Philippa of Hainault
| Philippa of Hainault | |
|---|---|
| Queen consort of England | |
| |
| Consort | January 24, 1328 - August 15, 1369 |
| Consort to | Edward III |
| Issue | |
| Edward, the Black Prince Isabella, Lady of Coucy Joan of England Lionel, 1st Duke of Clarence John, 1st Duke of Lancaster Edmund, 1st Duke of York Mary, Duchess of Brittany Margaret, Countess of Pembroke Thomas, 1st Duke of Gloucester | |
| Titles | |
| Her Grace The Queen Lady Philippa of Hainault | |
| Royal House | Plantagenet |
| Father | William I, Count of Hainaut |
| Mother | Joan of Valois |
| Born | June 24 1311 Valenciennes |
| Died | 15 August 1369 (aged 58) Windsor Castle |
| Buried | Westminster Abbey |
Philippa of Hainault (June 24, 1311 – August 15, 1369) was the Queen consort of Edward III of England. Born in Hainaut, Flanders (today France) she was married to Edward at 16, and they had 14 children, from whom all subsequent English monarchs are descended.
Philippa was known as a kind and loving woman who was loved by her British subjects, and her marriage was a successful one. In adulthood, however their sons John of Gaunt and Thomas of Woodstock, and grandsons King Richard II, Richard Langley, and Henry Bolingbroke were involved in a violent struggle for the throne of England which led to the Wars of Roses. Henry Bolingbroke, son of John of Gaunt, eventually replaced Richard II as king to become Henry IV.
Philippa survived all but five of her children during her 40-year marriage and died at 58 from dropsy. She was buried at Westminster Abbey, and eight years later her husband was laid to rest beside her.
Life
Philippa was born in Valenciennes in the County of Hinault and was the daughter of [[William I, Count of Hainaut|Count Guillaume/William I de Avesnes of Hainault and Holland]] (d. 1337)[1] and Jeanne of Valois, (d. 1352) the granddaughter of Philip III of France. She was raised in the cultured court of Hainault where she developed literary tastes and an interest in learning.
Her marriage to King Edward III of England was arranged by Edward's mother, Isabella of France. They were second cousins who had met previously and enjoyed each others' company. On January 24, 1328, they were married—he was 15 and she was 16—11 months after his accession to the English throne, following the death of his father. However, Edward's mother, Isabella of France, ruled as regent together with her lover, Roger Mortimer.
Philippa was crowned as queen in 1330 in which year she also gave birth to a son. Unlike many of her predecessors, she did not alienate the English people by retaining her foreign retinue upon her marriage or bringing large numbers of foreigners to the English court.
When Edward was nearly 18, he determined to govern the kingdom without the influence of his domineering mother and her lover Mortimer. He thus staged a coup, exiled his mother up in Castle Rising, and sent Mortimer to the Tower of London, where he was sentenced to die. Edward then began a series of reforms to correct many abuses caused by Isabella and Mortimer, engaged in various military campaigns, and encouraged trade with other nations.
Unlike many queens, Philippa accompanied her husband on his military expeditions, for example to the Kingdom of Scotland (1333) and Flanders (1338-40), where she won acclaim for her gentleness and compassion. She is best remembered as the tender-hearted woman who interceded with her husband and persuaded him to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais (1346) whom he had planned to execute as an example to the townspeople following his successful siege of the city. She reportedly told him such an act would be be bad for their baby.
Philippa was appointed regent of England by Edward when he was absent on the Continent. At this time, the Scots invaded England as far south as Durham in 1346, Philippa raised an army and, challenging the enemy on a white horse, inspired her forces to win the battle of Neville's Cross, taking the Scottish King David II Bruce prisoner.
She also brought Flemish weavers to teach the English the craft, beginning with a little colony at Norwich, often going herself to look after them and encourage their work. She also encouraged coal-mining. She made the French poet and historian Jean Froissart her secretary. It was during the reign of her husband that English became the "official" language in 1363.
Edward and Philippa were reported to have been loving parents, doting on their brood. Philippa breast fed her children, which was virtually unheard of among the fourteenth century nobility. The royal couple did not force their eldest son, Edward, into a loveless marriage. Instead, he was allowed to marry for love relatively late in life, to Joan, his second cousin.
Philippa had grown portly in her later years, and this added to the view most of her English subjects had of her as a friendly, homely, motherly woman whom the nation greatly loved. She outlived nine of her 14 children; two of whom were lost during the Black Death outbreak in 1348.
Unfortunately, rivalry found its way into the family of Philippa's grown sons and grandsons, which ultimately led to the challenge to the throne and the ensuing Wars of Roses. She did not live to see the sad changes leading up to the struggles which made her son Edward II's life so tragic; nor did she live to see her husband become a helpless old man whose throne became such an object of contention among his sons and grandsons would.
