January 11, 1372: Death of Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel

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3rd Earl of Arundel, Countess of Arundel, Edward II of England, Eleanor of Lancaster, Eleanor Plantagenet, Henry III of England, Henry of Lancaster, Richard FitzAlan

Eleanor of Lancaster, Countess of Arundel (sometimes called Eleanor Plantagenet; September 11, 1318 – January 11, 1372) was a member of the English Royal Family and the fifth daughter of Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster and Maud Chaworth.

Her father, Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancaster (c. 1281 – 1345) was a grandson of King Henry III (1216–1272) of England and was one of the principals behind the deposition of King Edward II (1307–1327), his first cousin. Henry, 3rd Earl of Leicester and Lancastern was the younger son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster, Earl of Leicester, a son of King Henry III by his wife Eleanor of Provence. Henry’s mother was Blanche of Artois, Queen Dowager of Navarre.

Eleanor married first on November 6, 1330 John de Beaumont, 2nd Baron Beaumont (d. 1342), son of Henry de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Buchan, 1st Baron Beaumont (c.1288-1340) by his wife Alice Comyn (1289-3 July 1349).

Henry de Beaumont was the grandson of John of Brienne, King of Jerusalem and later Latin Emperor of Constantinople by his third wife, Berengaria of Leon, making Henry a second cousin of Edward II of England.

John de Beaumont died in a jousting tournament on April 14, 1342. They had one son, born to Eleanor in Ghent whilst serving as lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa of Hainault:

Henry de Beaumont, 3rd Baron Beaumont, (1340 — 1369), the first husband of Lady Margaret de Vere (d. 15 June 1398), the daughter of John de Vere, 7th Earl of Oxford by his wife Maud de Badlesmere. Henry and Margaret had one son, John de Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont KG (1361-1396).

Second marriage

On February 5, 1345 at Ditton Church, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, she married Richard FitzAlan, 3rd Earl of Arundel.

His previous marriage, to Isabel le Despenser, had taken place when they were children. It was annulled by Papal mandate as she, since her father’s attainder and execution, had ceased to be of any importance to him. Pope Clement VI obligingly annulled the marriage, bastardized the issue, and provided a dispensation for his second marriage to the woman with whom he had been living in adultery (the dispensation, dated March 4, 1345, was required because his first and second wives were first cousins).

The children of Eleanor’s second marriage were:

1.) Richard (1346–1397), who succeeded as Earl of Arundel
2.) John Fitzalan (bef 1349 – 1379)
3.) Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (c. 1353 – 19 February 1413)
4.) Lady Joan FitzAlan (1347/1348 – 7 April 1419), married Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford
5.) Lady Alice FitzAlan (1350 – 17 March 1416), married Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent (Thomas Holand)
Lady Mary FitzAlan (died 29 August 1396), married John Le Strange, 4th Lord Strange of Blackmere, by whom she had issue
6.) Lady Eleanor FitzAlan (1348 – d 29 Aug 1396) married Sir Anthony Browne.

Later life

Eleanor died at Arundel and was buried at Lewes Priory in Lewes, Sussex, England. Her husband survived her by four years, and was buried beside her; in his will Richard requests to be buried “near to the tomb of Eleanor de Lancaster, my wife; and I desire that my tomb be no higher than hers, that no men at arms, horses, hearse, or other pomp, be used at my funeral, but only five torches…as was about the corpse of my wife, be allowed.”

The memorial effigies attributed to Eleanor and her husband Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel in Chichester Cathedral are the subject of the celebrated Philip Larkin poem “An Arundel Tomb.”

Death of Henry III, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine

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Edward longshanks, Eleanor of Provence, Gascony, Henry III of England, Holy Roman Empire, King of the Romans, Louis IX of France, Richard of Cornwall, Simon de Montfort

Henry III promised to abide by the Great Charter of 1225, a later version of the 1215 Magna Carta, which limited royal power and protected the rights of the major barons. His early rule was dominated first by Hubert de Burgh and then Peter des Roches, who re-established royal authority after the war. In 1230, the King attempted to reconquer the provinces of France that had once belonged to his father, but the invasion was a debacle. A revolt led by William Marshal’s son, Richard Marshal, broke out in 1232, ending in a peace settlement negotiated by the Church.

Following the revolt, Henry ruled England personally, rather than governing through senior ministers. He travelled less than previous monarchs, investing heavily in a handful of his favourite palaces and castles.

Henry also negotiated the marriage of her sister Isabella. In November, 1234 the twice-widowed Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor at a friendly meeting at Rieti, received the advice of Pope Gregory IX to ask Isabella’s hand, and in February 1235 he sent an embassy to King Henry III headed by his chancellor Pietro della Vigna.

The marriage of Isabella and Emperor Friedrich II was designed to strengthen the political alliance of England and the Holy Roman Empire against France. After three days of discussion, King Henry III agreed to the marriage; Isabella was brought from her quarters in the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster, where she met with the ambassadors, who “declared her the most worthy of the imperial brides”, put a wedding ring on her finger and greeted her as their Empress.

On February 22, 1235, an agreement was signed, according to which King Henry III provided his sister with a dowry of 30,000 marks (an amount sought by the Emperor in order to fund his wars in northern Italy), which was to be paid within two years, and as a wedding gift he gave her all the necessary utensils, jewelry, horses and rich clothes, all made according to the latest German fashion; also, the princess received patent letters from the Emperor, giving Isabella, as Queen of Sicily and Holy Roman Empress the possession of the lands due to her.

