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SHEWOLVES

THENOTORIOUSQUEENSOFENGLAND

ELIZABETHNORTON

Formyhusband,David.

Firstpublishedin2008Thiseditionpublished2009

TheHistoryPressTheMill,BrimscombePortStroud,Gloucestershire,GL52QGwww.thehistorypress.co.uk

Thisebookeditionfirstpublishedin2011

Allrightsreserved©ElizabethNorton,2008,2009,2011

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Contents

1AccusedQueens–InnocentWomen?

PARTI:Pre-ConquestQueens:Murder,Adultery&Incest

2Pre-ConquestQueens

3IncestuousQueensJudithofFrance&AelfgifuoftheHouseofWessex

4Adultery&MurderintheAnglo-SaxonCourtEadburh,Aelfthryth&EdithGodwine

5FemalePowerStrugglesEmmaofNormandy&

AelfgifuofNorthampton

PART II: Post-ConquestQueens: Arrogance,Rebellion&Greed

6Post-ConquestQueens

7Arrogance&PrideEmpressMatilda

8Adultery&RebellionEleanorofAquitaine

9‘MoreJezebelthanIsabel’IsabellaofAngouleme

10Nepotism&GreedEleanorofProvence&EleanorofCastile

11TheShe-WolfofFranceIsabellaofFrance

PART III: Later Medieval &

Tudor Queens: Witchcraft,War&Ambition

12LaterMedieval&TudorQueens

13WitchcraftJoanofNavarre

14Shakespeare’sShe-WolfMargaretofAnjou

15TheSeductress

ElizabethWoodville

16AnneBoleyn

17Treachery&MisjudgementCatherineHoward

18AspiringtotheCrownLadyJaneGrey

19BloodyMaryMaryI

20Conclusion

Endnotes

Bibliography

AccusedQueens–InnocentWomen?

Medieval England sawmany

queens. Some areremembered as saintly, or atleast very nearly saintly,some are barely rememberedat all and others areremembered as being trulynotorious. Every centuryfrom the eighth to thesixteenthboastedat leastonenotorious queen who wouldprovide scandal forchroniclers’ works forcenturies to come. Their

reputation and the salaciousdetails of their lives thatsurvive make these womensome of the most vivid andinterestingpersonalitiesofthemedieval period. However,their lives were not alwaysrecorded truthfully.Chroniclers and otherwritershadtheirownmotivationsforwriting about the womenwhich were distinct fromsimply recording events as

theyhappened.Someaccusedqueens were guilty of theircrimes, others were innocent– such matters were notimportant to those writing,who were more interested inthe subject of female powerthan making a detailedanalysis of the facts.Medieval women did notconventionally wield powerand the very existence ofqueens was something of a

contradiction when womensought to redefine thequeenlyroleasmorethanjustthetraditionalking’swife.Thequestion, therefore, is:

were these queens really asbad as their reputationssuggest? Undoubtedly, somequeens,suchastheunfaithfulCatherine Howard, wereentirely unsuitable for therole in which they foundthemselvesandcanclearlybe

shown tobebadqueens.Butcan they also be said to bebad women? Isabella, theShe-Wolf of France, forexample, is probably one ofthe most notorious of all thewomen discussed in thisbook, but was she trulywicked? Isabella invadedEngland and was a leader inthe coup which led to herhusband’s deposition andmurder, allowing her to rule

Englandwith her lover. Thiswas clearly a scandalouscourse of action to take.However, Isabella, as awoman,hadbeensorelytried.Shewasmarriedasachildtothe homosexual Edward IIand endured humiliationthroughout her earlymarriage. Later she sufferedundisguisedhostilityfromherhusband and his favourites.For Isabella, this was too

much to bear, directlyimpacting on her laterbehaviour. Certainly to hercontemporaries she wasnotorious but to modernobservers and to Isabellaherself, her actions wereunderstandable.IsabellaofFrance’sactions

can be understood in a studyof her as a woman and whocan say that the saintlyMatildaofScotland,queento

Henry I, for example, wouldnothaveactedsimilarlyifshehad been married to EdwardII? As a woman, Isabella ofFrance’s actions can beunderstood, but as a queenshe is remembered asnotorious and has beensystematically vilified forcenturies.Whythen,aresomequeens

classed as notorious andothersnot?Bythelateeighth

century, queenship had beendeveloping in England forcenturies and people alreadyhadastrongideaofjustwhatagoodqueen shouldbe.TheAnglo-Saxonsbelieved thatagood queen was a passiveone, fertile and religious butof no political consequenceduring her husband’s reign,with only the potentiallypowerful role of queenmother to look forward to.

First and foremost, Anglo-Saxon queens were notexpected to take action fortheir own benefit, insteadactingthroughthemediumoftheirmalekinsmen.Thiswasthe model that the Anglo-Saxons queens Eadburh,Judith of France,Aelfgifu ofthe House of Wessex,Aelfthryth, Emma ofNormandy, Aelfgifu ofNorthampton and Edith

Godwine were expected tofulfil and each of them, intheir ownways, failed in theeyes of their contemporariesand later observers. Some ofthis failure can be attributedto their characters and someto their circumstances,nonetheless they all failed tolive up to the model of thegoodqueen.In 1066, William the

