Alice de Lacy, 4th Countess of Lincoln
| Alice de Lacy | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Lincoln and Salisbury | |
| Born |
25 December 1281 Denbigh Castle, Denbigh |
| Died | 2 October 1348 (aged 66) Barlings Abbey, Lincolnshire |
| Spouse |
Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster m. 1294; div. c. 1318 Eubulus le Strange, 1st Baron Strange m. bef. 1324; dec. 1335 Hugh de Freyne, Baron Freyne m. bef. 1336; dec. c. 1336 |
| Father | Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln |
| Mother | Margaret Longespée |
Alice de Lacy,suo jure 4th Countess of Lincoln, suo jure 5th Countess of Salisbury (25 December 1281, Denbigh Castle – 2 October 1348, Barlings Abbey) was an English peeress.
Born on Christmas Day 1281, Alice was the only daughter and heir of Henry de Lacy, 3rd Earl of Lincoln and Margaret Longespée, 4th Countess of Salisbury suo jure (in her own right). Her mother Margaret was the great-granddaughter and ultimate heir of one of the illegitimate sons of Henry II of England, William Longespée (Longsword), whose nickname became his surname.
In her long and eventful life Alice was married three times, the first time at the age of 12; widowed three times; abducted; imprisoned; raped; and her inheritance extorted from her. Yet throughout her life she remained generous and respected by her subordinates and those who were dependent upon her.
Tragic accidents resulted in the deaths of Alice's two brothers in childhood. Edmund drowned in a well at Denbigh Castle and John fell to his death from a parapet at Pontefract Castle. As the sole surviving child this made Alice the heiress to two Earldoms, one from her father, and one from her mother. As a great prize on the marriage market, King Edward I of England arranged for her betrothal "in her 9th year" to his nephew Thomas of Lancaster, the heir to the Earldoms of Lancaster, Leicester and Derby. They married on 28 October 1294 when Alice was only 12 years old, and Thomas about 16. By the terms of their marriage settlement the bulk of her great inheritance from her father, which included the Earldom of Lincoln and many other estates, was to go to Thomas, with reversion to Thomas's heirs. In other words, during his lifetime Thomas had control of Alice's inheritance from her father. If Alice outlived Thomas, and had control of her father's inheritance returned to her on his death, then on her own death her father's inheritance would pass to Thomas's heirs. Her father also came to an agreement with the King that should Alice have no children, her father's Earldom of Lincoln would pass into the royal family on her death.
The marriage was not successful, they had no children, and they lived quite separate lives. Alice mostly lived alone in her castle of Pickering, Yorkshire, while Thomas took a host of mistresses, and fathered at least two illegitimate children.
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