Alice Chaucer spelled her name "Alyce" in her signed documents (correspondence, deeds and grants).[1]. Alyce owned books in English, French and Latin, and there can be no doubt from a study of her life that she was literate in all three languages.[1] A partial inventory in 1466 lists 21 books among her personal library, including books used for the Mass, song books, books of advice to princes, an epic book of feudal wars in rhymed French, a book on the achievements of admirable women, and one of advice to women, a book "The Pilgrimage of the Life of Man" - an allegory in poetry and prose, and (one of several books commissioned by the Duchess of Suffolk), "Virtues of the Mass".[1]
Birth: Alyce Chaucer was born about 1404-5 (age 11 in 1415), [2] at Ewelme, Oxfordshire, England, the granddaughter of the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer.
Death
Alyce (Chaucer) (Philip) (Montague) de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk, died 20 May (or 9 June) 1475, and was buried at Ewelme, Oxfordshire, England.[3]
Burial
Duchess Alyce de Suffolk designed her own unique, canopied, altar tomb, which her son had built entirely of alabaster in St Mary the Virgin Church, a church Alyce and her husband, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, built at the village of Ewelme, Oxfordshire, England.[4][5]
Marriages and Children
Alyce Chaucer, daughter of Thomas and Maud (Burghersh) Chaucer, married as his 3rd wife Sir John Phelip(c. 1380-1415), son of William Philip by Julian Erpingham, before 21 Oct 1414.[2] Sir John Philip died at the siege of Harfleur 2 Oct 1415.[2] They had no issue.[2] She was below the canonical age and she returned to her parents home and her father managed her property.[6]
Alyce (Chaucer) Philip married 2nd, before Nov 1424, as his 2nd wife, Thomas Montagu, K.G., Earl of Salisbury. Thomas died at Meung-sur-Loire near Beaugency on 3 Nov 1428.[2]
Alyce (Chaucer) (Philip) (Montagu) married 3rd, by license dated 11 Nov 1430, William de la Pole, K.G., Duke, Marquess and Earl of Suffolk.[2] They had a son: John, 2nd Duke of Suffolk.[7]
John de la Pole, born 27 Sept 1442, 2nd duke of Suffolk, died c. 24 July 1492[2]
Alyce's husband, the first Duke of Suffolk, was murdered 2 May 1450.[2]
Alice Chaucer, Countess of Suffolk, (later Duchess of Suffolk), was appointed a Lady of the Garter by King Henry VI, who was monarch at that time. The Order of the Garter is the oldest and most prestigious of the chivalry orders in England.[9]
Sources
Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, Vol. II, p. 421-424
↑ 1.01.11.2The Library of Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk, pages
↑ 2.02.12.22.32.42.52.62.72.8Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, by Douglas Richardson (2011), Vol II, page 45, 345
↑ 3.03.13.23.3Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, by Douglas Richardson (2013), Vol IV, page 122
Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry, (2011), Douglas Richardson, Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, Royal Ancestry series, 2nd edition, 4 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2011), Vol II, page 45, 345
The Library of Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk, database online, (a pdf file) by Karen K. Jambeck, describing the books owned and used by Alyce, Duchess of Suffolk. Her known works are serious texts concerning religion, philosophy, and governing, and their collected wisdom is reflected in her history, (see particularly pages 131 - 134). Pages 106 - 135
St Mary The Virgin (Ewelme), database online at Oxfordshire Historic Churches Trust, [See website images for details of Alyce's tomb].
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Ewelme in South Oxfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time. Ewelme, Date accessed: 04th June 2016
List of Ladies of the Garter, database online at Wikipedia.org, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
Alice Chaucer de la Pole, database online, Created by: julia&keld, Record added: Aug 21, 2011. Find a Grave Memorial #75264052 [See excellent images of her tomb]
Source S-1024580409 Repository: #R-1720648035 Title: Ancestry Family Trees, Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Source: #S-1024580409Ancestry Family Trees
Repository R-1720648035 Ancestry.com
Ancestral File Number: B1NF-K6
Is Alyce your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
This week's featured connections are
Redheads:
Alyce is
5 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 19 degrees from Clara Bow, 28 degrees from Julia Gillard, 15 degrees from Nancy Hart, 16 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 19 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 21 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 19 degrees from Rose Leslie, 21 degrees from Damian Lewis, 21 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 22 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 21 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson
on our single family tree.
Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.