Conqueror portrayed himself

as heir to Edward theConfessor and an Anglo-Saxonking.Hiswife,Matildaof Flanders, consequentlyalso portrayed herself as anAnglo-Saxon queen,consciously emulating herpredecessors in the role. Byusing ideas of Anglo-Saxonqueenship, Matilda and herimmediate successors tookAnglo-Saxon ideasofwhatagoodqueenshouldbeintothe

post-conquest period. Thisrole was enthusiasticallytakenupbytheearlyNormanqueens: Matilda of Flanders,Matilda of Scotland, Adelizaof Louvain and Matilda ofBoulogne, and they wereeach, in their own ways,rememberedasgoodqueens.Inthisperiod,however,the

queens did not just slavishlyfollow the model of theirpredecessorsand theNorman

and Angevin queens alsoadded to the model of whatmakes a good queen. TheNormanconquestmeant that,for the first time in Englishhistory, Englandwas not thecentreof theking’sdomains.For several centuries, theEnglish kings ruled much ofFrance and clearly theseextensive lands meant thattheycouldnotbeeverywhereat once. The existence of

continental lands meant thatqueenswerequicklyexpectedtoplaytheirpartinrulingtheempire. In the post-conquestperiod,queenswereregularlyexpectedtoruleasregentsfortheir husbands and sonswhilst the king was absent,carrying out a wide range ofpolitical and administrativetasks. This naturallyincreased the political powerthat queens could wield

although, again, they wereexpected to rule in thename,and in the interests of, theirmalekinsmen.Thepolicydidhoweverservetoincreasetheprofile of the queen and itwitnessed a number of verypolitical queens. EmpressMatilda, Eleanor ofAquitaine, Isabella ofAngouleme, Eleanor ofProvence, Eleanor of Castileand Isabella of France, for

example, were all importantEuropean-wide politicalfiguresbut,inappearingtobeacting for their owngoodona number of occasions, theyare also remembered asnotorious. Women weresimply not expected to havepolitical ambitions of theirown. Furthermore it seemsthat to their malecontemporaries, politicalwomen appeared almost

threatening and unnatural,whichmadethemeasytargetsforcensure.In the fifteenth and

sixteenthcenturies,queenshipremained similar to what ithad been in earlier periodsand the definition of a goodqueen remained remarkablystable.However,withthelossof the empire, the scope forpolitical action also wanedand the queens once again

found themselves in a moreAnglo-Saxon constricted rolethan they had previouslyenjoyed. With only limitedlands, the fifteenth-andsixteenth-century kings spentmostoftheirtimeinEngland,supervising theirownaffairs.Theythereforehadlittleneedof a regent and so had noneed to promote their wivesand mothers as theirpredecessors had done.

Fifteenth-and sixteenth-centuryqueenswereexpectedto revert to a more passiverole than they had doneearlier.Thisdoesnotseemtohave been a problem formany of the mild queens oftheperiod, such asCatherineof Valois and Elizabeth ofYork. However, Joan ofNavarre, Margaret of Anjou,Elizabeth Woodville, AnneBoleyn, Catherine Howard,

Lady Jane Grey and Mary Iall looked for, or had forcedupon them, something morein their queenship and all,ultimately, failed to beremembered as good queensdue to the outrage of theircontemporaries.

The idea of what a goodqueen should be thereforeremained remarkably stableduring the medieval period

anditwasaconceptthatwasunderstood throughoutsociety. The queensthemselves also certainlyunderstood it and some, likeIsabellaofFrance,triedtobegoodqueensformuchoftheirlives, as their stories show.The women studied here all,for one reason or another,failedto liveupto themodelof a good queen and oftenwentsofarbeyondwhatwas

expected of them that theywere quickly considerednotorious. The boundariesdefined by the model wererestrictive and if a royalwoman failed to act in thisway,regardlessofthereason,sheleftherselfopentoattack.The lives of these women

make for interesting readingand today they appearfascinating compared to thecolourless good queens.

However,eventodaytheyarestill viewed as somewhatunsavoury and have beenlabelled by theircontemporaries andafterwardsas‘She-Wolves’.

PRE-CONQUESTQUEENS:

MURDER,ADULTERY&

INCEST

Pre-ConquestQueens

It is sometimes claimed thatthe Anglo-Saxons did nothavequeensandmoststudies

ofEnglishqueenshipbeginin1067, with the arrival inEngland of Matilda ofFlanders,thewifeofWilliamtheConqueror.Thisisagreatover-simplification, however,and itwasduring theAnglo-Saxon period that the officeof queen was activelydeveloping.Thepre-conquestperiod also saw some ofmedieval England’s mostcolourful and notorious

queens and, as the kings’wives sought to extend theirpolitical status and createtheirown roleasqueen, theymet with active oppositionfrom their male-dominatedsociety. This also broughtthem to the detailed interestofthechroniclersforthefirsttime. During the medievalperiod the vast majority ofchroniclers were malechurchmen, cut off from

women in general andconditioned to be suspiciousof theirmotives.The interestof the chroniclers serves tohighlightindetailthelivesofwomen for the first time butthese men were also writingforareason–usuallytoholdtheir female subjects up as anotorious example of how awomanshouldnotbehave.The claim that the pre-

conquest period was without

queens can be explained bythefactthatmanyoftheearlykings’ wives weredeliberately not accorded thetitle of queen. This isattributed to the actions ofEadburh, a particularlynotorious queen, whoallegedly murdered herhusband before disgracingherself on the continent. Thetruth of this claim is nowimpossibletoverifybutsheis

certainly not the mostplausible candidate for herhusband’smurderer,ifindeedhe wasmurdered at all. It iscertain, however, that therewasadeliberatepolicyduringandafter theninthcenturyofde-emphasising the role ofqueen, a role that could leadto such great female power.1By vilifying Eadburh, thechroniclersandthemaleelitewereabletoarguethatitwas

the women themselves whohad forfeited their right to apoliticalroleandthatwomenwere fundamentally unfit tobepublicfigures.Throughoutthe Anglo-Saxon periodqueens tended to only attractthe attention of chroniclersand other contemporarieswhen they were alleged tohave acted notoriously.Although many were deniedthe actual title of queen,

kings’ wives can still beidentified as queens and thetitle ‘lady’, which wascommonlyused todescribeaking’s wife, became animportant status term in itsownright.2ThepopularwifeofAlfredtheGreatisthefirstqueen to be certainlyassociatedwiththetitle‘lady’anditwastobeanacceptabletitleeven topowerfulqueenslike Emma of Normandy.

