Eleanor de Clare: The only female Constable of the Tower of London
Date: 15 June 2026
Author:
Kate Clements
Image: Detail of the east window, Tewkesbury Abbey by Philip Halling. Figure believed to be Eleanor de Clare.
Throughout the Tower of London’s extensive history there have been hundreds of Constables in charge of it, but only one of them has been a woman.
Her name was Eleanor de Clare and she had a close, if turbulent, relationship with the royal fortress.
Eleanor’s uncle, King Edward II, made her Constable of the Tower as he fled London during a mob uprising in 1326. She held out for a month, before being forced to surrender to London’s citizens. She was then imprisoned in the Tower – twice.
Here, Curator Kate Clements tells the story of Eleanor’s remarkable life, and her time as the first – and only – woman to be Tower Constable.
Under siege in the Tower
It is October 1326 and the people of London are rioting, looting, and murdering those close to the King.
Eleanor de Clare, heavily pregnant and alone, is in charge of the Tower of London. She is safe behind its walls for now, but the mob is growing more violent, and it is uncertain how much longer she can hold out.
Finally, after a month of being Constable of the Tower, she is forced to hand it over and admit defeat.
But just who was Eleanor, and how did she end up in this unlikely role?
Image: Reconstructed view of the Tower of London with the Great Hall, 1300. © Historic Royal Palaces.
The Lady of Clare
Eleanor was born at Caerphilly Castle, Wales, in 1292. She was the eldest granddaughter of King Edward I, and the eldest daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, Lord of Glamorgan.
Aged just 13, she was married to Hugh Despenser the Younger, to settle one of the King’s debts. Hugh was 16 or 18, and from a respectable but not wealthy family. Eleanor brought with her a sizeable dowry, prestige, and royal connections. The couple went on to have nine children together.
In 1316, Caerphilly Castle was attacked by Welsh rebel leader Llywelyn Bren’s forces. Eleanor, ‘the Lady of Clare’, led the small castle garrison, and it held out against this onslaught.
Image: Illustration from 1902 depicting the coronation of King Edward II. © Historic Royal Palaces.
Favourites of the King
In 1307, Eleanor’s uncle became King Edward II. She was made a lady-in-waiting to his queen, Isabella, daughter of King Philip IV of France. Hugh became the king’s chamberlain, a senior and influential role in the royal household.
Eleanor and Hugh were great favourites of the King, enjoying gifts, land, titles, and huge power at Court. This caused jealousy, and made them unpopular with rivals, including Queen Isabella.
Such was Eleanor’s status as Edward’s favourite, there were even rumours of an affair between them. Contemporary chroniclers stated that Edward treated Eleanor as his queen, and speculated that she was pregnant by him in 1326. Edward’s household accounts record the gifts he lavished on Eleanor. These included the huge sum of 100 marks, as well as 47 caged goldfinches in October 1325.
Edward and Isabella had a troubled marriage. Edward and Hugh instructed Eleanor to spy on Isabella, and read all her letters. This enraged the queen, who vowed to destroy Hugh.
The London Uprising
In September 1326, Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, invaded England from France and advanced on London with 1,500 troops.
King Edward and his loyal favourites were in residence at the Tower. Both he and Isabella appealed to Londoners for support but the city backed the Queen. Edward failed to raise an army, and realised he had to flee.
Destroy Sir Hugh Despenser, our enemy and the enemy of the whole realm, as you well know
Letter from Isabella to the people of London, 6 October 1326
Leaving Eleanor in charge of the Tower, Edward and Hugh escaped west towards Wales. As Isabella and Mortimer pursued them, London erupted in violence.
Edward was a disastrous ruler, who had quarrelled with his barons, caused civil war, and suffered defeat in Scotland. Those associated with him were also highly unpopular. From mid-October, Londoners invaded and looted the homes of Edward’s supporters, including Walter Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter and Lord High Treasurer. A frenzied mob burned down his house, then dragged him from his horse as he tried to escape and butchered him to death with a knife. The home of Edward’s bankers, the Bardi family, was also targeted.
The enraged citizens captured and killed John Marshal, thought to be a spy working for Hugh Despenser. They even attacked and murdered Arnold de Hispania, a merchant from Spain who was blamed for taxes on wine.
It was against this backdrop of a violent, anarchic city – loyal to Isabella – that her enemy, Eleanor de Clare, had to defend a besieged Tower against an angry mob.
