Maud de Badlesmere

Maud de Badlesmere, Countess of Oxford (1310 – May 1366) was an English noblewoman, and the wife of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford. She, along with her three sisters, was a co-heiress of her only brother Giles de Badlesmere, 2nd Baron Badlesmere, who had no male issue.

At the age of 11 she was imprisoned in the Tower of London along with her mother, Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere and her four siblings, after the former refused Queen consort Isabella admittance to Leeds Castle and ordered an assault upon her when she attempted entry.

Maud was born at Castle Badlesmere, Kent, England in 1310, the second eldest daughter of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere and Margaret de Clare. She had three sisters, Margery, Elizabeth, and Margaret; all of whom eventually married and had issue. She had one brother, Giles.

Her paternal grandparents were Guncelin de Badlesmere and Joan FitzBernard, and her maternal grandparents were Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond and Juliana FitzGerald of Offaly.

On 14 April 1322, when she was twelve years of age, Maud's father was hanged, drawn and quartered by orders of King Edward II, following his participation in the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion and his subsequent capture after the Battle of Boroughbridge. Maud, her siblings, and her mother had been arrested the previous October after the latter had ordered an assault upon Queen consort Isabella after refusing her admittance to Leeds Castle where Baron Badlesmere held the post of governor. Maud's mother, Baroness Badlesmere, remained imprisoned in the Tower of London until 3 November 1322, although it is not known when Maud and her siblings were released. Her brother Giles obtained a reversal of their father's attainder in 1328, and he succeeded to the barony as 2nd Baron Badlesmere. Maud, along with her three sisters, was Giles's co-heiress, as he had married but fathered no children by his wife, Elizabeth Montagu.