Clearly,therefore,theAnglo-Saxons had queens, even ifsome went by another, lesscontroversialtitle.Although Anglo-Saxon

queensexisted,theyareoftenshadowy figures incontemporaryorlatersourcesand many exist only as aname on a page or as themother of a particular son.The identity of the first wifeof Aethelred II the Unready,

for example, is an enigmaand, although she wasapparently called Aelfgifu,whethershewasthedaughterof Ealdorman Ordmaer orEaldormanThoredofYorkisamystery.3Itisevenpossiblethat this confusion hides thefact that this king wasmarried twice before he tookhis more famous last wifeand, in any event, this earlywife (or wives) appears to

have done little to merit anyremark by contemporaries.Other early queens alsosurvive only as a name. Thewife of Aethelred I, forexample, was probably the‘Wulfthryth Regina’ whowitnessed a charter of thisking during his reign.4Nothingelseisknownofthiswoman,however,barthefactthat she apparently bore herhusbandtwosons.Thesimple

factbehindthisobscuritywasthatmostwomendidconformto recognised female spheresof influence and so escapedthe attention of the malewriterswhowereuninterestedinsuchfemininepursuits.Anglo-Saxon queens

therefore have beenfrequently forgotten and,where stories of their livessurvive at all, they generallyhighlight some conspicuous

act of goodness orwickedness.The firstwifeofKingAethelwulf,Osburh,forexample, is remembered forher piety and goodness.5Shewas, apparently, a majorinfluenceon theeducationofher son, Alfred the Great,offering him a fine book ofEnglish poetry if he couldlearn to read it for himself.6This was an acceptable faceofqueenshipandonethatwas

promoted by medievalchroniclers. In reality,however, it is Alfred who isthecentreofthisstoryandhismother’s behaviour merelyhelps to highlight hisbrilliance. Asser, thechroniclerwho first recordedthis story and later writerswere not interested inpromotingthequeen.Shewasmerelypresentinthestorytoact as avehicle forher son’s

clevernessandingenuity.Thisisasimilarpositionto

the stories surrounding theAnglo-Saxon period’s twosaintly queens. Edmund I’sfirst wife, St Aelfgifu was,according to William ofMalmesbury ‘a womanalwaysintentongoodworks.Shewas so pious and lovingthat she would even secretlyrelease criminals who hadbeen openly condemned by

the gloomy verdict of ajury’.7 St Aelfgifu wouldapparently give her fineclothes away to poorwomenand, following her death, hergrave was the scene of anumberofmiracles,testifyingto her sanctity.8 The secondwife of St Aelfgifu’s son,Edgar,was also venerated asa saint and according toWilliam ofMalmesbury, thisWulfthryth‘didnotdevelopa

taste for repetitionsof sexualpleasure, but rather shunnedthem in disgust, so truly isshenamedandcelebratedasasaint’.9 These two womensurviveasexamplesofwhatamale-dominated society andmale chroniclers thought anAnglo-Saxon queen shouldbe: saintly, passive andessentially an extension ofher male kinsmen, hergoodness reflecting

favourably upon them. Thiswas the ideal in both theAnglo-Saxon and latermedievalperiodand,evenbytheninthcentury,societyhadvery clear ideas of how aqueen should behave if shewas to be judged a goodqueenby theChurchandherpeers.The examples of Osburh,

StAelfgifuandStWulfthrythshow that Anglo-Saxon

queens were expected to bepious to the point ofsaintliness. However, therewere also other qualitiesexpectedofqueensandallofthe pre-conquest queenswould have been aware ofthis.Queenswereexpectedtobe of noble birth and theimportance of their birthfamily could have importantconsequences for their sons.Osburh, for example, is

described in a contemporarysource as ‘noble in characterandnoblebybirth’anditwasclearly important for herson’sbiographertostressthisfact.10 Alfred the Great’swife, Eahlswith was alsodescribed by Florence ofWorcester as being of nobledescent,aswasherdaughter-in-law,Ecwyna,thefirstwifeof Edward the Elder.11Clearly, therefore, queens

wereexpectedtobeofagoodfamily and provide a goodlineage for their sons. Thisalso featured highly in adescription of an ideal pre-conquest queen, provided byEmma of Normandy of theeleventh century. Accordingto Emma, an ideal queencouldbedescribedas ‘a ladyof the greatest nobility andwealth, but yet the mostdistinguished of the women

of her time for delightfulbeauty and wisdom,inasmuch as she was afamous queen’.12 Clearly,therefore, Anglo-Saxonqueenshadalottoliveupto.Queens were not just

supposedtobeofnoblebirth,however. They were alsoexpected to fulfil a definedrole at court. Their first dutywas, of course, to bear sons.However, they were also

expected to actively protecttheChurch.Forexample, thetenth-century queen,Aelfthryth, was appointed tobe the head of the nunneriesinEnglandbyherhusband.13Her husband’s grandmother,Eadgifu, also played amajorrole in the Church and wasinstrumental in persuadingher son, King Eadred, toretain the services of theimportant churchman, St

