Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey explained

Alice de Lusignan
Countess of Surrey
Issue:Eleanor de Warenne
Isabella de Warenne
William de Warenne
Noble Family:Lusignan
Father:Hugh X de Lusignan, "le Brun", Seigneur de Lusignan, Count of La Marche
Mother:Isabella of Angoulême
Birth Date:1224
Birth Place:Lusignan, France
Death Date:9 February 1256 (aged 32)
Death Place:Warren, Sussex, England

Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Surrey (1224 – 9 February 1256) was a uterine half-sister of King Henry III of England and the wife of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey. Shortly after her arrival in England from France in 1247, her half-brother arranged her marriage to the Earl, which incurred some resentment from the English nobility.[1]

Lineage

Alice was the second-eldest daughter of Hugh X of Lusignan ("le Brun"), Seigneur de Lusignan and Count of La Marche, and Isabella of Angoulême, queen dowager of England. She was born in Lusignan, Poitou, France in 1224, and was a member of the House of Lusignan.

She had five full brothers and three full sisters, besides her royal half-siblings from her mother's first marriage.

Marriage

In 1247, a year after her mother's death, Alice accompanied the new papal legate William of Modena, the Cardinal-bishop of Sabina, to England, which she had decided to make her home, and live at the expense of the Crown.[2] In August of that year, her half-brother, King Henry married her to John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey (August 1231 – 29 September 1304). The marriage caused some resentment amongst the English nobility, as they considered the king's Lusignan siblings to be parasites and a liability to the kingdom. Many prestigious honours and titles were granted to the Lusignans.[3] Alice was also said to have been disdainful of all things English.[4]

John was the son of William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey and Maud Marshal. Together they had three children.

Issue

Death

Alice died in Warren, Sussex, England, on 9 February 1256 after giving birth to her only son, William. She was about thirty-two years of age.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Costain, Thomas B. (1959). The Magnificent Century. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc. p.151
  2. Costain p.151.
  3. Costain, p.151
  4. Costain,page 151.