THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY VMS Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/philippaofhainauOOwhit PHILIPPA OF HAINAUT, QUEEN OF ENGLAND BY LEILA OLIVE WHITE A. B. Rockford College, 1914. THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN HISTORY IN THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 1915 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS THE GRADUATE SCHOOL ..%C+-7 ^ 19</ 1 HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY ftlil^ &&L^-^ J^B^L^T 0^ S^t ]J-CuJl^^-0<-^A- tjL_^jui^~ 6~^~~ ENTITLED ^Pt^^L^fifi f BE ACCEPTED AS FULFILLING THIS PART OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF CL^t* *~ In Charge of Major Work H ead of Department Recommendation concurred in: Committee on Final Examination CONTENTS Chapter I Philippa of Hainaut ---------------------- 1 Family and Birth Queen Isabella and Prince Edward at Valenciennes Marriage Arrangement -- Philippa in England The Wedding at York Coronation Philippa's Influence over Edward III -- Relations with the Papacy - - Her Popularity Hainauters in England. Chapter II Philippa and her Share in the Hundred Years' War ------- 15 English Alliances with Philippa's Relatives -- Emperor Louis -- Count of Hainaut Count of Juliers Vow of the Heron Philippa Goes to the Continent -- Stay at Antwerp -- Court at Louvain -- Philippa at Ghent Return to England Contest over the Hainaut Inherit- ance -- Battle of Neville's Cross -- Philippa at the Siege of Calais. Chapter III Philippa and her Court -------------------- 29 Brilliance of the English Court -- French Hostages King John of France Sir Engerraui de Coucy -- Dis- tinguished Visitors -- Foundation of the Round Table -- Amusements of the Court -- Tournaments -- Hunting The Black Death -- Extravagance of the Court -- Finan- cial Difficulties The Queen's Revenues -- Purveyance-- uiuc s Royal Manors « Philippa's Interest in the Clergy and in Religious Foundations — Hospital of St. Katharine -- Literary Tastes -- Interest in the Universities Queen's Hall -- Patronage of Jean Froissart. Chapter IV Philippa's Children ---------------------- -- - Prince Edward of Woodstock Battle of L ' Espagnol sur- Mer In Aquitaine Marriage to Joan of Kent -- Princess Isabella — Affair with Louis of Flanders -- Marriage to Sir Engerraud de Coucy Princess Joanna Betrothal to the Prince of Castile — Death in Gascony-- Lionel of Antwerp — Marriage to Elizabeth de Burgh In Ireland -- Marriage and Death in Milan -- John of Gaunt Marriage to Blanche of Lancaster Changeling Story John's Patronage of Learning Edmund of Langley -- Thomas of Woodstock -- General Characteristics Chapter V Death of Philippa ----------------------- Last Years Froissart 's Story of her Death. Bibliography , 1 PHILIPPA OF HAINAUT, QUEEN OF ENGLAND "La bonne, qui pourist en terre 1 " 1 Qui fu ro'ine d Angle terre . Chapter 1 Philippa of Hainaut owes her chief importance in history to the accident of birth and the circumstance of marriage. Consort of Edward III of England, a remarkable though scarcely a great king, Philippa played her queenly part with a grace and distinction which added lustre to her husband's reign, and with a charm of personality and a nobility of character that won for her a place in the hearts and affections of her subjects as Queen Philippa the Good. It is interesting to note that Philippa' s father, William I (of Avesnes) also enjoyed the popular appellation "the Good." He was lord of the three Netherlandish counties of Holland, Hainaut, and Zealand. These were well-populated, flourishing districts with a number of thriving cities, deriving their wealth chiefly from com- merce by sea and from manufactures, particularly the weaving of wool len cloth. Their wealth and advantageous geographical situation gave to their count considerable political importance; members of the ruling house intermarried on terms of practical equality with some of the most famous royal families of mediaeval Europe. William himself had married Jeanne de Valois, a granddaughter of Philip III ^ Froissart, Poesies , II, 8. 