Philippa of Hainault - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article is about the English queen. For the Portuguese queen, see Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster
Philippa of Lancaster, LG was a Queen consort of Portugal. Born into the royal family of England, her marriage with King John I secured the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance and produced several famous children who became known as the "Illustrious Generation" in Portugal...

.

Philippa of Hainault, or, Philippe (d'Avesnes) de Hainaut (24 June 1314 – 15 August 1369) was the Queen consort

Queen consort

A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

of King Edward III of England

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

. Edward, Duke of Guyenne, her future husband, promised in 1326 to marry her within the following two years. She was married to Edward, first by proxy, when Edward dispatched the Bishop of Coventry

Bishop of Coventry

The Bishop of Coventry is the Ordinary of the England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield....

"to marry her in his name" in Valenciennes

Valenciennes

Valenciennes is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies on the Scheldt river. Although the city and region had seen a steady decline between 1975 and 1990, it has since rebounded...

(second city in importance of the county of Hainaut) in October 1327. The marriage was celebrated formally in York Minster

York Minster

York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...

Cathedral on 24 January 1328, some months after Edward's accession to the throne of England. In August 1328, he also fixed his wife’s dowry.

Philippa acted as regent

Regent

A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

on several occasions when her husband was away from his kingdom and she often accompanied him on his expeditions to Scotland, France, and Flanders. Philippa won much popularity with the English people for her kindness and compassion, which were demonstrated in 1347 when she successfully persuaded King Edward to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais. It was this popularity that helped maintain peace in England throughout Edward's long reign. The eldest of her fourteen children was Edward, the Black Prince

Edward, the Black Prince

Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....

, who became a renowned military leader. Philippa died at the age of fifty-five from an illness closely related to dropsy. The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, founded 1341, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Queen's is centrally situated on the High Street, and is renowned for its 18th-century architecture...

was founded in her honour.

Family

Philippa was born in Valenciennes

Valenciennes

, county of Hainaut

County of Hainaut

The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries with its capital at Mons . In English sources it is often given the archaic spelling Hainault....

, a daughter of William I, Count of Hainaut

William I, Count of Hainaut

William I, Count of Hainaut was Count William III of Avesnes, Count William III of Holland and Count William II of Zeeland from 1304 to his death...

, nicknamed the Good, and Joan of Valois, the granddaughter of Philip III of France

Philip III of France

Philip III , called the Bold , was the King of France, succeeding his father, Louis IX, and reigning from 1270 to 1285. He was a member of the House of Capet.-Biography:...

. She was one of eight children and the second of five daughters. Her eldest sister Margaret married Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....

in 1324; and in 1345, she became the suo jure Countess of Hainaut upon the death of their brother William

William II, Count of Hainaut

William II, Count of Hainaut was William IV of Avesnes, William IV of Holland and William III of Zeeland from 1337 to his death, succeeding his father, William I. He married Joanna, Duchess of Brabant and Limburg in 1334, but had no issue.- Military career and death :William fought in France as...

in battle. William II, Count of Hainaut, nicknamed the Audacious, was also possessor of the counties of Zealand and Holland as well as of the seigniory of Frieze: these vacant inheritances were devolved to Margaret after agreement between Philippa and her sister. Edward III of England, however, in 1364-65, in the name of his wife Philippa, demanded the return of Hainaut and other inheritances which had been given over to the Dukes of Bavaria–Straubing. He was not successful, as it was the custom in these regions to favour male heirs.

Philippa was interested in learning and was as avid a reader as her mother, Joan of Valois, who introduced French literary culture to the court of Hainaut.

Betrothal

King Edward II

Edward II of England

Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...

had decided that an alliance with Flanders would benefit England and sent Bishop Stapledon

Walter de Stapledon

Walter de Stapledon , English bishop, was born at Annery in North Devon.On 13 March 1307 Stapledon was chosen Bishop of Exeter, and was consecrated on 13 October 1308. He went on errands to France for both Edward I and Edward II, and attended the councils and parliaments of his time...

