Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex (1409 – 2 October 1484) was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, and a great-granddaughter of Edward III of England.
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Early life
Isabel of York, the only daughter of Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne de Mortimer, was born about 1409. Through her father, she was the granddaughter of King Edward III's fourth surviving son, Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, and his first wife, Isabella of Castile. Through her mother, Anne de Mortimer, Isabel was the granddaughter of Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, and Lady Alianore Holland (granddaughter of Lady Joan of Kent, Princess of Wales) and the great-great-granddaughter of Edward III's second surviving son, Lionel of Antwerp.
Isabel's father, Richard, Earl of Cambridge, was beheaded on 5 August 1415 for his part in the Southampton Plot against King Henry V. Although the Earl's title was forfeited, he was not attainted, and Isabel's brother, Richard, then aged four, was his father's heir. Within a few months of his father's death, Richard's childless uncle, Edward of Norwich, 2nd Duke of York, was slain at the Battle of Agincourt on 25 October 1415, and Isabel's brother was eventually his uncle's heir as well.
