Isolde de Mortimer

  General Notes:

~Weis' Ancestral Roots . . ., 8th Edition 9:30, married Hugh de Audley and was the mother of Hugh de Audley who married Margaret de Clare; 207:31 - Isole was previously married to Walter de Balun, her daughter with Hugh de Audley was Alice who married Ralph Greystoke and married second, Ralph de Neville. ¹⁶⁰

  Noted events in her life were:

• From Gen-Medieval Archives: Solution to the identity of Iseult, wife of Hugh de Audley . ¹⁹³
From: royalancestry@msn.com (Douglas Richardson)
Subject: Solution to the identity of Iseult. wife of Hugh de Audley
Date: 25 Jan 2002 01:32:47 -0800

Dear Newsgroup ~

Last week I expressed my doubts that Iseult, wife of Hugh de Audley, of Stratton (in Stratton Audley), co. Oxford, was the daughter of Edmund de Mortimer, Baron of Wigmore, co. Hereford. I made that assessment based on a careful review of the evidence, which, in my opinion, simply did not support such a filiation.

Upon further review of the evidence offline with Chris Phillips, we established that the sole source for Iseult's parentage appears to be one of the unpublished "Additional Manuscripts" kept by the British Library. Chris has since examined the manuscript in question and determined that either the manuscript or folio number cited by modern sources is in error. As such, it doesn't seem possible any time soon for us to learn the nature of the information supposedly recorded in the Additional Manuscripts material. Regardless, while that avenue has reached a dead end, it appears another door has opened which appears to provide the correct solution to the problem.

Tonight while I was going through the biography of Sir James de Audley in George Frederick Beltz' interesting book, Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter (1841), I discovered a statement pertaining to Sir James de Audley's family, which almost certainly relates to relatives of his grandmother, Iseult de Audley. Beltz states that Sir James de Audley was severely wounded in the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. According to Beltz, Froissart (a contemporary historian) relates that "upon his return to his lodging, our knight [Sir James de Audley] sent for his brother sir Peter de Audeley, sir Bartholomew Burghershe, sir Stephen Cosington, the lord Willoughby, and sir Ralph de Ferrers, who, he says, were of his blood and lineage."

This list of Audley kinsmen is similar to the list of people Nat Taylor posted last week in the Bohun-Basset consanguinity case, in that the people named were probably distantly related to one another, making it somewhat difficult to pinpoint the exact link tying the people together. Not surprisingly, in a footnote, Beltz adds: "... Sir James' relationship to the four last-named knights does not appear," showing that Beltz was stymied in his attempt to determine the common link between the five individuals.

Reviewing the list of the men called kinsmen by Sir James de Audley, a good deal is known of the ancestry of three of these individuals, namely Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, 4th Lord Burghersh; John de Willoughby, 2nd Lord Willoughby of Eresby; and Sir Ralph de Ferrers. Reviewing the ancestry of Sir Bartholomew Burghersh, for example, it is apparent at once that he was great-grandson of Edmund de Mortimer, lst Lord Mortimer, who is the alleged father of Sir James de Audley's grandmother, Iseult. This would surely be strong confirmation that Iseult de Audley definitely had a Mortimer connection.

Reviewing the ancestry of the other two individuals, John de Willoughby and Ralph de Ferrers, however, it shows they possess no such link to the Mortimer family. Rather, they both descend from William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby (died 1254). Ralph de Ferrers was grandson of the 5th Earl, while John de Willoughby was great-grandson of the 5th Earl.

Given the common link between John de Willoughby and Ralph de Ferrers, it is difficult to explain their intended tie to Sir James de Audley, if in fact Sir James' grandmother, Iseult, was the daughter of Edmund de Mortimer, lst Lord Mortimer, as alleged in print. Iseult as Edmund's daughter would seemingly have no connection to William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. However, checking the accounts of the various families, a neat solution has appeared on the horizon. My Mortimer family notes show that Edmund de Mortimer had an uncle, Hugh de Mortimer (died 1273) of Chelmarsh, who married Agatha de Ferrers (died 1306), daughter of William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby. If Iseult de Audley was the child of Hugh and Agatha, it would give her grandson, Sir James de Audley, the needed links to both the Mortimer and Ferrers families. Also, it would solve the obvious chronology problem of Iseult being Edmund de Mortimer's daughter.

When anyone has a moment, I'd appreciate comments on this placement of Iseult as a member of the Mortimer family. By placing Iseult as Hugh de Mortimer's daughter, she becomes granddaughter rather than great-granddaughter of the ever popular lady on the newsgroup, Gladys Dhu.

In closing, I wish to express my thanks to Chris Phillips for his continued efforts in helping to solve these difficult and longstanding medieval problems. Friendship and collegiality are the two of the keys to solving the many genealogical mysteries which have long eluded us.

Best always, Douglas Richardson, Salt Lake City, Utah
E-mail: royalancestry@msn.com

Isolde married Hugh Audley Lord Audley of Heleigh, son of James de Audley Justiciar of Ireland and Ela de Longespée.⁷²¹ (Hugh Audley Lord Audley of Heleigh was born about 1267 in Audley, Staffordshire, England ⁷²¹ and died between Nov 1325 and Mar 1326 in Wllingford Castle, England ⁷²¹.)