of Exeter on the Continent as an ambassador. On his journey, he crossed into the county of Hainaut to inspect the daughters of Count William of Hainaut, in order to determine which daughter would be the most suitable as an eventual bride for Prince Edward. The bishop's report to the king as regards Philippa (who was about eight years old at that time) reads in part: "The lady ..... has not uncomely hair, betwixt blue-black and brown. Her head is clean-shaped; her forehead high and broad, and standing somewhat forward. Her face narrows between the eyes, and the lower part of her face is still more narrow and slender than the forehead. Her eyes are blackish-brown and deep. Her nose is fairly smooth and even, save that it is somewhat broad at the tip and flattened, yet it is no snub-nose. Her nostrils are also broad, her mouth fairly wide. Her lips somewhat full, and especially the lower lip. Her teeth which have fallen and grown again are white enough, but the rest are not so white. The lower teeth project a little beyond the upper; yet this is but little seen. Her ears and chin are comely enough. Her neck, shoulders, and all her body and lower limbs are reasonably well shapen; all her limbs are well set and unmaimed; and nought is amiss so far as a man may see. Moreover, she is of brown skin all over like her father; and in all things she is pleasant enough, as it seems to us."
Four years later Philippa was betrothed to Prince Edward when, in the summer of 1326, Queen Isabella

Isabella of France

Isabella of France , sometimes described as the She-wolf of France, was Queen consort of England as the wife of Edward II of England. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre...

arrived at the Hainaut court seeking aid from Count William to depose King Edward. Prince Edward had accompanied his mother to Hainaut where she arranged the betrothal in exchange for assistance from the count. As the couple were second cousins, a Papal dispensation

Papal dispensation

Papal dispensation is a reserved right of the Pope that allows for individuals to be exempted from a specific Canon Law. Dispensations are divided into two categories: general, and matrimonial. Matrimonial dispensations can be either to allow a marriage in the first place, or to dissolve one...

was required; and it was sent from Pope John XXII

Pope John XXII

Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...

at Avignon

Avignon

Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...

in September 1327. Philippa and her retinue arrived in England in December 1327 escorted by her uncle, Sir John of Hainaut. On 23 December she reached London where a "rousing reception was accorded her".

Queen of England

Philippa married Edward at York Minster

York Minster

, on 24 January 1328, eleven months after his accession to the English throne; although, the de facto

De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...

rulers of the kingdom were his mother, Queen Dowager

Queen Dowager

A queen dowager or dowager queen is a title or status generally held by the widow of a deceased king. In the case of the widow of a deceased emperor, the title of empress dowager is used...

Isabella and her avaricious lover Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, who jointly acted as his regent

Regent

s. Soon after their marriage the couple retired to live at Woodstock Palace

Woodstock Palace

Woodstock Palace was a royal residence in the English town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire.Henry I of England built a hunting lodge here and in 1129 he built seven miles of walls to create the first enclosed park, where lions and leopards were kept. The lodge became a palace under Henry's grandson, Henry...

in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

. Unlike many of her predecessors, Philippa did not alienate the English people by retaining her foreign retinue upon her marriage or by bringing large numbers of foreigners to the English court. As Isabella did not wish to relinquish her own status, Philippa's coronation was postponed for two years. She eventually was crowned queen on 4 March 1330 at Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

when she was almost six months pregnant; and she gave birth to her first son, Edward

Edward, the Black Prince

, the following June just nine days before her sixteenth birthday.

In October 1330, King Edward commenced his personal rule when he staged a coup and ordered the arrest of his mother and Mortimer. Shortly afterward, the latter was executed for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

, and Queen Dowager Isabella was sent to Castle Rising

Castle Rising

Castle Rising is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is best known as the location of Castle Rising Castle, which dominates the village...

in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, where she spent the remainder of her life.

Joshua Barnes, a medieval writer, said "Queen Philippa was a very good and charming person that exceeded most ladies for sweetness of nature and virtuous disposition." Chronicler Jean Froissart

Jean Froissart

Jean Froissart , often referred to in English as John Froissart, was one of the most important chroniclers of medieval France. For centuries, Froissart's Chronicles have been recognized as the chief expression of the chivalric revival of the 14th century Kingdom of England and France...

described her as "The most gentle Queen, most liberal, and most courteous that ever was Queen in her days."

