On this day, we will speak about a queen that to the common knowledge is not remembered. When we think of queenship and Middle Ages, the first name that struck our names is, in most times, women as Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Urraca of Castile, and other queens who were reputed to go farther than the limit to them imposed by social rules. It is, therefore, understandable why so many people feel attracted to these figures that are not bound to the common sense.
However, at the same time this attraction is justified, it has also been seen that women who were not as "bold" as those we have formerly mentioned, are left aside. It is forgotten that even the quietest queens were powerful too. But, unfortunately, if we follow the common sense of the concept of strong women in days that were majoritarily made by men, we will find that few pay attention to those who preferred to work on the background.
That is why the topic of today is Philippa d'Avesnes of Hainault, the consort of King Edward III of England. Born in 1317 (although some sources claim to be the year of 1314) at Valceinnes, she was one of the many children to Count William "the Good" of Hainault and Holland and his consort, Jeanne de Valois, who, in turn, was a grauddaughter to King Philippe III of France. Her infancy is, unfortunately, not very discussed but one can presume that she was very educated for her days. It is said that her mother brought the French culture to the court of her husband and that, by extent, in her years, she enjoyed it.
When King Edward II of England first began seeking an alliance with the Count of Hainault, it was first suggested that Prince Edward to take Philippa's older sister, Margaret, but she was eventually married to the German king Louis IV in 1324 and succeeded their brother William II as countess of Hainault upon his death.
Circumnstances changed, however, when Queen Isabella began looking for support for her cause to make her husband abdicate and have her son crowned Edward III instead. She travelled through the continent in order to cement alliances. It must be remembered that Jeanne de Valois was Queen Isabella's first cousin for them both were granddaughters of King Philippe III of France. As we can see below;
"Isabella and Prince Edward came to Valenciennes in 1326. Edward was 13 and Philippa was 12. They spent a week together. There may have been preliminary talks at this time that if Isabella was successful in her mission, Prince Edward would marry one of the daughters of Hainault. When Isabella and Edward left, the chronicles say when she said her goodbyes, Philippa cried and regretted that her cousin was leaving her."
A papal dispensation was required since they were second cousins, and after Prince Edward became King Edward III of England, a delegation was sent to Hainault to confirm the betrothal to Philippa d'Avesnes, whom he chose to be his wife. They were thus married
"[...] at York Minster, on 24 January 1328, eleven months after his accession to the English throne; although, the de facto rulers of the kingdom were his mother, Queen Dowager Isabella and her avaricious lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, who jointly acted as his regents. Soon after their marriage the couple retired to live at Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire."
Philippa's coronation was delayed for at least two years and here we come to the matter of queenship that opposited the new queen to the queen dowager. In a letter written to her sister Margaret¹, she makes it clear the dominating position Queen Isabella holds alongside her lover, and how difficult it is for her to let go of her power by delaying Philippa's own coronation. Such struggle can be better understood following the next paragraphs:
"The lack of clarity concerning Philippa's role, and more broadly speaking the institution of queenship, was further demonstrated in the fact that no-one was officially designated regent for the young king during his minorit between February 1327 and November 1330. However, the role was effectively taken on by his mother and Philippa's predecessor, Isabella of France. Philippa, then, had more or less been relegated to the sidelines by her mother-in-law, because Isabella's actions arguably demonstrated her continuing wish to act and to be seen as queen. The delay in arranging Philippa's coronation, quite plausibly, was a result of Isabella's unwillingness to cede queenship to her."
Understanding this subtle opposition between the two parties, we comprehend that
"Philippa appears to have prioritised the role of intercessor, which was a shrewd political move on her behalf given the widespread discontent that had enveloped England during the final years of Edward II's reign and the minority of Edward III as a result of unpopular political, financial and diplomatic policies."It must be remembered that by the long period of which Philippa reigned as consort of a warrior king as Edward III, a document concerning the main characteristics and the role of a queen should be was released, regarding good manners and contempt behaviour towards the king and the country she expects to serve, to prevent women as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Isabella of France to go too far as to bring chaos into a world which was already preserved with the natural order according to the will of God.
Whether was the case, it is noticed that by
"exercising influence in her household management, and [...] interceding for those who found themselves in a difficult situation -including her mother-in-law- Philippa conformed to contemporary expectations of queenship and how the incumbent was expected to make use of her resources and influence associated with the office in a manner that redounded to the 'oneure' of her husband,"Following thus the coronation of Philippa as Queen of England on 4 March 1330 at Westminster Abbey, it was when she embraced the role of the interceding queen, as we have already mentioned it, but in careful grounds, returning the good graces to the queenship by using kindness and good heart on behalf of the English subjects to calm the Plantagenet temper of her husband in difficult times, thus winning England's heart.
In domestic matters, after her coronation, to be precisely three months later, she gave birth to the first of almost 15 children. His name was Edward and he would be the father of the illfated Richard II and after his precocious death regarded as the "Black Prince". Then he would be joined by Isabella, who was claimed to be Edward III's favourite daughter; Joan, the favourite of her mother; Lionel, the favourite son of Philippa and who would later be entitled as the first duke of Clarence; John, duke of Lancaster; Edmund, first duke of York; Mary, duchess of Brittany; Margaret, Countess of Pembroke; and Thomas, first duke of Gloucester. She had also ensured that her children, to whom she was very devoted to and breastfed all of them herself, were well educated.
She was also "put in charge of his younger sister Eleanor", responsible for the children's household and looking after their states as well as hers despite being of short money due to Edward's constantly spending as he went to wars. Over that matter, as a wife, Philippa was very successful. And as a queen too as one situation below describes the moment she pledged for the king's mercy for the English's subjects:
"She began working on bringing over weaving tradesmen from her home country to begin creating an industry in Norwich, England. Philippa's mothet traveled to England for a visit and Edward put on a tournament with all the splendors of chivalry. A wooden tower had been erected for the ladies to watch. As the tournament began, Philippa stood to greet Edward and his knights and the scaffolding gave way with all the ladies falling. No one was hurt but the builders of the scaffold were called forward to answer for their work. Edward was furious. Before he could proclaim the punishment for the men, Philippa came forward on her knees and begged for mercy. The King granted her wish and no punishment was given. It was one of the first of many times Philippa would calm the [...] temper of her husband."She also followed King Edward on his campaigns and held regency in the country during his absence. Philippa could attend all the expectations regarding the roles of a queen during the medieval days and would go beyond them. In one of the times Edward III was not present in his realm,
"during Edward's Crécy campaign in 1346, for example, while her six-year-old son Lionel was technically "guardian of the realm", Philippa was acting as regent--when the Scottish king took advantage of the English king's absence to raid in England, Philippa headed north, rallying her English soldiers by riding among them."She also
"went from rank to rank and encouraged her troops, giving them and their cause to God in hopes of victory. The English longbow men did indeed win a victory over the Scots. She again rode on her white charger to meet the victorious troops."In another occasion, when she was following one of her husband's incursions in the War of the Hundred Years against France, she "persuaded her husband to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais, whom he had planned to execute as an example to the townspeople following his successful siege of that city."
As a queen, Philipp was also a patron of arts, music and education, and sponsored Geoffrey Chaucer. Also, the "Queen's College" at Oxford was founded on her honour. She was also responsible for the establishment of a small colony of Flemish weavers at Norwich and "showed an active interest in the weaving trade by repeated visits to the town. She also encouraged coal-mining on her estates in Tynedale."
Queen Philippa's health began to deteriorate probably as the result of giving labour too many times amongst other reasons before dying of an illness that was probably edema at the Windsor Castle on 15 August 1369 and her funeral happened on 29 January 1370. She was probably 55 years old and is buried at Westminster Abbey.
Having the English queenship restaured to the good odds under her reign as English consort, Philippa would be a model to be followed by her sucessors such as Anne of Bohemia and, perhaps, Joanna of Navarre. The good ways she worked upon next to a warrior king by having gentleness as weapon set the praises of how a medieval queen should be, unlike some of her predecessors who used their power as queens to seize to achieve their personal achievements. Unlike them, she sought the peace of a realm after a bloody coup d'état and managed to undermine the rule of Isabella of France to certain extent.
"As Thomas Walsingham confirmed, she was a 'most noble woman and most constant lvoer of the English.' At a time when foreign-born consorts could attract criticism for their entourages [...] it is striking that this was not the case for Philippa."
Bibliography:
-https://www.history.ac.uk/richardII/philippa.html
-http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/edward-iii
-http://www.medievalists.net/2013/10/philippa-of-hainault-queen-of-england/
-http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/posts/a-letter-from-philippa-of-hainault-to-her-sister/¹
-http://www.ask-a-badass.com/home/2016/3/25/philippa
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippa_of_Hainault
-http://www.medievalists.net/2017/03/intercession-motherhood-queenships-philippa-hainault-anne-bohemia/
-http://www.monstrousregimentofwomen.com/2015/03/philippa-of-hainault-productive-and.html
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