King Henry III married Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Eleanor was well educated as a child, and developed a strong love of reading. Her three sisters also married kings. After her elder sister Margaret married Louis IX of France, their uncle William corresponded with Henry III of England to persuade him to marry Eleanor.

Henry sought a dowry of up to twenty thousand silver marks to help offset the dowry he had just paid for his sister Isabella, but Eleanor’s father was able to negotiate this down to no dowry, just a promise to leave her ten thousand marks when he died.

Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty. She was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes. Piers Langtoft speaks of her as “The erle’s daughter, the fairest may of life”. On June 22, 1235, Eleanor was betrothed to King Henry III (1207–1272). Eleanor was probably born latest in 1223; Matthew Paris describes her as being “jamque duodennem” (already twelve) when she arrived in the Kingdom of England for her marriage.

Eleanor was married to King Henry III of England on January 14, 1236. At the time of her marriage Eleanor was 12/13 years of age and the King was 29. She had never seen him prior to the wedding at Canterbury Cathedral and had never set foot in his kingdom. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated. She was dressed in a shimmering golden dress that fitted tightly at the waist and flared out to wide pleats at her feet.

The sleeves were long and lined with ermine. After riding to London the same day where a procession of citizens greeted the bridal pair, Eleanor was crowned queen consort of England in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey which was followed by a magnificent banquet with the entire nobility in full attendance. Her love for her husband grew significantly from 1236 onward. Henry and Eleanor had five children. Thier eldest child, the future King Edward I was born in 1239 when Eleanor was 15/16 years old.

Unpopularity

Eleanor was a loyal and faithful consort to Henry, but she brought in her retinue a large number of uncles and cousins, “the Savoyards”, and her influence with the King and her unpopularity with the English barons created friction during Henry’s reign. Her uncle William of Savoy became a close advisor of her husband, displacing and displeasing English barons

Henry III was known for his piety, holding lavish religious ceremonies and giving generously to charities; the King was particularly devoted to the figure of Edward the Confessor, whom he adopted as his patron saint. He extracted huge sums of money from the Jews in England, ultimately crippling their ability to do business, and as attitudes towards the Jews hardened, he introduced the Statute of Jewry, attempting to segregate the community.

In a fresh attempt to reclaim his family’s lands in France, he invaded Poitou in 1242, leading to the disastrous Battle of Taillebourg. After this, Henry relied on diplomacy, cultivating an alliance with Friedrich II, Holy Roman Emperor. Henry supported his brother Richard of Cornwall in his bid to become King of the Romans in 1256, but was unable to place his own son Edmund Crouchback on the throne of Sicily, despite investing large amounts of money. He planned to go on crusade to the Levant, but was prevented from doing so by rebellions in Gascony.

By 1258, Henry’s rule was increasingly unpopular, the result of the failure of his expensive foreign policies and the notoriety of his Poitevin half-brothers, the Lusignans, as well as the role of his local officials in collecting taxes and debts. A coalition of his barons, initially probably backed by Eleanor, seized power in a coup d’état and expelled the Poitevins from England, reforming the royal government through a process called the Provisions of Oxford.

Henry and the baronial government enacted a peace with France in 1259, under which Henry gave up his rights to his other lands in France in return for King Louis IX recognising him as the rightful ruler of Gascony. The baronial regime collapsed but Henry was unable to reform a stable government and instability across England continued.

In 1263, one of the more radical barons, Simon de Montfort, seized power, resulting in the Second Barons’ War. Henry persuaded Louis to support his cause and mobilised an army. The Battle of Lewes occurred in 1264, where Henry was defeated and taken prisoner. Henry’s eldest son, Edward, escaped from captivity to defeat de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham the following year and freed his father.

Henry initially enacted a harsh revenge on the remaining rebels, but was persuaded by the Church to mollify his policies through the Dictum of Kenilworth. Reconstruction was slow and Henry had to acquiesce to various measures, including further suppression of the Jews, to maintain baronial and popular support. Henry died in 1272, leaving Edward as his successor.

Edward Longshanks, as he was known, was travelling during the Ninth Crusade, when he became King of England upon Henry III’s death, but he will not return to England for nearly two years to assume the throne.

Henry III was buried in Westminster Abbey, which he had rebuilt in the second half of his reign, and was moved to his current tomb in 1290. Some miracles were declared after his death; however, he was not canonised.

November 16, 1272: Death of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine. Part I.

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/he First Barons War, Cardinal Guala, Duke of Aquitaine, Henry III of England, King John of England, King Louis VIII of France, Lord of Ireland, Pope Honorius III, Prince Louis of France, William Marshal

Henry III (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death in 1272. The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the First Barons’ War.

Cardinal Guala declared the war against the rebel barons to be a religious crusade and Henry’s forces, led by William Marshal, defeated the rebels at the battles of Lincoln and Sandwich in 1217. From 1216 to 1217, Prince Louis, the future King Louis VIII of France (1187 – 1226), invaded and claimed the Kingdom of England.

