Aveline de Clare

Who is Aveline de Clare?

Aveline de Clare, countess of Essex, was a daughter of Roger of Clare, earl of Hertford and Matilda de St. Hilaire. She married twice. Her first husband, William de Montchaney, died in 1204. She was remarried by May 29, 1205, to Geoffrey fitz Peter, earl of Essex, as his second wife. She was widowed a second time on October 14, 1213.

King John granted the royal right over her remarriage to her step-brother, William earl of Arundel, along with the guardianship of her children by William de Munchanesy, on May 7, 1204. Soon after her second marriage she paid the crown for the wardship of John de Wahulle and custody of his land. In her second widowhood, Countess Aveline made gifts to Holy Trinity, London, for the soul of Geoffrey fitz Peter, part of whose body was buried there. She was buried in Shouldham priory, founded by Geoffrey fitz Peter in 1198, alongside the rest of her husband's body.