Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury

Ela of Salisbury
suo jure Countess of Salisbury
Born1187
Amesbury, Wiltshire, England
Died24 August 1261 (aged 73–74)
Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire
Noble familyde Salisbury
Spouse(s)William Longespée
Issue
among others...
William II Longespée
Nicholas Longespée, Bishop of Salisbury
FatherWilliam FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Salisbury
MotherEléonore de Vitré

Ela of Salisbury, 3rd Countess of Salisbury (1187 – 24 August 1261) was an English peeress. She succeeded to the title in her own right in 1196 upon the death of her father, William FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Salisbury.[citation needed]

Ela married William Longespée, an illegitimate half-brother of kings Richard I and John, who thus became Earl of Salisbury, in 1196. Ela held the post of High Sheriff of Wiltshire for two years after William's death, then became a nun, and eventually Abbess of Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, which she had founded in 1229.