Jambeck on Underhill, 'For Her Good Estate: the Life of Elizabeth De Burgh'

H-Albion Jambeck on Underhill, 'For Her Good Estate: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh'

Review published on Tuesday, May 1, 2001

Frances A. Underhill. For Her Good Estate: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999. 221 pp. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-312-21355-8.

Reviewed by Karen K. Jambeck (Department of English and Comparative Literature, Western Connecticut State University) Published on H-Albion (May, 2001)

"Good Stewardship and Imaginative Philanthropy" in the Fourteenth Century: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh

Frances Underhill's valuable account of a medieval woman best remembered for her benefactions to Cambridge University's Clare College will be welcomed by scholars and students of social, economic, art, and literary history. Coaxing precious details from the lady of Clare's household accounts, her will, her statutes for Clare College, and "various printed English royal calendars," Underhill offers important insights into the life of a remarkable fourteenth-century woman and her time.

During her lifetime, Elizabeth de Burgh (ca 1295-November 4, 1360) survived Anglo-Irish conflicts to which she lost her first husband and later her only son; England's Scottish wars, which claimed her brother's life; the baronial struggles that ended with the deposition of her uncle Edward II; the plague of 1348-49, which carried off several of her of her associates; and the first decades of the Hundred Years War, which marked the triumphs of her younger cousin and friend, the Black Prince. Moreover, having outlived three husbands by the time she was in her late twenties, Elizabeth succeeded in maintaining her family and her estates for four decades, despite political strife and economic and social turbulence.

Capturing key social and political trends, Underhill traces the early years of Elizabeth's life with all its vicissitudes. The third daughter of Joan of Acre and Gilbert de Clare, Elizabeth was married in 1308 to John de Burgh, the earl of Ulster's heir and lived with him in Ireland, where he was killed in 1313, a year after the birth of her first son. Upon returning to England, she was purportedly abducted by Theobald de Verdon, whom she later wed, although Underhill speculates this may have been a way for "the wealthy young widow to avoid the match planned for her by her uncle Edward II" (p. 15), especially since her mother and sister Eleanor had adopted similar strategies. In the brief period between February 1316--the time of her marriage to de Verdon--and May 1317, Elizabeth's second husband died; she retired to Amesbury Priory, where her daughter Isabella de Verdon was born; and she was forced by Edward II into a marriage with the marcher lord Roger Damory. In 1322 Damory was killed in a revolt against the Despensers and King Edward. Subsequently, his heirs were permanently disinherited; Elizabeth and her children were arrested; and the King confiscated Roger's lands. Although Elizabeth regained some of her inheritance along with dower and jointure lands, after lengthy legal struggles, she was deprived of many of her rightful holdings by Edward II and Hugh Despenser.

While little is known about Elizabeth's early years, Underhill skillfully draws upon evidence from the last four decades of her life to demonstrate that the lady of Clare "functioned in widowhood as an independent woman of the magnate class." Her achievements, Underhill contends, were based on "alternative methods" by which she "advance[d] herself: friendships, patronage of ecclesiastical and semi-clerical charities and foundations, exploitation of kinship ties, and the practice of good lordship" (p. 3). Inextricably linked to the politics of her time by family and friends, Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Edward I, the niece of Edward II, and the cousin of Edward III; moreover, her sister Eleanor was married to Hugh Despenser the younger, and her other sister, Margaret, to Piers Gaveston and, subsequently, Hugh Audley. Among her long-term friends was Queen Isabella. Of special interest in this connection is Underhill's contention that the lady of Clare supported the Queen in her struggles against Gaveston and Edward II. The evidence offered includes records of messengers dispatched to Isabella after her 1326 invasion and a secret indictment of the Despensers and Edward II dictated by Elizabeth (p. 38).