In September 1216, John marched from the Cotswolds, feigned an offensive to relieve the besieged Windsor Castle, and attacked eastwards around London to Cambridge to separate the rebel-held areas of Lincolnshire and East Anglia. From there he travelled north to relieve the rebel siege at Lincoln and back east to Lynn, probably to order further supplies from the continent. In Lynn, John contracted dysentery.

John’s illness eventually grew worse and by the time he reached Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire, he was unable to travel any farther; he died on the night of 18/19 October. Numerous—probably fictitious—accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a “surfeit of peaches”. His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in Worcester Cathedral in front of the altar of St Wulfstan. A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.

In his will, John ordered that his niece Eleanor, who might have had a claim to the throne of his successor, Henry III, never be released from prison

Henry was staying safely at Corfe Castle in Dorset with his mother when King John died. On his deathbed, John appointed a council of thirteen executors to help Henry reclaim the kingdom, and requested that his son be placed into the guardianship of William Marshal, one of the most famous knights in England.

The loyalist leaders decided to crown Henry immediately to reinforce his claim to the throne. William knighted the boy, and Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, the papal legate to England, then oversaw his coronation at Gloucester Cathedral on October 28, 1216. The royal crown had been either lost or sold during the civil war or possibly lost in The Wash, so instead the ceremony used a simple gold corolla belonging to Queen Isabella. Henry later underwent a second coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 17, 1220.

The young King inherited a difficult situation, with over half of England occupied by the rebels and most of his father’s continental possessions still in French hands. He had substantial support from Cardinal Guala who intended to win the civil war for Henry and punish the rebels. Guala set about strengthening the ties between England and the Papacy, starting with the coronation itself, where Henry gave homage to the Papacy, recognising Pope Honorius III as his feudal lord.

Pope Honorius declared that Henry was his vassal and ward, and that the legate had complete authority to protect Henry and his kingdom. As an additional measure, Henry took the cross, declaring himself a crusader and so entitled to special protection from Rome.

Prince Louis negotiated terms with Cardinal Guala, under which he would renounce his claim to the English throne; in return, his followers would be given back their lands, any sentences of excommunication would be lifted and Henry’s government would promise to enforce the Magna Carta.

The proposed agreement soon began to unravel amid claims from some loyalists that it was too generous towards the rebels, particularly the clergy who had joined the rebellion. In the absence of a settlement, Louis remained in London with his remaining forces.

On August 24, 1217, a French fleet arrived off the coast of Sandwich, bringing Louis soldiers, siege engines and fresh supplies. Hubert de Burgh, Henry’s justiciar, set sail to intercept it, resulting in the Battle of Sandwich. De Burgh’s fleet scattered the French and captured their flagship, commanded by Eustace the Monk, who was promptly executed. When the news reached Louis, he entered into fresh peace negotiations.

Henry, Isabella, Louis, Guala and William came to agreement on the final Treaty of Lambeth, also known as the Treaty of Kingston, on 12 and 13 September. The treaty was similar to the first peace offer, but excluded the rebel clergy, whose lands and appointments remained forfeit. Louis accepted a gift of £6,666 to speed his departure from England, and promised to try to persuade King Philippe II to return Henry’s lands in France. Louis left England as agreed and joined the Albigensian Crusade in the south of France.

Henry assumed formal control of his government in January 1227, although some contemporaries argued that he was legally still a minor until his 21st birthday the following year. The King richly rewarded Hubert de Burgh for his service during his minority years, making him the Earl of Kent and giving him extensive lands across England and Wales. Despite coming of age, Henry III remained heavily influenced by his advisers for the first few years of his rule and retained Hubert as his justiciar to run the government, granting him the position for life.

September 29, 1240: Birth of Margaret of England, Queen of Scots

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Alexander II of Scotland, Edinburgh., Eleanor of Provence, Henry III of England, Joan of England, Louis VI of France, Margaret of England, Regency Council, Windsor Castle

Margaret of England (September 29, 1240 – February 26, 1275) was Queen of Scots by marriage to King Alexander III.

Life

Margaret was the second child of King Henry III of England, Lord of Ireland and his wife, Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Margaret was born at Windsor Castle. Margaret’s first appearance in historical record comes when she was three years old, when she and her brother, the future Edward I, took part in an event in London.

King Alexander II of Scotland had previously been married to Margaret’s paternal aunt, Joan of England, the third child of John, King of England, Lord of Ireland and Isabella of Angoulême.

In 1244, her father and Alexander II met in Newcastle to resume peaceful relations between the two nations, and it was decided that the future Alexander III of Scotland should marry Margaret. She was betrothed the same year.

She was married on December 25, 1251, when she was 11 years old, at York Minster, to King Alexander III of Scotland, who was 10 years of age. The couple remained in York until January the following year, when they continued to their residence in Edinburgh.

Margaret is said to have been unhappy in Scotland, and created some tensions between England and Scotland by writing to her family in England that she was poorly treated in Scotland. Because of their age, it was not considered suitable for the royal couple to have sexual intercourse. Margaret was therefore not allowed to see Alexander very often, and because she had evidently been given a good impression of him and came to be fond of him, this made her displeased.

Further more, she did not like the royal castle and hated Edinburgh, or the climate in Scotland, and she missed England and her family there. She wrote of her homesickness and complaints to her parents, who asked for her to visit them. The Scots, however, refused permission, because of the risk that she would never return.

In 1255, Queen Eleanor sent her physician to Edinburgh to investigate Margaret’s well-being. He reported that she was pale and depressed, and complained about loneliness and neglect. Her father sent a new delegation, wrote to some of the Scottish earls and demanded that she be better treated. Queen Margaret complained to her father’s envoys that she was kept as a prisoner without the permission to travel, and that she was not allowed to see her spouse nor be intimate with him.

After this, the king of England and the regency council of Scotland came to an agreement. It was agreed that as the royal couple were now fourteen, they should be allowed to consummate their marriage, and the regency council would be obliged to turn the power over to Alexander in seven years time: Alexander would be obliged to give Margaret physical affection, and allow her freedom to travel to visit her parents. The same year, September 7, 1255, Margaret and Alexander III visited her parents and Margaret’s sister Beatrice at Wark. Margaret stayed a bit longer in England after her spouse’s departure, but soon followed him when the agreement was secured.

In 1257, Margaret and Alexander were captured and held prisoner by the Comyn family, who demanded the expulsion of all foreigners from Scotland. They were eventually released after the intervention of her father and the Scottish regency council. She visited England in 1260–61, to give birth to her daughter Margaret, and 1269, to attend the translation of Edward the Confessor’s relics to Westminster Abbey, both times in the company of Alexander. She was not able to attend her father’s funeral in 1272 because of her pregnancy.

It was said that Margaret was responsible for the death of a young courtier, who reputedly had killed her uncle Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She had been given this esquire as a gift from her brother Edward, who visited her in 1257. This incident took place at Kinclaven Castle near Perth in the summer of 1273, where she recuperated after the birth of her son David.

While walking along the River Tay accompanied by her confessor, some maidens and several esquires one evening after supper, an English esquire went down to the river to wash his hand clean from some clay. She jokingly pushed him into the river, but he was swept to his death by a powerful current before anyone could help. This was done as a joke, and according to her confessor, she had told her maidens to push him, and everyone had laughed at first, thinking there was no danger for the esquire’s life. He was, however, seized by a heavy current, and both he, as well as his servant boy who jumped in to save him, drowned. Margaret was reportedly very upset by the incident.

Margaret and Alexander were present at the coronation of Edward I in Westminster in August 1274. Margaret died on February 26, 1275 at Cupar Castle, and was buried at Dunfermline Abbey, Fife.

Issue

The couple had three children:

Margaret (February 28, 1261 – April 9, 1283), who married King Eric II of Norway.

Alexander (January 21, 1264 – January 28, 1284).

David (March 20, 1272 – June 1281); buried in Dunfermline Abbey.

King Alexander III of Scotland remarried on October 15, 1285 and his bride was Yolande of Dreux, the daughter of Robert IV, Count of Dreux, and Beatrice, Countess of Montfort. Her father was a patrilineal descendant of King Louis VI of France, making her a member of a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty with powerful connections. They didn’t have any children.

November 16, 1272: Death of Henry III, King of England and accession of Edward I as King of England.

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Edward I of England, Edward the Confessor, Eleanore of Provence, Fontevraud Abbey, Henry III of England, Louis IX of France, Sicily, St. Louis of France, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis, Westminster Abbey

The future King Edward I of England was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of June, 17–18 1239, to King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, the second daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (1198–1245) and Beatrice of Savoy (1198–1267), the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and his wife Margaret of Geneva.

Edward took the crusader’s cross in an elaborate ceremony on June 24, 1268, with his brother Edmund Crouchback and cousin Henry of Almain. Among others who committed themselves to the Ninth Crusade were Edward’s former adversaries – like the Earl of Gloucester, though de Clare did not ultimately participate. With the country pacified, the greatest impediment to the project was providing sufficient finances. King Louis IX of France, who was the leader of the crusade, provided a loan of about £17,500.

Edward formally left for the Eighth Crusade, led by Louis of France, in 1270, but his father, King Henry III, became increasingly ill; concerns about a fresh rebellion grew and the next year the King wrote to his son asking him to return to England, but Edward did not turn back.

Henry III recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regained his full health and on the evening of November 16, 1272, he died in Westminster, probably with Eleanor in attendance.

At his request, Henry III was buried in Westminster Abbey in front of the church’s high altar, in the former resting place of Edward the Confessor. A few years later, work began on a grander tomb for Henry and in 1290 Edward moved his father’s body to its current location in Westminster Abbey. His gilt-brass funeral effigy was designed and forged within the abbey grounds by William Torell; unlike other effigies of the period, it is particularly naturalistic in style, but it is probably not a close likeness of Henry himself.

Eleanor probably hoped that Henry would be recognised as a saint, as his contemporary Louis IX of France had been; indeed, Henry’s final tomb resembled the shrine of a saint, complete with niches possibly intended to hold relics.

When the King’s body was exhumed in 1290, contemporaries noted that the body was in perfect condition and that Henry’s long beard remained well preserved, which at the time was considered to be an indication of saintly purity. Miracles began to be reported at the tomb, but Edward was sceptical about these stories. The reports ceased, and Henry was never canonised. In 1292, his heart was removed from his tomb and reburied at Fontevraud Abbey with the bodies of his Angevin family.

In June 1272 an assassination attempt on Edward by a Syrian Nizari (Assassin) supposedly sent by Baibars forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Edward was initially defiant, and although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until September 24, 1272 that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272. Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards. This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency.

The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father’s death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward’s absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited Pope Gregory X. Only on August 2, 1274 did he return to England, and he was crowned on August, 19.

August 24, 1198: Birth of King Alexander II of Scotland.

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Alexander II of Scotland, Henry III of England, Joan of England, John of England, King of Scots, Kingdom of Scotland, William I of Scotland, William the Lion

Alexander II (August 24, 1198 – July 6, 1249) was King of Scotland from 1214 until his death. He concluded the Treaty of York (1237) which defined the boundary between England and Scotland, virtually unchanged today.

He was born at Haddington, East Lothian, the only son of the Scottish king William I the Lion and Ermengarde of Beaumont. He spent time in England (John of England knighted him at Clerkenwell Priory in 1213) before succeeding to the kingdom on the death of his father on December 4, 1214, being crowned at Scone on 6 December the same year.


King of Scots

In 1215, the year after his accession, the clans Meic Uilleim and MacHeths, inveterate enemies of the Scottish crown, broke into revolt; but loyalist forces speedily quelled the insurrection. In the same year Alexander joined the English barons in their struggle against John of England, and led an army into the Kingdom of England in support of their cause. This action led to the sacking of Berwick-upon-Tweed as John’s forces ravaged the north.

The Scottish forces reached the south coast of England at the port of Dover where in September 1216, Alexander paid homage to the pretender Prince Louis of France for his lands in England, chosen by the barons to replace King John. But King John having died, the Pope and the English aristocracy changed their allegiance to his nine-year-old son, Henry, forcing the French and the Scots armies to return home.

Peace between Henry III, Louis of France, and Alexander II followed on September 12, 1217 with the Treaty of Kingston. Diplomacy further strengthened the reconciliation by the marriage of Alexander to Henry’s sister Joan of England on 18 June 18, or June 25, 1221.

Royal forces crushed a revolt in Galloway in 1235 without difficulty; nor did an invasion attempted soon afterwards by its exiled leaders meet with success. Soon afterwards a claim for homage from Henry of England drew forth from Alexander a counter-claim to the northern English counties. The two kingdoms, however, settled this dispute by a compromise in 1237. This was the Treaty of York, which defined the boundary between the two kingdoms as running between the Solway Firth (in the west) and the mouth of the River Tweed (in the east).

Alexander’s first wife Joan of England died in March 1238 in Essex, and was buried in Dorset. Alexander married his second wife, Marie de Coucy, the following year on May 15, 1239. Together they had one son, the future Alexander III, born in 1241.

A threat of invasion by Henry III in 1243 for a time interrupted the friendly relations between the two countries; but the prompt action of Alexander in anticipating his attack, and the disinclination of the English barons for war, compelled him to make peace next year at Newcastle.

Alexander now turned his attention to securing the Western Isles, which were still part of the Norwegian domain of Suðreyjar. He repeatedly attempted negotiations and purchase, but without success. Alexander set out to conquer these islands but died on the way in 1249. This dispute over the Western Isles, also known as the Hebrides, was not resolved until 1266 when Magnus VI of Norway ceded them to Scotland along with the Isle of Man.

Alexander attempted to persuade Ewen, the son of Duncan, Lord of Argyll, to sever his allegiance to Haakon IV of Norway. When Ewen rejected these attempts, Alexander sailed forth to compel him, but on the way he suffered a fever at the Isle of Kerrera in the Inner Hebrides. He died there in 1249 and was buried at Melrose Abbey.

He was succeeded by his son, the seven-year-old Alexander III of Scotland.

April 30, 1245: Birth of King Philippe III of France.

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Edward I of England, Henry III of England, Isabella of Aragon, Kings and Queens of France, Louis IX of France, Louis of France, Marie of Brabant, Philip III of France, Philip the Bold, Philip the Fair, The Eighth Crusade at Tunis

Philippe III (April 30, 1245 – October 5, 1285), called the Bold was King of France from 1270 to 1285.

Philippe was born in Poissy to King Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy.

King Philippe III “The Bold” of France

Margaret of Provence younger sisters (thus aunts of Philippe III) were Queen Eleanor of England (wife of King Henry III of England), Queen Sanchia of Germany (wife of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, brother was Henry III of England. Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by a majority of the seven electoral princes, with the title of King of the Romans, a preparatory step in being named Holy Roman Emperor by the pope).

Margaret’s youngest sister was Queen Beatrice of Sicily (was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily and Naples by marriage to Charles I of Naples).

Becoming Heir to the Throne

As a younger son, Philippe was not expected to become King of France. He had an elder brother Prince Louis (1244-1260). Philippe’s elder brother fell ill after Christmas 1259 and died shortly after New Year, aged fifteen, a month before his sixteenth birthday. At the death of his elder brother Louis Philippe became the heir to the throne. He was then 15 years old and had less skill than his brother, being of a gentle character, submissive, timid and versatile, almost crushed by the strong personalities of his parents.

His mother Margaret made him promise under a solemn oath to remain under her tutelage until the age of 30, but his father King Louis IX preferring to improve his son through education. Pope Urban IV released Philippe from his oath on June 6, 1263.

