Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester


Elizabeth of Vermandois was a French noblewoman, who by her two marriages was the mother of the 1st Earl of Worcester, the 2nd Earl of Leicester, the 3rd Earl of Surrey, and of Gundred de Warenne, mother of the 4th Earl of Warwick.
It is believed that she was the source of the famous chequered shield of gold and blue adopted at the dawn of the age of heraldry by her brother and originating before the middle of the 12th century, as did only two other groups of allied English shields, the Mandeville-de Vere "quarterly shields" and the de Clare "chevron shields".

Origins

Elizabeth was the third daughter of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois and Adelaide of Vermandois. Her father was the younger son of King Henry I of France, while her mother was the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois and Adele of Valois.

First marriage

She was the wife successively of two Anglo-Norman magnates, firstly of Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, by whom she had twin sons, and secondly of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, by whom she had a further son and a daughter Gundred de Warenne.
In 1096 Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester reputed to be the "wisest man in his time between London and Jerusalem" insisted, in defiance of the laws of the Church, on marrying the very young Elizabeth, he being over fifty at the time. In early 1096 Bishop Ivo, on hearing of the proposed marriage, wrote a letter forbidding the marriage and preventing its celebration on the grounds of consanguinuity, i.e. that the two were related within prohibited degrees.
In April 1096 Elizabeth's father was able to convince Pope Urban II to issue a dispensation for the marriage, and departed on the Crusade preached by that pope, his last act being to see his daughter married to Robert.
Robert was a nobleman of some significance in France, having inherited lands from his maternal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan. He gained renown fighting in his first battle, in command of the right wing, at the Battle of Hastings as one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror. He was rewarded with ninety manors in the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Warwickshire and Wiltshire. The count of Meulan was one of Henry I's "four wise counsellors and was one of the king's commanders at the Battle of Tinchebray" 28 September 1106. In 1107 Robert became Earl of Leicester.
By de Beaumont she had three sons and five or six daughters as follows:

Second marriage

Elizabeth married William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey soon after the death of her first husband in 1118.
William had sought a royal bride in 1093, but failed in his attempt to wed Matilda of Scotland, who later married King Henry I.
The historian James Planché claimed in 1874 that she was seduced by or fell in love with William before Robert's death, resulting in an affair. However, the evidence for any affair is lacking.
Elizabeth survived her second husband.
By William de Warenne she had three sons and two daughters: