Alternate Endings – Page 27 – History… the interesting bits!

Elizabeth de Burgh, the Captive Queen

24/04/201525/03/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly33 Comments

edb1 — King Robert I and Queen Elizabeth

Certain periods and people in history hold a particular fascination for me. Robert the Bruce is one such. The grandfather of the Stewart dynasty and hero of Scotland, he started his career with some very divided loyalties. Initially a supporter of Edward I, it was only the arrival of William Wallace that started Bruce on his journey to becoming the saviour of Scottish independence.

Through the murder of his greatest rival and the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce proved himself determined and resourceful, overcoming defeat to emerge victorious and master of his realm.

Bruce suffered greatly for the crown, with his family and friends facing similar hardships.

Robert the Bruce’s wife endured a no less punishing life in support of her husband.

Elizabeth de Burgh was born around 1289. The daughter of Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster and Connaught, and his wife, Margaret, she was a god-daughter of England’s king, Edward I. At the age of 13 Elizabeth was married to Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, in 1302; probably at his manor of Writtle, near Chelmsford in Essex. It is possible the marriage was arranged by Edward; he certainly encouraged it, as a way of keeping his young Scottish noble loyal to his cause.

However, events in Scotland would soon push the Bruce away from his English alliances; his murder of his greatest rival for the throne, John Comyn, in the Chapel of the Greyfriars in Dumfries. Aware that he would be excommunicated for his actions, Bruce raced to Scone to be crowned before a papal bull could be issued.

6 weeks later, on March 25th 1306, the Bruce was crowned King Robert I of Scotland, with Elizabeth by his side, by Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan. As daughter of the Earl of Fife, Isabella claimed the hereditary right of the Clan MacDuff, to crown the King of Scots. The couple was crowned in a second ceremony the next day by the Bishop of St Andrews, William Lamberton, who had arrived too late to play his part in the ceremony on the 25th. Elizabeth is said to have referred to herself and Robert as ‘the king and queen of the May’ which is often seen as a criticism of her husband but may also be a foreshadowing of what was to come.

Unfortunately the coronation was not the end of trouble for the Bruces. If anything, things were about to get much worse.

An ailing Edward I sent his loyal lieutenant, Aymer de Valence, north and he met and defeated Robert’s army at Methven in June of the same year. Robert sent his brother Neil and the Earl of Atholl to escort his wife to safety. They took the Queen, Princess Marjorie (Robert the Bruce’s daughter by his first marriage), sisters Mary and Christian and the countess of Buchan, north towards Orkney.

Robertthebruce — Nineteenth Century depiction of Robert the Bruce

However, the English caught up with them at Kildrummy Castle and laid siege to it. The garrison was betrayed from within, the barns set alight and the Bruce women had barely time to escape with the Earl of Atholl before the castle was taken. Sir Neil Bruce and the entire garrison were executed; Neil was hung, drawn and quartered at Berwick in September 1306.

Queen Elizabeth and her companions made for Tain, in Easter Ross, possibly in the hope of finding a boat to take them onwards, to King Robert’s sister Isabella, Queen of Norway. However, they were captured by the Earl of Ross (a former adherent of the deposed King John Balliol), who took them from sanctuary at St Duthac and handed them over to the English. They were sent south, To Edward I at Lanercost Priory.

Elizabeth’s capture would have been a hard blow for Robert the Bruce. The new King of Scotland still lacked a male heir, and had no chance of getting one while his wife was in English hands. This made his hold on the throne even more precarious than it already was.

Edward I’s admirer, Sir Maurice Powicke said Edward treated his captives with a ‘peculiar ferocity’. He ordered that 24-year-old Mary Bruce and Isabella, the Countess of Buchan who performed Robert the Bruce’s coronation, should be imprisoned in specially constructed iron cages and suspended from the outside walls of castles; Mary at Roxburgh and Isabella at Berwick. Although it is more likely that the cages were in rooms within the castles, rather than exposed to the elements, they would be held in that way for 4 years, until Edward I’s successor, Edward II, ordered their removal to convents in 1310.

It seems Edward ordered a cage to be made Marjorie at the Tower of London, where she was first held. But he relented, possibly because of her age, and the child – not yet 12 years old – was sent to a nunnery in Yorkshire. Initial orders were given that she should be held in solitary confinement, with no one allowed to speak to her; but this may also have been rescinded.

Marjorie’s aunt and Mary’s older sister, Christian, was also sent to a Gilbertine nunnery, this time in Lincolnshire; although her husband, Sir Christopher Seton, was hung, drawn and beheaded at Dumfries.

Elizabeth was treated more kindly than her step-daughter, and the other ladies. Her father was a close ally of Edward I and the king did not want to alienate him. He refused to acknowledge her as Queen of Scots and throughout her captivity, Elizabeth was referred to as Countess of Carrick, Robert’s title before he became king. Elizabeth was sent to Burstwick Manor in Holderness, Yorkshire, from where she wrote to Edward I, in an undated letter, complaining that she only had 3 changes of clothes, and no bed linen. She then spent 4 years at Bisham Manor in Berkshire.

RobertBruceAndElizabethDeBurgh (280X280)_tcm4-562387 — King Robert I (the Bruce) and Queen Elizabeth

However in 1312, with her husband gaining strength and raiding into Yorkshire, she was moved to a more secure location, and held at various sites in the south, including Windsor Castle. By this time she was permitted 6 attendants and was given a regular allowance. Elizabeth was later moved to Shaftesbury Abbey in Dorset but the political situation was about to change.

In 1314 Robert the Bruce achieved a not inconsiderable victory at the Battle of Bannockburn over Edward II and his English forces. Several notable English lords were taken prisoner, including Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. Negotiations for his release led to a prisoner exchange and Elizabeth and the rest of the Bruce ladies, finally returned to Scotland after 8 years of imprisonment.

Reunited at last, Robert set about consolidating his kingdom, with his queen at his side.

His daughter, Marjorie Bruce, was married to Walter Stewart, hereditary High Steward of Scotland, though a succession settlement stipulated that Marjorie would only succeed to the throne on the deaths without male issue of King Robert and his one surviving brother, Edward. Following a fall from a horse while heavily pregnant, she gave birth to King Robert’s first grandson, also named Robert and the future king Robert II. Marjorie died just a few hours later.

220px-Dunfermline_Abbey_20080504_Robert_the_Bruce — Victorian brass plate covering the final resting place of Robert the Bruce and Elizabeth de Burgh in Dunfermline Abbey

Between 1315 and 1323 Elizabeth and Robert had two daughters: Margaret married William, 5th Earl of Sutherland and died in childbirth in 1346 or 1347; Matilda married Thomas Isaac and had two daughters, she died in 1353.

The much longed-for son, David, was born in 1324; he was married to Joan of the Tower, daughter of Edward II of England, in 1328 and would succeed his father at the age of 5, as King David II, in 1329.

A second son, John, was born in or before 1327 but died young.

Elizabeth herself died on the 27th of October 1327, aged around 38, at the royal residence at Cullen in Banffshire. Given that her younger son may have been born – and died – in the same year as Elizabeth’s death, complications in childbirth, or in her recovery from childbirth, could well have contributed to Elizabeth’s death. The queen was buried in Dunfermline Abbey; Robert the Bruce was buried beside her when he died 18 months later.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.

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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.

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 Michael Jecks, 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.

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The Tragic Story of the 1st Duke of Rothesay

04/04/201507/04/2023Sharon Bennett Connolly6 Comments

David Stewart was born on 24th October, 1378, the son of John, Earl of Carrick and heir to the throne, and Annabella Drummond. His grandfather was King Robert II, who was himself the grandson of Robert I the Bruce, being the son of Robert’s unfortunate daughter, Marjorie Bruce, who died in childbirth, aged only 19.

His father succeeded to the throne in 1390, taking the name King Robert III (John being considered an unlucky name for kings). AS heir to the throne, David was created Earl of Carrick in the same year. Robert III, however, was an invalid – he had been kicked by a horse 2 years before his accession. Never having fully recovered from his injuries, he was also prone to depression. This severely limited his ability to govern and his younger brother, also called Robert, took over much of the administration of the realm.

As a highly ambitious younger brother, Robert Stewart, was a ruthless politician with designs on the throne for himself. Towards the end of his father’s reign – following his brother’s injury – he had been protector of the realm; and it seems he intended to keep the position for the duration of his brother’s reign.

