Isabella of Angoulême, Queen of England

 

Isabella was born around 1187 at Angoulême in south-west France, the only daughter of the Count of Angoulême. She was about 12 or 13 years old when she was spotted by King John of England, who had only just come to the throne and was already married. He fell madly in love with her and divorced his first wife so that he could marry Isabella, which he did in the year 1200.

They were to have five children, but the marriage could hardly be described as a happy one, due mainly to John’s spiteful and jealous character. Once, when he thought that Isabella was having an affair, he arranged for the man to be hanged and for his corpse to be suspended over Isabella’s bed.

When King John died in 1216, the new king, who reigned as Henry III, was only nine years old. Isabella was keen to secure Henry’s title and lost no time in having Henry crowned, and this was done in Gloucester Cathedral. There was no actual crown to hand, so Isabella used one of her own gold collars as a substitute.

Isabella had no desire to stay in England so she returned to Angoulême and married her real childhood sweetheart. This was a much happier marriage than her first, and she bore her new husband six sons and five daughters.

Isabella was later accused of conspiring to poison the King of France, a charge that was almost certainly false. She sought sanctuary at Fauntevrault Abbey, where she lived in hiding for the last two years of her life, dying in 1246.

Years later, her son King Henry III visited the Abbey and was shocked to find that his mother had been buried in the open cemetery. He ordered that her remains be reburied inside the Abbey, where a suitably respectful effigy was later supplied.

© John Welford

Isabella of Valois, Queen of England

 

Isabella of Valois, the second Queen of King Richard II of England, was born in 1389. She was not yet eight years old when she was sent to England to marry Richard. It was a marriage in name only, as one might expect with somebody this young, and was engineered purely as a peace-making deal between England and France.

In 1399 King Richard was deposed and disappeared, Isabella having no idea whether he was alive or dead. A new King appeared, calling himself Henry IV, and Isabella was moved out of Windsor Castle to a new home at Sunninghill.

Enemies of the new King Henry plotted to overthrow him and persuaded Isabella to accompany an army of rebels, but at Cirencester the plot fell apart, the ringleaders were beheaded and Isabella was packed off back to London under lock and key.

Henry then had the bright idea that his son and heir, Prince Hal, would be the perfect match for Isabella. They were, after all, the same age – just 11 years old. But Isabella had a mind of her own and refused to have anything to do with it. She now knew that Richard must be dead, and promptly went into mourning, having nothing whatever to do with the new regime.

Henry had no choice but to send her back to France. When she was 16 she married Charles, Duke of Orleans, but was only 20 years old when she died in childbirth.

Six years later, in 1415, the former Prince Hal, now King Henry V, triumphed at the Battle of Agincourt, one consequence of which was that Henry married the French Princess Catherine, who was Isabella’s sister, and Charles, Isabella’s widower, was imprisoned in the Tower of London for the next quarter of a century.

 © John Welford

 

 

Catherine of Braganza, Queen Consort of England

Catherine of Braganza (1638-1705) may have had a privileged life surrounded by luxury, but she must also be counted as one of the more unfortunate wives of an English king, in that her husband – King Charles II – took very little interest in her. Although she was young and beautiful, he much preferred the company of other women, of whom there were many.

Catherine was a Portuguese princess who married the English king for purely political purposes, as well as bringing a substantial dowry with her. She was 23 at the time of her marriage to Charles, which was quite an advanced age for a royal spouse at that time – the brides of Charles’s father and grandfather had both been only 14 when they married. Charles was 31, and already well provided with female company.

He made it clear to Catherine that he had no intention of changing his ways, and did not. It is not known exactly how many mistresses he had during his life but he fathered at least sixteen illegitimate children, many of whom were later given dukedoms or – if girls – found suitably aristocratic husbands.

However, Catherine remained childless – almost certainly because Charles hardly ever visited her bed during their 24-year marriage. Despite this neglect, Catherine remained faithful to her husband and actually adored him. It is difficult to see what basis this adoration had, especially as she spoke no English and he did not speak Portuguese.

As Charles lay dying in 1685, Catherine was overcome by emotion at his bedside and had to be carried away when she fainted with grief. She sent word to ask Charles to forgive her. His reply was : “She asks my pardon? I beg hers with all my heart”.

After Charles died, Catherine stayed in England for a short time before returning to Portugal, dying and being buried in Lisbon at the age of 67.

© John Welford

Philippa of Hainault, wife of King Edward III

Philippa of Hainault was the wife and queen of King Edward III of England (reigned 1327-77). A highly intelligent and resourceful woman, she was also noted for her compassionate nature and for being the mother of sons whose own progeny would play leading roles in later conflicts in England.

Her early life

Philippa was the second daughter of Count William of Hainault and Holland and Countess Jeanne. She was probably born at Valenciennes on 24th June 1314, although some historians have speculated that she may have been born at any time between 1310 and 1315. Hainault was a province of the Holy Roman Empire that occupied part of what is now western Belgium and northern France.