2_ of Prance and a sister of Philip of Valois who was elected to the French throne as Philip VI. The count and countess of Hainaut had five children who survived infancy, one son and four daughters. Philippa was the third daughter; she was born probably in 1314, though the precise date is uncertain. Her girlhood environment was of a sort that ex- plains her later intellectual interests, for her father, as well as her uncle John of Beaumont, was a zealous patron of poets, and the court at Valenciennes offered a friendly atmosphere to literary art.1 It is impossible to find evidence concerning Philippa' s education; it is doubtful if she ever learned to read or write, and there is no record that she was accomplished even in music or needlework, the ordinary achievements of ladies of mediaeval times. It was in the summer of her twelfth year that an event oc- curred which for the first time brought Philippa within the ken of contemporary historians. This event was the visit at Valenciennes of Isabella, queen of Edward II of England, together with her son, Prince Edward of Windsor. The countess of Hainaut, it is true, was a cousin of the English queen; but the motive of Isabella's visit was not social, by any means. Isabella had not been on good terms with her husband for several years, chiefly because she felt herself deprived of her due Influence over the king by his favorites, the Despensers. Aware of the fact that a large number of the English barons were nursing grievances against the same favorites, and that the whole nation was becoming restless under the inefficient government, Isabella deter- 1 OeuvPQS de Froissart (ed. Kervyn de Lettenhove), Ia,48,n.3< . , 3 mined to make an attempt at least to depose either the favorites or the king, or all of them. Accordingly she went to France and ap- pealed to her brother, King Charles IV, for aid. She succeeded in taking with her her young son, then in his early teens. This was a very clever move on her part, for the presence in her company of the popular and promising heir to the throne greatly strengthened the queen's cause. Charles IV received his sister and nephew hospitably and listened to Isabella's grievances rather sympathetically at first, though he probably never seriously considered aiding her military ex- pedition. However, Isabella's scandalous relations with Roger Mortimer, an exiled English nobleman, soon disgusted Charles so much that he made it plain to his sister that she would have to seek an- other field for her operations."*" It was under these circumstances that Isabella decided to visit the court of the count and countess of Hainaut With her suite, she withdrew quietly from France and came to Valenciennes. Here the party was received very hospitably and entertained with every honor for about eight days. Count William and his brother, John of Beaumont, were impressed with Isabella's story; Sir John volunteered to enter her service and to find other knights and men-at-arms to go with her to England to aid in the over- throw of Edward II. It was natural that Isabella should appreciate this assistance, and that she should wish to establish a closer bond between England and Hainaut. Further, there was a problem as to how she could find money to pay Sir John and his mercenaries. A "*" According to Froissart, her decision was made on the ad- vice of her cousin, Robert of Artois. Froi ssart, (Berners* Transl.) 1 , 28, ff 4 plan occurred to her which served admirably her double purpose, - namely, to marry her son to one of Count William's daughters, thus at the same time securing a useful alliance and also obtaining funds in the form of a dowry. Count William consented readily enough, 1 and the match was formally arranged, it being agreed that the mar- riage should occur within two years. Such are the cold facts in the case. Froissart puts the matter in a much more romantic light. During Prince Edward's stay at Valenciennes, the young man conversed much with the Count's four daughters; Philippa and he were especially attracted to each other. When the time came for the prince's departure, the young Philippa be- gan to weep copiously, unaffectedly confessing that she felt very sorry to have her cousin leave her. No mention is made of the Mons agreement; the chronicler relates that a year or so later, in England, the question came up (apparently for the first time) of finding a wife for the heir to the throne. Then Edward, smiling at the recol- lection of his parting from her, declared he knew of no one he would rather marry than his cousin Philippa. Froissart' s incident is unquestionably fictitious, yet it is extremely probable that Edward had a choice as to which of the count's daughters should be his bride, and their congeniality in later years makes it quite evident that there was a strong element of genuine affection in the match be- tween Edward and Philippa. However despicable Isabella's motives in her conspiracy against her husband were, her action was ultimately of benefit to 1 Document found at Mons. Oeuvres (K. de L.), 11, 502, note. 2 Oeuvres (K. de L. ) , II, 54-55; Ibid., II, 190-191. 5 England; and her visit to Hainaut was the factor which determined the benefit. The Hainaut alliance was to prove very important dip- lomatically in the succeeding years; and it was only because of the aid of the Hainaut soldiers that Isabella's party succeeded in de- posing the incompetent Edward II and in placing a more capable king on the throne.