220px-Robert_III_and_Annabella_Drummond — Robert III and his queen, Annabella Drummond

From 1393 Robert III tried to impose his own authority and rule for himself, but caused more division between the Highlands of the north and the Lowlands of the south; bribery and corruption were rife.

In 1395 young David was married to Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of the Earl of March. However, they were close blood relations and had married before the required papal dispensation had arrived. The couple were censured by the church and forced to live apart for two years – after which they would be allowed to remarry. They separated in 1397.

In April 1398 Robert III’s wife, Annabella, called a special council at which David, still only 19, was made Duke of Rothesay. It was the first ever creation of a duke in Scotland, and the title would, from that moment on, be borne by all heirs to the Scottish throne. He would also receive the title Earl of Atholl later in the same year.

Annabella also had David named “Lieutenant of the Realm”, as a means of ensuring that David would succeed his increasingly frail father. This appointment essentially gave him the rule of Scotland, in his father’s place; although he was to consult with the full council, with his Uncle Robert as his primary advisor.

In the same council Robert Stewart was made Duke of Albany.

A power struggle developed between Albany and David. As their rivalry grew more intense the country was effectively divided into 2 factions.

David, it seems, was of a ‘dissolute and licentious’ nature (Ashley) and almost as inept as his father. According to Nigel Tranter he was “high-spirited” and “not always noted for good judgement”.

220px-Robert_of_Albany — Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany

In 1400, instead of remarrying Elizabeth Dunbar, David married Marjorie Douglas, daughter of Archibald the 3rd Earl of Douglas and his wife Joan, at Bothwell Church. She and David would have no children.

The marriage itself caused the Earl of March – father of David’s 1st wife – to renounce his allegiance and swear fealty to Henry IV of England, thus prompting an English invasion. Henry managed to reach Edinburgh without much opposition. Once there he summoned the dukes of Rothesay and Albany to pay homage to him, but neither did.

David held Edinburgh Castle against Henry, whilst Albany had mustered an army 15 miles away at Calder Muir; but he failed to march to Rothesay’s aid. Henry IV was eventually forced to retire for lack of supplies, with the Scots powerless to take the advantage.

David was blamed for provoking the English invasion. Following his mother’s death in 1401, his popularity was further damaged when he failed to consult his council, as was required, before taking a number of steps which threatened the positions of his nobles, especially his uncle.

With Queen Annabella’s death went David’s chief supporter and last protector. Albany, in alliance with David’s brother-in-law, the 4th Earl of Douglas, took action and had David waylaid on the road to St Andrews, arrested and held captive in St Andrews Castle, before being moved to Falkland Palace, supposedly hooded and mounted backwards on a mule.

According to Tranter, David was flung into a cellar, with no food and water. There were stories of nursing mothers giving him their breast milk for sustenance, through a crack in the cellar’s masonry. He survived for at least 18 days, supposedly dying of starvation between 25th and 27th March 1402, aged 23.

Some historians now think David died of dysentery; but whether he died of starvation or disease the result was the same; from April 1402 Robert, Duke of Albany, was in control of Scotland.

A few weeks after his death a public inquiry, under the control of Albany, exonerated Albany and Douglas of any complicity in the death, ordering that no one should “murmur against” them. The inquiry concluded that David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay, had died “by divine providence and not otherwise”.

300px-Lindores_abbey_04 — Lindores Abbey, burial-place of David, Duke of Rothesay

David was buried in Lindores Abbey, Fife. The king founded a chaplaincy at the parish church of Dundee to pray for David’s soul, and ordered daily masses to be said in the prince’s memory at Deer Abbey and Culross.

Following David’s death his widow, Marjorie, went on to marry Sir Walter Haliburton in 1403; she died sometime before 11th May 1421.

The king, Robert III, took some time to realise that his second son, James, may also be in danger. In 1406, the king arranged for him to be sent to France for his own safety. Aged just 12, James was smuggled out of Scotland by ship, but was captured by pirates off Flamborough Head, and handed over to the English to begin 18 years of imprisonment.

King Robert III died of grief shortly after.

Albany was, thereafter, the effective ruler of Scotland until his death in 1420.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.

Sources: The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter; Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson; Kings & Queens of Britain by Joyce Marlow; Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens and British Kings & Queens by Mike Ashley; Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; History Today Companion to British History Edited by juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn; Britain’s Royal Families by Alison Weir; undiscoveredscotland.co.uk; englishmonarchs.co.uk

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Coming 30 May 2023!

King John’s Right-Hand Lady: The Story of Nicholaa de la Haye is now available for pre-order from Pen & Sword Books, bookshop.org and Amazon UK. (I will hopefully have a US release date shortly)

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, Bookshop.org and Book Depository.

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, Bookshop.org and from Book Depository worldwide.

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, Bookshop.org and from Book Depository worldwide.

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, Bookshop.org and Book Depository.

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.

2015 Sharon Bennett Connolly FRHistS

James I and Joan Beaufort: A Royal Love Story

31/03/201502/02/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly42 Comments

220px-King_James_I_of_Scotland — James I

The story of King James I of Scotland and his queen, Joan Beaufort, is one of those rarities in Medieval history; a true love story. He was a King in captivity and she a beautiful young lady of the court.

Following the murder of his brother, David, Duke of Rothesay, James was the only surviving son of Robert III of Scotland. He had been on his way to France, for his safety and to continue his education, when his ship was captured by pirates in April 1406. Aged only 11, he was handed over to the English king, Henry IV, and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Shortly after his capture, James’s father died and he was proclaimed King of Scots, but the English would not release him.

James was closely guarded and regularly moved around, but he was also well-educated while in the custody of the English king and was an accomplished musician and poet. He was held at various castles, including the Tower, Nottingham Castle – where he was allowed to go hunting – and Windsor Castle.

Probably born in the early 1400s, Lady Joan Beaufort was the daughter of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset and legitimated son of John of Gaunt (himself the 3rd son of Edward III) by his mistress and, later, wife Kathryn Swynford. Joan’s mother was Margaret Holland, granddaughter of Joan of Kent (wife of Edward the Black Prince) from her marriage to Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent.

Joan Beaufort was very well-connected; she was a niece of Henry IV, great-niece of Richard II and great grand-daughter of Edward III. Her uncle, Henry Beaufort, was a cardinal and Chancellor of England.

150px-Beaufortforeman'sroll — Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland

Little seems to be known of her early life, but she was at court in the early 1420s, when James first set eyes on her. James wrote of his love for Joan in his famous poem, The Kingis Quair. According to Nigel Tranter, James was with the court at Windsor, when he saw Joan for the first time while walking her little lap-dog in the garden, below his window.

His narrow window afforded him only a limited view, but the Lady Joan walked the same route every morning and James wrote of her;

“Beauty, fair enough to make the world to dote, Are ye a worldy creature? Or heavenly thing in likeness of nature? Or are ye Cupid’s own priestess, come here, To loose me out of bonds”

One morning James managed to drop a plucked rose down to Lady Joan, which he saw her wearing the following evening at dinner. Nigel Tranter suggests Lady Joan grieved over James’s imprisonment and even pleaded for him to be released.

Their romance grew apace, but was interrupted when James had to accompany Henry V on his French campaign. Henry was hoping that James’s presence would make the Scots, fighting with the French, think twice about engaging with him. However, the strategy had little effect.

James’s imprisonment lasted for 18 years. His uncle Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany and Guardian of Scotland in James’s absence, refused to ransom him, in the hope of gaining the throne for himself. He never quite garnered enough support, but managed to keep the Scottish nobles in check.

However, when he died in 1420 control passed to his son Murdoch (who had also been imprisoned by the English for 12 years, but was ransomed – instead of James – in 1414) and Scotland fell into a state of virtual anarchy.

Henry V had finally decided that it was time for James to return to Scotland when he died. It was left to Henry’s brother, John, Duke of Bedford, as Regent for the infant Henry VI, to agree the terms of James’s freedom. James was charged 60,000 marks in ransom – to cover the costs for his upkeep and education for 18 years, it was claimed. The agreement included a promise for the Scots to keep out of England’s wars with France, and for James to marry the Lady Joan Beaufort.

James and Joan were married at the Church of St Mary Overie, Southwark, on 2nd February 1424. James was released on the 28th March and the couple returned to Scotland shortly after. They were crowned at Scone by Henry de Warlaw, Bishop of St Andrews, on 21st May 1424.

James and Joan had 8 children together, 7 of whom survived childhood. Their 6 daughters helped to strengthen alliances across Europe. The oldest, Margaret, was born around Christmas 1424. At the age of 11 she was sent to France to marry the Dauphin, Louis – the future Louis XI – narrowly escaping her father’s fate when the English fleet tried to capture her en route. She died in 1445, leaving no children.

Isabella_of_Scotland — Isabella of Scotland

Isabella married Francis I, Duke of Brittany; she had 2 daughters and died in 1494. Eleanor married Sigismund, Archduke of Austria, and died in 1480. Joan was born mute and married James Douglas, Earl of Morton and had 4 children – her eldest son, Sir John Douglas, 2nd Earl of Morton, was probably killed at Flodden in 1513. Joan herself died in 1486.

Mary was created Countess of Buchan in 1444; she married Wolfert, Count of Grandpre, of the Netherlands, having 2 sons who died young before she died in 1465. A last daughter, Anabella, married, firstly, Louis of Savoy but following their divorce in 1458 she married George Gordon, 2nd Earl of Huntly. They had 2 children together before divorcing on the grounds of consanguinity in 1471.

James and Joan finally had twin sons in 1430. Born on 16th October, Alexander died the same year, but James would go on to succeed his father and married Mary of Gueldres in 1449.

On his return to Scotland, James immediately set about getting his revenge on the Duke of Albany’s family and adherents; executing some, including Murdoch, Albany’s son and heir. Two other claimants to James’s throne were sent to England, as hostages to the payment of his ransom.

James and Joan ruled Scotland for 13 years; James even allowed Joan to take some part in the business of government. His reforms, however, and desire for a firm but just government made enemies of some nobles, including his own chamberlain Sir Robert Stewart, grandson of Walter, Earl of Atholl, who had been James’s heir until the birth of his son.

Blackfriars_monastery_perth — Blackfriars Monastery, Perth

Due to his long imprisonment in the fortresses of England, James tended to avoid castles. On 21 February 1437 the King was staying at the Blackfriars in Perth when his chamberlain dismissed the guard and, having removed the locking bar to the King’s quarters, let the assassins into the priory.

James and Joan were alone with the queen’s ladies when they heard the men approaching. On seeing the locking bar missing, Joan’s lady, Kate Douglas, used her own arm to bar the door. The queen hid the king in an underground vault as Kate’s arm broke and the plotters gained entry. They dragged James from his hiding placed and stabbed him to death; Joan herself was wounded in the scuffle.

220px-James_II_of_Scotland_17th_century — James II

The plotters, led by Walter, Earl of Atholl, James’ own uncle, had expected to seize power, but were arrested and executed as the nobles rallied around the new king, 6-year-old James II.

James I was buried in Perth and Joan took an active role the government for her son, getting caught in a contest of power between Sir Alexander Livingstone and Sir William Crichton. Her second marriage to Sir James Stewart, the Black Knight of Lorne, led to her arrest by Livingstone, under the pretext that she may abduct the child-king.

Joan and her new husband were only released on the condition that she give up her custody of James II and leave the court.

They would go on to have 3 sons together before Joan died during a siege at Dunbar Castle on 15 July, 1445; although whether her death was caused by illness or the violence of the siege has not been determined. She was buried in the Carthusian priory in Perth alongside her first husband, King James I.

Sources: The Story of Scotland by Nigel Tranter; Brewer’s British royalty by David Williamson; Kings & Queens of Britain by Joyce Marlow; Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens and British Kings & Queens by Mike Ashley; Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; History Today Companion to British History Edited by juliet Gardiner & Neil Wenborn; Britain’s Royal Families by Alison Weir.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.

My books

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

Out now! Scotland’s Medieval Queens

Available now from Amazon and Pen and Sword Books

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. 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.

Matilda de Braose, the King’s Enemy

20/03/201517/07/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly37 Comments

220px-William_de_Braose,_4th_Lord_Bramber.svg — Arms of William de Braose

Matilda de Braose was probably born in the early 1150s in Saint-Valery-en-Caux, France, to Bernard IV, Seigneur de Saint-Valery and his wife, Matilda. Contemporary records describe her as tall and beautiful, wise and vigorous.

Matilda’s story was made famous by the de Braose’s spectacular falling-out with King John – and the manner of her death. Very little is known of Matilda’s early years; though she probably spent time at her family’s manor of Hinton Waldrist in Berkshire. Sometime around 1166 she married William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber, a Norman lord with land on the Welsh Marches. William was highly favoured by both Richard I and, later his brother King John.

Whilst William was away campaigning in Normandy, Matilda would be left to manage their estates in Wales. In 1198, Matilda defended Painscastle in Elfael against a massive Welsh attack by Gwenwynyn, Prince of Powys. She held out for 3 weeks until English reinforcements arrived, earning the castle its nickname of Matilda’s Castle.

220px-Hay_Castle_-_geograph.org.uk_-_61858 — Hay Castle

Matilda’s exploits were legendary. One of her titles was the Lady of Hay and Welsh folklore has her building the Castle of Hay in one night, single-handed, carrying the stones in her skirts.

The couple had around 16 children together, who married into some of the most powerful families of the time. Their eldest son, William, married Maud de Clare, daughter of the Earl of Hertford. Another son, Giles, became Bishop of Hereford. Of their daughters Loretta, married Robert de Breteuil, 4th Earl of Leicester and another, Margaret, married Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath in Ireland.

A third son, Reginald, married, as his second wife, Gwladus Ddu, daughter of Llewelyn the Great, Prince of Wales. Reginald’s son by his first wife, William, was married Eva Marshal, daughter of the great knight, William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and regent for King Henry III. It was this William de Braose who was ignominiously hanged by Llewelyn the Great, after being found in the bedchamber of Llewelyn’s wife Joan, the Lady of Wales and natural daughter of King John. William had been at the Welsh court to arrange the marriage of his daughter, Isabel, to Llewelyn and Joan’s son, David. Interestingly, the marriage still went ahead, although it was to be childless.

170px-John_of_England_(John_Lackland) — King John

William de Braose was greatly favoured by King John in the early part of his reign. He was given Limerick in Ireland for 5,000 marks and also received the castle at Glamorgan and the lordship of Gower. William de Braose was the knight who captured the rival to John’s throne, Arthur of Brittany, at the Siege of Mirebeau in 1202 and possibly witnessed Arthur’s murder at Rouen at Easter 1203.

It was following Arthur’s murder that things started to go wrong for the Lord and Lady of Bramber. John became increasingly suspicious of de Braose’s loyalty and turned against him. This could have been for several reasons, not least being de Braose’s knowledge of Arthur’s fate.

Elsewhere, de Braose had fallen behind in his payments to the Exchequer for the honour of Limerick, but he had also sided with his friend William Marshal in his disagreements with the king. In addition, de Braose’s son, Giles had been one of the bishops to approve an Interdict against John; Giles fled into exile in France to escape the king’s reprisals.

Whatever the reason, in 1207 King John moved to make a public example of one of his most powerful barons, and punish him for his debts to the Exchequer. John demanded William and Matilda give up their sons as hostages.

Matilda refused and Roger of Wendover recorded her response to the soldiers sent to collect the boys, as;

“I will not deliver my sons to your lord, King John, for he foully murdered his nephew Arthur, whom he should have cared for honourably.”
Roger of Wendover

William is said to have admonished his wife for speaking so harshly of the king; but what mother wouldn’t react rashly when in fear for her children’s lives? William and Matilda realised she had gone too far, and tried to placate John with gifts. Matilda sent a herd of cows and a prized whit bull to John’s queen, Isabella of Angouleme.

But it was too late.

John took possession of de Braose’s castles and moved to arrest William. Forewarned, the couple fled to Ireland with 2 of their sons, where they took refuge with Walter de Lacy, their son-in-law and Lord of Meath. John followed after them, mounting an invasion of Ireland and bringing other recalcitrant barons to heal along the way. While William de Braose tried to come to terms with the king, Matilda and their eldest son, William, escaped by taking ship for Scotland.

However, Matilda and her son were captured in Galloway by Duncan of Carrick, and, having been returned to England in chains, they were imprisoned in Bristol Castle. King John made an agreement with both William and Matilda; freedom for her and a pardon for William in return for 40,000 marks.

220px-Outer_bailey_wall_west_of_the_outer_gatehouse_corfe_castle — Corfe Castle

However, being either unwilling or unable to pay, Matilda and her son remained in prison – either at Windsor or Corfe Castle – and William was outlawed, eventually escaping into exile in France, disguised as a beggar, where he died in 1211.

Matilda’s fate was more gruesome; she and her son were left to starve to death in John’s dungeons (though whether this was at Corfe or Windsor is unclear). Tradition has it, that when their bodies were found, William’s cheeks bore his mother’s bite marks, where she had tried to stay alive following his death:

‘On the eleventh day the mother was found dead between her son’s legs, still upright but leaning back against her son’s chest as a dead woman. The son, who was also dead, sat upright, leaning against the wall as a dead man. So desperate was the mother that she had eaten her son’s cheeks. When William de Braose, who was in Paris, heard this news, he died soon afterwards, many asserting that it was through grief.’
Anonymous of Bethune

Magna_Carta_(British_Library_Cotton_MS_Augustus_II.106) — Magna Carta

In another version,

‘When the King returned to England he imprisoned Matilda de Braose and her son William in the castle of Corfe; they were given a sheaf of oats and a flitch of raw bacon ; this was all the meat they were allowed. On the eleventh day the mother was found dead between the knees of her son, sitting upright except that she leaned back against her son like a dead woman. The son was dead in like manner, except that he was leaning back against the wall; and his cheeks had been gnawed by his mother in her anguish.’ (Histoire des ducs de Normandie)

John’s treatment of the de Braose family did not lead to the submission of his barons, as John had intended, and the remainder of his reign was marred by civil war.

However when Magna Carta was written in 1215, Clause 39 may well have been included with Matilda and her family in mind:

“No man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.”
Magna Carta 1215

In his final days John may have felt some remorse at his relentless pursuit of the destruction of Matilda and her family, as shortly after the onset of his final, fatal illness, on 10 October 1216, the king gave permission to Matilda’s daughter, Margaret, to found a religious house in Herefordshire in memory of her father, mother and brother William. John died at Newark on the night of 18/19 October 1216.

The story of Matilda and her family features in my book, Ladies of Magna Carta; Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England, which was released in the UK in May 2020.

Sources: sussexcastles.com; genie.com; steyningmuseum.org.uk; berkshirehistory.com; England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225 by Robert Bartlett; Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; The Story of Britain by Roy Strong; The Plantagenets; the Kings who Made England by Dan Jones; The Life and Times of King John by Maurice Ashley; The Plantagenet Chronicles Edited by Elizabeth Hallam.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia

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‘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)

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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 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.

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Silk Purses and Royal Scandal

15/03/201516/03/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly28 Comments

heritiers — *Philip IV with sons Charles and Philip and daughter Isabella on his right and his heir, Louis and brother, Charles of Valois, on his left*

In the early years of the 14th Century, scandal rocked the French monarchy to its core and inadvertently contributed to the end of the Capetian dynasty.

1314 was a tumultuous year for France; the final act in the destruction of the Knights Templars was played out when Grand Master, Jacques de Molay and the Preceptor of Normandy, Geoffrey de Charney, were burned to death on the Ile de la Cite.

De Molay is said to have cursed Philip IV, King of France, and his descendants from the flames. Philip IV would be dead within a year and his dynasty’s rule over France would end with the death of his youngest son, Charles IV, in 1328.

220px-Margaret_of_Burgundy — *Marguerite of Burgundy*

Philip’s eldest son and heir, Louis, was married to Marguerite de Burgundy. Louis seems to have been a hard person to live with – his nickname was Louis the Quarreler – and the marriage was said to be very unhappy. A daughter, Jeanne, would survive childhood to eventually become Queen of Navarre.

The second son, Philip, was married to Marguerite’s cousin, Jeanne d’Artois and Charles, the youngest, was married to Jeanne’s sister, Blanche d’Artois.

The royal scandal of 1314 was supposedly uncovered due to 2 rather innocuous items; silk purses.

On an earlier visit to France Isabella of France, wife of Edward II of England, had given silk purses to her sisters-in-law, as souvenirs of the knighting of her 3 brothers, Louis, Philip and Charles, the sons of Philip IV.

When she visited again in 1314, Isabella saw these same silk purses on the belts of 2 knights of the French court; brothers Gautier and Philippe d’Aunay. When Isabella brought this to her father’s attention, the matter was investigated and the brothers were put under surveillance.

The 2 knights, it seems, were meeting with the princesses in secret. The whole scandal became known as the Tour de Nesle Affair, as the clandestine meetings were supposed to have taken place in this small palace on the outskirts of Paris (although some sources suggest that events happened at Philip IV’s country retreat of Maubuisson Abbey).

Whatever the location, the affair was discovered; all 3 princesses were arrested and questioned. When confronted in a secret court, Marguerite and Blanche confessed to adultery with the d’Aunay brothers. Their heads were shaved and they were sent to life imprisonment in Chateau Gaillard.

Blanche’s sister, Jeanne, fared better; she was also arrested, and placed under guard at the Chateau Dourdan. Her marriage with Philip was a very happy one, and it seems she was only guilty of knowing of the affairs. Philip defended his wife before the Paris Parlement and, with Philip’s support, Jeanne pleaded her innocence to the king, and was allowed to return to her husband and the court.

The 2 knights were arrested and, after being questioned and tortured, they confessed to the adultery and were condemned to death for the crime of ‘lese majeste’. The unfortunate brothers were castrated and ‘broken on the wheel’ – they were strapped to large wheels, which were spun while their limbs were shattered with iron bars. And finally, they were decapitated.

Of the princesses, Marguerite’s imprisonment was the most severe. She was badly treated and some sources suggest she was held in a cell at the top of the donjon, open to the elements.

400px-Château-Gaillard_in_black_and_white — *Chateau Gaillard*

On his accession to the throne in November 1314, Louis X applied to the Pope for an annulment of the marriage. However, Pope Clement V died before he could grant the divorce and no new Pope would be elected until 1316. Shortly after Clement’s death, however, Marguerite conveniently died – probably strangled on the orders of Louis.

Joan_II_of_Burgundy — *Jeanne d’Artois, Countess of Burgundy*

Louis married Clemence of Hungary, but died in June 1316, whilst Clemence was pregnant with their son. Jean I the Posthumous, was born and died in November of the same year and the crown passed to Louis’ brother, Philip V – with Jeanne d’Artois (by then Countess of Burgundy) at his side.

Philip died in 1322, leaving only daughters and the crown passed to his brother. On his accession, Charles divorced Blanche – still in an underground cell in Chateau Gaillard – and transferred her to a monastery at Gavray, in Normandy, where she became a nun, dying there the following year.

Charles IV died in February 1328, leaving his 3rd wife, Jeanne d’Evreux, pregnant. In April 1328, she gave birth to a daughter, Blanche. The birth of a daughter led to the succession crisis, with arguments arising that a woman could not inherit the French throne. Although Salic Law had only previously been relevant to landed inheritance, and never before applied to the crown, it was now used to invoke to remove the surviving daughters of the 3 Valois kings from the succession. The crown now passed to Charles’ closest relative through the male line; his cousin, Philip of Valois, grandson of Philip III.

Edward III of England, however, as the only grandson of Philip IV, through his mother, pursued his own claim to the French throne and used it as a motive to launch the Hundred Years’ War.

170px-Jana2Navarra_SaintDenis — *Jeanne II of Navarre*

Salic Law, however, was not in force in Navarre, a kingdom which had come to the French crown when Jeanne I of Navarre had married Philip IV. Louis’ daughter, Jeanne, therefore inherited Navarre as Jeanne II, despite the questions that the scandal raised over her parentage.

It has been suggested that the Tour de Nesle Affair was all an elaborate plot to destabilise the French monarchy, but most historians believe the adultery took place. The harsh punishments reflected the need for queens and princesses to be above reproach, and the parentage of their children to be beyond question. The scandal cast a long shadow on the last years of the Capetian dynasty, with neither of the 3 brothers producing a son to carry on their line.

Sources: Pierre Goubert The Course of French History; Paul Doherty Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II; J Huizinga The Waning of the Middle Ages; H.G. Koenigsberger Medieval Europe 400-1500; maison-hantee.com; herodote.net; histoirefrance.net.

Pictures taken from Wikipedia.

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Eleanor de Montfort, the First Princess of Wales

10/03/201519/06/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly24 Comments

Eleanor_de_Montford — *Eleanor de Montfort*

Born in 1258, probably at Kenilworth Castle, Eleanor de Montfort was the only daughter and sixth child of Eleanor of England. Her mother was the fifth and youngest child of King John and Isabella of Angouleme, and sister of Henry III. Her father was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, leader of the rebels in the Second Barons’ War.

Eleanor had 5 older brothers; Henry, Simon, Amaury, Guy and Richard.

Her father, Simon de Montfort, is remembered as one of the founders of representative government. He was a leading figure of the Second Barons’ War. He and his eldest son, Henry, were killed at the Battle of Evesham on 4th August 1265. On her father’s death, Eleanor fled to exile in France with her mother and brother, Amuary. The women settled at the Abbey at Montargis until Eleanor of England’s death there in 1275.

llywel2 — *Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales*

In 1265, in return for Welsh support, Simon de Montfort had agreed to the marriage of his daughter, Eleanor, to Llewelyn ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales. De Montfort’s downfall had postponed the marriage, but in 1275, in a move guaranteed to rile Edward I, King of England, Llewelyn reprised his marriage plans and the couple were married by proxy whilst Eleanor was still in France.

Shortly afterwards, Eleanor set sail for Wales, accompanied by her brother, Amaury, who was now a Papal Chaplain and Canon of York. Believing the marriage would ‘scatter the seeds which had grown from the malice her father had sown’, Edward arranged for Eleanor to be captured at sea. When Eleanor’s ship was taken in the Bristol Channel, the de Montfort arms and banner were found beneath the ship’s boards.

Eleanor was taken to close, but comfortable, captivity at Windsor; whilst her brother Amaury was imprisoned at Corfe Castle for 6 years.

In 1276 Llewelyn having refused to pay homage to Edward I, he was declared a rebel. Faced with Edward’s overwhelming forces, and support slipping away, Llewelyn was forced to submit within a year. The Treaty of Aberconwy reduced his lands to Gwynedd, but paved the way for his marriage to Eleanor, at last; it’s possible that the marriage was one of the conditions of Llewelyn’s submission.

edward03 — *Edward I, with Alexander III, King of Scots on his right, and Llewelyn, Prince of Wales on his left*

The wedding celebrations of Eleanor de Montfort and Llewelyn ap Gruffydd were an extravagant affair, celebrated at Worcester Cathedral on the Feast of St Edward, 13th October 1278. The illustrious guest list included Edward I and Alexander III, King of Scots. Edward and his brother, Edmund of Lancaster gave Eleanor away at the church door, and Edward paid for the lavish wedding feast.

While the marriage did not prevent further struggles between the Welsh and the English king, there was relative peace for a short time and Eleanor may have encouraged her husband to seek political solutions. She is known to have visited the English court when Princess of Wales; and was at Windsor on such a visit in January 1281. Eleanor herself wrote to Edward on 8 July 1279, not only to assure him of her ‘sincere affection’ and loyalty, but also to warn him against listening to reports unfavourable to Wales from his advisers:

Although as we have heard, the contrary hereto hath been reported of us to your excellency by some; and we believe, notwithstanding, that you in no wise give credit to any who report unfavourably concerning our lord and ourself until you learn from ourselves if such speeches contain truth: because you showed, of your grace, so much honour and so much friendliness to our lord and yourself, when you were at the last time at Worcester.
Anne Crawford, Letters of Medieval Women

As a testament to her diplomatic skills, Eleanor uses words of affection and flattery whilst clearly getting her point across, a technique her predecessor Joan, Lady of Wales, had used to good effect with Henry III. As it had been with Joan, Eleanor, too, was not beyond humbling herself to King Edward in order to achieve her objectives and wrote to him again in October 1280, this time regarding her brother, Amaury, who was still in the king’s custody. She wrote to the king,

with clasped hands, and with bended knees and tearful groanings, we supplicate your highness that, reverencing from your inmost soul the Divine mercy (which holds out the hand of pity to all, especially those who seek Him with their whole heart), you would deign mercifully to take again to your grace and favour our aforesaid brother and your kinsman, who humbly craves, as we understand, your kindness. For if your excellency, as we have often known, mercifully condescends to strangers, with much reason, as we think, ought you to hold out the hand of pity to one so near to you by the ties of nature.
Anne Crawford, Letters of Medieval Women

Amaury was released shortly afterwards.

However, on 22nd March, 1282, Llewelyn’s younger brother, Dafydd, attacked the Clifford stronghold of Hawarden Castle and Llewelyn found himself in rebellion against Edward I yet again. At the same time, Eleanor was in the final few months of her pregnancy and Llewelyn held off taking the field until the birth of his much hoped for heir.

Eleanor and Llewelyn’s only child, a daughter, Gwenllian, was born on 19th June 1282; Eleanor died the same day.

250px-Gwenllian_memorial_Sempringham — *Memorial stone for Princess Gwenllian*, *Sempringham*

Llewelyn himself was killed in an ambush on 11 December of the same year, at Builth, earning himself the name of Llewelyn the Last – the last native Prince of Wales.

Their daughter, Gwenllian was given into the guardianship of her uncle, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, but was taken into Edward I’s custody when David was defeated and captured by the English. She was sent to be raised at the Gilbertine convent at Sempringham, where she eventually became a nun. She died there on 7th June 1337, the last of her father’s line. It is said that she was never allowed to speak, hear or learn her native language. It has been assumed that she was not aware of her heritage, although she was once visited by her cousin, Edward III, who paid £20 annually for her food and clothing. However, as David Pilling has pointed out, she does in fact call herself ‘Princess of Wales, daughter of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd’ in a petition inside the volume of petitions from Wales edited by William Rees.

Eleanor de Montfort was the first woman known to have used the title Princess of Wales. She was buried alongside her aunt Joan, illegitimate daughter of King John and wife of Llewelyn the Great, at Llanfaes on the Isle of Anglesey.

Sources: castlewales.com; snowdoniaheritage.info; Marc Morris A Great and Terrible King; David Williamson Brewer’s British royalty; Mike Ashley The Mammoth Book of British kings & Queens; Alison Weir Britain’s Royal Families; Roy Strong The Story of Britain; Dan Jones The Plantagenets; the Kings who Made England; Chronicles of the Age of Chivalry Edited by Elizabeth Hallam; The Oxford Companion to British History; The History Today Companion to British History; Derek Wilson The Plantagenets; Anne Crawford, Letters of Medieval Women; author David Pilling.

Pictures taken from Wikipedia, except that of Edward I, Alexander III and Llewelyn, which was taken from castlewales.com.

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Isabella of Gloucester, the Lost Queen of England

27/02/201514/10/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly25 Comments

Isabella of Gloucester is a shadow in the pages of history. I could find no pictures of her. Until recently, no one even seemed certain of her name; in the history books she has been called Isabel, Isabella, Hawise, Avice – probably due to different language interpretations, translations and misunderstandings. However, Rich Price, who has done extensive research on primary sources from King John‘s reign has clarified that The Close Rolls definitely name her as ‘comitissa Isabella’ and ‘Isabella filia Willielmi comitis’ (Isabella, daughter of Count William), so we’ll stick with Isabella.

Isabella was the youngest daughter, and co-heiress, of William, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and his wife, Hawise, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester; Isabella was therefore a great-granddaughter of Isabel de Vermandois (and a distant cousin of the Warennes). Through her father, Isabella was a descendant of Robert of Gloucester, the illegitimate half-brother of Empress Matilda who was his sister’s leading general during the civil war known as The Anarchy. We know very little of Isabella’s childhood, although, considering her social status, as the daughter of one of England’s wealthiest earls, it is likely that she was given the education expected of a high-ranking noblewoman and taught to run a large household, as well as the social graces of singing, dancing and needlework. Her parents’ marriage appears to have been a successful one. Isabella’s mother, Countess Hawise, was a regular witness to her husband’s charters and was mentioned in several of them, especially in the pro amina clauses of grants made to religious houses that sought spiritual benefits for those named.

Although her date of birth has been lost to history – most sources say between 1173 and 1176, though she may have been born in the 1160s – she was betrothed in 1176, possibly whilst still in her cradle, to Prince John. The youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, John was 9 years old at the time of the betrothal. Under the terms of the marriage agreement, Earl William recognised John as heir to the earldom of Gloucester, effectively disinheriting Isabella’s two elder sisters. The marriage was to be a way for Henry II to provide for his youngest son. After the Earl of Gloucester’s death in 1183, his entire estate was passed to Isabella, who had been made a ward of the king. However the wedding did not take place until 1189, when John was 21.

Baldwin, the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, opposed the marriage as the couple were related within the prohibited degrees, both being a great-grandchild of Henry I, and ordered that they should not live together as husband and wife. John promised to seek a papal dispensation, in order to overcome Baldwin’s objections – although it appears this was never obtained. Nevertheless, John and Isabella were married on 29 August, 1189, at Marlborough Castle, Wiltshire. Although Isabella and John were married for ten years, their marriage was neither happy nor successful. They spent some time together in the first years of their marriage and issued joint charters during a visit to Normandy around 1190–91. However, they appear to have spent less and less time in each others’ company as the years went on. They never had any children and it is during this time in his life that John’s illegitimate children, including Richard of Chilham and Joan Lady of Wales, were probably born. In 1193, as part of his plotting with Philip Augustus, John promised to marry the French king’s half-sister, Alys, who had previously been betrothed to John’s own brother, Richard. Nothing eventually came of the marriage proposal, but it was an implicit rejection of Isabella as his wife.

John succeeded to the throne on the death of his older brother Richard I – the Lionheart – on 6 April 1199. He was crowned king on 27 May 1199; the fact that Isabella was not crowned alongside him, suggests that John was already looking for a way out of the marriage. Isabella would never be styled Queen of England.

Within months of his succession, possibly as early as 30 August 1199 (the day after their 10th wedding anniversary), but certainly by 1200, John had obtained a divorce on the grounds of consanguinity; the bishops of Lisieux, Bayeux and Avranches, sitting in Normandy, provided the required judgement.

However, in order to keep his hold on the substantial Gloucester lands, John imposed a royal wardship on Isabella for the next 14 years. When John remarried, to Isabelle d’Angouleme, his new, young wife (she was no more than 12 on her wedding day and possibly a year or two younger) was lodged with Isabella of Gloucester at Winchester, the countess’s allowance was raised from £50 to £80 to cover the extra expenditure that comes with housing a queen. John’s wife and ex-wife were housed together until a few weeks before the birth of Isabelle’s first child by John, the future King Henry III, who was born in 1207.

The king eventually arranged a new marriage for Isabella, to a man who was over 16 years her junior. In 1214, although possibly past child-bearing age – certainly safe child-bearing age – she was married to Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, who had paid the considerable sum of 20,000 marks to become her second husband and Earl of Gloucester ‘jure uxoris‘ (by right of his wife), a huge sum which he could never hope to repay. Indeed, he soon defaulted on his payments. Just 2 years later, in 1216, de Mandeville died from wounds he had received in a tournament in London.

One of the Magna Carta sureties, de Mandeville was in a state of rebellion against the king when he died; as a result, all his lands and titles – including the earldom of Gloucester – were forfeit to the crown. Isabella’s feelings towards John may well be seen in the fact that, even after de Mandeville’s death, she continued to support the rebels. Isabella was now a widow and although virtually penniless appears to have reveled in her first taste of freedom, styling herself on one charter ‘Countess of Gloucester and Essex in my free widowhood’. It was not until 17th September 1217, almost a year after the death of King John, that Isabella’s lands were returned to her.

220px-Hubert_de_Burgh-Paris — *Hubert de burgh*

At about the same time – or shortly after – Isabella was married for a third and final time, to Hubert de Burgh. Hubert De Burgh had become Chief Justiciar of England in 1215 and would rise to be Regent during the minority of Henry III. It was only several years after Isabella’s death that he would be created Earl of Kent.

On 13 October 1217 the sheriffs of nine counties were ordered to relinquish custody of Isabella’s lands to de Burgh. This final marriage was, sadly, very short-lived and Isabella was dead within only a few weeks of her wedding day and almost exactly a year after the death of her first husband, King John.

Isabella died on 14 October 1217, probably at Keynsham Abbey near Bristol, and was buried at the cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury. Shortly before her death, Isabella made a grant to the monks of Canterbury, of £10 of land in her manor of Petersfield, Hampshire, which was witnessed by Hubert de Burgh and other members of his household.

In spite of her three marriages, Isabella never had children and was succeeded to the earldom of Gloucester by her nephew, Gilbert de Clare.

She was laid to rest in Canterbury Cathedral, Kent.

Isabella of Gloucester’s story appears in greater detail in my book, Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England.

Further Reading: Robert Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225; Dan Jones The Plantagenets; the Kings who Made England; The Plantagenet Chronicle Edited by Elizabeth Hallam; Maurice Ashley The Life and Times of King John; Roy Strong The Story of Britain; Oxford Companion to British History; Mike Ashley British Kings & Queens; David Williamson Brewer’s British Royalty; Rich Price King John’s Letters Facebook page; finerollshenry3.org.uk; Oxforddnb.com; magnacarta800th.com; Church, Stephen, King John: England, Magna Carta and the Making of a Tyrant; Danziger, Danny and John Gillingham, 1215: The Year of Magna Carta.

Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Edmund Crouchback, Edward I’s Loyal Brother

25/02/201505/06/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly18 Comments

arms_of_edmund_crouchback_earl_of_leicester_and_lancaster-svg — *Arms of Edmund Crouchback*

The fourth child and second son of Henry III and his Queen, Eleanor of Provence, and named to honour the Old English royal saint, Edmund was born in London on 16th January 1245.

From an early age, Edmund was involved in his father’s schemes to extend Angevin influence across Europe; in 1254 Henry accepted the crown of Sicily from the Pope for the 9-year-old Edmund, but this came to naught and he was to be officially deprived of the kingdom in 1266, when the Pope handed Sicily to Henry’s brother-in-law, Charles of Anjou.

Henry and Eleanor are known to have been devoted parents and had a very close relationship with all their children. However, Edmund grew up in a time of great upheaval in the kingdom. Henry was locked in a power struggle with his barons, led by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. The barons were against expensive entanglements in Europe – such as Edmund’s claim to the Sicilian crown – and what they saw as Henry’s inept and ineffective rule in general.

BodleianDouce231Fol1rEdCrouchbackAndStGeorge — *Miniature of Edmund with Saint George*

The conflict known as the Barons’ War would lead to what is now seen as the first recognisable English parliament, and to the eventual defeat and destruction of Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

Although Edmund’s youth during the war years meant he took no major part in the conflict, following de Montfort’s death, in October 1265 Edmund was given his lands and titles, including the castle at Kenilworth, which was still holding out against the king. Edmund commanded the Siege of Kenilworth, which held out for 6 months, until starvation forced the garrison’s capitulation. He would also receive the earldom of Lancaster, which was created for him in 1267 by Henry III.

A less-than-chivalric move in 1269 saw Edmund and his older brother, Edward, conspiring against Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, a former Montfort supporter, depriving him of his titles and lands – all of which were passed to Edmund.

In April of the same year, Edmund married Avelina de Forz, daughter of the Earl of Devon and Aumale. The marriage produced no children and Avelina died in 1274.

In 1268 Edward and Edmund had both taken the cross, promising to take part in Crusade to the Holy Land. Although logistics meant they didn’t leave immediately, the brothers travelled separately and Edmund arrived in the Holy Land in September 1271. It is likely that his soubriquet of ‘Crouchback’ comes from him wearing a cross on his back during the Crusades, as there is no evidence of any physical deformity.

After some minor victories, but realising their force wasn’t big enough to retake the Holy Land, and reinforcements from Europe were not forthcoming, Edward signed a 10 year truce with the Muslim leader, Baibars. The following month, May 1272, Edmund sailed for home.

150px-BlancheArtois — *Seal of Blanche of Artois*

Henry III died in November 1272 and Edmund’s older brother ascended the throne as Edward I. Edmund was loyal to his brother, throughout his reign, playing a supporting role, both militarily and diplomatically. In 1276, Edmund married again; to Blanche of Artois, the widowed Countess of Champagne, whose daughter, Jeanne of Navarre, would marry Philip IV of France in 1284, making Edmund step-father to the French Queen.

Blanche would outlive Edmund, dying in Paris in 1302. They had 4 children together. Thomas was born before 1280 and was executed on the orders of Edward II, following a failed rebellion and his defeat at the Battle of Boroughbridge. Their second son, Henry would eventually succeed to his brother’s titles of Earl of Lancaster, Lincoln, Salisbury, Derby and Leicester. Born around 1281, he married Matilda, daughter of Sir Patrick de Chaworth, and they had 7 children together; their eldest son being Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster and father of Blanche of Lancaster. A third son, John, Lord of Beaufort and Nogent, was born before May 1286 and died around 1317, leaving no children. Their only daughter, Mary, died young in France.

In Edward’s 1277 Welsh campaign Edmund, the biggest landowner in south Wales, was given the command of the southern army. This second, smaller contingent of the invasion of Wales provided support to Edward’s main army. Having set out shortly after 10th July, Edmund’s force drove deep into Wales, facing little opposition compared to Edward’s army. The main landholders of the south had already capitulated, or had fled to join the Welsh prince, Llewellyn, in the north. Edmund’s army had reached their objective of Aberystwyth by 25th July and, at the start of August, began the construction of the castle there. By September the war was over, Edmund disbanded his army on the 20th – leaving a small contingent to garrison the castle – and returned to England.

As a loyal and loving brother, in 1290 Edmund was involved in organising the funeral arrangements for his sister-in-law, Eleanor of Castile. Historian Dean Irwin has told me of a letter which includes many current events and explains that Edmund had had to cancel a planned trip to Canterbury in order to help with the late queen’s funeral.

In 1294 Edmund used his familial connections with the French crown to broker a peace deal with France; an agreement intended to foster a long-lasting peace and to see his widowed brother Edward married to Margaret, Philip IV’s sister. Edmund agreed to hand over several cities, including Bordeaux, in Gascony, on the understanding they would be returned to Edward on his marriage.

The French had no intention of returning the Gascon lands, and in April 1294, Edmund realised he had been duped; the French ejected the English Seneschal of Gascony and Edward prepared an invasion force, ordered to muster on 1st September.

However, rebellion in Wales meant the postponement of the Gascon expedition and Edmund and his forces were ordered to Worcester. The Welsh having been subdued and Edmund having recovered from unspeicifed illness that struck him at the end of 1295, Edmund and his army finally set sail for Gascony in January 1296.

It was to be Edmund’s last campaign. The French were well entrenched and the English failed to retake Bordeaux, or any of the towns along the Garonne. His money running out, Edmund was forced to retire to Bayonne, where he fell sick, dying there on 5th June 1296.

A devastated Edward I called on his churchmen to pray for ‘our dearest and only brother, who was always devoted and faithful to us…and in whom valour and many gifts of grace shone forth’.

He was buried in Westminster Abbey, recently completed by his father, Henry III.

Pictures of Edmund’s coat of arms, seal and Edmund with St George, and of Blanche of Artois, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Further reading: Marc Morris A Great and terrible King; Sara Cockerill Eleanor of Castile: Shadow Queen; Roy Strong The Story of Britain; Mike Ashley The Mammoth Book of British Kings & Queens; Derek Wilson The Plantagenets; Alison Weir Britain’s Royal Families; Dean Irwin.

My Books

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Out now: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

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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 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.

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Isabella de Warenne, Queen of Scotland?

15/02/201518/01/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly27 Comments

Whilst researching for my article on Ada de Warenne I discovered that a hundred years later, a kinswoman of hers also, briefly, made an appearance on the stage of Scottish history. I looked at both women, again in my latest book, Scotland’s Medieval Queens, a project I am immensely excited about. I love Scottish history!

Isabella de Warenne was the daughter of John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey, and Alice de Lusignan. As such, Isabella had connections, both to royalty and the highest ranks of the English nobility. Her mother, Alice, was the daughter of King John of England’s widow, Isabella of Angouleme, and Hugh X de Lusignan and half-sister to Henry III of England. Isabella was, therefore, Henry’s niece and a 1st cousin of King Edward I. Through her paternal grandmother, Matilda Marshal, Isabella was also a great-granddaughter of the ‘Greatest Knight’ William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and Regent of England in the early years of Henry III’s reign.

Isabella was one of three children; her elder sister, Eleanor, married Henry Percy and was the mother of Henry de Percy, 1st Baron Percy. Isabella’s younger brother, William de Warenne, married Joan de Vere, daughter of the 5th Earl of Oxford, and was father to two children, a son and a daughter; John and Alice. Isabella’s nephew, John de Warenne, was the last Earl of Warenne and Surrey, whose marital and extra-marital situation led to the extinction of the senior Warenne line. It was through John’s sister, Alice de Warenne, that the title earl of Surrey would eventually pass to her son Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel.

Alice de Lusignan died in 1256, shortly after giving birth to her youngest child, William, leaving the 25-year-old Earl Warenne to raise three young children alone. Alice de Lusignan was buried at Lewes Priory, the Warenne family mausoleum, she was ‘placed in the earth before the great altar in the presence of her brother Adelmar [Aymer de Valence], [bishop] elect of Winchester.’¹ Isabella was probably born around 1253, although some genealogical sources claim she was younger and the daughter of a second, unknown wife of John de Warenne.

Isabella was married to John Balliol, Lord of Bywell, sometime before 7 February 1281. The confusion over her age is probably based on the writings of chronicler Thomas Wykes, who, in trying to explain why John Balliol did not succeed to the Balliol lands until a year after his brother’s death, suggested that the lands were in wardship to Edward I due to John Balliol’s youth. According to Wykes, Balliol needed Edward’s consent for his proposed marriage to Isabella, describing John as a youth, adolescens, and Isabella, a young girl, adolescentula. In fact, at the date of their marriage, John was about thirty years of age and Isabel was at least in her mid-twenties. Clearly, Edward could not have been exercising rights of wardship in a minority but the true reasons for his heavy-handed intervention are not clear.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that John ever remarried after Alice’s death, so this theory seems unlikely. It is just as likely – or more likely, in fact – that Isabella married late because previous marriage proposals or arrangements had failed, either due to failed negotiations or the death of the proposed groom. Such instances often went unrecorded, and are much more feasible than the suggestion that the earl had remarried but not one of the chroniclers of the time had mentioned it.

In the early 1290s, John Balliol was one of the 13 Competitors for the Scottish throne. He was the great-grandson of Ada de Warenne’s youngest son, David, Earl of Huntingdon, by David’s daughter, Margaret. John and Isabella were, therefore, 4th cousins, both being descended from William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, and his wife, Isabel de Vermandois.

Balliol’s claim lay through seniority, he was grandson of Margaret, the eldest daughter of David of Huntingdon. The other leading Competitor was Robert de Brus, grandfather of the future King Robert (I) the Bruce. Robert de Brus’s claim lay in the fact he was closer in degree to the same David, being the son of David’s youngest daughter, Isobel. John Balliol was therefore David’s great-grandson, whereas Robert de Brus was his grandson, though by a younger daughter.

With 13 claimants to the Scottish throne it was Edward I of England who was given the duty of selecting Scotland’s next king. Isabella’s close family links to the English crown may have helped Edward decide in John’s favour and he was installed as King of Scotland in November 1292.

John and Isabella may have had at least three, but possibly four, children together.

A daughter, Margaret, died unmarried. There is mention of another daughter, Anne; but there is doubt as to whether she ever existed.

Their eldest son, Edward, was born around 1283. Following the deposition of his father, in November 1299 Isabella and John’s oldest son, Edward, was entrusted to the custody of his Earl Warenne, who was then approaching his 70th year. After his grandfather’s death in 1304, Edward was transferred to the custody of his cousin John, the 7th Earl Warenne, until he was delivered into royal custody in 1310.

By the 1330s Edward’s prospects had improved. He was seen as a useful political tool, a rival claimant to the Scottish crown. With English support, Edward made his own bid for the throne, and was crowned king following his defeat of 8-year-old David II‘s forces at the Battle of Dupplin Moor in 1332. David’s supporters and Edward struggled against each other, until they eventually triumphed over Edward and he was deposed in 1336.

Isabella’s son, Edward Balliol, King of Scots

Edward finally surrendered his claim to the Scottish throne in 1356 whilst living in English exile; he died in Wheatley, Doncaster, probably in 1363 or 1364. Although his final resting place has recently been claimed to be under Doncaster Post Office, the former site of Doncaster Priory, it remains elusive.

John and Isabella’s possible younger son, Henry, was killed on 16th December 1332 at the Battle of Annan, a resounding victory for supporters of David II against Henry’s brother, Edward.

Although Edward was briefly married to Margaret of Taranto, the marriage was annulled. Neither Edward nor Henry had any children.

Very little is known of John and Isabella’s life together. Her death date and final resting place are both unknown. It is by no means certain that Isabella was still alive when John became king, so may have died before 1292, when John succeeded to the Scottish throne. She was no longer living, however, when her own father defeated John and the Scottish army at the Battle of Dunbar in April 1296; John abdicated in July of the same year and died in French exile in 1314.

John’s claim to the Scottish throne was supported by the Comyns, which led to the murder of John Comyn, in the church at Dumfries in 1306, by Robert the Bruce, who had succeeded his grandfather as the other leading Competitor to the throne. Shortly after the murder, he was crowned King Robert I at Scone but was only able to consolidate his rule after winning a resounding victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314.

Footnotes:

¹‘Annals written by a certain monk of Lewes, from the birth of Christ to the year 1312’ quoted in W.H. Blaauw, On the Early History of Lewes Priory, and its Seals, with extracts from a MS. Chronicle

Picture:

John Balliol and Isabella de Warenne from britroyals.com; Edward Balliol courtesy of Wikipedia

My Books

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Coming 30 January 2025: Scotland’s Medieval Queens

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Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the 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.

Podcast:

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Princess Isabella, a Royal Exception

05/02/201516/06/2025Sharon Bennett Connolly15 Comments

It has always amazed me that so little is known of the princesses of England, daughters of the kings. The lives of their fathers and brothers are, in the most part, well documented; but the Princesses are often shadowy figures, hidden in the background.

220px-Woodstock_Palace — *Palace of Woodstock*

Many of these ladies were married off to foreign courts or dedicated to convents, their lives and futures decided by the king, their father.

Isabella of Woodstock is, to some extent, an exception. She appears to have been very close to her parents, and spent most of her life at the English court. The eldest daughter and second child of Edward III and his queen, Philippa of Hainault, Isabella was born on 16 June 1332 at the royal Palace of Woodstock. As a child, Isabella shared a household with her older brother, Edward, later to be known as the Black Prince, and sister Joan, who was a year younger than her. The royal children’s household was governed by William of St Omer and his wife, Elizabeth.

Edward and Philippa had a large family, with at least 12 children (possibly more) of whom 9 survived infancy. They maintained a close relationship with their children often travelling with them; the older children, including Isabella, were with Philippa, in Antwerp, when their baby brother, Lionel, was born in 1338.

150px-EDuard_Filpa — *Edward III and Philippa of Hainault*

From her infancy, Edward was making plans for Isabella’s marriage: in 1335 negotiations were opened for her to marry Pedro the Cruel, the eldest son of the king of Castile, but Joan was sent in her place. Two of Pedro’s daughters, Constance and Isabella, would later marry Isabella’s brothers, John of Gaunt and Edmund of Langley, respectively. In 1338, plans were in motion for Isabella to marry the son of the Count of Flanders, in place of her sister Joan, now promised to Pedro; however, the count’s allegiance to the French Valois dynasty, added to English support for Flemish rebels, meant the proposals came to nought. In 1344 the proposed groom was a son of the Duke of Brabant, though as he was a descendant of Edward I, a papal dispensation was required.

Whilst awaiting the dispensation, however, the proposed marriage with the count of Flanders’ son, Louis de Male, was revived. The count’s death at Crecy in 1346 meant Louis was even less inclined to the match than his father, but he was facing increasing pressure from his subjects, who saw great advantage in an English alliance. The couple met in March 1347, where Louis promised to marry Isabella within a fortnight of Easter. Louis fled just days before the wedding was due to take place and instead married Marguerite de Brabant. In 1349 Isabella was offered in marriage to Charles IV of Bohemia, King of the Romans. But these plans came to nothing.

In 1351, aged 19, Edward III gave his consent for Isabella to marry Bernard, heir to the Lord Albret. Five ships were prepared to escort Isabella to Gascony and her new husband, but the English princess pointedly refused to embark and the marriage plans were abandoned. Edward III does not seem to have been too ‘put out’ by this. He continued to support Isabella and described her as ‘our very dear eldest daughter, whom we have loved with special affection.’ Edward indulged Isabella, she was with him almost constantly – more than any of his other children. In 1348, during a tournament in Lichfield, she was one of the ladies given blue and white robes – to match those of the knights – by the King. In 1354 Edward paid for a new balcony to be built outside Isabella’s suite of rooms at Woodstock, so that she would have a better view of the park. In 1358 King Edward gave her an annuity of 1,000 marks and in 1364 she was give the valuable wardship of Edmund (III) Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster.

By late 1361 Isabella was her parents’ last surviving daughter. Her sister, Joan, 18 months her junior, had died of plague in France in 1348 whilst on her way to her marriage in Castile. And her younger sisters Mary and Margaret, just teenagers, died within a short time of each other in 1361; Mary had only been married for 2 months. Though there is no evidence that she exerted any political influence, Isabella was a regular at court, participating in the feasts for the Order of the Garter and in hunts; she was a frequent spectator at tournaments and was present at the Siege of Calais of 1346-7.

Isabella finally married in 1365, at Windsor, at the rather late age of 33, in what appears to have been a love match. Her husband, Enguerrand VII Lord of Coucy, was 7 years her junior, and a hostage for the fulfilment of the Treaty of Bretigny. On marrying Isabella he was released, without ransom, and created a knight of the Garter. In the hope that Enguerrand and Isabella would remain in England, Edward made Enguerrand Earl of Bedford in 1366 and, later, Count of Soissons.

*Philippa de Coucy and her husband, Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford and Duke of Ireland*

Two daughters followed quickly, in 1366 and 1367. Mary was born at the Chateau of Coucy, France, and would later marry Henry of Bar; and Philippa, who was born at Eltham and made a lady of the Garter in 1379, and would later marry Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford and Duke of Ireland; de Vere, a favourite of Richard II, would cause a great scandal in 1387 when he rejected poor Philippa for a Bohemian woman.

As England and France moved towards war, Enguerrand left England for the continent and went on to fight in Italy. Isabella appears to have returned to England and remained at her father’s court, with her daughters. Edward’s will gave to his ‘very dear daughter’ Isabella, an income of 300 marks per year, until her daughters were married. Isabella and Enguerrand were briefly reunited in France in 1374, but Isabella then returned to England while Enguerrand pursued his claims to lands in Aargau and Alsace, as a grandson of Leopold I, duke of Austria. After another reunion in 1376, Isabella again returned to England, remaining there with her daughter Philippa. Mary remained in France with her father, becoming heir to her father’s French possessions. Enguerrand was now totally committed to France, his loyalty firmly with the Valois’.

On 26 August 1377, he renounced all his English honours in order to serve France.

Isabella received robes of the Order of the Garter in 1376. In 1379, she did so again, after her husband’s resignation of his English lands and titles, under the style ‘countess of Bedford’. Isabella had had a greater control over her own life than most English princesses, before and after her marriage, maintaining a great deal of independence, even within it. She was always a figure in her own right. She died before 4 May 1379 – although 1382 also has been suggested – and was laid to rest at the Greyfriars Church in Newgate, London. Isabella was one of the figures that graced her father’s tomb in Westminster Abbey, though the statuette has not survived. Neither has the statue that Enguerrand de Coucy erected, alongside his own, in the Celestine church at Soissons.

Further reading: Ian Mortimer The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III; Alison Weir Britain’s Royal Families; WM Ormrod The Reign of Edward III; Paul Johnson The Life and Times of Edward III; Roy Strong The Story of Britain.; Oxforddnb.com; The Oxford Companion to British History Edited by John Cannon; The Plantagenets, the Kings who Made England by Dan Jones; History Today Companion to British History Edited by Juliet Gardiner and Neil Wenborn; Brewer’s British Royalty by David Williamson; The Chronicles of Chivalry Edited by Elizabeth Hallam; The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens by Mike Ashley; The Plantagenets, the Kings that made Britain by Derek Wilson; Heroines of the Medieval World by Sharon Bennett Connolly.

Pictures: courtesy of Wikipedia.

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Footnotes:

Picture:

Further reading:

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