Aethelwold,inEngland.14Aswell as religion, queens alsoplayed an important role inthe way in which the kingwas presented to the world.EdithGodwine, for example,apparently personallyselected the clothes that herhusband, Edward theConfessorwore.15 Accordingto an account commissionedby her, Edward ‘would nothavecaredatallifithadbeen

provided at far less cost. Hewas,however,gratefulof thequeen’s solicitude in thesematters, and with a certainkindness of feeling used toremark on her zeal mostappreciatively to hisintimates’.16 This accountmakes it clear that, withoutthequeen,thekingwouldnothave been displayed at hisbest and his majesty would,therefore, have been

diminished.Anglo-Saxon queens

needed to ensure that theyfilled the role of queensuccessfully as these womenwereinauniquelyvulnerableposition. Divorces were easyto obtain in pre-conquestEngland and many of theAnglo-Saxonkingsenjoyedasuccession of wives, simplyrepudiating them when theyhad tired of them. At least

onekingdidnot evenbotherto repudiate his first wifewhen hemarried his second,simply maintaining both ashis queens in different areasofhisempire.17Queenswereoftenpittedagainsteachotherandregularlyhad to fight forsurvival. The tenth-centurykings Edward the Elder andEdgar,forexample,eachhadthree wives in quicksuccession and following the

deathofakingtheactionsofthese rival wives and theirsons often caused chaos inEngland.Sincethepositionofwife was so precarious,queens often strove to gainpowerthroughtheirsonsand,in the pre-conquest period,the position of queenmotherwas much more powerfulthanthatofking’swife.Thiswas often a role for whichwomen fought and some

queens resorted tomurder inordertoachieveit.Pre-conquest queens

therefore had a defined rolethat they were expected tofulfil and failure to do socould be costly.However, inspite of the generalinsignificance of Anglo-Saxon queens, there weresome who came toprominence for negativereasons. Rivalry between

queens was common; onoccasion both politicalmurder and adultery wereused in order to secure apolitical role at court. Somewomen were alsoremembered for indulging inincest inorder tosecuretheirpositionat court.TheAnglo-Saxon period ended 1,000years ago in 1066 and it isdifficult to know if there istruth in these allegations.

Some of the charges wereundoubtedly trumpedupasauseful way of neutralising apoliticalwoman.Ontheotherhand,someof theallegationsare likely to have been trueand there is no doubt thatsome Anglo-Saxon queensdid commit, or were at leastcomplicit in, politicalmurders and political rivalry.Whatisforgottenintheluridstories surrounding them

however is that kings alsoindulged in political murderand thehistoryof theAnglo-Saxon monarchy is litteredwithsuspiciouslyearlydeathsand succession disputes. Thereal difference is that theseactionsdonotdamnthekingsas they damn the queens. Akingcanbecalledamurdererandstillbeconsideredagreatking. Such was KingAethelstan who was

responsible for themurderofhis brother Edwin. All theAnglo-Saxon queensassociated with murder areconsidered to have beennefarious queens and theirreputations were damned byassociation.Thedifferenceis,of course, that queens arewomen and kings are men.Society was patriarchal andmen were supposed to leadpolitical and sometimes

morally dubious lives.Women on the other handwerenot.With the exceptionoftheaccountscommissionedfor Emma of Normandy andEdithGodwineallthesourcesfrom the periodwerewrittenby men who wereconditioned to view politicalwomen with suspicionanyway. Their accountsdestroyed the reputations ofthequeens.

The Anglo-Saxon periodsawovertwentywomenwhocould claim the position ofking’swifeandthusqueen.Itis the notorious queens, suchas Judith of France,Aelfgifuof the House of Wessex,Eadburh, Edith Godwine,Aelfthryth, Emma ofNormandy and Aelfgifu ofNorthampton who are trulyremembered and details oftheir lives were used as

cautionary tales for laterqueens formany centuries tocome. Each of these womenis remembered for some act,or acts, of wickedness andeachmadeaconsciouschoiceto abandon the traditionalideal of queenship in favourof something more powerfuland lasting, to varyingsuccess. It is therefore thesewomenwhocanbedescribedas the pre-conquest ‘She-

Wolves’, the notoriousqueensofEngland.

IncestuousQueens

JudithofFrance&AelfgifuoftheHouse

ofWessex

Many Anglo-Saxon queenssurvive in sources only asbrief mentions – the motherof a particular son, the giverof some gift to the Church.Little else remains to evenindicate that these womenexisted. This obscurity doesnot extend to all the earlyqueensandsomequeenswerenot content tomerely remainin the shadows, insteadattempting to take a more

political role. However forAnglo-Saxonandlaterwritersa queen’s place was in thebackground and any attemptmadetoescapefromthiswasgenerally met with fiercecriticism. Queens whoattractednotorietythroughouttheirlifetimesoftencontinuedto attract criticism over thecenturies and, throughout themedievalperiod,theideaofapolitical and autonomous

woman was generallyfrowned upon by the malechroniclers.Twoearlyqueenswhose reputations havesufferedinthiswayareJudithofFranceandAelfgifuoftheHouse of Wessex, both ofwhose names are associatedwith the unsavoury practiceof incest. Their reputationsand the attacks on theircharacters can be directlylinked to their attempts to

takecontroloftheirownlivesin a way previously unheardofforearlymedievalwomen.

ThelifeofJudithofFranceismuchbetterdocumentedthanthat of the the laterAelfgifu.Judithwasborn intopoliticalimportance as a daughter ofthe greatest royal house inEurope, that of Charles theBald,kingof theFranks,andhis wife, Ermentrude.1 She

was the couple’s eldest childandwouldhavebeenborn inFrancia around a year aftertheir marriage in December842. Judith was named afterhergrandmother,theEmpressJudith, a woman who hadbeen a particularly powerfulanddominantpoliticalfigure.As a young widow, theEmpress Judith had almostsinglehandedly secured thethroneofFrancia forher son

Charles and it was as acompliment to her thatCharles called his eldestdaughter Judith.2 Judithwould have been raised onstories of the Empress’sactivities and these storiesprobably caught the youngJudith’s imagination as shewas growing up. She mayalso have been aware of hergrandmother’s difficultreputation as a powerful and

dominantwoman,butalsoasan example of what was notreally acceptable for awoman.Forallthestoriesabouther

famous grandmother, Judithwouldhavebeenaware froman early age that her futurewas unlikely to be anywherenear so eventful. TheCarolingian dynasty thatruled Francia jealouslyguarded its royal blood and

princesses were seldomallowed to marry and allowthisinheritancetopassoutofthe immediate family of theking. Instead, the vastmajority of Carolingianprincesses were consecratedas nuns and this would havebeen the fate that Judithexpected. Judith herselfwould show that she had nopredisposition for thereligious life and later in life

she fought passionatelyagainstattemptstoordainherasanun.Itwasprobablywithrelief, as well as someapprehension, that Judithreceived the news, when shewas twelve years old, that averydifferentfuturehadbeenarrangedforherbyherfather.She resolved to take theopportunity offered to her,whatevertheconsequences.Judith was probably not

aware, from her place in theroyalnursery,ofchangesthatwereoccurringinherfather’skingdom. The mid-ninthcentury saw the appearanceof theVikingsacrossEuropeand, in thesummerof856,aViking attack on the Seineheralded six years of fierceattacks on the kingdom ofCharles the Bald. Charlesprobably looked around toneighbouring kingdoms for

support and his interest fellon the kingdom of Wessex,ruled by the elderly KingAethelwulf. Aethelwulf alsoappears to have sought outCharlesasanallyandin855,hepassedthroughFranciaona pilgrimage to Rome.3 Heremained at Rome a yearbefore returning to Franciaforanextendedvisit.King Aethelwulf had

become King of Wessex in

839 and by 855 he wouldhave been around fifty yearsold, several years older thanJudith’s own father, Charlesthe Bald. King Aethelwulfhadalsobeenmarriedbefore,toOsburh,daughterofOslac,the king’s butler.4 Osburhappearstohavebeenadutifulwife and bore Aethelwulfseveralchildren.Howeverby856 she was either dead orhad been repudiated by her

husband,andAethelwulfwasready to marry again. Itseems likely that his choicequickly fell on Judith as theonly daughter of Charles theBald who was ofmarriageable age andCharles, desperate for alliesagainst the Vikings, wasforcedtoagreetothematch.Judith would have had no

involvement in thearrangements for her

marriage to Aethelwulf andthe first she knew of thematch may well have beenwhen she was summoned toattend her own wedding inSeptember 856. Aethelwulfwould have been eager toform an alliance with theprestigious Carolingiandynastyanditisunlikelythathe sought ameetingwithhisbridebeforehe agreed to thematch. Judith also would

probably have only met herfuture husband for the firsttime a few days before theweddingandasatwelveyearold girl, Aethelwulf musthave seemed impossiblyelderly to her. Judith mayalsohavebeenexcitedbytheprospectofbecomingaqueenand escaping a nunnery andshe appears tohavemadenoprotest against marrying aman nearly forty years her

senior.IfJudithwasexcitedabout

becomingaqueen,herfather,Charles the Bald, wasdetermined that she shouldbecome one. Queens ofWessex were typically givenonly a very low status anddenied the title of queen,instead being known as‘king’s wife’.5 Charles theBald, perhaps rememberinghis own mother’s difficulties

asayoungsecondwifefacedwith adult stepsons,apparentlyinsistedthatJudithbeaccorded the full rightsofa queen. Judith would haveapprovedofthisandprobablytook an interest in theceremonies as they wereprepared for her wedding.She would have been raisedtobefamiliarwiththeideaofher all-powerful father and itprobably would not have

occurred toher that he couldbe wrong. To hercontemporaries in Wessex,however, the prospect ofcrowning a queen wasunappealing.AethelwulfandJudithwere

married on 1 October 856.6Judith probably felt proudadorned in all her finery toreflect her status as aCarolingian princess,although she must also have

felt anxious about marryingthe elderly Aethelwulf. Shewould also have known thatshe was to be the centre ofattention at the lavishmarriageceremonyand,oncethe marriage itself had takenplace, the ceremonieschangedinordertoprovideacoronation for Judith in hernew role as Queen ofWessex. The rite for thecoronation had been devised

especially for Judith at herfather’s command and acrownwasplacedonherheadby the Bishop of Reims.7Judithwasalsoanointedwithholyoilandprayersweresaidover her womb, suggestingthat any children that sheproduced would have anenhanced claim toAethelwulf’s throne.8 Itseems possible, from this,that Charles had negotiated

