Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville
Encyclopedia
Maud de Lacy, Baroness Geneville (1230 – 11 April 1304) was a Norman-Irish
noblewoman and wealthy heiress who upon the death of her grandfather, Walter de Lacy
, Lord of Trim
and Ludlow
inherited half his estates. The lordships of Trim and Ludlow passed to her second husband Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville by right of his marriage to her; although she helped to rule and administer the estates in an equal partnership. She is sometimes referred to as Matilda de Lacy.
in 1230, the youngest child of Gilbert de Lacy of Ewyas Lacy and Isabel Bigod
. Her paternal grandparents were Walter de Lacy and Margaret de Braose
, daughter of Maud de Braose
who was walled up alive by King John of England
. Her maternal grandparents were Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk
and Maud Marshal
. She had an elder brother, Walter and sister Margery. On 25 December 1230, the year of her birth, Maud's father died, leaving her mother a widow at the age of eighteen. Less than four years later on 12 April 1234, her mother married again; he was John FitzGeoffrey
, Lord of Shere in Surrey
, England, and Justiciar of Ireland. Maud had six younger half-siblings from her mother's second marriage to John.
In early 1241, Maud's brother Walter died. He was in his early teens. When their grandfather Walter de Lacy died shortly afterwards on 24 February, Maud and her sister, Margery inherited his vast estates and lordships in Ireland, Herefordshire, and the Welsh Marches
. Maud and Margery both received a moiety of Ewyas Lacy in Herefordshire, and a share of the lordship with the taxes and revenues that attached to it.
. He was one of the "Savoyards" who had arrived in England in the retinue of Queen Eleanor when she married King Henry III
. The marriage produced a son and a daughter whose names were not recorded. Pierre died in 1249, and sometime before 8 August 1252, Maud married her second husband, another "Savoyard", Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Seigneur of Vaucouleurs( c.1226- 21 October 1314), son of Simon de Joinville and Beatrix d'Auxonne. Both Maud's marriages and the marriage of her sister, Margery were personally arranged by King Henry III to ensure that the estates they inherited from their grandfather were retained in the hands of those known to be trusted servants of the Crown.
The king granted Geoffrey and Maud, and their heirs rights in the land of Meath held by her grandfather, Walter de Lacy by charter dated 8 August 1252. On 18 September 1254, the king granted them all the liberties and free customs in Meath which her grandfather had held; and they might issue their own writs in Meath according to the law and custom of Ireland. On 21 September 1252, they had livery of Trim Castle and a moiety of forty marcates of lands as the inheritance of Maud. They made Trim Castle their chief residence. Maud and Geoffrey jointly ruled and administered their estates together in an equal partnership. They later donated property to Dore Abbey
.
In 1254, Maud accompanied Queen Eleanor to Gascony
.
Maud's husband was a loyal supporter and favourite of Prince Edward who would in 1272 reign as King Edward I of England
. Geoffrey fought with the Prince against Simon de Monfort
at the Battle of Evesham
, and it was at Ludlow Castle that Prince Edward was sheltered following his escape in May 1265 from Montfortian captivity.
Geoffrey was appointed Justiciar of Ireland by his friend and patron, the new king, Edward I in September 1273, a post he held until June 1276; however, he had little success against the Irish of Leinster
. He was summoned to Parliament
by writ as 1st Baron Geneville on 6 February 1299.
Together Geoffrey and Maud had at least three children:
in Shropshire, and Walterstone Manor as well as all the knights' fees which she had held in England. That same year, her son Geoffrey died.
Maud was described as independent-minded, and she usually accompanied her husband on his numerous travels abroad, which included Rome
where he was sent on a mission to Pope Nicholas IV
in 1290. She was aged sixty at the time. Maud was highly protective of her properties, and always ready to enter into litigation at the slightest threat to her lands or privileges whether posed by family members, the Church or the Dublin administration.
