Eleanor de Clare, suo jure 6th Lady of Glamorgan (October 1292 – 30 June 1337) was a powerful Anglo-Welsh noblewoman who married Hugh Despenser the Younger, the future favourite of Edward II of England, and was a granddaughter of Edward I of England. With her sisters, Elizabeth de Clare and Margaret de Clare, she inherited her father's estates after the death of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, 7th Earl of Hereford at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.

Marriage to Hugh Despenser the younger

In May 1306 at Westminster, Eleanor married Hugh le Despenser the Younger, the son of Hugh le Despenser, Earl of Winchester by his wife Isabella de Beauchamp, daughter of William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. Despenser thereby became Lord of Glamorgan. Her grandfather, King Edward I, granted Eleanor a dowry of 2,000 pounds sterling. Eleanor's husband rose to prominence as the new favourite of her uncle, King Edward II of England. The king strongly favoured Hugh and Eleanor, visiting them often and granting them many gifts.

Eleanor's fortunes changed drastically after the invasion in September 1326 of Edward's estranged wife, Queen Isabella, and her lover, Roger Mortimer, who overthrew the King; two months later, her husband Hugh was convicted of high treason and subsequently hanged, drawn, and quartered.

Issue

By Despenser Eleanor had nine children:

  1. Hugh le Despenser (/9 – 8 February 1349), Baron le Despenser, who was summoned to Parliament in 1338. At his death without issue, his nephew Edward, son of his brother Edward, was created Baron le Despenser in 1357.
  2. Edward le Despenser ( – 30 September 1342), soldier, killed at the siege of Vannes. By his wife Anne Ferrers he was the father of Edward Despenser, Knight of the Garter, who became Baron le Despenser in a new creation of 1357.
  3. Isabel le Despenser, Countess of Arundel ( – aft. 1356), married, as his 1st wife, Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel. The marriage was annulled and their child, Edmund, was disinherited.
  4. Joan le Despenser ( – 15 November 1384), nun at Shaftesbury Abbey
  5. Gilbert le Despenser ( – April 1382).
  6. John le Despenser ( – June 1366).
  7. Eleanor le Despenser ( – February 1351), nun at Sempringham Priory
  8. Margaret le Despenser ( – 1337), nun at Whatton Priory
  9. Elizabeth le Despenser ( – 13 July 1389), married Maurice de Berkeley, 4th Baron Berkeley.

Imprisonment

Despite being heavily pregnant, Eleanor was briefly made Constable of the Tower of London in October 1326, the only woman to ever hold this position, as King Edward II and her husband fled the London Uprising.

A month later, Eleanor was compelled to hand over custody of the Tower by the citizens of London and she was subsequently confined there.