Marriages of Philippe III

On May 6, 1262, Philippe married Isabella, daughter of King James I of Aragon and his second wife Yolande of Hungary. They had four sons:

Louis (1265–1276)
Philippe IV “the Fair” (1268–1314), King of France
Robert (1269–1271)
Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325)

Isabella accompanied her husband on the Eighth Crusade against Tunis. On their way home, they stopped in Cosenza, Calabria. Six months pregnant with her fifth child, on January 11, 1271 she suffered a fall from her horse. After they had resumed the trip back to France, Isabella gave birth to a premature stillborn son.

She never recovered from her injuries and the childbirth, and died seventeen days later, on January 28. Her death was a devastating emotional blow to her husband, especially since she had been pregnant. Philippe took the bodies of Isabella and their stillborn son and, when he finally returned to France, buried them in the Basilica of St Denis. Isabella’s tomb, like many others, was desecrated during the French Revolution in 1793.

After death of Isabella, King Philippe married Marie of Brabant on August 21, 1274. Marie was daughter of the late Heinrich III, Duke of Brabant, and Adelaide of Burgundy, Duchess of Brabant. They had three children: Louis (1276-1319), Blanche (1278-1305) and Margaret (1282-1318). Margaret became Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I of England.

Marriage of Philip and Marie of Brabant, Queen of France

Philippe III was under the strong influence of his mother, Margaret of Provence, and his minion, surgeon and chamberlain (Chambellan) Pierre de La Broce. Not being French, Marie stood out at the French court.

Marie was the step-mother to Philippe’s children. Philippe’s eldest son with his first wife Isabella of Aragon was also named Prince Louis (1264-1276), not to be confused with Philippe III’s elder brother, also named Louis. He died under suspicious circumstances.

Following Louis’ death, Pierre de la Broce, Philippe’s chamberlain, accused Mary of Brabant, Philippe’s second wife, of poisoning Louis. However, by 1277, suspicion had also fallen on Pierre de la Broce, who was then tried for treachery, and hanged at Montfaucon. Despite that, it is widely believed Louis was poisoned, by orders of his stepmother, Marie of Brabant. At Louis death at the age of 12, his younger brother Philippe, succeeded him as heir apparent.

Kingship

Philippe’s father, King Louis IX, died on August 25, 1270 in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philippe, who was accompanying him, returned to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271.

Coronation of Philippe III in Reims.

Philippe III proved indecisive, soft in nature, and timid. The strong personalities of his parents apparently crushed him, and policies of his father dominated him. People called him “the Bold” on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback, and not on the basis of his political or personal character.

Philippe III was pious but not cultivated. He followed the suggestions of others, first of Pierre de La Broce and then of his uncle King Charles I of Naples, Sicily, and Albania.

Philip III made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Pedro III of Aragon against Philippe’s uncle Charles I of Naples. Philippe led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philippe III was forced to retreat and died from dysentery in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his second surviving son as King Philippe IV the Fair, who was crowned King of France on January 6, 1286 in Reims.

After the death of Philippe III in 1285, his second wife Queen Marie lost some of her political influence, and dedicated her life to their three children.

Marie lived through Philippe IV’s reign and she outlived all her children. She died in 1322, aged 67, in the monastery at Les Mureaux, near Meulan, where she had withdrawn to in 1316.

January 14, 1236: wedding of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence.

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Charles I of Naples, Eleanor of Provence, Henry III of England, Kingdom of England, Kings and Queens of England, Louis IX of Frances, Ramon Berenguer IV of Provence

Henry III (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272), also known as Henry of Winchester, was King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine from 1216 until his death.The son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême, Henry assumed the throne when he was only nine in the middle of the First Barons’ War.

Henry investigated a range of potential marriage partners in his youth, but they all proved unsuitable for reasons of European and domestic politics.

Eleanor of Provence (c. 1223 – June 24/25, 1291) was the daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and Margaret of Geneva. Eleanor was well educated as a child, and developed a strong love of reading. Her three sisters also married kings.

The youngest sister, Beatrice of Provence was ruling Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1245 until her death, as well as Countess of Anjou and Maine, Queen of Sicily and Naples by marriage to Charles I of Naples. Eleanor’s elder sister Margaret married Louis IX of France, their uncle William corresponded with Henry III of England to persuade him to marry Eleanor. Henry sought a dowry of up to twenty thousand silver marks to help offset the dowry he had just paid for his sister Isabella of England who married, Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich II, but Eleanor’s father was able to negotiate this down to no dowry, just a promise to leave her ten thousand when he died. Eleanor was well-mannered, cultured and articulate, but the primary reason for the marriage was political, as Henry stood to create a valuable set of alliances with the rulers of the south and south-east of France.

The marriage contract was confirmed on June 22, 1235. Like her mother, grandmother, and sisters, Eleanor was renowned for her beauty. She was a dark-haired brunette with fine eyes. Piers Langtoft speaks of her as “The erle’s daughter, the fairest may of life”. Matthew Paris describes her as being “jamque duodennem” (already twelve) when she arrived in the Kingdom of England to meet Henry III for the first time for their marriage.

There was a substantial age gap between the couple – Henry was 28, Eleanor only 12 – but historian Margaret Howell observes that the King “was generous and warm-hearted and prepared to lavish care and affection on his wife”. The pair were married at Canterbury Cathedral on January 14, 1236, and Eleanor was crowned queen at Westminster shortly afterwards in a lavish ceremony planned by Henry. Henry gave Eleanor extensive gifts and paid personal attention to establishing and equipping her household. He also brought her fully into his religious life, including involving her in his devotion to Edward the Confessor.

