Medieval Women – Page 6 – History… the interesting bits!

Matilda and Edith, Women of Different Fates

14/10/202311/10/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly3 Comments

History...the Interesting Bits — *The Battle of Hastings, from the Bayeux Tapestry*

Although the Battle of Hastings was fought by men, the women of the two opponents, Harold and William, had as much invested in the outcome as their husbands. The two women, however, have very different reputations. Whereas Matilda appears as the epitome of the medieval ideal woman, Edith has come down through history as ‘the other woman’. However, for both these women, their futures, and the futures of their children, were inextricably linked with the fates of the men fighting on Senlac Hill on that October morning in 1066.

Harold had met Edith Swan-neck at about the same time as he became earl of East Anglia, in 1044. Which makes it possible that Edith Swan-neck and the East Anglian magnate, Eadgifu the Fair, are one and the same. Eadgifu the Fair held over 270 hides of land and was one of the richest magnates in England. The majority of her estates lay in Cambridgeshire, but she also held land in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk; in the Domesday Book Eadgifu held the manor at Harkstead in Suffolk, which was attached to Harold’s manor of Brightlingsea in Essex and some of her Suffolk lands were tributary to Harold’s manor of East Bergholt. While it is by no means certain that Eadgifu is Edith Swan-neck several historians – including Ann Williams in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – make convincing arguments that they were. Even their names, Eadgifu and Eadgyth, are so similar that the difference could be merely a matter of spelling or mistranslation; indeed, the abbey of St Benet of Hulme, Norfolk, remembers an Eadgifu Swanneshals among its patrons.

By 1065 Harold had been living with the wonderfully-named Eadgyth Swanneshals (Edith the Swan-neck) for twenty years. History books label her as Harold’s concubine, but Edith was, obviously, no weak and powerless peasant, so it’s highly likely they went through a hand-fasting ceremony – or ‘Danish marriage’ – a marriage, but not one recognized by the church, thus allowing Harold to take a second ‘wife’ should he need to. Harold and Edith had at least 6 children together; including four sons, Godwin, Edmund, Magnus and Ulf and two daughters, Gytha, who married Vladimir Monomakh, Great Prince of Kiev, and Gunnhild, was to become a nun at Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire, but never took her vows.

However, despite their twenty years and many children together, with the health of the king, Edward the Confessor, deteriorating, it became politically expedient for Harold to marry in order to strengthen his position as England’s premier earl and, possibly, next king. Ealdgyth was the daughter of Alfgar, earl of Mercia, and, according to William of Jumieges, very beautiful. She was the widow of Gruffudd ap Llywelyn, King of Gwynedd from 1039 and ruler of all Wales after 1055, with whom she had had at least one child, a daughter, Nest. Gruffudd had been murdered in 1063, following an expedition into Wales, some sources suggest it was by Harold himself, however Gruffudd’s own men are the chief suspects. Harold’s subsequent marriage to Ealdgyth not only secured the support of the earls of Northumbria and Mercia, but also weakened the political ties of the same earls with the new rulers of north Wales.

Rather than his loyal and loving ‘wife’, Edith, it was Ealdgyth, therefore, who was for a short time, queen of England. However, with Harold having to defend his realm, first against Harold Hardrada and his own brother, Tostig, at Stamford Bridge in September of 1066 and, subsequently, against William of Normandy at Hastings, it is unlikely Ealdgyth had time to enjoy her exalted status. At the time of the Battle of Hastings, 14^th October 1066, Ealdgyth was in London, but her brothers took her north to Chester soon after. Although sources are confused it seems possible that Ealdgyth was heavily pregnant and gave birth to a son, Harold Haroldson, within months of the battle. Unfortunately, that is the last we hear of Ealdgyth; her fate remains unknown. Young Harold is said to have grown up in exile on the Continent and died in 1098.

Despite his marriage to Ealdgyth it seems Edith Swan-neck remained close to Harold and it was she who was waiting close by when the king faced William of Normandy at Senlac Hill near Hastings on 14^th October 1066. She awaited the outcome alongside Harold’s mother, Gytha. Having lost a son, Tostig, just two weeks before, fighting against his brother and with the Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, Gytha lost three more sons – Harold, Gyrth and Leofwine – and her grandson, Haakon, in the battle at Hastings.

And it was Edith and the elderly Gytha, who wandered the blood-soaked field in the aftermath of the battle, in search of the fallen king. Sources say that Gytha was unable to identify her sons amidst the mangled and mutilated bodies. It fell to Edith to find Harold, by undoing the chain mail of the victims, in order to recognize certain identifying marks on the king’s body – probably tattoos.

The monks of Waltham Abbey had a tradition of Edith bringing Harold’s body to them for burial, soon after the battle. Although other sources suggest Harold was buried close to the battlefield, and without ceremony, it is hard not to hope that Edith was able to perform this last service for the king. However, any trace of Harold’s remains was swept away by Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, so the grave of England’s last Anglo-Saxon king is lost to history.

Harold’s mother, Gytha, eventually fled into exile on the Continent, taking Harold and Edith’s daughter, another Gytha, with her, possibly arranging her marriage to the prince of Smolensk and – later – Kiev. The sons of Edith and Harold fled to Ireland with all but one, living into the 1080s, though the dates of their eventual deaths remain uncertain. Gunnhild remained in her nunnery at Wilton until sometime before 1093, when she became the wife or concubine of Alan the Red, a Norman magnate. Whether or not she was kidnapped seems to be in question but when Alan died in 1093, instead of returning to the convent, Gunnhild became the mistress of Alan’s brother and heir, Alan Niger. Alan Rufus held vast lands in East Anglia – lands that had once belonged to Eadgifu the Fair and, if Eadgifu was Edith Swan-neck, it’s possible that Alan married Gunnhild to strengthen his claims to her mother’s lands.

Of Edith Swan-neck, there is no trace after Harold is interred at Waltham Abbey, she simply disappears from the pages of history…

For Matilda, on the other hand, the Battle of Hastings marked the start of another stage of her life and career as the wife of William, duke of Normandy and, now, King of England. Matilda of Flanders was probably born around 1032, the daughter of Baldwin V, count of Flanders, and his wife, Adela, a daughter of King Robert the Pious of France. The young duke, William of Normandy, was probably pushing his luck when he proposed a marriage between himself and young Matilda. Although he was a duke and Baldwin a mere count, there was the question of his illegitimacy and Normandy was hardly the most stable of regions; William had spent all of his adult life fighting to keep hold of it.

A later story tells of how Matilda refused to marry William, stating that, being granddaughter of a king, she was too high born to marry a bastard. William was said to be so incensed with this response that he straightaway rode to Flanders, accosted young Matilda in the street, pulling her from her horse by her braids, before hitting her and cutting her with his spurs; whereupon Matilda changed her mind and agreed to marry William. While amusing, it is highly likely that the story is an invention, and highly unlikely that Matilda was asked her opinion on the marriage. Getting to the altar was not an easy task, however, as the pope refused to allow the marriage, without giving his reasons. It is possible that the refusal was on the grounds of consanguinity, although it seems the only familial link is that William’s aunt married Matilda’s grandfather as his second wife (Matilda’s father, however, was the son of the count’s first wife, so there was no blood relationship). It seems more likely that the refusal was politically motivated, due to Count Baldwin’s support of the Lotharingian’s rebellion against Pope Leo IX’s sponsor, the Holy Roman Emperor.

William was not to be thwarted, however, and before 1053 he married, Matilda despite the papal interdict; they were eventually ordered to establish a monastery each in penance for the marrying without papal dispensation, but the marriage was allowed to stand. In penance Matilda established the Abbaye-aux-Dames, consecrated in 1066, while William founded the Abbay-aux-Hommes, both in Caen.

The marriage between Matilda and William proved to be a strong and trusting relationship; William is one of very few medieval kings believed to have been completely faithful to his wife, no rumours of extra-marital affairs have ever been uncovered. He trusted Matilda to act as regent in Normandy during his many absences on campaign or in England. Matilda supported her husband’s proposed invasion of England, promised a great ship for William’s personal used, it was called the Mora; the ship had a figurehead of a small boy, whose right hand pointed to England and left hand held a horn to his lips.

Matilda and William had a rather large family, with 4 boys and at least 4 daughters. Their eldest son, Robert Curthose, who inherited Normandy, was followed by Richard, who was killed during a hunting accident as a youth, William, known as Rufus who became King William II, and the future Henry I. Of the 4 or 5 daughters Adelida became a nun following a series of failed marriage plans, Cecilia was given to the convent of Ste Trinite as a child, Constance married Alain Fergant, duke of Brittany and Adela married Stephen of Blois; their son, another Stephen would succeed Henry I as King of England. There are suggestions of 2 further daughters, Matilda and Agatha, though evidence for their existence is highly limited.

Matilda was very close to her family, especially her eldest son, Robert, whose later antics were to cause problems between his parents. William and Robert, father and son, were often at loggerheads, with Robert in open rebellion against his father as a young adult. Matilda was constantly trying to play the peacemaker and was so upset by one quarrel that she was ‘choked by tears and could not speak’. Even during a period of exile imposed on Robert, Matilda still supported her son as best she can; she would send him vast amounts of silver and gold through a Breton messenger, Samson. On discovering Samson’s complicity William threatened to blind the messenger and it was only through Matilda’s intervention that the Breton escaped.

Where poor Edith Swan-neck lost almost everything at Hastings, Matilda’s star was in the ascendant, but the Conquest was not without problems and it was not until 1068 that William felt secure enough to bring his wife over to England. Matilda was crowned Queen of England in Winchester Cathedral at Pentecost in that year, although further unrest soon saw her returned to the relative safety of Normandy, where she was acting as regent for her absent husband. Matilda was one of the most active of medieval queens, standing in as an able administrator during her husband’s absences; hearing land pleas and corresponding with such as the pope, who is known to have asked her to use her influence over her husband, on occasion. She was also the driving force in holding together her family, keeping relations as cordial as possible, even with the rebellious Robert. And it may well be her own strength of character, as the centre of the family, that meant none of her sons would marry until after her death.

