Ela of Salisbury | |
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suo jure Countess of Salisbury | |
Born | 1187 Amesbury, Wiltshire, England |
Died | 24 August 1261 (aged 73–74) Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire |
Noble family | de Salisbury |
Spouse(s) | William Longespée |
Issue among others... | William II Longespée Nicholas Longespée, Bishop of Salisbury |
Father | William FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Salisbury |
Mother | Eléonore 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.