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Isabel of Cambridge
Countess of Essex
Born 1409
Died 2 October 1484 (aged 74–75)
Burial Beeleigh Abbey, Little Easton, Essex
Spouse Sir Thomas Grey
Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex
Issue Thomas Grey
William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier
Sir Henry Bourchier
Humphrey Bourchier, 1st Baron Cromwell
John Bourchier
Sir Thomas Bourchier
Edward Bourchier
Fulk Bourchier
Isabel Bourchier
House York
Father Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge
Mother Anne de Mortimer


Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex (1409 – 2 October 1484) was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and like him a great-grandchild of Edward III of England.

Early life

Isabel of York, the only daughter of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer, was born about 1409. Through her father, she was the granddaughter of King Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and his first wife, Isabella of Castile. Through her mother, Anne de Mortimer, Isabel was the granddaughter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, and Lady Alianore Holland (granddaughter of Lady Joan of Kent, Princess of Wales) and the great-great-granddaughter of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp.

Isabel's father, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, was beheaded on 5 August 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against King Henry V. Although the Earl's title was forfeited, he was not attainted, and Isabel's brother, Richard, then aged four, was his father's heir. Within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, and Isabel's brother was eventually his uncle's heir as well.

Marriages and issue

In 1412, at three years of age, Isabel was betrothed to Sir Thomas Grey (1404 – d. before 1426), son and heir of Sir Thomas Grey (c. 1385 – 1415) of Heaton in Norham, Northumberland, and his wife, Alice Neville, the daughter of Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland. The marriage took place on 18 February 1413. They had one son, also called Thomas Grey (1423–1493). The elder Sir Thomas Grey was an associate of Isabel's father who also lost his life in the Southampton Plot.

She married, secondly, Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, before 25 April 1426. The marriage was later validated by papal dispensation. By Essex, she had at least eleven children:

Death

Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, died on 4 April 1483. Isabel remained a widow and died on 2 October 1484. A manuscript calendar records her death on VI Non Oct in 1484. Both were buried at Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon, Essex, but later reburied at Little Easton, Essex.

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