withAethelwulf that any sonborne by Judith wouldsucceed in preference toAethelwulf’s elder sons andJudith would have beenaware that her primary dutywastobearAethelwulfason.It may also have beenreasoned, given the ages ofthe bride and groom, thatdivine help was necessary ifthe couple were going to becapable of producing a child

together.9Judith’s coronation was a

clearindicationofCharlestheBald’s hopes for thesuccession to the throne inEngland and the first knowninstance of such an event inrelation to an English queen.The very fact of hercoronation greatly enhancedher status relative to earlierEnglish queens, particularlyherpredecessor,Aethelwulf’s

first wife. This fact wouldhave been apparent toeveryone gathered for thewedding as well asAethelwulf’s elder sons inEngland. Soon after thewedding, Aethelwulfattempted to return home toEngland with Judith anddiscovered justhowclearhisactionshadbeentohiseldestson, Aethelbald. Aethelbaldat first refused to receive his

father back in the kingdom,rising in rebellion againsthim.10 This rebellion caughtAethelwulfbysurpriseand itmustalsohavebeenworryingfor Judith who had been ledto believe that she would bewell received in her newhome.Aftermuchnegotiationit was agreed betweenAethelwulf and Aethelbaldthat the kingdom would bedivided with Aethelbald

takingthericherwesternpartof the kingdom andAethelwulftheeasternpart.11It was probably a chastenedAethelwulf who finallyescorted Judith home to hismuchdiminishedkingdom.Aethelbald’s rebellion had

a great effect on theremaining years ofAethelwulf’sreignbutitalsohad an effect on Judithherself, along with her

reputation. Up untilAethelbald’s rebellion,Judithappearstohavehadagood,ifbland, reputationand tohavebeen accepted as yet anotherpassive ‘king’s wife’.However, the circumstancesof the rebellion and the factthat it was clearly connectedwith her marriage causedJudith’s reputation to take aturn for the worst. Forexample according to

William of Malmesbury,Aethelbald’srebellion:

Arose on account of his[Aethelwulf’s]foreignwife,yetheheld her in the highest estimation,andusedtoplaceheronthethronenearhimself, contrary to theWestSaxoncustom,forthepeopleneversuffered the king’s consort eitherto be seated by the king, or to behonoured with the appellation ofqueen,onaccountofthedepravityofEdburga[Eadburh],daughterofOffa,KingoftheMercians.12

Judith appears to have beenallotted much of the blamefor the rebellion, an unfairposition given the fact thatshehadnotyetsetfootinherhusband’s kingdom or,indeed, had any say in themarriage that had beenarranged for her.ToWilliamofMalmesburyhowever,whowaswriting several centuriesafter Judith died, and otherchroniclers, Judith as a

potentially powerful womanwould always be suspect.Mostofthechroniclersatthattime and afterwards weremonkswhowere already cutoff from women andsuspiciousoftheirmotives.Inher early career, it wasCharles the Bald andAethelwulf who shapedJudith’s life, but it is alwaysJudith,asaprominentwomanand thus under suspicion,

whoreceivedthelion’sshareoftheblame.Theexampleofan earlier queen, Eadburh,appears to have beenuppermostinthemindsofthepeople of Wessex whenJudith arrived as aconsecratedqueenand Judithattained something of thisqueen’s sullied reputation.Eadburh survives as astereotypeofawickedqueenagainst which other women

couldbecompared, as Judithapparentlywas.Muchof the suspicionand

unpopularity that surroundedJudith both during herlifetime and laterwas due toher position as an anointedqueen. Judith, as a foreigner,was unlikely to haveunderstood the hostilitydirected towards her butAethelwulf must have beenfully aware of the situation.

Howeverhemadenoattemptto make this situation anyeasierforhisyoungbrideandappears to have kept to theterms of his agreement withCharles until the end of hislife, insisting that Judith begiven a throne beside him ashis queen.13 Judith, raised tobefullyawareofherstatusasadescendantofCharlemagne,would probably not haveexpected anything different

andmaynothavebeenawareof how damaging heradoption of the trappings ofqueenship was to herreputation. Certainly, sheseems to have enjoyed herposition as a queen andsoughttoextendherroleevenafterAethelwulf’sdeath.Aethelwulf’s spirit was

probably greatly affected byhis son’s rebellion and hishealth may have begun to

decline. In spite of Charlesthe Bald’s and probablyAethelwulf’s hopes, no childwas forthcoming from themarriage and it is possiblethatAethelwulfunfairlycametoviewJudithasthecauseofhis misfortune. He had littletimetodwellonhisdemotionto the eastern part of hiskingdom, however, and hedied only twoyears after thewedding in 858.14 The death

appears to have beenexpected.Aethelwulfmade awillseveralmonthsbeforehisdeath, although no mentionwas made of Judith.15Aethelwulfprobablyassumedthat his young widow wouldsimply return toher father inFrancia – but Judith herselfhadotherideas.Until the death of

Aethelwulf, sourcesmentioning Judith tended to

be lukewarm and sometimescriticalintheirattitudetoher,but following Aethelwulf’sdeath they became overtlyhostile.JudithwouldnothavebeenshockedatAethelwulf’sdeath and his will suggeststhatheenduredalongillness.During that time, she hadprobably taken stock of herown position regarding thedeathofherhusbandandmaywellhavemadeplansforher

own future. Judith wouldhavebeenwellawarethatherfatherexpectedher toenteranunnery and the prospect ofreturning to Francia with itslifeofseclusionmaynothavebeen appealing, especiallysince she had gained a tastefor politics from her time asqueen. In 858, Judithapparently decided to takeactiononherownbehalfandeither approached, or was

approached by, her stepson,Aethelbald, with a view tomaking a second marriageand retaining her position asqueen.No details survive of the

arrangements for Judith’ssecondmarriagebut it seemslikely that Judith took theinitiative and her family inFrancia were in no wayinvolved. She would haverealisedthat,likeeveryonein