Underhill systematically illustrates how Elizabeth's keen grasp of the ways in which her world functioned helped her to build a political base (p. 119). The lady of Clare enjoyed direct and indirect advantages of being an heiress and a monarch's granddaughter, and despite her uneasy association with her uncle Edward II, she later enjoyed a more congenial relationship with his son Edward III. She maintained lasting and cordial rapport with her first father-in-law, the earl of Ulster, as well as with her own children and stepdaughters and their families, including her granddaughter Elizabeth, countess of Ulster, and Lionel of Antwerp. She also had enduring friendships with Mary de St Pol, countess of Pembroke; Joan of Bar, countess of Surrey; Edward of Woodstock, the Prince of Wales; Queen Isabella; and Henry, earl of Lancaster. Notably, she was able to maintain her long-term alliances with both Queen Isabella and Henry of Lancaster despite serious conflicts between the two. Underhill amasses convincing evidence to show that Elizabeth was loyal to family, friends, councilors, retainers, and even household servants, and that she was able to inspire their loyalty in return.

In addition to understanding the ways of the political and judicial world, which involved cultivating-- through patronage and gifts--positive relationships with both higher and lower government officials (119-124), Elizabeth also nurtured strong bonds with influential individuals near her principal estates, "building a network of deferential and friendly neighbors" (p. 126). Moreover, she established "strong and complex" ties with several churchmen. The lady's successes, according to Underhill, stemmed from her perspicacity, her sense of loyalty, and her generosity.

Elizabeth de Burgh's connections with religious establishments, Underhill maintains, were motivated by her wish to have "her good estate in this world and her salvation after death" (p. 135). Her fourteenth-century pilgrimages to Canterbury and to Walsingham are recorded, but, unfortunately, with only sparse details. Nevertheless, her spiritual concerns are evidenced by religious books, precious silver and gold chapel fittings, and devotional artworks. Additionally, she sponsored an anchorite, gave alms to the poor, and throughout her lifetime supported religious establishments, founding an Augustinian friary in Ireland before she was twenty. Subsequently, she contributed to and founded other religious establishments like Anglesey, and she funded building programs for friars and canons, instituted chantries, and founded a church at Clare castle and a friary at Walsingham. Her last achievement was restoring Cambridge University's University Hall, now Clare College, for which she provided statutes calling for "promot[ing] the advancement of divine worship, the welfare of the state, and the extension of sciences" (141). Acknowledging that it would be easy to

Citation: H-Net Reviews. Jambeck on Underhill, 'For Her Good Estate: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh'. H-Albion. 03-26-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/16749/reviews/17596/jambeck-underhill-her-good-estate-life-elizabeth-de-burgh Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2 H-Albion to attribute the statutes to clerics and learned men, Underhill points out that the "governing statutes tell a different story": Elizabeth de Burgh clearly retained the prerogative of interpreting and amending "the rules during her life, pointedly observing that 'we ought ... to know better than others what our intentions are'" (p. 142).

In her final "judgments," Underhill concludes that while fourteenth-century English aristocratic society offered women only slender opportunities for prestige, Elizabeth de Burgh "modeled a role for herself"; her "piety and generosity erased gender limitations" (p. 140). Observing that the lady of Clare engaged in actions and attitudes "that were typical of her class and her time," including practices that are "distasteful from a modern perspective" (for instance, "exploit[ing] the servile system"; seeking "to buy judicial outcomes"; and "capitaliz[ing] on her royal connections"), Underhill emphasizes that by exercising "good stewardship," by engaging in "imaginative philanthropy," and by exemplifying a positive model for women, Elizabeth de Burgh "left a legacy more meaningful and precious than most of her more famous noble contemporaries" (p. 152).

Frances Underhill's thoroughgoing research constitutes a major contribution to the growing body of knowledge of 14th- and 15th-century English women who played important roles in the life of their time, like Elizabeth Berkeley, countess of Warwick; Anne of Stafford, countess of Buckingham; and Alice Chaucer, duchess of Suffolk.

Copyright 2001 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at [email protected].

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Citation: Karen K. Jambeck. Review of Underhill, Frances A.,For Her Good Estate: The Life of Elizabeth de Burgh. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. May, 2001.URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=5149

Copyright © 2001 by H-Net, all rights reserved. H-Net permits the redistribution and reprinting of this work for nonprofit, educational purposes, with full and accurate attribution to the author, web location, date of publication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposed use, contact the Reviews editorial staff at [email protected].