As she lay dying, Philippa reportedly asked Edward:
"We have, my husband, enjoyed our long union in peace and happiness, but before we are forever parted in this world, I entreat you will grant me three requests." "Lady, name them," answered Edward, "they shall be granted." "My lord," she whispered, "I beg you will pay all the merchants I have engaged for their wares; I beseech you to fulfill any gifts or legacies I have made to churches and my servants; and when it shall please God to call you hence, that you will lie by my side in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey." As she passed, the king was in tears. "Lady," he said, "all this shall be done."[2]
On August 15, 1369 Philippa died of an illness akin to dropsy [3] in Windsor Castle. She was buried at Westminster Abbey. By all accounts, her 40 year marriage to Edward had been happy, despite his taking a mistress, Alice Perrers (a young, successful landowner), during the later part of it.
Issue
Philippa and Edward had 14 children, including five sons who lived into adulthood and whose rivalry would eventually bring about the long-running civil wars known as the Wars of the Roses. Their sons are:
- Edward, the Black Prince (1330-76), the black title refers to his black breast plate and helmet. He was father to King Richard II, he married his cousin, Joan of Kent. He was a founding member of the Order of the Garter, an English patriotic royal order which signified a shift away from the crusader mentality. He died before his own father did so he never became king, but his own son became king after Edward III's death.
- Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence (1338-68), married Elizabeth de Burgh, 4th Countess of Ulster, in 1352, received her great Irish land inheritance and in 1347 became the Earl of Ulster. He became the Duke of Clarence in 1361, but was unable to gain control over the Irish people and lands. His wife died in 1363 in Dublin, and their daughter Philippa's descendants would claim the throne for the House of York. [4]
- John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (1340-99), was born in Ghent then called "Gaunt," who helped his weak nephew Richard II until he died. He married three times, producing 14 children. His first wife was Blanche of Lancaster, mother to Kings Edward IV and Richard III and great grandparents to Henry Tudor. [5] John's legitimate male heirs, the Lancasters, included Kings Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI. His daughter, Philippa of Lancaster, became Queen consort of John I of Portugal and mother of King Edward of Portugal, known as "Duarte" in Portuguese. John was also the father of Elizabeth, Duchess of Exeter, the mother of John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter. He then married Constance and fathered Katherine of Lancaster, Queen consort of Henry III of Castile, granddaughter of Peter of Castile and mother of John II of Castile. He finally married Katherine Swynford, and had children with him had been legitimized by the pope and by royal decree. Descendants of the marriage included their son Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester and eventually cardinal; their granddaughter Cecily Neville, mother to Kings Edward IV and Richard III; and their great-grandson Henry Tudor, who became king of England after the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 and established the House of Tudor. John's great-granddaughter was Margaret Beaufort, (mother of King Henry VII, grandmother to King Henry III, and great grandmother to Queen Elizabeth I). All monarchs from Henry IV on are descendants of John of Gaunt.[6]
- Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York (1341-1402), his son Richard was instrumental in the challenge to the English throne in the Wars of Roses. His daughter, Isabella, was mother to Edward, Richard, and ancestor of Kings Edward IV, V and Richard III; he had another daughter, Constance. He then married Joan Holland but they had no children.
- Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355-97), was the 14th child. He married Eleanor de Bohan and inherited the title of Earl of Essex. His wife's younger sister married Henry Bolingbroke/Henry IV who led the group against Richard II, (son of Edward the Black Prince) his nephew. Thomas was the leader of the Lords Appellant, a group of powerful nobles whose ambition to wrest power from King Richard II of England (Thomas' nephew) culminated in a successful rebellion in 1388, which significantly weakened the king's power.[7]
Another three sons and two daughters died in infancy. There were four surviving daughters:
- Isabella of England (1332-1379), married Enguerrand VII of Coucy at age 33.
- Joan of England (1334-1348), betrothed to Castro of Castile but died from the Black Death before she met him.
- Mary Plantagenet (1344-1362), betrothed to John V of Brittany, they grew up in the same household together. They married in 1361 and they became the Duke and Duchess of Brittany, but three weeks later she became lethargic and died. She was buried next to her sister Margaret, who died just weeks before.
- Margaret Plantagenet (1346-1361), was betrothed to John V of Brittany but Mary married him instead. She grew up in the same house with John Hastings and thus married him at age 13, in 1359 but died two years later.
Legacy
Oftentimes a royal woman was seen only as a vehicle to produce an heir. Philippa outdid herself producing many heirs who married into other royal families of Europe in the fourteenth century. Through her children, Philippa also reintroduced the bloodline of an earlier English King, Stephen, into the royal family. She was descended from Stephen through Matilda of Brabant, the wife of Floris IV, Count of Holland. Their daughter Adelaide of Holland married John I of Avesnes, Count of Hainaut, Philippa's paternal great-grandfather. Matilda of Brabant in turn was the great-granddaughter of Stephen through her mother Matilda of Boulogne, the wife of Henry I, Duke of Brabant.