Matilda’s piety is renowned. Although founding the Abbaye-aux-Dames in Caen was a penance for her irregular marriage to William, her constant and repeated donations to religious houses demonstrate her dedication to her faith. Among her many donations; she gave the monks of Marmoutier a new refectory and a cope and to the monks of St Evroult she gave £100 for a refectory, a mark of gold, a chasuble decorated with gold and pearls, and a cope for the chanter. The nuns of her abbey at Ste Trinite, Caen, received a substantial bequest from Matilda’s will; as well as her regalia, they were given a chalice, a chasuble, a mantle of brocade, 2 golden chains with a cross, a chain decorated with emblems for hanging a lamp in front of the altar, several large candelabras, the draperies for her horse and all the vases ‘which she had not yet handed out during her life’.

Matilda and William’s relationship is one of the most successful of the medieval period. Said to be a happy and loving marriage, their trust in each other was demonstrable and it was remarked up on when William fell seriously ill during a stay at Cherbourg between 1063 and 1066, Matilda prayed for his recovery at the altar; the monks remarking on her informal appearance as the sign of her distress her husband illness was causing her. Matilda fell ill in the late summer of 1083 and died on 2nd November of the same year. She was buried at Ste Trinite, Caen, where the original tombstone, with the inscription carved round the edge, still survives. Following her death William cut a sad and lonely figure; becoming increasingly isolated he followed his wife to the grave 4 years later in 1087.

Select bibliography:

Oxforddnb.com; The Norman Conquest: William the Conquerors’ Subjugation of England by Teresa Cole; William the Conqueror: The Bastard of Normandy by Peter Rex; Kings, Queens, Bones and Bastards by David Hilliam; Britains’ Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy by Alison Weir; The Oxford Companion to British History edited by John Cannon; epistolae.ccnmtl.columbia.edu.

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Scotland’s history is dramatic, violent and bloody. Being England’s northern neighbour has never been easy. Scotland’s queens have had to deal with war, murder, imprisonment, political rivalries and open betrayal. They have loved and lost, raised kings and queens, ruled and died for Scotland. From St Margaret, who became one of the patron saints of Scotland, to Elizabeth de Burgh and the dramatic story of the Scottish Wars of Independence, to the love story and tragedy of Joan Beaufort, to Margaret of Denmark and the dawn of the Renaissance, Scotland’s Medieval Queens have seen it all. This is the story of Scotland through their eyes.

‘Scotland’s Medieval Queens gives a thorough grounding in the history of the women who ruled Scotland at the side of its kings, often in the shadows, but just as interesting in their lives beyond the spotlight. It’s not a subject that has been widely covered, and Sharon is a pioneer in bringing that information into accessible history.’ Elizabeth Chadwick (New York Times bestselling author)

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Heroines of the Tudor World tells the stories of the most remarkable women from European history in the time of the Tudor dynasty, 1485-1603. These are the women who ruled, the women who founded dynasties, the women who fought for religious freedom, their families and love. Heroines of the Tudor World is now available for pre-order from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. Women of the Anarchy demonstrates how Empress Matilda and Matilda of Boulogne, unable to wield a sword themselves, were prime movers in this time of conflict and lawlessness. It shows how their strengths, weaknesses, and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of war one way – and then the other. Available from Bookshop.org, Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK. King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is the story of a truly remarkable lady, the hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle and the first woman in England to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Available from all good bookshops Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon.

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, and Bookshop.org. Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available in paperback and hardback from Pen & Sword, Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon, and Bookshop.org. Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066. Available now from Amazon, Amberley Publishing, and Bookshop.org.

Alternate Endings: An anthology of historical fiction short stories including Long Live the King… which is my take what might have happened had King John not died in October 1216. Available in paperback and kindle from Amazon.

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell and Elizabeth Chadwick, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved.

Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram.

Guest Post: The Kingmaker’s Women by Julia A. Hickey

07/10/202302/10/2023Sharon Bennett Connolly1 Comment

Today it is an absolute pleasure to welcome fellow historian Julia A. Hickey to History… the Interesting Bits. I have been following Julia’s work for many years and regularly turn to her blog, The History Jar, for information and inspiration for my own work. And, apparently, Julia does the same with History… the Interesting Bits, so we’re forming a bit of a mutual appreciation society. Julia’s latest book focuses on the Wars of the Roses and, in particular, the wife and daughters of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known to history as ‘The Kingmaker.’ And here she is to give us a little taster of her book, The Kingmaker’s Women, Anne Beauchamp and Her Daughters, Isabel and Anne Neville by Julia A Hickey.

So, it’s over to Julia…

The Kingmaker’s Women, Anne Beauchamp and Her Daughters, Isabel and Anne Neville.

Julia A. Hickey

Isabel and Anne Neville led brief but turbulent lives. Their father, Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick by right of his wife, Anne Beauchamp, was at the heart of the conflicts of the mid-fifteenth century, earning himself the name ‘Warwick the Kingmaker’. Countess Anne and her children were chronicled, on occasion, alongside the earl in his long-played political game spanning more than twenty years, concluding only with his death on a foggy Easter morning at Barnet in 1471. It is impossible to write about their lives without setting them in the context of the War of the Roses and the earl’s influence upon it.

Anne Beauchamp, descended from King Edward III, the Despensers and the Mortimers as well as the earls of Warwick, was married to Richard Neville in 1434 at Abergavenny when she was 8 years-old and her husband was only 6. The union was subsidiary to the wedding of their siblings Henry Beauchamp, the 13th Earl of Warwick’s heir, and Cecily Neville which was celebrated at the same time. There was no reason to expect that the marriage would transform Richard, who was heir to his father Richard Neville and his mother, Alice Montacute, the heiress of the Earl of Salisbury, into one of the most powerful nobles of the fifteenth century.

It was Anne’s unexpected inheritance of the earldom of Warwick and all its estates upon the death of her brother in 1446 followed by her young niece, named after her, in 1449 that transformed the couple’s fortunes. Anne, who had three elder half-sisters from the 13th earl’s first marriage to Elizabeth de Berkeley, was the only full-blooded relation of the 15th countess. The law, viewing the deceased countess’s collateral heirs, saw only that Anne was more closely related to her niece than the other women. Inheritance was not awarded based on direct descent from Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick who had been outlived by both his son and his granddaughter. The decision triggered a legal dispute and a feud with the families of Anne Beauchamp’s half-sisters which resonated throughout the conflict between York and Lancaster. As daughters of the 13th earl, Margaret, Eleanor and Elizabeth expected to be coheiresses to the earldom alongside their younger half-sibling. Margaret’s husband, John Talbot, contended that as the husband of the 13th earl’s eldest daughter, it was he rather than Richard Neville who should become the 16th Earl of Warwick by right marriage (jure uxoris).

The new countess travelled with her husband, oversaw the management of their estates in his absence, was party to his schemes and subject to the State’s wrath after his death. One of the consequences of the lived experience of the countess and her daughters was that they did not leave the kind of documentary trail that would help to shine a light upon their lives in present times. It was only when medieval women became widows in receipt of dower and jointure rights that they gained legal independence and a voice in the official record. Isabel, born in 1451, and Anne, born in 1456, grew up, lived and died largely unheralded in a masculine world, or so it appears at first glance. Dig deeper and the echo of women with voices demanding to be heard, including Countess Anne, can be found in court records, financial accounts, charters and wills; books commissioned by wealthy well-educated women like the Nevilles and Beauchamps; as well as the establishment of chantries and the building of parish churches throughout the realm.

Isabel Neville, who died when she was 25, was married, in secret at Calais, to King Edward IV’s brother George, Duke of Clarence in 1469. Her father was eager to link the Neville name with that of Plantagenet. Clarence was desirous of the match because Isabel was the elder daughter of one of England’s most powerful men and an heiress to vast estates. There was also a distinct possibility that Warwick would topple Edward from the throne as the relationship between the men deteriorated and place Clarence upon it in his brother’s stead. Circumstantial evidence demonstrates that Isabel was beloved by George who was only a year older than his bride. Unlike the king, Clarence had no known mistresses or illegitimate children. No one can know how Isabel felt about her husband; her experience as a fugitive in 1470, forced to give birth onboard ship to a still born child outside Calais; or the turning of her husband’s coat that September when he re-joined his brother’s cause. It had become clear that Warwick was less interested in making him king than Clarence might have previously supposed. Nor is it possible to know what the relationship between the two sisters was like when Anne Neville was placed in George’s custody in 1471 or even if Isabel supported George’s attempt to prevent the division of her parents’ estates. It is certainly true that Clarence was grief-stricken by his wife’s death and he was permitted, as he desired, to be interred next to Isabel at Tewkesbury following his own execution for treason in 1478.

The idea of heiress as powerless trophy is a trope embedded into our common view of Anne Neville, thanks to Shakespeare’s portrayal of her in Richard III as a pawn furthering her father’s ambitions. She has also served since Tudor times as a sickly cypher to illustrate Richard’s manifest evil. The story, told by Shakespeare, is based on Sir Thomas More’s History of King Richard III. In reality, Anne’s life was an example of the changeability of fortune depicted by the popular medieval philosophy of Fortuna’s wheel. History does not know if she was a woman of courage or shrewd intelligence in the way the Lady Margaret Beaufort is recognised, but John Rous who knew Anne described her as ‘amiable and beauteous and in conditions full commendable and right virtuous’. Whatever her health might have been, she was made of the same stern stuff as Henry Tudor’s mother to whom she was distantly related. Anne endured a sea battle when her father was forced to flee England in 1470; was married to Edward of Lancaster, the son of her father’s bitterest enemy; made a forced march with the Lancastrian army from the south of England to Tewkesbury in 1471; was widowed after five months of marriage; and escaped the clutches of her land-hungry brother-in-law. She preferred to risk the criminals of St Martin’s sanctuary near Westminster so that she could make a second marriage to Richard, Duke of Gloucester who would fight for her inheritance and see her returned to her own rightful position in society.

Anne’s marriage to Richard was unusual for a couple of their rank in that no dowry could be agreed for her because, by then, the estates associated with the Nevilles and the Earldom of Warwick lay within the king’s gift. The legal rights of Anne’s mother, the suo jure Countess of Warwick, were stolen from her by King Edward IV and Parliament through the simple expedient of having Anne Beauchamp declared legally dead. The countess’s letters written from sanctuary at Beaulieu following her husband’s death demanding her legal rights remain as testimony to both her own education and the potential power of aristocratic women to intervene in political decision making. The effectiveness of her correspondence to the highborn men and women who surrounded the king is best illustrated by Edward IV’s orders that she should be prevented from the continuation of her writing.

Memorial brass to Isabel Neville and George, Duke of Clarence, Tewkesbury Abbey

Had King Edward IV not died in 1483 while his eldest son was still a child, Anne Neville might have spent the remainder of her days overseeing her household and servants at Middleham as the Duchess of Gloucester. Hers would have been a story of estate management, a piety shared with her spouse, and the trials of childbirth.

Fortuna’s wheel carried Anne to the apex of society when her husband was declared King Richard III on 25 June 1483. As queen she chose to surround herself with Neville kinswomen familiar since childhood, including her own illegitimate half-sister, Margaret Huddleston who was married to the Lord of Millom. Fate continued its abrupt revolution. The loss of her only son, Edward of Middleham, followed hard on the heels of a double coronation and triumphant progress to York. It was not long before Anne became so unwell that her doctors prohibited the king from sharing her bed. As winter turned into spring in March 1485, Anne died and was buried in Westminster Abbey, leaving behind only rumour, speculation and rebellion. Five months later Richard was dead at Bosworth, buried with scant regard for ceremony, leaving Anne to be characterised as a victim rather than a woman born with a powerful name and the potential of political agency.

Even more extraordinary, the circumstances surrounding the end of Isabel and Anne Neville’s lives were both followed by accusations of murder and witchcraft. Clarence, to modern eyes at least, maddened with grief following the untimely death of Isabel in December 1476, accused one of his wife’s own household of murder. Ankarette Twynyho, possibly a trusted midwife, was shoehorned by the duke into an evolving stereotype of a witch. Clarence had no hesitation either in kidnapping the woman or having her judicially murdered. Later, the Tudor propaganda machine, whatever the truth of the matter, vilified Richard III as the murderer of his nephews, a poisoner and a man of such diabolical intensity that he terrified Anne into an early grave.

Countess Anne lived on after her daughters. Consigned to the footnotes or forgotten by history, the suo jure Countess of Warwick, declared legally dead in 1474, refused to be stripped of her voice or her rights. She may have commissioned The Pageants of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick and the Rous Roll that depict the lives of the Earls of Warwick, the countess, and Isabel and Anne. There was no such thing as a bad Earl of Warwick in her opinion. She knew that her power and that of her daughters lay in the land that they represented, in their kinship networks and the men they slept with.

A pragmatist and survivor, Countess Anne negotiated her return to legal life with the accession of the Tudors on the condition that she broke the entail that lay upon her estates and gifted then to Henry VII. When she died in 1492, she was buried next to her husband in Bisham Abbey. She left Isabel’s surviving children, Margaret and Edward, nothing, apart from a Plantagenet legacy that would see Edward, the 17th Earl of Warwick, executed for treason in 1499 and, Margaret Pole, suo jure Countess of Salisbury, butchered by an inept headsman in 1541.

Medieval chroniclers and the focus of history’s lens marginalises women like Countess Anne and her daughters by imposing a distinction between the masculine public and the feminine domestic spheres. The messy reality is that the countess and her daughters, and women like them, lived complex and sometimes contentious lives, risking everything to protect their family’s interests.

To Buy the Book

The Kingmaker’s Women, Anne Beauchamp and Her Daughters, Isabel and Anne Neville by Julia A Hickey, published by Pen and Sword is currently priced at £20.00. It is available direct from Pen and Sword as well as from Amazon and Waterstones. It is the third of Julia’s books to be published by Pen and Sword. The Son that Elizabeth I Never Had: The Adventurous Life of Robert Dudley explores the life of the Earl of Leicester’s illegitimate son while Medieval Royal Mistresses: Mischievous Women who Slept with Kings and Princes takes an overview of the women who shared the beds of some of England and Scotland’s rulers.

About the author

Julia Hickey describes herself as a general historian but is often drawn back to the Wars of the Roses and the Tudor period. Her interest in history began at an early age when she lived near Plymouth and her father recounted the story of Sir Francis Drake playing bowls before setting sail to vanquish the Armada. She has a particular passion for the reivers who operated in the borders between England and Scotland before James I ascended the throne in 1603 not only because riding names such as Armstrong and Musgrave resonate in her husband’s family tree but because a glimpse may be caught of ordinary men and women in ballads of the period. Little known or untold stories, the contribution made by women and the lives of people who populate the footnotes of History fascinate her. She is at her happiest exploring and photographing castles, ruins, cathedrals and stately homes – preferably followed by a visit to a café.

Her first degree was in English and History from the University of Kent which she followed up with an M.A. by research and teaching qualification. Since then, she has taught in a range of settings from secondary schools to venues used by the Workers Educational Association (WEA). These days she is a freelance speaker, writer and blogger at thehistoryjar.com. She can also be found at https://www.instagram.com/thehistoryjar/ and https://www.facebook.com/TheHistoryJar.

When she’s not writing, she can be found in her garden, enjoying the Peak District in all its seasons or crafting. Almost inevitably her interests take a historical turn. This year she has taken part in the Unstitched Coif, a co-created artwork and research project undertaken by a PHD student at Sheffield in association with the V & A Museum, using blackwork embroidery to stitch a previously unworked seventeenth century design.

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Out now: King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

In a time when men fought and women stayed home, Nicholaa de la Haye held Lincoln Castle against all-comers, gaining prominence in the First Baron’s War, the civil war that followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215. A truly remarkable lady, Nicholaa was the first woman to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Her strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history. Nicholaa de la Haye is one woman in English history whose story needs to be told…

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon.

Coming 15 January 2024: Women of the Anarchy

On the one side is Empress Matilda, or Maud. The sole surviving legitimate child of Henry I, she is fighting for her birthright and that of her children. On the other side is her cousin, Queen Matilda, supporting her husband, King Stephen, and fighting to see her own son inherit the English crown. Both women are granddaughters of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland and descendants of Alfred the Great of Wessex. Women of the Anarchy demonstrates how these women, unable to wield a sword, were prime movers in this time of conflict and lawlessness. It show how their strengths, weaknesses, and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of war one way – and then the other.

Available for pre-order from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey is now available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, and Bookshop.org.

Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available in paperback and hardback from Pen & Sword, Amazon, and Bookshop.org.

Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon, and Bookshop.org.

Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066. Available now from Amazon, Amberley Publishing, and Bookshop.org.

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

Just a little News

07/09/202307/09/2023Sharon Bennett ConnollyLeave a comment

First and foremost, I would like to extend a huge THANK YOU to all my readers for sticking with me through the years. I really appreciate your support and messages of encouragement. And I hope you will continue to read and enjoy my articles and books.

I have a few things happening at the moment, so thought I would just do a short post sharing my news, just so you don’t miss it!

LAST EVENT OF THE YEAR!

11 October 2023

Rounding off a fabulous year, my last event is part of the amazing Lincoln Book Festival and -appropriately enough – is about Nicholaa de la Haye!

Forgotten Heroine will be held in the gorgeous lecture theatre at the Lincoln Museum (formerly known as The Collection), on 11 October, 2023, at 6.16pm.

Tickets are just £7!

Tickets are on sale now from the Lincoln Book Festival website, just click HERE!

Book News

Kings and Queens: 1200 Years of English and British Monarchs

14 September sees the release of a new book I have collaborated on, Iain Dale’s Kings and Queens: 1200 Years of English and British Monarchs draws together some of the best historians around today (and me).

An essay on every individual who sat on the British and English throne, compiled and edited by Iain Dale.

‘We all know about Queen Victoria, Edward VIII and Queen Elizabeth II, but how much do we really know about other monarchs? Yes, we know William the Conqueror beat King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. We know George III was mad, but what else do we know about his 60 year long reign? We know Henry VIII famously had six wives, but do we know much more about him, other than he was very fat?’

From Alfred the Great to Charles III, each essay examines the monarch, their role and what they tell us about British history. Why has the British monarchy, unlike so many others, endured? Kings and Queens will attempt to answer this question, and many others, providing valuable insight into British history and how Britain is ruled today.

Buy Kings and Queens!

Women of the Anarchy

In 1135 Stephen of Blois usurped the throne, stealing it from his cousin, Empress Matilda (Maud), and sparking a 19-year civil war that would become known as The Anarchy, one of the bloodiest periods in English history. On the one side is Empress Matilda, or Maud. The sole surviving legitimate child of Henry I, she is fighting for her birthright and that of her children. On the other side is her cousin, Queen Matilda, supporting her husband, King Stephen, and fighting to see her own son inherit the English crown.

Both women are granddaughters of St Margaret, Queen of Scotland and descendants of Alfred the Great of Wessex. Empress Matilda was the first woman to claim the throne of England in her own right, but did not gain the support of the barons. When Queen Matilda’s husband King Stephen was captured by the Empress’s forces, it was down to her to keep the fight going, and to negotiate for her husband’s release. ‘Women of the Anarchy’ demonstrates how these women, unable to wield a sword, were prime movers in this time of conflict and lawlessness. It show how their strengths, weaknesses, and personal ambitions swung the fortunes of war one way – and then the other.

Coming 15 January 2024

Available for pre-order from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK.

My new online shop is now open!

Signed books available with just a few clicks!

Well, I have finally taken the plunge and set up an online store for all my books – they will be signed, of course. Purchases will be despatched within 24 hours (48 hours on a weekend) of placing your order – guaranteed. If you already have the book, you can also order signed bookplates.

Please do visit and let me know what you think.

Books by Sharon Bennett Connolly

Podcast:

If you haven’t yet, have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved. We now have 23 episodes in our library, with many more to come, including discussions on Christine de Pisan and Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians (with guest Annie Witehead).

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

Out now: King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

10 Facts about Nicholaa de la Haye that you may not know…

22/07/202318/10/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly10 Comments

King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye — *Tomb effigy of Nicholaa de la Haye, St Michael’s Church, Swaton*

As you may have noticed, Nicholaa de la Haye is a favourite of mine. She is the subject of my 5th book, King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye. She was one of King John’s most stalwart supporters. She held Lincoln Castle against all-comers during the First Barons’ War which followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215. Her career is the more remarkable because Nicholaa was a woman in command of a castle in her own right. And she masterminded its defence against the might of the rebel barons and their French allies, even though the city of Lincoln was also against her.

So, who was she?

10 Things about Nicholaa de la Haye that you may not know…

1. Nicholaa had both English and Norman ancestry. Unlike many Normans, Nicholaa could trace her Lincolnshire roots, through her paternal grandmother, Muriel, to before the Norman Conquest; her grandmother’s grandfather was Colswein of Lincoln, an Englishman who had found favour with William the Conqueror in the years after the Conquest. Nicholaa’s father was Richard de la Haye, whose family originated from La Haye-du-Puits in Normandy, and was distantly related, through marriage, to William the Conqueror. Nicholaa’s mother was Matilda de Vernon, a niece of Baldwin de Redvers, Earl of Devon, the first magnate to rebel against King Stephen when he stole the throne from Empress Matilda.

2. Nicholaa was hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle. Just like her father and grandfather before her, Nicholaa held Lincoln Castle for the king. A charter dated between 1155 and 1158, issued by Henry II, confirmed the succession of Richard de la Haye to his father in all of his father’s lands in Lincolnshire, including the constableship of Lincoln Castle.

3. Nicholaa was the oldest of three sisters. Her sister Gila (or Julia) married Richard du Hommet, the grandson and son of successive constables of Normandy. In 1191 a charter was issued to Gila and Richard, known as the charte aux lacs d’amour (the charter of the laces of love), which had laces attached to the seal on which was written a love poem: ‘I am a pledge of love. Do not give me away. May whoever separates our love receive death’. Nicholaa’s other sister, Isabel de la Haye married William de Rollos, who was probably from Bourne, in Lincolnshire. The Rollos family returned to Normandy during the reign of King John.

4. Nicholaa’s first husband was William Fitz Erneis, who may have been a younger son of Robert Fitz Erneis, a minor Lincolnshire lord. Nicholaa and William had one surviving child, a daughter named Matilda, before William died in 1178. Nicholaa would later pay a fine of 300 marks to King Richard I so that she could marry her daughter to whomever she wished except, of course, to an enemy of the king. Nicholaa was still accounting for this debt until 1212. In 1201, she still owed 40 marks and a palfrey (a horse).

5. Before 1185, Nicholaa had remarried, this time to Gerard de Camville, son of Richard de Camville, lord of Middleton Stoney in Oxfordshire. A family with an impressive record of royal service, Richard had died in Italy in 1176 while escorting the king’s daughter, Joanna, to her wedding with King William of Sicily. Gerard’s half-brother, also called Richard, accompanied Richard the Lionheart on Crusade; this Richard de Camville was made governor of Cyprus before dying at Acre in 1191. Gerard himself served the kings Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and John. He was Constable of Lincoln Castle by right of his wife and sheriff of Lincolnshire on two occasions.

6. Nicholaa first comes to the attention of the chroniclers in 1191, when Prince John led the opposition to, William Longchamp, the man left in charge of England during Richard the Lionheart’s absence on crusade. Longchamp wanted Lincoln Castle for one of his friends and determined to take it. Gerard sought the help of Prince John swearing fealty to him at Nottingham, leaving to Nicholaa to hold the castle. William Longchamp hired a force of mercenaries and laid siege to the castle in Gerard’s absence. The formidable Nicholaa refused to yield, holding out for 40 days before Longchamp gave up and went home. Amusingly, Richard of Devizes said of this defence of Lincoln Castle, that she did it ‘without thinking of anything womanly’.

7. By the time the king arrived home in 1194, John had fled to France, leaving his supporters to face the music. On 31 March 1194, on the first day of his council at Nottingham, King Richard dispossessed Gerard de Camville of the castle and shrievalty of Lincoln. And on 2 April, Gerard was charged with harbouring outlaws (wonder if they mean Robin Hood?), treason for failing to answer the king’s justices’ summons over the harbouring of the said outlaws, and for taking up arms and aiding John in taking the castles of Tickhill and Nottingham. The outcome of the proceedings is not recorded, but given that Gerard was fined 2,000 marks to recover the king’s good will and his lands, we can assume that the judges did not find in his favour.

8. When Richard the Lionheart died on 6 April 1199 and was succeeded by his brother, John, Nicholaa and Gerard de Camville were restored to favour and to Lincoln Castle. Gerard was also appointed sheriff of Lincolnshire and served in that office for the next six years, becoming ‘a greater man than ever.’ In November 1200, Nicholaa and Gerard welcomed the kings of England and Scotland to Lincoln, where King William the Lion paid homage to King John outside the city walls.

9. Gerard died in December 1214, leaving Nicholaa in command of Lincoln Castle. In 1216, she was besieged by a force of rebel barons who had taken up arms against King John in the aftermath of the issuing of Magna Carta. Nicholaa paid them off – they stopped attacking the castle but remained in the city. In the same year, Nicholaa met King John at the East Gate of Lincoln Castle, with the castle’s keys in her hand, offering to resign her position as constable, citing her weariness and great age (she was in her 60s). John refused, telling her to remain in post until he ordered otherwise.

10. On 18 October 1216, at Newark Castle, in one of his final acts and just hours before his death, King John appointed Nicholaa de la Haye as sheriff of Lincolnshire. She was the first woman in English history to be appointed to the office of sheriff in her own right – but she would not be the last.

11. (Oops!) For 7 months, from October 1216 to May 1217, Lincoln Castle was once again under siege by a force of English rebel barons and their French allies under the command of the Comte de Perche. Nicholaa directed the castle’s defence until royalist forces could come to her aid. On 20 May 1217, William Marshal and the royalist army came to her relief, fighting the Battle of Lincoln through the city’s streets.

12. (double oops!) There was a rise in the number of baby girls named Nicholaa, in Lincolnshire, in the 13th century.

13. Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval episode dedicated to Nicholaa de la Haye, where Derek Birks and I discuss the ins and outs – and highs and lows – of Nicholaa’s career.

Sources:

Richard of Devizes, The Chronicle of Richard of Devizes; Roger of Howden (Hoveden), The Annals of Roger of Howden; The Plantagenet Chronicles edited by Elizabeth Hallam; Brassey’s Battles by John Laffin; 1215 The Year of Magna Carta by Danny Danziger & John Gillingham; The Life and times of King John by Maurice Ashley; The Plantagenets, the Kings Who Made England by Dan Jones; England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings by Robert Bartlett; lincolnshirelife.co.uk; catherinehanley.co.uk; magnacarta800th.com; lothene.org; lincolncastle.com; The Sheriff: The Man and His Office by Irene Gladwin; Louise Wilkinson, Women in Thirteenth Century Lincolnshire; Richard Huscraft, Tales from the Long Twelfth Century; J.W.F. Hill, Medieval Lincoln; swaton.org.uk; oxforddnb.com; Ingulph, Ingulph’ Chronicle of the Abbey of Croyland; Stephen Church, King John: England, Magna Carta and the Making of a Tyrant; Marc Morris, King John; Pipe Rolls; Red Book of the Exchequer

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Every episode is also now available on YouTube.

Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram.

Book Corner: The King’s Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

20/06/202319/06/2023Sharon Bennett ConnollyLeave a comment

Wales, 1093.

Meet Nesta, a woman trying to survive in a man’s world – a world where the men who would protect her are dead and banished.

The warm, comfortable family life of young Nesta, daughter of Prince Rhys of Deheubarth is destroyed when her father is killed and she is taken hostage. Her honour is further tarnished when she is taken as an unwilling concubine by King William’s ruthless younger brother Henry, who later ascends the throne under suspicious circumstances.

Gerald FitzWalter, an ambitious young knight is rewarded for his unwavering loyalty to his new King with Nesta’s hand in marriage. He is delighted, having always admired her from afar, but Nesta’s only comfort is her return to her beloved Wales where cannot help but be tempted by the handsome, charismatic and dangerous son of the Welsh prince, Owain. When he offers her the chance to join him in his plan to overthrow Norman rule she must choose between her duty and her desire . . .

The King’s Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick recounts the story of Nesta ferch Rhys, the young Welsh princess who became the mistress of Henry I of England, bearing him at least one son. I first came across Nesta’s story when I was researching Heroines of the Medieval World. On the face of it, Nesta’s life appears exciting and adventurous but Elizabeth Chadwick tempers this with a clear understanding of how little control Nesta had over her own life.

Losing her father at an early age, the poor girl was a pawn in the hands of powerful men. She first appears in history as a concubine of King Henry I, though the exact dates of their relationship, the year it took place and how long it lasted, are unknown. What is known, is that Nesta had a son by Henry and that she married Gerald of Windsor as her first husband in the early 1100s. By 1109, she and Gerald had three children. By the end of her life, Nesta was the mother of no fewer than nine children by at least four different men. She had also endured an abduction by her cousin. As a Welsh heiress, in the face of Norman expansion, Nesta was never going to have a quiet life.

And Princess Nesta’s story has been brought to life by Elizabeth Chadwick’s The King’s Jewel, fleshing out the little we know to build a whole world and life around Nesta, telling a story that is both absorbing and historically accurate.

A short ride brought them to the settlement at Pembroke, where the women were thrust into a small room halfway up a stone lookout tower. A soldier tossed in their baggage, ransacked of all jewellery, fabric and trinkets. Straw pallets and coarse woollen blankets were thrown down for their slumber. The only light in the dismal chamber came from a slit of a window open to the air, and cresset lamps, burning smokily, sputtering tallow fat. The soldier returned, bringing bowls of barley broth and coarse bread, and then departed, closing and barring the door.

Nesta gazed at their bleak surroundings with a horrible, hollow sensation in her stomach. Two nights ago she had slept in a feather bed with fresh linen sheets and soft furs. She had enjoyed the clean, sweet light of beeswax candles and had washed her hands and face with rose water. She had belongings, wealth and status. Any man daring to fondle her haunch and laugh about it would have lost his hand for the insult.

‘What will happen to us?’ she asked her mother who was staring at the pallets in disgust.

‘If tehy had wanted to kill us, they would have done so by now,’ Gwladus said with a shrug. ‘I do not matter, unless I happen to be carrying another child, which I know I am not, but you are your father’s daughter, and that makes you valuable.’

Nesta folded her arms and shivered.

‘You had your first bleed at Christmas, and you are of an age to wed. Any of these Normans could take you to wife and lay claim to your father’s lands by their laws. You are not a hostage for your people, but a girl who brings with her the gift of stolen territory.’

Nesta went rigid. ‘I would never marry one of them – never!’

Gwladus shook her head. ‘What you want does not matter to them, but they cannot take what you already are inside. Hold your head high and remember your heritage. You are a pattern for others to emulate for courage and loyalty.’ She took three steps to Nesta and touched her cheek. ‘I am depending on you to carry this burden for your family’s pride.’

‘I won’t let you down.’ Nesta’s voice quivered for, despite her defiant words, she felt small, afraid and overwhelmed.

‘Oh, my beautiful girl.’ Gwladus hugged her hard and tears squeezed out from between her closed eyelids. ‘I know you will not. And you shall always have my love – always, whatever happens.’

Nesta drew in the familiar scent of her mother’s skin, seeking comfort. ‘I want it all to go away,’ she whispered.

‘I know you do. I know.’ Gwladus rocked her back and forth and kissed her cheek. ‘So do I. Dear Holy Virgin, so do I.’

As we have come to expect, The King’s Jewel is up to Elizabeth Chadwick’s usual superior standard of story-telling. Using what we do know of Nesta’s life, Elizabeth builds an engaging story of a young woman who makes the most of a life forced upon her, but whose instinct to rebel sees her make decisions that are not always in her own best interests. We are introduced to a girl who has lost almost everything, her father dead, brother in exile and mother condemned to a nunnery, and is at the mercy of her captors. From that frightened little girl, Elizabeth Chadwick creates a captivating story that will keep the reader enthralled to the very end.

The research is impeccable and I found myself nodding at the narrative more than once, knowing where Elizabeth found those little tidbits of information. And as I finished the book, I marvelled at how Elizabeth had managed to weave the few facts we do know seamlessly into the story, adding a strong element of authenticity to the elements of fiction.

The King’s Jewel is a thoroughly enjoyable novel, set in the heart of Wales against the backdrop of the Norman kings of England determined to stamp their authority on the wild country and its people. Nesta is, at once, the symbol of resistance and reluctant submission and her journey to find some kind of balance to her life is riveting.

The beauty of The King’s Jewel is that Elizabeth Chadwick brings Nesta to life, making her a real person in the eyes of the reader, eliciting sympathy for a young girl who has no control over her destiny, compassion for a woman making a marriage not of her choosing and understanding for the decisions made that led her down a dangerous path. Elizabeth understands the internal conflict that must have arisen for Nesta out of being married to a Norman, whilst wanting freedom for her Welsh homeland and people.

I cannot recommend it highly enough!

The King’s Jewel is available from Amazon.

About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Chadwick lives in a cottage in the Vale of Belvoir in Nottinghamshire with her husband and their three dogs. Her first novel, The Wild Hunt, won a Betty Trask Award, To Defy a King won the Romantic Novelist Association’s Historical Novel Prize and The Scarlet Lion was nominated by Richard Lee – founder of the Historical Novel Society – as one of the top ten historical novels of the last decade. She often lectures at conferences and historical venues, has been consulted for television documentaries and is a member of the Royal Historical Society.

Keep in touch with Elizabeth via her website, her blogs or on social media.

http://www.elizabethchadwick.com
twitter: @chadwickauthor
facebook: ElizabethChadwick

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available, please get in touch by completing the contact me form.

Out now: King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon.

Coming 15 January 2024: Women of the Anarchy

Available for pre-order from Amberley Publishing and Amazon UK.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

1191: Nicholaa de la Haye’s First Siege

03/06/202318/11/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly7 Comments

Nicholaa de la Haye first came to the attention of the chroniclers in the year 1191. She and her husband, Gerard de Camville, were in command of Lincoln Castle. Gerard was a talented administrator and was sheriff of Lincoln in 1189 and 1190 and again from 1199 to 1205. He was also hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle by right of his wife, Nicholaa. Although he had sworn allegiance to King Richard on his accession, in 1191 Gerard paid homage to the king’s brother John, then count of Mortain, for Lincoln Castle. This meant that Gerard and Nicholaa would be drawn into John’s dispute with King Richard’s chancellor, William Longchamp.

Before King Richard’s departure on crusade, the king had extracted a promise from John and their illegitimate half-brother Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, that neither would set foot in England for three years. Although it seems highly unlikely that Longchamp released John from his oath, the prince was back in England by 1191, possibly on the insistence of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was watching over her favourite son’s domains while he was away on crusade.

Longchamp’s heavy-handed administration of the country caused much dissent among the barons and John chose to champion their cause. The catalyst for John’s armed opposition to William Longchamp may well have been the king’s recognition of his nephew, Arthur, Duke of Brittany still only a child of five years, as his heir; the only person in England who was meant to know was William Longchamp. However, it seems that Longchamp may have sounded out others to measure the level of support for Arthur. According to the chronicler William of Newburgh, he passed on the information to the king of Scots, at least, and possibly some of the Welsh princes. In early 1191 the news was widely leaked, and John came to hear of it.

According to William of Newburgh, John had expected to become the successor to the kingdom, should the king not survive the cursade. Indeed, Richard’s advancement of his brother since his accession, in giving John lands in England and arranging his marriage to an English bride, all seemed to support this expectation. Richard’s actions in naming Arthur his heir, and Longchamp’s support for this, threatened to undermine John’s own claims and rights. Having heard the not-so-secret secret, John started building up his own powerbase. According to Richard of Devizes, John, ‘when he knew for certain that his brother had turned his back on England, presently perambulated the kingdom in a more popular manner, nor did he forbid his followers calling him the king’s heir.’

Tensions were rising. Richard of Devizes reported that, as a result of the king’s departure on crusade, the nobles were ‘all stirred up in arms, castles closed, cities fortified and entrenchments thrown up.’

John sent out letters, in secret, eliciting the support of the nobles against the justiciar. The king himself was so concerned over events in England that, in the spring, he had released Walter de Coutances, archbishop of Rouen, from his crusading vow and sent him back to sort things out. The king must have had concerns about the efficacy of William Longchamp’s rule, as he also sent a letter, to William Marshal, Hugh Bardolf, Geoffrey Fitz Peter and William Brewer, in which he ordered ‘If our chancellor does not act faithfully according to the advice of yourselves and others to whom we have committed the care of our kingdom, we order you to carry out your own dispositions in all the affairs of our kingdom, in castles and escheats, without any dispute.’

Walter de Coutances landed at Shoreham on 27 June, 1191. The situation had already escalated, however.

In 1190, on returning from his investigation into the massacre of the Jews of York, Longchamp stopped at Lincoln. He accused Gerard de Camville of harbouring thieves and robbers who preyed on the merchants attending the fair at Stamford. Longchamp had demanded that Gerard de Camville, described as ‘an enemy of the chancellor’ by the Crowland Chronicle, relinquish his custody of Lincoln Castle and swear allegiance to him, personally, as justiciar. Camville refused and instead ‘had done homage to Earl John, the king’s brother, for the castle of Lincoln, the custody whereof is known to belong to the inheritance of Nicholaa, the wife of the same Gerard, but under the king.’¹

In acting against Gerard de Camville, Longchamp had forced him into John’s arms. On learning of Gerard’s defiance, Longchamp sent overseas for foreign mercenaries and set out north with the troops he had under his command, attacking Wigmore along the way and forcing Roger de Mortimer, impeached for conspiracy against the king, to surrender his castles and abjure England for three years. As Gerard de Camville joined John at Nottingham, Longchamp continued to Lincoln where he besieged the castle as ‘Gerard was with the earl; and his wife Nicholaa proposing to herself nothing effeminate defended the castle like a man. The chancellor was wholly busied about Lincoln.’²

The formidable Nicholaa refused to yield, holding out for forty days before Longchamp raised the siege, having heard that Tickhill and Nottingham had fallen to John.

Gerard’s decision to leave Nicholaa in command of the castle, even though Longchamp was heading her way with an army, may have been to emphasise the standing of the de la Haye family in Lincolnshire, and its connections to the castle itself. He believed Lincoln would rally to her side. That he did not appoint a male deputy to take charge is testament to his trust in Nicholaa and her abilities. She had, after all, grown up with the castle as her birth right and would have been familiar with every part of its defences, its strengths and weaknesses. Although she would not have been able to fight, with sword and shield, she could direct the defence, placing soldiers where they were most needed, organising supplies of weapons and ammunition, and ensuring the stores of food and drink were suitably rationed.

Nicholaa was approaching forty when William Longchamp besieged her. She was no young, inexperienced girl, and she would have been used to command – and to her orders being obeyed. She was also a mother, of a daughter in her teens and at least two young boys, but it is unlikely that the children were in the castle; it is more likely they were being raised on her manor at Brattleby, just to the north of Lincoln. The castle itself may appear difficult to defend. The curtain wall was a third of a mile in length, but there was a steep drop on the south side. There were two main entrances, the East and West gates, and a number of postern gates. These had to be guarded closely. Similarly, the castle would also have been difficult to attack, and besiegers would have concentrated their energies on the main and postern gates. There is no record of Longchamp bringing up siege machinery, so it would have been a case of watching and waiting and hoping to starve out the castle occupants.

Nicholaa held out for forty days, as demonstrated by the Pipe Roll of 1191, which showed that mercenaries were employed for that length of time on the siege of Lincoln Castle. All the same, it must have been a relief for Nicholaa, when William Longchamp gave up the siege and marched his soldiers away.

According to Roger of Howden, the chancellor besieged Lincoln Castle, ‘having expelled Gerard de Camville from the keepership and the office of sheriff of Lincoln; which former office the chancellor gave to William de Stuteville and made him sheriff as well.’ John, in turn moved north in support of Gerard, quickly taking the ill-prepared royal castles of Tickhill (in Yorkshire) and Nottingham and demanding that Gerard de Camville be reinstated, saying that he ‘would visit him [the chancellor] with a rod of iron’.³

John admonished Longchamp, saying ‘it was not proper to take from the loyal men of the kingdom, well known and free, their charges and commit them to strangers and men unknown; that it was a mark of his folly that he had intrusted the king’s castles to such, because they would expose them to adventurers; that if it should go with every barbarian with that facility, that even the castles should be ready at all times for their reception, that he would no longer bear in silence the destruction of his brother’s kingdom and affairs.’⁴

In the meantime, Walter de Coutances, Archbishop of Rouen but an Englishman by birth, had landed in England and hastened north to act as intermediary between the two warring factions. At some point in the escalating tensions, as Roger of Howden reports, William Longchamp, as papal legate, also issued a sentence of excommunication on John’s supporters. The list included John’s leading supporters, as well as Walter de Coutances, archbishop of Rouen, and Gerard de Camville.

Despite the blatant mistrust on both sides, settlement was reached, with the aid of bishops trusted by both men, and of barons who ‘swore that they would provide satisfaction between the earl and the chancellor concerning their quarrels and questions to the honour of both parties and the peace of the kingdom.’⁵ Agreement, mostly favourable to John, was reached whereby John would relinquish the castles he had taken, but then Longchamp would give Tickhill into the custody of Reginald de Wasseville and Nottingham to William de Wenn, both men of John’s affinity who each agreed to give up a hostage to the chancellor. John also promised not to harbour outlaws in his lands. Longchamp also agreed to drop his support for Arthur as Richard’s heir, to support John’s claim and ‘if the king should die…should promote him to the kingdom with all his power.’⁶

Especial mention was made of Gerard de Camville, who was reinstated to Lincoln Castle, and ‘shall be reinstated in the office of sheriff of Lincoln, and on the same day a proper day shall be appointed for him to make his appearance in the court of our lord the king, there to abide his trial; and if in the judgement of the court of our lord the king proof can be given that he aught to lose that office as also the keepership of the castle of Lincoln, then he is to lose the same; but, if not, he is to keep it, unless in the meantime an agreement can be come to relative thereto on some other terms. And the lord John is not to support him against the decision of our lord the king, nor is he to harbour such outlaws or enemies to our lord the king, as shall be named to him, nor allow them to be harboured on his lands.’⁷

So, Gerard and Nicholaa would be safe in their castle at Lincoln, at least for now. What may happen on the king’s return was still to be determined. They also benefited from John’s largesse; Gerard was appointed keeper of the honour of Wallingford.

In the meantime, Nicholaa and Gerard could get on with the business of managing Lincoln Castle and the county of Lincolnshire.

For now…

Notes:

Richard of Devizes, The Chronicle of Richard of Devizes, edited and translated by J. A. Giles
ibid
Roger of Howden (Hoveden), The Annals of Roger of Howden, translated by Henry T. Riley
Devizes, The Chronicle of Richard of Devizes
ibid
ibid
Howden, The Annals of Roger of Howden

Sources:

My Books:

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available, please get in touch by completing the contact me form or through my online bookshop.

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

Also by me:

Podcast:

There are now 80 episodes to listen to!

Every episode is also available on YouTube.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram.

Two new books in one month!

01/06/2023Sharon Bennett Connolly2 Comments

King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

Well, it has been quite a journey, but my biography of Nicholaa de la Haye is now out in the world. My journey with Nicholaa started off with a blog post in 2015, shortly after a day trip to Lincoln Castle with my son. From that day on, I devoured everything I could find on Nicholaa. Nicholaa was one of the inspirations for my first book, Heroines of the Medieval World; I wanted to tell the stories of the most incredible women in medieval history and Nicholaa was certainly in my Top 10. And from that book, I started thinking that there was more scope to examine the women related to the Magna Carta story, especially Nicholaa and her contemporary, Matilda de Braose. The conflicting lives and experiences of these two women inspired Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England; while Matilda became King John’s bitter enemy and ultimate victim, Nicholaa was a loyal ally, trusted to hold Lincoln Castle against the rebel barons and was the first woman to be appointed as a county sheriff.

As I was researching Nicholaa’s story for Ladies of Magna Carta, I got very excited as I realised that I may have enough material for a full biography. I contacted my editor, expected her to shut me down and say ‘no thanks, no one will be interested.’ But, instead, she said ‘go for it!’ And the project was born.

In a time when men fought and women stayed home, Nicholaa de la Haye held Lincoln Castle against all-comers. Not once, but three times, earning herself the ironic praise that she acted ‘manfully’. Nicholaa gained prominence in the First Baron’s War, the civil war that followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215. Although recently widowed, and in her 60s, in 1217 Nicholaa endured a siege that lasted over three months, resisting the English rebel barons and their French allies. The siege ended in the battle known as the Lincoln Fair, when 70-year-old William Marshal, the Greatest Knight in Christendom, spurred on by the chivalrous need to rescue a lady in distress, came to Nicholaa’s aid. Nicholaa de la Haye was a staunch supporter of King John, remaining loyal to the very end, even after most of his knights and barons had deserted him. A truly remarkable lady, Nicholaa was the first woman to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Her strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history. Nicholaa de la Haye is one woman in English history whose story needs to be told…

And early reviews are fantastic!

“Whilst I have read many wonderful new releases so far this year, and I look forward to reading and reviewing many more, I have to say this has been my favourite so far. Not only is Nicholaa’s story fascinating, the way Sharon presents her impeccable scholarship is second-to-none.
I hold this book up as the gold standard for how history should be written. Sharon does not just tell the narrative history, but actually presents the primary sources, showing not just what we know of Nicholaa’s life, but how we know it. It is wonderful to be able to read the sources and see how Sharon pieced together Nicholaa’s life and family. Where sources raise more questions than they answer, Sharon does not just run with a chosen narrative version, but admits to the ambiguities and gaps in the historical record, and where relevant, offers multiple theories as to what really happened.
I must thank Sharon Bennett Connolly of History the Interesting Bits for bringing this fascinating woman out of the shadows, and for doing so in such an illuminating way.” Jessica Carey-Bunning

“Connolly’s devotion to uncovering Nicholaa de la Haye’s life and her time in power as the constable of Lincoln in her own right is reflected throughout the book, and Connolly’s clear familiarity with the time period and the de la Haye family makes this book an incredibly fascinating read. Her prose and detail provides the reader with a complete understanding of the complicated late twelfth and early thirteenth century politics in London and the power struggles between various nobles and the sons of Henry II, and Connolly explains this wonderfully.” Lily Amidon

“An engrossing account of a little-known historical figure and the pivotal role she played in late 12th/early 13th century history and politics. This is one of those rare books that is scrupulously researched and scholarly but also grips like a novel. Setting the character of Nicolaa de la Haye in her historical context, “King John’s Right Hand Lady” casts light on the remarkable story of the woman who was England’s first female sheriff, and in doing so casts a fascinating light on the character of Nicolaa herself as well as the age she lived in. highly recommended.” Nicola Cornick

“History lovers will enjoy learning about this unique lady whom history nearly forgot. History academics will relish the depth of research, end notes, appendices, and comprehensive biography.” Christy Howl

“A strong, independent woman who lived a thrilling life and was willing to defend her home of Lincoln Castle even at the age of sixty, Nicholaa de la Haye was an unsung heroine of the thirteenth century. Connolly’s passion for telling Nicholaa’s tale of trials and tribulations exudes on every page. “King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye” by Sharon Bennett Connolly is the perfect book for anyone who wants a story about the Plantagenets, King John, and the first female sheriff of England. A true triumph in exploring the life of a more hidden figure from the thirteenth century.” Heidi Malagisi

I am immensely grateful to everyone at Lindum Books and the Lincoln Museum, in Lincoln, who hosted the launch of King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye, to a sell-out crowd at the Lincoln Museum, on 20 May 2023, the 806th anniversary of the 1217 Battle of Lincoln, in which Nicholaa played a pivotal role as Constable of Lincoln Castle. And thanks to the incredible audience, who laughed at my jokes in all the right places.

To Buy King John’s Right Hand Lady:

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available as a hardback and Kindle from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon (UK and US).

I said two new books, didn’t I?

Well, yes, I did. Because on the same day that King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye hit the bookshops, the paperback edition of Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey was also published:

In the reign of Edward I, when asked Quo Warranto? – by what warrant he held his lands – John de Warenne, the 6th earl of Warenne and Surrey, is said to have drawn a rusty sword, claiming ‘My ancestors came with William the Bastard, and conquered their lands with the sword, and I will defend them with the sword against anyone wishing to seize them.’

John’s ancestor, William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, fought for William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He was rewarded with enough land to make him one of the richest men of all time. In his search for a royal bride, the 2nd earl kidnapped the wife of a fellow baron. The 3rd earl died on crusade, fighting for his royal cousin, Louis VII of France…

For three centuries, the Warennes were at the heart of English politics at the highest level, until one unhappy marriage brought an end to the dynasty. The family moved in the most influential circles, married into royalty and were not immune to scandal.

Defenders of the Norman Crown tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III.