Philippa accompanied Edward on his expeditions to Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and the European continent in his early campaigns of the Hundred Years War where she won acclaim for her gentle nature and compassion. She is best remembered as the kind woman who, in 1347, persuaded her husband to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais

The Burghers of Calais

Les Bourgeois de Calais is one of the most famous sculptures by Auguste Rodin, completed in 1889. It serves as a monument to an occurrence in 1347 during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, an important French port on the English Channel, was under siege by the English for over a year.-History:The...

, whom he had planned to execute as an example to the townspeople following his successful siege of that city.

She acted as regent

Regent

in England on several occasions when her husband was away from his kingdom. She also influenced the king to take an interest in the nation's commercial expansion. Philippa was a patron of the chronicler Jean Froissart, and she owned several illuminated manuscripts, one of which currently is housed in the national library in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

Later years and death

Always buxom and matronly, Philippa's figure had become stout in her later years. She had given birth to fourteen children and outlived nine of them, two having died of the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

in 1348.

On 15 August 1369, Philippa died of an illness similar to dropsy in Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

at the age of fifty-five. She was given a state funeral

State funeral

A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...

six months later on 29 January 1370 and interred at Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

. Her tomb, placed on the south side of the Chapel of Edward the Confessor, displays her alabaster effigy

Effigy

An effigy is a representation of a person, especially in the form of sculpture or some other three-dimensional form.The term is usually associated with full-length figures of a deceased person depicted in stone or wood on church monuments. These most often lie supine with hands together in prayer,...

which was executed by sculptor Jean de Liège.

By all accounts, her forty-year marriage to Edward had been happy, despite his adulterous affair with her lady-in-waiting

Lady-in-waiting

A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...

, Alice Perrers

Alice Perrers

Alice Perrers was a royal mistress whose lover and patron was King Edward III of England. She acquired significant land holdings. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Edward's consort, Philippa of Hainault.-Life and Family:...

, during the latter part of it.

Issue

Philippa and Edward had thirteen children, including five sons who lived into adulthood and the rivalry of whose numerous descendants would, in the fifteenth century, bring about the long-running and bloody dynastic wars known as the Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

Edward, the Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....

(1330 – 1376)
Isabella of England
Isabella de Coucy
Isabella of England, also known as Dame Isabella de Coucy , was the eldest daughter of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault and the wife of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy, by whom she had two daughters.She was made a Lady of the Garter in 1376.-Early years:Isabella was the royal...

(1332 – 1379)
Joan of England
Joan of England (1335-1348)
Joan of England was a daughter of King Edward III of England and his Queen, Philippa of Hainault. Joan, also known as Joanna, was born perhaps in February 1333 in the Tower of London. As a child she was placed in the care of Marie de St Pol, wife of Aymer de Valence and foundress of Pembroke...

(1335 – 1348)
William of Hatfield (16 February - 8 July 1337)
Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence
Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence
Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, jure uxoris 4th Earl of Ulster and 5th Baron of Connaught, KG was the third son, but the second son to survive infancy, of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

(1338 – 1368)
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

(1340 – 1399)
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York
Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, 1st Earl of Cambridge, KG was a younger son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault, the fourth of the five sons who lived to adulthood, of this Royal couple. Like so many medieval princes, Edmund gained his identifying nickname from his...

(1341 – 1402)
Blanche (1342 – 1342)
Mary (1344 – 1362)
Margaret (1346 – 1361)
Thomas of Windsor (1347 – 1348)
William of Windsor (24 June 1348 – 5 September 1348)
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester
Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Buckingham, 1st Earl of Essex, Duke of Aumale, KG was the thirteenth and youngest child of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

(1355 – 1397)

Legacy

Through her children, Philippa reintroduced the bloodline of an earlier English king, Stephen

Stephen of England

Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...

, into the royal family. She was descended from Stephen through Matilda of Brabant, the wife of Floris IV, Count of Holland

Floris IV, Count of Holland

Floris IV , Count of Holland from 1222 to 1234. He was a son of William I of Holland and Adelaide of Geldern....

. Their daughter, Adelaide of Holland

Adelaide of Holland

Adelaide of Holland or Aleide van Holland was a daughter of Floris IV, Count of Holland and Matilda of Brabant. She was also a sister of William II, Count of Holland and King of Germany...

, married John I of Avesnes

John I of Avesnes

John I of Avesnes was the count of Hainaut from 1246 to his death. Born in Houffalize, he was the eldest son of Margaret II of Flanders by her first husband, Bouchard IV 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

Henry I, Duke of Brabant

Henry I of Brabant , named "The Courageous" Duke of Brabant and Duke of Lower Lotharingia until his death.-Biography:...