England,herfamilywouldbeshocked at the news that shehadmarried her own stepsonand, although there was noblood relationship betweenthe couple, it was wellunderstood in England at thetime that such a match wasincestuous. Today also it isdifficult to escape the viewthat such a marriage wasdistinctly unsavoury and itwassomethingthatwouldnot

have been sanctioned by theChurch or the people ofEngland or Francia. BothJudith and Aethelbald wouldhave beenwell aware of thisview before their marriageand must have made aconscious decision to defyconventionalviewpoints.The Anglo-Saxons clearly

viewedamarriagebetweenastepmotherandherstepsonasimmoral and irreligious, as

can be seen in the referencetoanearliermarriageinKentthat was recorded by theVenerableBede:

The death of Ethelbert and theaccession of his son Eadbaldprovedtobeaseveresetbacktothegrowth of the young Church; fornotonlydidherefusetoaccepttheFaith of Christ, but he was alsoguilty of such fornication as theApostle Paul mentions as beingunheard of even among theheathen,inthathetookhisfather’s

[second] wife as his own. Hisimmorality was an incentive tothose who, either out of fear orfavour of the king his father, hadsubmitted to thedisciplineoffaithand chastity, to revert to theirformeruncleanness.16

According to Bede, amarriage between astepmother and her stepsonushered in a wave ofimmorality and damaged thevery fabric of the Church in

England. He clearlyconsideredsuchamarriagetobe disgusting beyond wordsandsomethingthatevennon-Christianswouldnotdeigntoindulge in – harsh criticismindeed from the pious Bede.That such a view was stillcurrent is clear from thewords of Judith’s owncontemporary, Asser, in hisdescription of her secondmarriage:

Once King Aethelwulf was dead,Aethelbald,his son, againstGod’sprohibition and Christian dignity,andalsocontrarytothepracticeofall pagans, took over his father’smarriage-bed and married Judith,daughter of Charles, king of theFranks, incurring great disgracefrom all who heard of it; and hecontrolled the government of thekingdom of the West Saxons fortwo and a half lawless years afterhisfather.17

Asserwasclearlydeliberately

attempting to draw parallelswiththemuchearlierreignofEadbald of Kent in hisdescription of the marriageand it once again shows thehostility with which thisincestuous marriage wasviewed. By carrying outincest, both Aethelbald andJudith were seen as usheringinaperiodoflawlessnessandanarchyinEnglandthatwasadirect result of their own

immorality. Later chroniclerssawthemarriageinthesamelight,withthetwelfth-centuryhistorian, William ofMalmesbury, for example,writing that ‘Ethelbald, baseand perfidious, defiled thebedofhisfatherbymarrying,after his [Aethelwulf’s]decease, Judith his step-mother’.18 Clearly, Judith’ssecondmarriagewasnotonethat improved her already

shadyreputationinEngland.Before their marriage

Judith and Aethelbald wouldboth have been aware thatthey would be heavilycriticised for their actions.Bothwouldhavebeen raisedto view such a marriage asincestuousanditseemslikelythat only higher politicalconsiderations enabled themto so subvert the morals ofsociety. Both would have

been uncomfortably awarethat,accordingtotherulesofthe Church and society,Judith was every bitAethelbald’smotherasifshehad given birth to himherself, despite the fact thatshe must have been severalyears his junior. Howeverthey would also have beenaware, from the earlierexample ofEadbald ofKent,that such a marriage could

yield great political benefitsand it is possible that theChurch viewed the marriagemore severely than secularmembersoftheircourt.Onceagain, for Judith, thechroniclers both of her timeandlaterweremostlycelibatechurchmen and Judith, as awoman drawn into sexualimmorality by politicalconsiderations,would alwaysbeconsiderednotorious.

Aethelbald was describedby his contemporary, Asser,as‘grasping’19.Thissuggeststhat hewas highly ambitiousand, on his father’s death,wanted to ensure that hegained possession of thekingdom of Wessex withoutsharing it with his brothers.He appears to have becomequickly established asAethelwulf’s successor but,given that there was no

establishedlawofinheritancein England at that time, hewould have been eager toensure that the throne wasalso secured for his sons onthe event of his own death.Aethelbald’s rebelliondemonstrates that he keenlyappreciated the additionaleligibility that Judith’scoronation would confer onher sons and it seems likelythatitwasJudith’sadditional

status as an anointed queenthat made her a desirablebride, in spite of the obviousdifficulties incurred in thematch. Aethelbald almostcertainly hoped that his ownsons, as children of aconsecrated mother, wouldhave amore legitimate claimtothethronethanthechildrenofhisyoungerbrothers.20Hemay also have hoped tosecure an alliance with

Charles theBald through themarriage although this wasprobably a secondaryconsideration.For Aethelbald, therefore,

the marriage had soundpolitical advantages thatoutweighedthedisadvantagesof its incestuous nature. ForJudith too there wereadvantages in a marriage toher stepson. Judith hadalreadyspenttwoyearsasthe

anointed Queen of Wessexand she is unlikely to haverelishedanyreturntoFranciaand removal to a nunnery.Sheappears tohavegainedataste for political power andshewouldhavebeenonlytooaware that a marriage toAethelbald, her husband’ssuccessor,washeronlyhopeof retaining her status asqueen in England. Littleevidence survives from

