Title:

Duchess

First Name:

Alice

Last Name:

Chaucer

Memorial Type:

Memorial - extant tomb effigy

Does the monument still exist?

Yes

Installation Date:

Contemporary (pre-1500)

Inscription:

Orate pro Anima Serenissimae Principissae Aliciae Ducissae Suffolciae Huius Ecclesiae Patronae, et Primae Fundatricis Huius Eleemosynariae Quae obit XX Die Mensis Maii Anno 1475 (taken from https://web.archive.org/web/20060903144303/http://www.fordsfarm.co.uk/Ewelme-VII.html)

Condition:

Good

Condition Description:

For an alabaster tomb of this age it is remarkably undamaged

Memorial Notes:

Alice Chaucer's third husband, William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk was murdered in 1450, triggering Cade's rebellion (and her own influence was such that the rebels conducted a mock trial of her). After her son John's marriage to Lady Margaret Beaufort had been dissolved by Henry VI, Alice arranged for him to marry Richard duke of York's daughter, Elizabeth. Alice later received custody of Margaret of Anjou in the early 1470s. This is an exceptionally fine cadaver tomb decorated with coats of arms of Alice's three husbands as well as many relating to her own maternal relations in particular. She wears the Garter insignia on her left forearm. According to her OxfordDNB entry it was commissioned in 1470. Photos available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Tomb_of_Alice_de_la_Pole,_Duchess_of_Suffolk,_at_Ewelme