Maud died at Trim Castle on 11 April 1304 at the age of seventy-four. Her husband Geoffrey died ten years later, and his estates and lordships were inherited by their granddaughter Joan de Geneville who succeeded as the suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville on 21 October 1314. Their son Piers had died in 1292, leaving Joan as heiress-apparent. She was the wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, by whom she had twelve children.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
noblewoman and wealthy heiress who upon the death of her grandfather, Walter de Lacy
Walter de Lacy
Walter de Lacy was Lord of Meath in Ireland and Ludlow in Shropshire in the Welsh Marches.- Life :With his father Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath he built Trim Castle , Trim, County Meath....
, Lord of Trim
Trim Castle
Trim Castle , Trim, County Meath, Ireland, on the shores of the Boyne has an area of 30,000 m². It is the remains of Ireland's largest Anglo-Norman castle...
and Ludlow
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
inherited half his estates. The lordships of Trim and Ludlow passed to her second husband Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville by right of his marriage to her; although she helped to rule and administer the estates in an equal partnership. She is sometimes referred to as Matilda de Lacy.
Family
Maud was born in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1230, the youngest child of Gilbert de Lacy of Ewyas Lacy and Isabel Bigod
Isabel Bigod
Isabel Bigod, Lady of Shere was an English noblewoman, the only daughter of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk. She was the wife of Gilbert de Lacy, of Ewyas Lacy, and John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere.- Family :...
. Her paternal grandparents were Walter de Lacy and Margaret de Braose
Margaret de Braose
Margaret de Braose, Lady of Trim , was an Anglo-Welsh noblewoman, the daughter of Marcher Lord William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber and the legendary Maud de St. Valéry, who was left to starve to death by orders of King John of England. Margaret founded a religious house, the Hospital of St. John...
, daughter of Maud de Braose
Maud de Braose
Maud de Braose, Lady of Bramber was the wife of William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, a powerful Marcher baron and court favourite of King John of England...
who was walled up alive by King John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
. Her maternal grandparents were Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk
Hugh Bigod was the eldest son of Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk, and for a short time the 3rd Earl of Norfolk.In 1215 he was one of the twenty-five sureties of Magna Carta of King John...
and Maud Marshal
Maud Marshal
Maud Marshal, Countess of Norfolk, Countess of Surrey was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman and a wealthy co-heiress of her father William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and her mother Isabel de Clare suo jure 4th Countess of Pembroke. Maud was their eldest daughter...
. She had an elder brother, Walter and sister Margery. On 25 December 1230, the year of her birth, Maud's father died, leaving her mother a widow at the age of eighteen. Less than four years later on 12 April 1234, her mother married again; he was John FitzGeoffrey
John FitzGeoffrey
John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere and Justiciar of Ireland was an English nobleman.John FitzGeoffrey was the son of Geoffrey Fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex and Aveline de Clare, daughter of Roger de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford and his wife Maud de Saint-Hilaire. He was Justiciar of Ireland...
, Lord of Shere in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England, and Justiciar of Ireland. Maud had six younger half-siblings from her mother's second marriage to John.
In early 1241, Maud's brother Walter died. He was in his early teens. When their grandfather Walter de Lacy died shortly afterwards on 24 February, Maud and her sister, Margery inherited his vast estates and lordships in Ireland, Herefordshire, and the Welsh Marches
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches is a term which, in modern usage, denotes an imprecisely defined area along and around the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods...
. Maud and Margery both received a moiety of Ewyas Lacy in Herefordshire, and a share of the lordship with the taxes and revenues that attached to it.
Marriages and issue
On an unknown date, Maud married her first husband Pierre de Genève, son of Humbert, Count of Genève, and a relative of Eleanor of ProvenceEleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....
