"
It is remarkable that this discrepancy in Sir John Cobham's age, and the
time of his supposed mother's marriage with his father, has never before,
as far as my knowledge extends, been noticed by any of the numerous writers
who have repeated Dugdale's account of this family.
Before concluding I will mention another mistake respecting the Countess
which runs through most of our county histories where she is named. For a
short period she became an inmate of the Abbey of Langley, and is generally
stated to have entered it previously to her marriage with Sir Ralph de
Cobham. Clutterbuck, in his _History of Hertfordshire_ (vol. ii. p. 512.),
for instance, relates the circumstance in these words:--
{54}
"In the 19th year of the reign of Edward III., she became a nun in the
Abbey of Langley, in the country of Norfolk; but quitting that
religious establishment, she married Sir Ralph Cobham, Knt., and died
anno 36 Edward III."
By _Cal. Ing. P. Mortem_, vol. i. p. 328., we find that Ralph Cobham died
19th Edward III.[2], that is, the same year in which the Countess entered
the Abbey, from whence we may conclude that she retired there to pass in
seclusion the period of mourning.
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