.

Philippa was also a descendant of Harold II of England through his daughter Gytha of Wessex

Gytha of Wessex

Gytha of Wessex was one of several daughters of Edith Swanneck by Harold II, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.According to Saxo Grammaticus, two of Harold's sons and a daughter escaped to the court of their uncle, king Sweyn Estridsson of Denmark. They were treated by Sweyn with hospitality,...

, married to Vladimir II Monomakh

Vladimir II Monomakh

Vladimir II Monomakh |Basileios]]) was a Velikiy Kniaz of Kievan Rus'.- Family :He was the son of Vsevolod I and Anastasia of Byzantium Vladimir II Monomakh |Basileios]]) (1053 – May 19, 1125) was a Velikiy Kniaz (Grand Prince) of Kievan Rus'.- Family :He was the son of Vsevolod I (married in...

of Kiev. His bloodline, however, had been reintroduced to the English royal family by Philippa's mother-in-law, Isabella of France

Isabella of France

, who was a granddaughter of Isabella of Aragon

Isabella of Aragon

Isabella of Aragon , infanta of Aragon, was, by marriage, Queen consort of France in the Middle Ages from 1270 to 1271.-Life:...

, the wife of Philip III of France

Philip III of France

Philip III , called the Bold , was the King of France, succeeding his father, Louis IX, and reigning from 1270 to 1285. He was a member of the House of Capet.-Biography:...

. Isabella of Aragon's mother, Violant of Hungary

Violant of Hungary

Violant of Hungary was Queen consort of James I of Aragon. She is also called Jolánta in Hungarian, Iolanda or Violant d'Hongria in Catalan and Yolanda or Violante de Hungría in Spanish.-Family:...

, was a daughter of Andrew II of Hungary

Andrew II of Hungary

Andrew II the Jerosolimitan was King of Hungary and Croatia . He was the younger son of King Béla III of Hungary, who invested him with the government of the Principality of Halych...

, a grandson of Géza II by Euphrosyne of Kiev, herself a granddaughter of Gytha. She was matrilineally

Matrilineality

Matrilineality is a system in which descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. Matrilineality is also a societal system in which one belongs to one's matriline or mother's lineage, which can involve the inheritance of property and/or titles.A matriline is a line of descent from a...

descended from Elizabeth the Cuman

Elizabeth the Cuman

-Daughter of Kuthen:She was born in about 1239/40, a daughter of Kuthen/Kotyan/Kotony , khan of the Cumans , and his wife whose identity has not been established. The Cumans were the western tribes of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. The Cumans were a confederation of Turkic speaking peoples who...

(born before 1241), a daughter of Kuthen

Köten

Köten was a Cuman khan and member of the Terter clan. This Köten is the same Prince Kotjan Sutoevic of the Russian annals, who forged the Russian-Cuman alliance against the Tatars...

, Khan of the Cumens

Cumans

The Cumans were Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman-Kipchak confederation. After Mongol invasion , they decided to seek asylum in Hungary, and subsequently to Bulgaria...

, thus bringing Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

n genes into the English royal line.

The Queen's College, Oxford

The Queen's College, Oxford

is named after Philippa. It was founded in 1341 by one of her chaplains, Robert de Eglesfield

Robert de Eglesfield

Robert de Eglesfield , founder, 1341, of The Queen's College, Oxford, and a chaplain of Queen Philippa of Hainault in whose honour he named the college....

, in her honour.

Philippa also is known to be the "most royal" Queen consort of England due to four of her great-great-grandfathers having been kings of France, Aragon, Naples, and Hungary.

Sources

Salmonson, Jessica Amanda.(1991) The Encyclopedia of Amazons. Paragon House. page 212. ISBN 1-55778-420-5 page 92 pages 185 & 186
Sury, Geoffroy G., « Bayern Straubing Hennegau : la Maison de Bavière en Hainaut, XIVe - XVe s. », (2nd Ed.), Geoffroy G. Sury, Edit., Brussels, © 2010. pp. 55, 66 & 128.

Family

Betrothal

Queen of England

Later years and death

Issue

Legacy

Sources

See also