Mary de Bohun

Mary de Bohun (c. 1369/70^[a] – 4 June 1394) was the first wife of Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Northampton, who after her death became King Henry IV. As she died before her husband came to the throne, Mary was never queen. She and Henry had six children together, including the future Henry V.

Mary de Bohun
Countess of Northampton Countess of Derby (by courtesy)
Mary as a child in the Psalter of Mary de Bohun
Born	c. 1369/70
Died	4 June 1394 Peterborough Castle, Kingdom of England
Burial	6 July 1394 The Collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester
Spouse	Henry Bolingbroke ​ (m. 1381)​
Issue	Henry V, King of England Thomas, Duke of Clarence John, Duke of Bedford Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester Blanche, Countess Palatine Philippa, Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Father	Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
Mother	Joan FitzAlan

Early life

Mary was a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford and Joan FitzAlan,^[2] a daughter of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel, and Eleanor of Lancaster.^[3]

Mary and her elder sister, Eleanor de Bohun, were the heiresses of their father's substantial possessions.^[1] Eleanor became the wife of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, the youngest child of Edward III.^[1] In an effort to keep the entire inheritance for himself and his wife, Thomas of Woodstock pressured the child Mary into becoming a nun.^[4] In a plot with John of Gaunt, Mary's aunt took her from Thomas' castle at Pleshey in Essex back to Arundel, whereupon she was married to Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV of England.^[4]

Marriage and children

Mary married Henry—then known as Bolingbroke—on 5 February 1381,^[5] at Arundel Castle. It was at Monmouth Castle, one of her husband's possessions, that Mary gave birth to her first child, the future Henry V, on 16 September 1386. Her second child, Thomas, was born probably at London shortly before 25 November 1387.^[6]

Her children were:^[b]

• Henry V, King of England (1386–1422)^[9]
• Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence (1387–1421)^[9]
• John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1389–1435)^[9]
• Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester (1390–1447)^[9]
• Blanche of England (1392–1409)^[9] married in 1402 Louis III, Elector Palatine^[10]
• Philippa of England (1394–1430)^[9] married in 1406 Eric of Pomerania, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden^[11]

Death

Mary de Bohun died at Peterborough Castle, giving birth to her daughter Philippa.^[12] She was buried in the collegiate Church of the Annunciation of Our Lady of the Newarke, Leicester, on 6 July 1394.^[13][14][15]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Mary de Bohun

8. Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford 4. William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton 9. Elizabeth of Rhuddlan 2. Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford 10. Bartholomew Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere 5. Elizabeth Badlesmere 11. Margaret de Clare 1. Mary de Bohun 12. Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel 6. Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel 13. Alice de Warenne 3. Joan FitzAlan 14. Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster 7. Eleanor of Lancaster 15. Maud Chaworth

Notes

1. "Mary (born in 1369-70) was naturally a matter of considerable interest to Buckingham. As long as she remained single, the entire Bohun inheritance would fall to him.^[1]
2. According to some sources,^[7][8] in 1382 she had a son who died shortly after birth. This is incorrect, as it is based on a misreading of a contemporary account book, by J. H. Wylie, in his biography of Henry IV (published in the 19th century). Wylie missed a line which made clear that the boy in question was Mary's nephew, Humphrey, 2nd Earl of Buckingham. There is no evidence that there was any child born to Mary at this time (when she was only about 14).^[6]