Philippa was also a descendant of Harold II of England through his daughter Gytha of Wessex, married to Vladimir II Monomakh of Kiev. His bloodline, however, had been reintroduced to the English royal family by Philippa's mother-in-law, Isabella of France, a granddaughter of Isabella of Aragon, the wife of Philip III of France. Isabella of Aragon's mother, Violant of Hungary, was a daughter of Andrew II of Hungary, a grandson of Géza II by Euphrosyne of Kiev, herself a granddaughter of Gytha.
Through her maternal great-grandmother, Maria of Hungary, she was descended from Elisabeth of Bosnia (born before 1241), a daughter of Kuthen, Khan of the Cumens and his Slavic wife, Galicie of Halicz, thus bringing Western Asian blood into the English royal line.[8]
The Queen's College, Oxford is named after Philippa. It was founded by one of her chaplains, Robert de Eglesfield, in her honor and placed under her care and protection.
Ancestry
Notes
- ↑ Her father's name is both of Hainaut and Hainault, not to be confused with the area called Hainault near London.
- ↑ The Baldwin Project: Philippa of Hainault mainlesson.com Retrieved November 7, 2008.
- ↑ A swelling from excessive accumulation of watery fluid in cells, tissues, or serous cavities [syn: edema].
- ↑ Philippa married Edmund Mortimer, 3rd Earl of March in 1368. Her granddaughter, Anne Mortimer married into the York branch of the royal family which was the basis of the House of York's claim to the throne.
- ↑ The wealth she brought to the marriage was the foundation of John's fortune. Blanche died of bubonic plague on September 12, 1369 at Bolingbroke Castle, while her husband was away at sea. Their daughter Philippa became Queen of Portugal by marrying King John I of Portugal in 1387.
- ↑ When John of Gaunt died in 1399, his estates were declared forfeit to the crown, as King Richard II had exiled John's son and heir, Henry Bolingbroke, in 1398. Bolingbroke and Richard II were first cousins; their fathers were brothers. Bolingbroke returned from exile to reclaim his confiscated inheritance and deposed the unpopular Richard II. Bolingbroke then reigned as King Henry IV of England (1399–1413), the first of the descendants of John of Gaunt to hold the throne of England.
- ↑ Richard II managed to dispose of the Lords Appellant in 1397, and Thomas was imprisoned in Calais to await trial for treason. He was, however, murdered the same year by Nicholas Colfox, presumably on behalf of Richard II, causing an outcry amongst the nobility of England which is considered by many to have added to Richard's unpopularity.
- ↑ Van de Pas, Leo. WorldRoots.com Retrieved November 7, 2008.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Ashley, Mike. British Kings & Queens, Carroll & Graf, 2002. ISBN 0-7867-1104-3
- Fraser, Antonia. The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England University of California Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0520224605
- Salmonson, Jessica Amanda. The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House, 1991. ISBN 1-55778-420-5
- Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, The Bodley Head London, U.K., Pimlico, 2002. ISBN 978-0712642866
External links
All links retrieved November 7, 2008.
- Middle Ages middle-ages.org.uk
- Richard II's Treasure history.ac.uk
- The Baldwin Project mainlesson.com
- Suite 101 project suite101.com
- Belgium Tourist Office belgiumtheplaceto.be
- All biographies allbiographies.com
- Women of History website womenofhistory.blogspot.com
| English royalty | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by: Isabella of France |
Queen Consort of England 24 January 1328 - 15 August 1369 |
Succeeded by: Anne of Bohemia |
George, Duke of Cumberland (1702-1707) · Mary of Modena (1685-1688) · Catherine of Braganza (1662-1685) · Henrietta Maria of France (1625-1649) · Anne of Denmark (1603-1619) · Philip II of Spain (1554-1558) · Lord Guildford Dudley (1553) · Catherine Parr (1543-1547) · Catherine Howard (1540-1542) · Anne of Cleves (1540) · Jane Seymour (1536-1537) · Anne Boleyn (1533-1536) · Catherine of Aragon (1509-1533) · Elizabeth of York (1486-1503) · Anne Neville (1483-1485) · Elizabeth Woodville (1464-1483) · Margaret of Anjou (1445-1471) · Catherine of Valois (1420-1422) · Joanna of Navarre (1403-1413) · Isabella of Valois (1396-1399) · Anne of Bohemia (1383-1394) · Philippa of Hainault (1328-1369) · Isabella of France (1308-1327) · Marguerite of France (1299-1307) · Eleanor of Castile (1272-1290) · Eleanor of Provence (1236-1272) · Isabella of Angoulême (1200-1216) · Berengaria of Navarre (1191-1199) · Eleanor of Aquitaine (1154-1189) · Matilda of Boulogne (1135-1152) · Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou (1141) · Adeliza of Louvain (1121-1135) · Matilda of Scotland (1100-1118) · Matilda of Flanders (1066-1083)
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