Eleanor Cobham (Sterborough Castle, Kent, c. 1400 – c. 1452 or 1454 Peel Castle, Isle of Man) was an English noblewoman.
Lineage
She was daughter of Sir Reynald Cobham, of Sterborough, Kent[1], 3rd Lord Cobham (son of Sir Reynold Cobham, 2nd Lord Cobham of Sterborough, and wife Eleanor Maltravers), and his wife Eleanor Culpeper, daughter of Sir Thomas Culpeper, of Rayal.
Wife to the King's Brother
She was wife to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, a son of Henry IV of England and his first wife Mary de Bohun, and a brother of King Henry V.
Mistress
She married Humphrey three years after his marriage was declared invalid, c. 1431. She was an attendant to Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut, first wife of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. She was also Humphrey’s mistress during his first marriage.
Close to the Throne
In 1435, after the death of his older brother John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, Humphrey became the heir to their nephew Henry VI of England.
Charges of Witchcraft
In 1441 three priests, Roger Bolingbroke, Eleanor's secretary; John Hunne, her chaplain; and Thomas Southwell were executed for conspiring to kill the king by witchcraft. Eleanor was tried on the same charges and admitted five of the twenty-eight counts.
The authorities sentenced her to do public penance in London, divorced her from Humphrey and imprisoned her for life.
Exile
She was exiled in the Isle of Man.
Children
References
- ^ The Complete Peerage says Sterborough is in Surrey
Further reading
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