Eleanor and the Tower
We can only imagine how Eleanor must have felt to be Constable of the Tower during the bloodshed and turmoil of the London Uprising.
The Tower Constable was in charge of the fortress, looking after its operation, upkeep and security and all those within its walls, including its prisoners.
Women as castle constables were unusual but not unheard of in the Middle Ages. As the King’s niece, and having successfully commanded Caerphilly Castle before, Eleanor was perhaps a natural choice for the role.
But despite her experience, in mid-November, Eleanor was compelled to hand over the fortress to the citizens of London. Rioters broke into the Tower, seized control, grabbed the keys and arrested Eleanor.
They also freed all the prisoners, including Mortimer’s sons, and found King Edward’s second eldest son Prince John in the royal apartments. The prince, aged 10, was declared Warden of the City, and John de Gisors, loyal to Isabella, became Constable of the Tower.
Eleanor was imprisoned in the Tower on 17 November, along with one of her sons. Several of her daughters were forcibly placed in convents, and her lands were confiscated.
Image: Exterior of St Thomas' Tower, part of the Medieval Palace at the Tower of London. © Historic Royal Palaces.
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The fate of Edward and Hugh
London soon fell to Isabella, which was a key part of her invasion’s success. Meanwhile, she and her allies captured King Edward and Hugh Despenser in November.
The King was imprisoned and forced to abdicate in favour of his eldest son, who was crowned King Edward III. Hugh was put on trial in Hereford, and sentenced to death for treason. In front of a crowd baying for his blood, and witnessed by Isabella and Mortimer, Hugh suffered a brutal execution. He was hanged, drawn and quartered, and was also emasculated and beheaded, to the cheers of onlookers.
Hugh’s body parts were displayed in Newcastle, York, Dover and Bristol. His head was mounted on London Bridge, while Eleanor was imprisoned nearby in the Tower of London.
Image: Detail of a 15th century manuscript showing Isabella and Roger in the foreground and Hugh on the scaffold in the background. The British Library (Public domain)
Released...and abducted
Eleanor was released from the Tower over a year later, in February 1328, and her lands were restored to her two months later.
But in 1329, Eleanor was abducted from Hanley Castle by William la Zouche. William had supported Isabella, and been one of Edward II’s captors.
William and Eleanor married in January 1329. But soon after their wedding, Roger Mortimer, acting in the name of King Edward III, issued orders for their arrest.
Back in the Tower
Eleanor was imprisoned in the Tower yet again. This time, she was accused of stealing jewels from the fortress. She was later moved and kept in Devizes Castle in Wiltshire.
In December 1329, Eleanor was forced to surrender her lands and titles to the crown. She was released in January 1330, but her possessions were still forfeit, and could only be regained for £50,000, an enormous sum of money at the time.
In October 1330, Mortimer fell from power. He was imprisoned in the Tower and then executed, having made too many enemies acting as regent to the King.
Eleanor now benefitted as her cousin, King Edward III, began ruling on his own. He reduced the fee for reclaiming her lands, which she paid in instalments.
Image: Tewkesbury Abbey, where Eleanor was buried, by Philip Halling.
Later life and death
It is unclear whether Eleanor was forced into her second marriage or if she entered it willingly. The couple had at least one child, and remained married until William’s death in February 1337.
In December 1330, Edward III ordered Hugh Despenser’s remains to be taken off public display, after four years. Eleanor had them interred in Tewkesbury Abbey, and built a tomb in his memory.
Eleanor died on 30 June 1337, aged 44. She was also buried at Tewkesbury. She and Hugh had funded the rebuilding of the Abbey and she is commemorated in a stained-glass window there (see image at top of this page).
A life of mixed fortune
Born into a wealthy family and attaining huge power and influence, Eleanor also suffered defeat, imprisonment, disinheritance and widowhood.
Although Eleanor briefly held the traditionally male role of Tower Constable, ultimately her life was determined by the men in it: her husbands, Hugh and William; her uncle Edward II; her enemy Roger Mortimer; and her nephew Edward III.
Like most medieval noblewomen, she had little agency over her life. Her first marriage was to settle a debt; her second, the result of abduction. The power and wealth she obtained as the King’s favourite was taken away by her enemies.
Nothing survives of Eleanor’s own thoughts on her life, or how she felt about her fate being so dependent on the powerful men she was related to. But the fact she held the Tower for a month against a mob uprising – and later reclaimed her lands and status – indicates she must have had great strength of character.