts of the Stewards of the Talbot Household at Blakemere
1392-1425' edited by Barbara Ross [Shropshire Record Series, Volume 7,
2003], p. 46 n. 2:
"Pollard [historian A.J. Pollard], 'Family of Talbot'[his 1968 PhD.
thesis], 11, says that Eliz. may have been the eldest Talbot child,
that she played a fairly active role in her mother's household and may
have become a nun; however in P.R.O. 'Calendar of papal registers:
letters', vi. 71, there is a letter dated 6 Id. Oct. (10 Oct.) 1405 to
the Bishop of Hereford conveying a mandate to dispense John de Arundell
donsell and Eliz. de Talbot damsel, of the dioceses of Salisbury and
Hereford, allowing them to remain in the unconsummated marriage which
they formerly contracted, in ignorance, as they afterwards learned,
that they were related in the third and fourth degree."
John d'Arundel and Elizabeth Talbot were related as so:
Edmund, Earl of Arundel (k. 1326), had a son(A) and dau(B):
A) Richard, Earl of Arundel (d. 1376), who had
A2) John d'Arundel (d. 1379), Lord Mautravers, who had
A3) John d'Arundel (1364-1390), who had
A4) John d'Arundel, Lord Mautravers - groom
B) Mary of Arundel, Lady Strange of Blakemere (d. 1396), had
B2) Ankaret, Lady Strange of Blakemere (d. 1413), who had
B3) Elizabeth Talbot - bride
The groom, John d'Arundel, Lord Mautravers, was born in 1385. The
bride was a few years older. In the Salop IPM [18 Sept. 1383] of
Elizabeth, Lady Strange of Blakemere (1373-1383), first wife of Thomas
Mowbray, 1st duke of Norfolk, it was found that "Richard Talbot [4th
Lord Talbot] has begotten two daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, both of
whom are still living."
CP, Volume 12 pt. 1, p. 616, states that Richard Talbot and Ankaret le
Strange were married "before 23 Aug. 1383", using the death of
Elizabeth, countess of Nottingham, as the parameter. But Barbara Ross,
'Stewards of the Talbot Household', states (p. 3) that Richard Talbot
"had been married, since at least 1377, to Ankaretta Lady Strange whose
inheritance Blakemere was."
Elizabeth Talbot, the eldest child, was born about 1380, and was about
five years older than her contracted husband John d'Arundel. Unlike
the next daughter, Mary Talbot (c.1382-1433), whose son and heir Sir
Thomas Greene was born 10 Feb. 1400, Elizabeth was still living in her
mother's household in 1401-2.
The marriage of John d'Arundel and Elizabeth Talbot was likely
contracted before 1396/7, when her father Richard, Lord Talbot, and
John's great-uncle and guardian the Earl of Arundel were still alive.
It seems highly unlikely that the parties were unaware they were
related, as is stated in the 1405 papal letter. What likely happened
was that the death of Lord Talbot and the execution of the Earl of
Arundel, led to a delay in the marriage going forward.
When Henry IV restored Thomas Fitzalan (1381-1415) to his father's
estates and earldom of Arundel in Oct. 1400, it may be that the
19-year-old earl was not eager to rush forward the marriage of his
kinsman (and heir male) John d'Arundel before he himself was married.
Elizabeth's two eldest Talbot brothers, Gilbert and John (future earl
of Shrewsbury), along with their stepfather Lord Furnival, fought with
the young earl of Arundel in Henry IV's Welsh wars. In 1405, the
marriage of the earl to Beatriz of Portugal was being negotiated, and
it may be at that point that it was determined to allow the marriage of
20-year-old John d'Arundel to 25-year-old Elizabeth Talbot to finally
move forward and be consummated.
As the eldest son of John d'Arundel and Eleanor Berkeley was born in
February 1408, John's marriage to Elizabeth Talbot was either annulled
due to the 1405 request for the papal dispensation not being granted,
or - more likely - ended due to Elizabeth's death in 1406/7. She is
not mentioned in the 1411-12, 1417-18, 1419-20 or 1424-5 Steward of
Blakemere accounts, though all three of her sisters are.
Finally, 'Collins Peerage' and other 19th-century genealogies say that
Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Talbot and Ankaret le Strange, was
married to Hugh de Cokesey. This stems from confusion with Elizabeth's
half-sister Joan Neville (b. 1404), daughter of Lord Furnival and
Ankaret le Strange. She was married to Sir Hugh de Cokesey (1405-1445)
by 1420, and predeceased him without issue.
Many thanks to Linda Jack for pointing out the existence of Barbara
Ross's book on the Stewards of Blakemere!
Cheers, ------Brad