Isabel de Bolebec

Who was Isabel de Bolebec?

Isabel de Bolebec, Countess of Oxford, was the eldest daughter and co-heiress of Hugh de Bolebec II, Lord of Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, and his wife, Margaret de Montfichet. She married Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford, and was a benefactress of the Order of Friars Preacher in England.

Isabel de Bolebec was the daughter and co-heiress of Hugh de Bolebec II, Lord of Whitchurch, Buckinghamshire, and his wife, Margaret de Montfichet. She had a brother, Walter, and a sister, Constance, the wife of Ellis de Beauchamp. In 1206-7 she and Constance were co-heirs to their niece, Isabel de Bolebec, daughter of their brother, Walter, and wife of Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford.

Isabel's first husband was Henry de Nonant, Lord of Totnes, Devon, who died childless in 1206. After his death, Isabel petitioned the Crown in 1207 for the right to marry whom she wished. That same year she married Robert de Vere, by whom she had a son, Hugh de Vere, 4th Earl of Oxford.

In 1214 Robert inherited the earldom at the death of his brother, Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford, without legitimate heirs, and Isabel became Countess of Oxford.