Reviews:

“I loved Defenders of the Norman Crown. Sharon Bennett Connolly’s detailed, meticulous research brings together a wealth of sources to give the reader a fascinating view of one of the powerful families on which the Crown depended for centuries. Politics and power, Marriages and mistresses, Lordship and land, Defenders of the Norman Crown has it all. Sharon Bennett Connolly has written a very fine book indeed – I loved it.” Elizabeth Chadwick, author of The Greatest Knight

“I am reading and loving Defenders of the Norman Crown by Sharon Bennett Connolly and it’s stunning. The Warenne family, their sons, daughters and wives making gripping reading and vividly filling in fascinating background shading to the stories of medieval monarchs. Wonderful research and gripping true stories, all well substantiated with relevant sources.” Carol McGrath, author of the She-Wolf Trilogy

“Sharon Bennett Connolly has written an evocative narrative, highlighting the role the Warenne earls of Surrey played in the nation’s history. Her meticulous research is evident in every page, making the book both a reference guide and an immensely enjoyable read.“Kristie Dean, author of On the Trail of Richard III

“A vivid portrayal of a powerful aristocratic family. Sharon Bennett Connolly follows the fortunes of the Warenne earls of Surrey from supporters of William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings to their eventual demise in the reign of Edward III. Connolly writes with verve and enthusiasm, bringing the Warennes to life in all their guises – warriors, landowners and crusaders – and does not neglect the women of the family. A highly readable and well-illustrated survey.” Michael Jones, author of The Black Prince

To Buy Defenders of the Norman Crown

Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey was released in the UK on 31 May and will be out in the US on 6 August. And it is now available for pre-order from Pen & Sword Books, Bookshop.org and Amazon in the UK and US.

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available, please get in touch by completing the contact me form.

Also by me:

Podcast:

Have a listen to my A Slice of Medieval podcast, where Derek Birks and I discuss Nicholaa’s remarkable story:

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

Alternate Endings: Long Live the King…

13/05/202307/05/2023Sharon Bennett Connolly3 Comments

With the release of King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye, I just wanted to share a short extract from the short story I wrote, which was inspired by Nicholaa‘s relationship with King John. The story culminates at the 1217 Battle of Lincoln but it opens as John has arrived at Newark Castle in October 1216, when he should have died…

Long Live the King…

During one of his visits to Lincoln in 1216, either in February or September, King John made a public demonstration of his support for Nicholaa de la Haye, hereditary constable of Lincoln Castle – and a woman! The dramatic scenes as related in the Hundred Rolls, commissioned by Edward I and written down about 60 years after the event, were played out. Nicholaa is said to have met the king at the eastern gate of the castle. A widow since the death of her husband, Gerard de Camville, in January 1215, Nicholaa met King John at the gates of her mighty fortress, Lincoln Castle.

She offered the keys of the castle to the king, the Hundred Rolls told the story:

‘And once it happened that after the war King John came to Lincoln and the said Lady Nicholaa went out of the eastern gate of the castle carrying the keys of the castle in her hand and met the king and offered the keys to him as her lord and said she was a woman of great age and was unable to bear such fatigue any longer and he besought her saying, “My beloved Nicholaa, I will that you keep the castle as hitherto until I shall order otherwise.” And she retained it as long as King John lived and after his decease she still kept it under King Henry, father of the king that now is.’

When Nicholaa spoke of her ‘great age’ she was not exaggerating. She was probably approaching sixty years of age at the time, a good age for anyone in those days, but John still had great confidence in her. Whether Nicholaa ever intended to resign Lincoln Castle at this point is open to debate. It is just as likely that the event was orchestrated as a public demonstration of John’s continuing trust in Nicholaa’s ability to hold and command the royal stronghold. John had been at war with his barons since the summer of 1215 and the failure of Magna Carta in its aim to ward off war. He had few allies left and those he did have, he needed to hold on to. Nicholaa had held Lincoln Castle for him before, in 1191, when John had led the rebellion against Richard I’s hated justiciar, William Longchamp.

In 1216, she had held it again, against the rebel forces led by her fellow Lincolnshire baron, Gilbert de Gant – that time, she paid Gant to lift the siege of the castle while allowing him to hold the city. King John had then raced to Lincoln, chased the rebels from the city and into the marshes of the Isle of Axholme, with ‘fire and sword,’ before returning to Lincoln and Nicholaa. During the visit to Lincoln, the business of government proceeded apace, with John sending out orders throughout the realm.

There was no rest for the wicked – literally in John’s case – and he was soon back in the field. It was as John was campaigning in the south of Lindsey (Lincolnshire) that ‘grim misfortune struck him, for it was in those parts that the grievous sickness of which he died took hold, gripping him so dreadfully that he was incapable of moving.’ Moving south, just two weeks after leaving Lincoln, the king’s baggage train was lost as he crossed the Wash estuary and within a few more days John was desperately ill.

John was at Lynn when, on the evening of 9 October, John suffered an attack of dysentery. His health deteriorated as he made his way west until he reached Newark on 16 October, from where ‘he could go no further and that was that.’ He died at Newark Castle on the night of 18–19 October 1216 and was buried at Worcester Cathedral, ‘not because he had asked to be buried there but because that place at that time seemed a safe one where his supporters could gather to deliberate on what was to be done next.’

And this is where my short story for Alternate Endings starts:

Newark Castle

23 October 1216

John awoke to hear mumbling around him. He turned his head to the right to see three white-clad monks. Cistercians from Swineshead Abbey, John assumed. He had stayed there briefly a few days after falling ill and could vaguely recall the abbot insisting the monks accompany the king to tend to his spiritual needs. John had scoffed at the idea, but the monks had ignored him and attached themselves to his entourage. Now, the three of them were stood side by side, hovering over the bed, praying. He tried to make sense of the Latin words, but his mind seemed to be shrouded in fog. Even listening took a great deal of effort.

John tried once more. Was that the Pater Noster? Yes, and now they have moved on to more prayers. For his soul? Or his eternal damnation?

He had always had a rather fractious relationship with the Church, so either possibility carried weight. John’s mind wandered back to his childhood at Fontevraud, the great abbey so loved by his mother. He had been sent there with his sister, Joanna, to gain an education. He couldn’t recall enjoying being forced to study, but he remembered fondly running through the fields with Joanna, or riding abroad in their free time. Had his parents really thought him suitable for the church? He tried to laugh, but only a weak groan emitted from his dry, cracked lips.

Instantly, all conversation in the room ceased. The monks looked at him expectantly. What exactly they were expecting, John could not surmise. When he made no further sounds, the three tonsured clerics resumed their prayers.

Other conversations in the room were taken up again. Few seemed too concerned with the state of the patient. With great effort, John rolled his head to the other side. The slight movement caused a wave of pain through his head. He closed his eyes briefly, waiting for the worst of the discomfort to recede. As he opened them again, he perceived William Marshal standing by the window, talking to a knight whose back was turned to him. The knight said something to Marshal, turning briefly to the bed to indicate John. They were talking about him. Not such a surprise, given he was the king and even he could sense the spectre of death lurking about the room.

John was startled when the knight looked straight at him, and the king realised he was staring into the eyes of his cousin and enemy, the Earl of Surrey, William de Warenne. The man had sworn allegiance to Louis of France at Winchester, months ago. So, what was he doing here? Now? Was he here to ensure John breathed his last? To take the news back to Louis, so there would be no room for doubt for the French invader. Or were John’s eyes and mind deceiving him, was he still in a pain induced delirium?

The man turned back to Marshal, his face now obscured, and the shape of his back gave John no clues as to the man’s identity. Maybe he had been wrong? The light in the room was fading. Was the night drawing in? No, he just could not keep his eyes open any longer. Merely observing the room had exhausted him and he drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

What would have happened if King John had not died in October 1216…?

Would England have been lost?

Find out in ‘Long Live the King…‘

I was not sure about trying my hand at fiction, but there are so many ‘What ifs’ in history that it was hard to resist. Having spent the last two years writing Nicholaa de la Haye’s biography – which will be published in May 2023, I thought it would be quite fun to take one event in Nicholaa’s life and see what might change if that event didn’t happen.

About the Book:

Alternate Endings is a compilation of short stories published by the Historical Writers Forum.

We all know the past is the past, but what if you could change history?We asked eight historical authors to set aside the facts and rewrite the history they love. The results couldn’t be more tantalizing.

What if Julius Caesar never conquered Gaul?
What if Arthur Tudor lived and his little brother never became King Henry VIII?
What if Abigail Adams persuaded the Continental Congress in 1776 to give women the right to vote and to own property?

Dive into our collection of eight short stories as we explore the alternate endings of events set in ancient Rome, Britain, the United States, and France.

Alternate Endings is now available worldwide from Amazon.

My Books:

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available, please get in touch by completing the contact me form.

Out now!

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available for pre-order as a hardback and Kindle from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon (UK and US).

In a time when men fought and women stayed home, Nicholaa de la Haye held Lincoln Castle against all-comers. Not once, but three times, earning herself the ironic praise that she acted ‘manfully’. Nicholaa gained prominence in the First Baron’s War, the civil war that followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215.

A truly remarkable lady, Nicholaa was the first woman to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Her strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history. Nicholaa de la Haye is one woman in English history whose story needs to be told…

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey is now available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, and Bookshop.org.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

Christine de Pisan, Literary Trailblazer

25/02/202320/01/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly2 Comments

Christine de Pisan (sitting) lecturing to a group of men

Christine de Pisan was the first woman in history to make a living from writing.

Christine de Pisan was born around 1364 in Venice, Italy; the family was from the village of Pizzano, just outside Bologna. Her father, Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano, was a graduate of the University of Bologna and was a lecturer in astrology at the university, but moved to Venice in 1357. In the late 1360s Tommaso was invited to join both the Hungarian and the French royal courts. He chose France and moved his family, including Christine and her two brothers Paolo and Aghinolfo, to Paris, in December 1368, becoming royal physician and astrologer to Charles V. Christine’s father paid particular attention to his daughter’s education, allowing her to be taught to the same standards as a boy of her age, although her mother disapproved. She was tutored in history, literature, religion and the classical languages.¹

In 1380, at the age of fifteen, Tommaso arranged a marriage for Christine with Etienne de Castel. Ten years older than Christine, Etienne was a graduate of the University of Paris and became a royal secretary in the year they married. The position of royal secretary was a lifetime appointment and only open to the intellectual elite, as they were often involved in diplomatic events. In the same year, on 16 September, Tommaso’s patron Charles V died, leaving the family in a precarious financial position. Christine was further challenged by a series of tragedies toward the end of the decade. Her father, Tommaso, died in 1387, leaving Christine’s mother and niece in his daughter’s care. Around the same time, Christine lost a child, his name unknown; although two children, Marie and Jean, survived infancy. In 1390 her husband Etienne passed away at Beauvais and Christine was left with the responsibility of providing for herself and her young children, as well as her mother and niece.

