Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere

Margaret de Badlesmere, Baroness Badlesmere (née de Clare; c. 1 April 1287 – 22 October 1333/January 1334, disputed) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, suo jure heiress, and the wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere.

She was jailed at the Tower of London for a year, from November 1321 to November 1322, on account of having refused admittance and then ordering arrows to be fired on Isabella of France, Queen consort of Edward II of England and her group. Before Margaret had instructed her archers to fire upon Isabella and her escort, she had refused the Queen admittance to Leeds Castle, Kent, where her husband, Baron Badlesmere, held the post of governor, but which was legally the property of Queen Isabella as part of the latter's dower. Margaret surrendered the castle on 31 October 1321, after it was besieged by the King's forces using ballistas. Edward's capture of Leeds Castle was the catalyst that led to the Despenser War in the Welsh Marches and the north of England. Margaret became the first recorded female prisoner in the Tower's history.

Upon her release from the Tower, Margaret entered a religious life at the convent house of the Minorite Sisters outside Aldgate. King Edward granted her a stipend to pay for her maintenance.