of &oj$amcmt)'g &rabe, 113 



it was with a firm resolve to devote herself to the service 

 of her Maker, by cherishing the memory of her husband, 

 and taking care of her large family. 



It was happy for the Lady Ela that she was suffered 

 to remain in free widowhood; that even the powerful 

 Justiciary de Burgh and his aspiring nephew dared not 

 molest her. This was an especial favour, and as such 

 the countess ever regarded it, for ladies of large estates 

 were rarely permitted to continue single; their lands 

 and dignities passed by right of inheritance to persons 

 whom they were often constrained to marry.* Thus, at 

 the same period of English history, the rich heiress of 

 Albemarle conferred the title of earl successively on 

 her three husbands, William .Mandeville, William de 

 Fortibus, and Baldwin de Betun. The countess, there- 

 fore, being priviliged to continue in a widowed state, 

 exercised the office of Sheriff of Wiltshire, and that of 

 Castellan of Old Sarum, even when her son became of age, 

 and claimed, by his mother's wish, the investiture of the 

 earldom; the king his cousin refused it, not in dis- 

 pleasure, but according to the principles of feudal law ; 

 and hence it happened, that in consequence of the Lady 

 Ela's protracted life, the earldom of Salisbury continued 

 dormant, and as she survived both her son and grandson, 

 it was never renewed in the house of Longespe. The 

 great seal with which the countess ratified the many 

 legal instruments that were required in the administra- 

 * Book of Lacock Abbey. 



