Elizabeth, Lady of Clare

Elizabeth of Clare was an English noblewoman of high royal blood. Her father was Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and her mother, Joan of Acre, the daughter of Edward I (r 1272-1307).

Elizabeth married first John Burgh, the heir to the earldom of Ulster and its lands. John died in 1313 but in 1314, she inherited the lands of the Clare family when her brother was killed at the Battle of Bannockburn. Her inheritance made her a great heiress and thus a desirable bachelorette. She was abducted by Theobald Verdon in 1316, probably with her consent. The two of them married but Verdon died the same year. In 1317she married for the third time, this time to Roger Damory. Her third marriage ended with Damory’s death in 1321. All three husbands left Elizabeth huge estates, bringing her a total income of £2,000 a year.

Elizabeth took a vow of chastity and became a huge benefactress of charities and founded Clare College in Cambridge. Elizabeth’s estate was worth about £20,000, about 0.8% of net national income when it stood at £2.5m. In 2010 she would be worth £8.8bn.