Margaret of Brotherton, Duchess of Norfolk (c. 1320-March 24, 1398) was Countess of Norfolk from 1338 to 1398. She was the daughter of Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, by his first wife Alice Hayles. She became heiress to the Earldom after the death of her childless brother, Edward , in 1334.
She married firstly in 1337 to Sir John de Segrave, 4th Lord Segrave by whom she had four children:
- Edmund de Segrave, died in the cradle.
- Elizabeth de Segrave (1338-1368)
- John de Segrave (September 13, 1340-1349)
- Anne de Segrave, Abbess of Barking
In 1350, Margaret and John de Segrave began seeking a divorce based on the premise that they were contracted in marriage before she was of age, and that she had never consented to marry him. Furthermore, she had begun a relationship with a knight of great reknown, Sir Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny , as she crossed the channel in October 1350 to meet with him in Calais, without the king's permission. The inquisition regaring this incident shows that Margaret illegally crossed the Channel and met with Manny's servant, who broke his lantern with his foot so she could pass unnoticed.
John de Segrave died in 1353, before their divorce could be finalized; the next year Margaret wed Walter Manny shortly before May 30, 1354, and they had two more children:
- Thomas Manny, drowned in a well as a boy.
- Anne Manny, wife of John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Sir Walter died in 1371. Margaret never remarried, and as a widow was created Duchess of Norfolk for life in 1397, even though her grandson Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk had already succeeded to the honor of Norfolk. Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk, died in 1398 and was buried in the choir of the Grey Friars, London.
Sources
- Complete Peerage, Vol.9, sub. Norfolk
- Calendar Inquisitions Miscellaneous, vol. 3, 1937
- Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers: Letters, 4, 1902
- Segrave, Charles. The Segrave Family: 1066 to 1935.
