Marie de St Pol
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Marie de St Pol de Valence (c.1303-) was the wife of Aymer de Valence, the Earl of Pembroke, and is best known as the founder of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
The daughter of Guy III of Châtillon, legend has it that she was maiden, wife, and widow all in the space of a single day when her husband Aymer de Valence was killed in front of her in a friendly jousting match, on their wedding day. However, this is probably apocryphal as documentation suggests he died of apoplexy after three years of marriage. Marie was only seventeen when she married, whilst her husband was already fifty.
In 1347, Marie obtained license from Edward III to establish an educational establishment in the still young university town of Cambridge. The resulting college was known as the Hall of Marie Valence, and is known today as Pembroke College, home to over 600 students and professors.
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