After Eleanor’s marriage, many of her Savoyard relatives joined her in England. At least 170 Savoyards arrived in England after 1236, coming from Savoy, Burgundy and Flanders, including Eleanor’s uncles, the later Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury and William of Savoy, Henry’s chief adviser for a short period.

Henry arranged marriages for many of them into the English nobility, a practice that initially caused friction with the English barons, who resisted landed estates passing into the hands of foreigners. Savoyards were careful not to exacerbate the situation and became increasingly integrated into English baronial society, forming an important power base for Eleanor in England.

Over the coming years, Eleanor emerged as a hard-headed, firm politician. Historians Margaret Howell and David Carpenter describe her as being “more combative” and “far tougher and more determined” than her husband.

It was Eleanor of Provence who arranged a marriage between her sister Sanchia and her brother-in-law Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, whose first wife Isabel Marshal had died recently. At the time, Sanchia was engaged to Raymond VII of Toulouse, but the weak part he played in the recent fighting was a good enough excuse for breaking the bond. Richard was elected in 1256 as King of Germany by a majority of the seven electoral princes, with the title of King of the Romans, a preparatory step in being named Holy Roman Emperor by the pope.

Despite initial concerns that the Queen might be barren, Henry and Eleanor had five children together. In 1239, at age 16, Eleanor gave birth to their first child, Edward, (future King of England) named after the Confessor. Henry was overjoyed and held huge celebrations, giving lavishly to the Church and to the poor to encourage God to protect his young son.

Their first daughter, Margaret, named after Eleanor’s sister, followed in 1240, her birth also accompanied by celebrations and donations to the poor. The third child, Beatrice, was named after Eleanor’s mother, and born in 1242 during a campaign in Poitou. Their fourth child, Edmund, arrived in 1245 and was named after the 9th-century saint. Concerned about Eleanor’s health, Henry donated large amounts of money to the Church throughout the pregnancy.

A third daughter, Katherine, was born in 1253 but soon fell ill, possibly the result of a degenerative disorder such as Rett syndrome, and was unable to speak. She died in 1257 and Henry was distraught. His children spent most of their childhood at Windsor Castle and he appears to have been extremely attached to them, rarely spending extended periods of time apart from his family.

November 16, 1272: Death of King Henry III of England and the accession of King Edward I.

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Acre, Crusades, Edward I of England, Edward longshanks, Henry III of England, Kingdom of England, Louis IX of France

Edward, heir to the English throne, left for the Eighth Crusade, led by King Louis IX of France, in 1270, as Henry III became increasingly ill; concerns about a fresh rebellion grew and the next year the King wrote to his son asking him to return to England, but Edward did not turn back. Henry recovered slightly and announced his renewed intention to join the crusades himself, but he never regained his full health and on the evening of November 16, 1272, Henry died in Westminster, probably with Queen Eleanor (of Provence) in attendance. He was succeeded by Edward as the new King of England and Lord of Ireland.

Henry III, King of England and Lord of Ireland

Edward was in Acre, in the Holy Land, and an attack by a Muslim assassin in June forced him to abandon any further campaigning. Although he managed to kill the assassin, he was struck in the arm by a dagger which was feared to be poisoned, and became severely weakened over the following months.

It was not until September 24, 1273 that Edward left Acre. Arriving in Sicily, he was met with the news that his father had died on November 16, 1272, and that he had become the King of England. In our day of instant information it’s amazing to think that the news of the death of King Henry III didn’t reach his son and successor for almost a year! Edward was deeply saddened by this news, but rather than hurrying home at once, he made a leisurely journey northwards.

Edward I, King of England and Lord of Ireland

This was due partly to his still-poor health, but also to a lack of urgency. The political situation in England was stable after the mid-century upheavals, and Edward was proclaimed king after his father’s death, rather than at his own coronation, as had until then been customary. In Edward’s absence, the country was governed by a royal council, led by Robert Burnell. The new king embarked on an overland journey through Italy and France, where among other things he visited Pope Gregory X. Only on August 2, 1274 did he return to England, almost two years since his accession, and he was crowned on August 19.

Second Marriage of Isabella of Angoulême.

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England, Henry III of England, Hugh X of Lusignan, Isabella of Angouleme, John Lackland, Kings and Queens of England, Léa Seydoux, Queen Mother, Raymond VII of Toulouse

On the 19th of October I posted about the life of King John of England. In that entry I included information on his marriage to Isabella of Angoulême (c. 1186/1188 – June 4, 1246). What I found interesting was her second marriage and her life after King John.

Second Marriage

Isabella was the only daughter and heir of Aymer Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, by Alice of Courtenay, who was sister of Peter II of Courtenay, Latin Emperor of Constantinople and granddaughter of King Louis VI of France.

When King John died on October 19, 1216, Isabella was 28/30 years of age and her first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son as King Henry III at the city of Gloucester on October 28. As the royal crown had recently been lost in The Wash, along with the rest of King John’s treasure, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown. The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of
Angoulême.