. He was one of the "Savoyards" who had arrived in England in the retinue of Queen Eleanor when she married King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
. The marriage produced a son and a daughter whose names were not recorded. Pierre died in 1249, and sometime before 8 August 1252, Maud married her second husband, another "Savoyard", Sir Geoffrey de Geneville, Seigneur of Vaucouleurs( c.1226- 21 October 1314), son of Simon de Joinville and Beatrix d'Auxonne. Both Maud's marriages and the marriage of her sister, Margery were personally arranged by King Henry III to ensure that the estates they inherited from their grandfather were retained in the hands of those known to be trusted servants of the Crown.
Dore Abbey
Dore Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey in the village of Abbey Dore in the Golden Valley, Herefordshire, England. A large part of the original mediaeval building has been used since the 16th century as the parish church, with remaining parts either now ruined or no longer extant.-History:The...
.
In 1254, Maud accompanied Queen Eleanor to Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
.
Maud's husband was a loyal supporter and favourite of Prince Edward who would in 1272 reign as King Edward I of England
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. Geoffrey fought with the Prince against Simon de Monfort
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester , sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from other Simon de Montforts, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. He led the barons' rebellion against King Henry III of England during the Second Barons' War of 1263-4, and...
at the Battle of Evesham
Battle of Evesham
The Battle of Evesham was one of the two main battles of 13th century England's Second Barons' War. It marked the defeat of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and the rebellious barons by Prince Edward – later King Edward I – who led the forces of his father, King Henry III...
, and it was at Ludlow Castle that Prince Edward was sheltered following his escape in May 1265 from Montfortian captivity.
Geoffrey was appointed Justiciar of Ireland by his friend and patron, the new king, Edward I in September 1273, a post he held until June 1276; however, he had little success against the Irish of Leinster
Leinster
Leinster is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the east of Ireland. It comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Mide, Osraige and Leinster. Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the historic fifths of Leinster and Mide gradually merged, mainly due to the impact of the Pale, which straddled...
. He was summoned to Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
by writ as 1st Baron Geneville on 6 February 1299.
Together Geoffrey and Maud had at least three children:
- Geoffrey de Geneville (died 1283)
- Sir Piers de Geneville, of Trim and Ludlow (1256- shortly before June 1292), who in his turn married in 1283 Jeanne of LusignanJeanne of LusignanJoan of Lusignan was a French noblewoman. She succeeded her uncle, Guy de la Marche, Knt., sometime in the period, 1310/13, as Lady of Couhe and Peyrat, but not as Countess of La Marche since after her sister, Yolande's death, it was annexed by Philip IV of France and given as an appanage to...
, by whom he had three daughters, including Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville. - Joan de Geneville, married Gerald FitzMaurice FitzGeraldFitzGeraldThe surname FitzGerald is a translation of the French-Norman fils de Gérald, or son of Gerald . Variant spellings include Fitz-Gerald and the modern Fitzgerald. The name can also be used as two separate words Fitz Gerald...
(died 1287).
Later years
In 1283, Maud gave all her lands in England and Wales to Piers, her second eldest son by Geoffrey. These included Ludlow CastleLudlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
in Shropshire, and Walterstone Manor as well as all the knights' fees which she had held in England. That same year, her son Geoffrey died.
Maud was described as independent-minded, and she usually accompanied her husband on his numerous travels abroad, which included Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
where he was sent on a mission to Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV
Pope Nicholas IV , born Girolamo Masci, was Pope from February 22, 1288 to April 4, 1292. A Franciscan friar, he had been legate to the Greeks under Pope Gregory X in 1272, succeeded Bonaventure as Minister General of his religious order in 1274, was made Cardinal Priest of Santa Prassede and...
in 1290. She was aged sixty at the time. Maud was highly protective of her properties, and always ready to enter into litigation at the slightest threat to her lands or privileges whether posed by family members, the Church or the Dublin administration.
Maud died at Trim Castle on 11 April 1304 at the age of seventy-four. Her husband Geoffrey died ten years later, and his estates and lordships were inherited by their granddaughter Joan de Geneville who succeeded as the suo jure 2nd Baroness Geneville on 21 October 1314. Their son Piers had died in 1292, leaving Joan as heiress-apparent. She was the wife of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, by whom she had twelve children.