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LIONEL, Duke of Clarence

HUSBAND:
LIONEL, Duke of Clarence. [CHART A1].
Born in 1338 in Antwerp; son of Edward III, King of England and Philipa d' AVESNES, Countess of HAINAUT.

He was betrothed when a child to Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster (d. 1363), daughter and heiress of William Donn de Burgh, 3rd Earl of Ulster (d. 1332), he was married to her in 1352, but before this date he had entered into possession of her great Irish inheritance. He was called Earl of Ulster from 1347.

Having been named as his father's representative in England in 1345 and again in 1346, Lionel joined an expedition into France in 1355, but his chief energies were reserved for the affairs of Ireland.

Appointed governor of that country, he landed at Dublin in 1361, and in November of the following year was created Duke of Clarence, the second Dukedom created in England, while his father made an abortive attempt to secure for him the crown of Scotland. His efforts to secure an effective authority over his Irish lands were only moderately successful; and after holding a parliament at Kilkenny, which passed the celebrated Statute of Kilkenny in 1367, he dropped the task in disgust and returned to England.

The poet Geoffrey Chaucer was at one time a page in Lionel's household.

Lionel's wife died in Dublin in 1363, leaving behind a daughter, Philippa, whose descendants would one day claim the throne for the House of York. A second marriage was arranged for Lionel with Violante (c. 1353 - November 1386), daughter of Galeazzo Visconti, lord of Pavia (d. 1378); the enormous dowry which Galeazzo promised with his daughter being exaggerated by the rumour of the time. Journeying to fetch his bride, Lionel was received in great state both in France and Italy, and was married to Violante at Milan on 28 May 1368. Some months were then spent in festivities, during which Lionel was taken ill at Alba (a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo.), where he died. There was strong speculation at the time that he had been poisoned by his father-in-law although this has never been proven.

WIFE:
Elizabeth (Lady) de BURGH. [CHART A1].
Born in 1332 at Carrickfergus Castle in Belfast, Ireland; daughter of William `the Brown' de BURGH [F9206328] and Maud of Lancaster PLANTAGENET (by 1310 - 1377).

Upon William's murder on 6 June 1333 she became the sole legal heir to all the de Burgh lands in Ireland. Actually, her kinsmen Sir Edmond de Burgh of Clanwilliam, Sir Edmond Albanach Bourke, Mac William Iochtar, Sir Ulick Burke and Mac William Uachtar became the de facto heads of the family and owners of de Burgh land during the Burke Civil War 1333-38.

As Countess of Ulster she was raised in England and married Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence on 15 August 1352 at the Tower of London.

Elizabeth died in Dublin in 1363 during her husband's term as Governor of Ireland. She is buried in Clare Priory, Suffolk, England.

CHILDREN of LIONEL, Duke of Clarence
  1. [F3896933]. Philippe. (Philippa). [CHART A1]. She married Edmund de MORTIMER [F3896932], Third Earl of March, in 1368.


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