Isabella of Angoulême

In the spring of 1220, Isabella married Hugh X of Lusignan, “le Brun”, Seigneur de Luisignan, Count of La Marche, the son of her former fiancé, Hugh IX, to whom she had been betrothed before her marriage to King John. It had been previously arranged that her eldest daughter Joan should marry Hugh, and the little girl was being brought up at the Lusignan court in preparation for her marriage. Hugh, however, upon seeing Isabella, whose beauty had not diminished, preferred the girl’s mother. Joan was provided with another husband, King Alexander II of Scotland, whom she wed in 1221.

Isabella had married Hugh without the consent of the king’s council in England, as was required of a queen dowager. That council had the power not only to assign to her any subsequent husband, but to decide whether she should be allowed to remarry at all. That Isabella flouted its authority moved the council to confiscate her dower lands and to stop the payment of her pension.

Isabella of Angoulême

Isabella and her husband retaliated by threatening to keep Joan, who had been promised in marriage to the King of Scotland, in France. The council first responded by sending furious letters to the Pope, signed in the name of young King Henry, urging him to excommunicate Isabella and her husband, but then decided to come to terms with Isabella, to avoid conflict with the Scottish king, who was eager to receive his bride. Isabella was granted the stannaries in Devon, and the revenue of Aylesbury for a period of four years, in compensation for her confiscated dower lands in Normandy, as well as the £3,000 arrears for her pension.

Isabella had nine more children by Hugh X. Their eldest son Hugh XI of Lusignansucceeded his father as Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême in 1249.

Isabella’s children from her royal marriage did not join her in Angoulême, remaining in England with their eldest brother Henry III.

Rebellion and death

Isabella of Angoulême portrayed by actress Léa Seydoux in the 2010 film Robin Hood.

Described by some contemporaries as “vain, capricious, and troublesome,” Isabella could not reconcile herself with her less prominent position in France. Though Queen mother of England, Isabella was now mostly regarded as a mere Countess of La Marche and had to give precedence to other women. In 1241, when Isabella and Hugh were summoned to the French court to swear fealty to King Louis IX of France’s brother, Alphonse, who had been invested as Count of Poitou, their mother, the Queen Dowager Blanche openly snubbed her.

This so infuriated Isabella, who had a deep-seated hatred of Blanche for having fervently supported the French invasion of England during the First Barons’ War in May 1216, that she began to actively conspire against King Louis. Isabella and her husband, along with other disgruntled nobles, including her son-in-law Raymond VII of Toulouse, sought to create an English-backed confederacy which united the provinces of the south and west against the French King. She encouraged her son Henry in his invasion of Normandy in 1230, but then did not provide him the support she had promised.

In 1244, after the confederacy had failed and Hugh had made peace with King Louis, two royal cooks were arrested for attempting to poison the King; upon questioning they confessed to having been in Isabella’s pay. Before Isabella could be taken into custody, she fled to Fontevraud Abbey, where she died on 4 June 1246.

By Isabella’s own prior arrangement, she was first buried in the Abbey’s churchyard, as an act of repentance for her many misdeeds. On a visit to Fontevraud, her son King Henry III of England was shocked to find her buried outside the Abbey and ordered her immediately moved inside. She was finally placed beside Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Afterwards, most of her many Lusignan children, having few prospects in France, set sail for England and the court of Henry, their half-brother.

Issue

* With King John of England: 5 children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:
*
1. King Henry III of England (October 1, 1207 – November 16, 1272). Married Eleanor of Provence, by whom he had issue, including his heir, King Edward I of England.
2. Richard, Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans (January 5, 1209 – April 2 1272). Married firstly Isabel Marshal, secondly Sanchia of Provence, and thirdly Beatrice of Falkenburg. Had issue.
3. Joan (July 22, 1210 – 1238), the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland. Her marriage was childless.
4. Isabella (1214–1241), the wife of Emperor Frederick II, by whom she had issue.
5. Eleanor (1215–1275), who would marry firstly William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; and secondly Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, by whom she had issue.

* With Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche: nine children, all of whom survived into adulthood, including:
*
1. Hugh XI of Lusignan (1221–1250), Count of La Marche and Count of Angoulême. Married Yolande de Dreux, Countess of Penthièvre and of Porhoet, by whom he had issue.
2. Aymer of Lusignan (1222–1260), Bishop of Winchester
3. Agnès de Lusignan (1223–1269). Married William II de Chauvigny (d. 1270), and had issue.
4. Alice of Lusignan (1224 – 9 February 1256). Married John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue.
5. Guy of Lusignan (c. 1225 – 1264), killed at the Battle of Lewes. (Tufton Beamish maintains that he escaped to France after the Battle of Lewes and died there in 1269).
6. Geoffrey of Lusignan (c. 1226 – 1274). Married in 1259 Jeanne, Viscountess of Châtellerault, by whom he had issue.
7. Isabella of Lusignan (c.1226/1227 – 14 January 1299). Married firstly before 1244 Maurice IV, seigneur de Craon (1224–1250), by whom she had issue; she married secondly, Geoffrey de Rancon.
8. William of Lusignan (c. 1228 – 1296). 1st Earl of Pembroke. Married Joan de Munchensi, by whom he had issue.
9. Marguerite de Lusignan (c. 1229 – 1288). Married firstly in 1243 Raymond VII of Toulouse; secondly c. 1246 Aimery IX de Thouars, Viscount of Thouars and had issue