Christine explained herself, in her book Mutation of Fortune, how she had to take on the mantle of the man of the house,

Let me summarise this moment,

Just who I am, what all this meant.

How I, a woman, became a man by a flick of Fortune’s hand

How she changed my body’s form

To the perfect masculine norm.²

Illumination from *The Book of the City of Ladies*

Etienne had taken care of all the family’s financial dealings and it was a steep learning curve for Christine to learn to manage the accounts and pay off the family’s debts. Shortly after Etienne’s death, Christine found work as a copyist for a number of Parisian manuscript workshops. Eventually, around 1399, she began to compose her own prose and poetry as a means of supporting her family, and it was the grief of losing Etienne that informed Christine’s early works of poetry. Initially, she would send her works to members of the court, who sent her money in gratitude, with patrons eventually including Louis, Duke of Orléans, the Duke de Berry and France’s queen, Isabella of Bavaria. And as Christine’s fame spread beyond France, she could also count Philip II the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury, among her patrons. Writing in ballads and lais (poetry put to music), Christine could express her love and grief for Etienne and the sense of loss and loneliness she now felt,

Like the mourning dove I’m now alone,

And like a shepherdless sheep gone astray,

For death has long ago taken away

My loved one whom I constantly mourn…³

Christine de Pisan’s poems, amounted to ten volumes of verses, including L’Épistre au Dieu d’Amours (Letter to the God of Loves) which was published in 1399. In the early 1400s she also published Letters on the Debate of the Romance of the Rose, a response to Jean de Meun’s Le Roman de la Rose (The Romance of the Rose) attacking the traditional view of women causing the sins of men. Christine is, above all, remembered and revered for her work, Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (The Book of the City of Ladies), published in 1405. Well received in France, even in her own lifetime, it was later translated into Flemish and English. The book tells of the lives of past and present heroines, including pagan, Hebrew and Christian ladies who were renowned for being examples of exemplary womankind, famed for their chastity, loyalty and devotion. It included the lives of female saints who remained steadfast in their devotion to God in the face of martyrdom. City of Ladies was Christine’s response to the misogynistic portrait of womankind that was present in many works of the era, in which women were blamed for the misery in which men found themselves. The book suggests that women were capable of being anything, from warriors to artists and teachers, but stops short of suggesting that her contemporaries should pursue such careers.⁴

A page from Christine de Pisan’s *The Book of the Three Virtues*

In the same year, 1405, the sequel to City of Ladies, entitled Le Livre des Trois Vertus (The Book of the Three Virtues) was also published. This text was more of an instructional treatise, showing women how they should behave and how they could make a significant contribution to society from their various social spheres. In it Christine recommends that women should be modest and obedient as virgins, tolerant and humble as wives, and courageous and dignified as widows. It is possible that Le Livre des Trois Vertus was written as a book of instruction for eleven-year-old Marguerite de Nevers, the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy and bride of Louis of Guyenne, the heir to the throne of France. Although the book appears to be a contradiction of Christine’s own life, when she was making a name for herself as a writer to support her family, it has to be remembered that Christine was living in a male-dominated era, rather than the 21st century. She has often been advanced as the first feminist, but while she wanted to correct the negative view of women and improve the conditions of women, advancing arguments for better education and a role beyond the home, she was not intending to be revolutionary.

Christine’s writing proved so successful that she managed to pull herself out of debt and make a living at it; she was the first woman to ever become a professional writer. Her ability to write for varied audiences meant her work was often sought after. She eventually started receiving commissions to write specific items for her noble patrons, including political and moral works. A biography of Charles V, Le Livre des Fais et des Bonnes Meurs du Sage Roy Charles V (The Book of the Deeds and Good Character of the Wise King Charles V), which Christine wrote in 1404, was commissioned by the late king’s brother Philip, Duke of Burgundy. Her other works included The Book of the Body Politic and Feats of Arms and Chivalry. The latter was published anonymously as Christine doubted it would be taking seriously if a woman was identified as the author.

As Charles VI increasingly slipped into bouts of madness in the early 15th century, and France found itself on the verge of civil war, Christine would write about peace and the necessity of stable government. However, as France was dragged back into the Hundred Years War against England, she became increasingly marginalised. She retired from public life and retreated to the convent at Poissy, where her daughter was a nun. Her last work, in 1429, Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc (The Poem of Joan of Arc), extolled the virtues of Joan, the Maid of Orléans, as valiant and brave, chaste and pure; it was the only work written about Joan during her own lifetime. Writing at the height of Joan’s success. It portrayed the Maid, the leader of the revival of French fortunes in the war against the English, as the embodiment of the women Christine had written of in City of Ladies. However, Christine does not appear to have lived long enough to see the final chapters, and the tragedy, of Joan’s life – her imprisonment and death at the hands of the English. Christine probably died in 1430, the year before Joan.

Christine de Pisan presents her book to Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France

Christine de Pisan was one of the most remarkable women of her age. In her world, women were denied their own voice and independence. There were strictures placed on every aspect of their lives, by tradition and society. And yet she circumvented these strictures, not only by writing, but by writing to make a living, and by giving a voice and identity to women everywhere. She was not a feminist; the notion of feminism simply did not exist. However, she was a forerunner for the feminist movement, and a sign of the independence that women would eventually achieve.

The poet, political and social observer Christine de Pisan was the culmination of a series of remarkable female trailblazers, including Hildegard of Bingen, Heloise (of Heloise and Abelard fame) and Marie de France. She proved that women were just as capable as men of making successful careers as writers.

Notes:

1. The Life and Triumphs of Christine de Pizan (article), faculty.msmc.edu; 2. The Writing of Christine de Pizan translated by Nadia Margolis, edited by Charity Cannon Willard; 3. ibid; 4. The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine de Pisan, translated by Rosalind Brown-Grant

My Books:

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Coming 30 January 2025: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Available for pre-order now.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Have a listen to the A Slice of Medieval podcast, which I co-host with Historical fiction novelist Derek Birks. Derek and I welcome guests, such as Bernard Cornwell and Ian Mortimer, and discuss a wide range of topics in medieval history, from significant events to the personalities involved.

Don’t forget! Signed and dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

For forthcoming online and in-person talks, please check out my Events Page.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter, Threads, Bluesky and Instagram.

Cover Reveal: King John’s Right-Hand Lady

06/02/2023Sharon Bennett Connolly8 Comments

I am so excited!

It’s finally here!

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: the Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available for pre-order on Amazon in the UK (I will hopefully have a US release date shortly)

So, here is the stunning cover, designed by the fabulous cover design team at Pen & Sword.

And what a cover!

About the Book;

In a time when men fought and women stayed home, Nicholaa de la Haye held Lincoln Castle against all-comers. Not once, but three times, earning herself the ironic praise that she acted ‘manfully’. Nicholaa gained prominence in the First Baron’s War, the civil war that followed the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215.

Although recently widowed, and in her 60s, in 1217 Nicholaa endured a siege that lasted over three months, resisting the English rebel barons and their French allies. The siege ended in the battle known as the Lincoln Fair, when 70-year-old William Marshal, the Greatest Knight in Christendom, spurred on by the chivalrous need to rescue a lady in distress, came to Nicholaa’s aid.

Nicholaa de la Haye was a staunch supporter of King John, remaining loyal to the very end, even after most of his knights and barons had deserted him. A truly remarkable lady, Nicholaa was the first woman to be appointed sheriff in her own right. Her strength and tenacity saved England at one of the lowest points in its history. Nicholaa de la Haye is one woman in English history whose story needs to be told…

About me:

Sharon Bennett Connolly has been fascinated by history her whole life. A Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, Sharon has studied history academically and just for fun – and even worked as a tour guide at historical sites. Sharon writes her own blog, http://www.historytheinterestingbits.com, researching and writing about the stories that have always fascinated, concentrating on medieval women. Her last book, Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey, was released in May 2021, is her fourth non-fiction book. It tells the story of the Warenne earls over 300 years and 8 generations. She is also the author of Heroines of the Medieval World, Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest and Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England. Sharon regularly gives talks on women’s history; she is a feature writer for All About History magazine and her TV work includes Australian Television’s ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’

To pre-order:

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available for pre-order from Amazon UK.

My Books:

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available, please get in touch by completing the contact me form.

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey is now available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US, Bookshop.org and Book Depository.

1 family. 8 earls. 300 years of English history!

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

Select bibliography:

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Share this:

The Kingmaker’s Women, Anne Beauchamp and Her Daughters, Isabel and Anne Neville.

To Buy the Book

About the author

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online bookshop.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Share this:

LAST EVENT OF THE YEAR!

11 October 2023

Book News

Kings and Queens: 1200 Years of English and British Monarchs

Women of the Anarchy

My new online shop is now open!

Podcast:

My Books

Signed, dedicated copies of all my books are available through my online store.

Share this:

10 Things about Nicholaa de la Haye that you may not know…

Sources:

My Books

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Share this:

About the Author:

My Books

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Share this:

Notes:

Sources:

My Books:

Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Also by me:

Podcast:

Share this:

King John’s Right Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye

And early reviews are fantastic!

To Buy King John’s Right Hand Lady:

I said two new books, didn’t I?

Reviews:

To Buy Defenders of the Norman Crown

Also by me:

Podcast:

Share this:

Long Live the King…

My Books:

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Share this:

Notes:

My Books:

Coming 30 January 2025: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Podcast:

Share this:

About the Book;

About me:

To pre-order:

My Books:

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Share this: