Mary (Bohun) de Bohun LG (abt. 1369 - 1394)

Born about 1369 in England

Ancestors

Wife of Henry (Lancaster) of England KG — married before 11 Feb 1381 in Rochford, Essex, England [uncertain]

Descendants

Died 4 Jul 1394 at about age 25 in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, England

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Biography

Mary was the daughter of Humphrey de Bohun^[1] and Joan FitzAlan. She was said to be age 3 or 4 in 1373 when her father died.^[2][3]

The French chronicler Froissart records a tale that Thomas of Woodstock, who was married to Mary's sister Eleanor, tried to persuade Mary to join the religious order of the Poor Clares so that he could obtain the whole of the Bohun lands. This may well be just ill-founded gossip.^[1]

Before 11 February 1381 Mary married Henry of Lancaster, known as Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV. Douglas Richardson,^[2][3] Cokayne,^[4]and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography^[1] give the marriage place as Rochford, Essex. Wikipedia^[5] and T Anna Leese^[6] give it as Arundel Castle, Sussex. Charles Cawley's 'Medieval Lands"^[7] and Alison Weir^[8] give it as either Rochford or Arundel Castle. The marriage seems to have been a loving one - Henry sent frequent gifts to Mary.^[1] They had at least six children:

• the future Henry V of England, born in 1386 or 1387^[1][2][3]
• Thomas of Lancaster, born in September 1388^[2][3]
• John of Lancaster, born in June 1389^[2][3]
• Humphrey of Lancaster, born in October 1390^[2][3]
• Blanche of Lancaster, born in 1392^[2][3]
• Philippa of Lancaster, born in July 1394^[2][3]

Douglas Richardson,^[2][3] Alison Weir^[8] and T Anna Leese^[6] say that Mary had an unnamed offspring born in 1382, who died in infancy: Wikipedia (citing Ian Mortimer's The Fears of Henry IV, Jonathan Cape, 2007, appendix 2) disagrees with Douglas Richardson and suggests that this infant was not Mary's child but a nephew, child of Thomas of Woodstock, uncle of Bolingbroke.^[9] As Charles Cawley points out in 'Medieval Lands', if Mary was born in 1369 or 1370, she would have been rather young to have had such a child in 1382.^[7]

Through his marriage to Mary de Bohun, Henry became Earl of Hereford and Earl of Northampton:^[2][3] the fees of these earldoms were assigned to her from 22 December 1384.^[10]

Mary died giving birth to her daughter Philippa^[1] at Peterborough Castle, Northamptonshire on 4 July 1394. She was buried at the Newarke, Leicester, Leicestershire^[2][3] in a mausoleum established by her husband's grandfather Henry, Earl of Lancaster and Derby.^[11]

In 1413 her son Henry V commissioned an effigy for her from a London coppersmith, "ornamented with divers armes of the kings of England".^[11] The Complete Peerage erroneously states that she was buried in Canterbury Cathedral: Henry IV's second wife was buried there.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry for 'Henry IV', print and online 2004, revised online 2021
2. ↑ ^{2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. II, pp. 544-554, LANCASTER 9, Google Books
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. III, pp. 500-513, LANCASTER 11
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VII, St Catherine Press 1929, pp.417-418, Internet Archive
5. ↑ Wikipedia: Mary de Bohun
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} T Anna Leese. Blood Royal, Issue of the Kings and Queens of Medieval England 1066-1399, Heritage Books 2007, p. 215
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Charles Cawley. HENRY "of Bolingbroke", entry in "Medieval Lands" database (accessed 31 December 2021)
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Alison Weir. Britain’s Royal Families, new edition, Pimlico 2002, reissued by Vintage Books 2008, p.124
9. ↑ Wikipedia: Henry IV of England
10. ↑ G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. VI, St Catherine Press, 1926, p. 477, viewable on Familysearch
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Maureen Duffy. Royal Tombs of Medieval England, The History Press 2003, p. 154-155

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was developed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 31 December 2021 and was reviewed the same day by Thiessen-117.

Mary appears in a trail between Gateway Ancestor Thomas Lloyd and Magna Carta Surety Baron Henry de Bohun that was badged by the Magna Carta Project on 31 December 2021. See the trail in the Magna Carta Trails section of the Gateway's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".