There has been speculation that Philippa was dark-skinned and therefore counts as England’s “first black queen” – the idea being that she had Moorish blood in her. However, the evidence for this is not strong, and can therefore be doubted.

A marriage is arranged

The prime mover behind the marriage of Edward and Philippa was Edward’s mother Queen Isabella, who was keen to depose her husband, King Edward II, and place her son on the throne with the real power remaining in her own hands and that of her lover, Roger Mortimer.

Isabella regarded Hainault as a likely source of military support, given that Philippa’s mother was Isabella’s cousin. Isabella originally tried to arrange a marriage between her son and Philippa’s older sister, but when this plan came to nothing she turned her attention to Philippa.

Edward and Philippa met in Paris in December 1325, each being accompanied by their mothers. A marriage contract was drawn up in August 1326, despite opposition from Edward’s father, who could clearly see what his wife was up to. A suitable dowry was agreed, as was a date for the wedding to be within two years.

The wedding ceremony took place in York on 28th January 1328, which was after Edward had been declared king following his father’s removal from the throne. At the time of the marriage Philippa would have been 13 years old and Edward would have been 15. Her first child (who would be known to history as Edward the Black Prince) was born on 15th June 1330 when she was still not quite 16 years old.

Philippa becomes queen in reality

Edward was king only in name before October 1330, which was when he felt strong enough to overthrow Roger Mortimer, who was de facto ruler of England through his influence over Queen Isabella. Mortimer was swiftly executed and Isabella forced into retirement although she was able to live out her days (until her death in 1358) in some degree of luxury and with freedom of movement.

Edward’s assumption of power also brought Philippa into a prominent position, as well as improving her wealth and status due to much of Isabella’s property falling into her hands. However, her financial situation was often precarious, due in part in poor management of her estates by her officials. Eventually, in 1360, her household affairs were merged with those of the king, although she continued to be in debt for several years afterwards.

Philippa the compassionate queen

Philippa seems to have had a keen sense of justice, which she revealed on several occasions by coming to the aid of people in trouble.

Her first demonstration of this trait came as early as 1328 when she secured a pardon for an 11-year-old girl who had been convicted of a robbery at York. In 1333 a pregnant woman who had stolen a coat and some money was pardoned at the queen's request. In March 1365 at Nottingham a pregnant woman condemned to be hanged for stealing was shown clemency after Philippa intervened.

The best known such example of Philippa’s compassion occurred in 1347 during King Edward’s siege of the French town of Calais. Six prominent citizens of the town were captured and were about to be hanged as a warning to others not to oppose Edward, but Philippa pleaded with her husband that they be spared. Such was his respect for her that he agreed so to do.

Philippa the campaigning queen

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Edward and Philippa were deeply devoted to each other, which is why they never wished to be apart, even when Edward was on campaign.

Philippa therefore accompanied Edward to Scotland and the Low Countries, despite being pregnant on several such occasions. This is the reason why some of her children were born outside England, most notably her son John who was born at Ghent in March 1340 and is therefore known to history as John of Gaunt.

One reason for Edward’s military adventures in the Low Countries was to protect Philippa’s interests there, although he risked destabilising the whole political balance of the region. Philippa was split between loyalty to her husband and to her relatives in the Low Countries, which is probably why she preferred to relinquish her personal claims in favour of furthering the interests of her son Edmund by means of arranging a marriage with the daughter of the count of Flanders, although this did not come to pass.

In political terms, she was of most use to her husband as a negotiator, including writing letters to Pope Clement VI, who was notably pro-French, in attempts to make him more amenable to Edward’s cause.

Philippa as wife and mother

As mentioned above, Philippa was a devoted wife to Edward throughout their 40-year marriage, and there was never any hint of extra-marital dalliance on either side until late in their marriage when Edward became infatuated with one of Philippa’s young ladies-in-waiting. 

Philippa probably had fourteen children in all (eight sons and six daughters), although five of her children did not live to adulthood. Three of them were victims of the Black Death in 1348.

She remained on good terms with her children as they grew up and there appear to have been very few family disagreements, either between parents and children or among the siblings. It would be later generations of this family who would come to blows and tear the nation apart in civil war.

Philippa was a highly-cultured woman who brought the artistic and literary interests of the Hainault court to England. She became the patron of a new college at Oxford University (founded in 1341) that has been known ever since as The Queen’s College.

Death and burial

Philippa was evidently in poor health from 1365 onwards. She died at Windsor on 15th August 1369 at the age of 55, thus leaving Edward as a widower for the remaining eight years of his life, although he continued to lavish favours on Alice Perrers, the former lady-in-waiting mentioned above.

Philippa was buried in Westminster Abbey in a tomb that was later shared with her husband. There is also a wooden effigy of Philippa at Queen’s College, Oxford.

Many people in the upper echelons of British society can trace their ancestry back to King Edward III via one of his many surviving children. They can therefore, of course, also trace a link back to one of England’s most highly-respected queen consorts, Philippa of Hainault.

© John Welford