Aethelbald’s brief reign butJudith certainly appears tohave been politicallyprominent. For example onecharter specifies Judith asQueen, second only to herhusband, Aethelbald, and hisbrother, Aethelberht,Underking of Kent.21 In thisdocument,Judithwasgivenaprominence unusual even tolaterAnglo-Saxonqueensandshe witnessed above all the

attendant bishops andnoblemen. In spite of itsincestuous nature, Judith’ssecond marriage brought hertangible benefits, allowinghertomaintainherstatusandprominenceasaqueenandapoliticalfigure.In spite of the advantages

conferred on both parties bythemarriage, Judith’s secondmarriage proved to be nomore lasting than her first

and, in 860,Aethelbalddied,leavingJudithonceagainasachildless widow.22 Thissecond marriage had been,likeherfirst,apoliticalmatchand it is unlikely that Judithwas unduly affectedpersonally by the death.However, it may have beensudden and Judith does notappear to have had time tomakeplansforherselfasshehad done on Aethelwulf’s

death. Aethelbald’ssuccessor, Aethelberht, doesnotappeartohaveconsideredmaking a marriage with hisstepmother and Judith musthave known that she had nofurther role to play inEngland. Soon afterAethelbald’s death shereturned home to her father,bowing to the inevitable atlast.Interest in Judith by

English chroniclers endedwithherreturntoFranciaasachildless, and still teenaged,widow. Her reputation inEngland had beenirretrievablyblackenedbyherincestuous second marriageand her conduct after herreturn to Francia would onlyhave served to furtherenhance this opinion of her.Upon her return to Francia,Judith was sent to Senlis

nunnerybyherfather.23Onceagain, however, Judithshowed an independent spiritthat shocked hercontemporaries. After only ashort time inherconventshemade contact with CountBaldwin of Flanders and thepaireloped,marryingquicklywithout the consent of herfather. The couple then fledtothecourtofPopeNicholasI and enlisted his support, in

spite of the fact that theChurch expressly censuredthe remarriage of widows.24The couple’s quick thinkingpresented Charles the Baldwith a fait accompli and, inspiteofhisobjections,hewasforced eventually to acceptthe marriage.25 Judith ofFrance disappears fromhistory after her thirdmarriage but she appears tohavecreatedalifeforherself

that brought her happinessand,attheveryleast,allowedher to escape from theunwelcome nunnery.Certainly, this marriageprovedmore lasting than herEnglish marriages and sheboreBaldwinchildren.Judith of France is

rememberedforhernotoriousmarriage to Aethelbald andappearsinthechroniclesonlyas a source of scandalous

behaviour. There is no doubtthat the behaviour of Judith,as an independent woman,was considered shocking tothe church chroniclers of herera and later and also adangerousexampleof femaleautonomy to male patriarchsfor centuries to come. Notmanypeople,menorwomen,defied Charles the Bald, themost powerful ruler inEurope, but Judith did, as a

teenaged and powerlesswidowandheractionswouldinevitably provoke outrage.Inspiteofthedisapprovalshereceived throughout herlifetime, she was able toshape her own life in a waywhich was unusual for earlymedieval women and sheappears to have been able tosecure happiness for herself.Judithwasprobablyawareofher unfavourable reputation

butchosetoignoreit,seekingpersonal satisfaction over thegood opinion of hercontemporaries. This wasalsoapathtakenbyhermuchlater queenly successor,Aelfgifu of the House ofWessex. Despite thesimilarities in the stories ofthe two women, Aelfgifu’slife turned out verydifferentlytothatofJudith.

Aelfgifu of the House ofWessex is also rememberedasaqueenwhowasinvolvedin incest, and like Judith ofFrance, it is on this that herreputation rests. The story ofAelfgifu of the House ofWessex leaves her open totwo charges of incest and,although neither would havebeenconsideredashorrifyingtocontemporariesasJudithofFrance’s conduct, both

provedtobeusefultoolswithwhich Aelfgifu could becriticised and, finally,politicallyneutralised.UnlikeJudith, for Aelfgifu thesechargesareunlikelytobetruebut, for medieval women,accusations were not easilyforgotten and nothingdestroyed a woman’sreputation so well asallegations of sexualimpropriety.

Aelfgifu of the House ofWessex was the wife ofEadwig, who rose to thethrone in 955 at the youngage of fifteen. According totheChronicleofAethelweard,Eadwig ‘for his great beautygot the nick-name “All-Fair”fromthecommonpeople.Heheld the kingdomcontinuously for four yearsand deserved to be loved’.26This implies a positive view

ofEadwig’sreignbutitistheonly favourable source andEadwig was almostuniversally derided bycontemporaries, as wasAelfgifu. Eadwig hadsucceeded to the throne in acontested succession andmany of the leadingchurchmen of the day,includingOda,ArchbishopofCanterbury, and Dunstan,Abbot of Glastonbury,

favoured the accession ofEadwig’s younger brother,Edgar. This led to a hostileportrayal in the sources ofbothEadwigandhiswife.Aelfgifu of the House of

Wessexneverappearstohaveattained the prominence inEngland of Judith of Franceand she was certainly nevercrowned. Hostile portrayalsof her in sources such as theLife of StDunstan also deny

that she was Eadwig’s wifeand in the most famousincident surrounding her,Aelfgifu appears in the guiseof an immoral courtesan.According to the Life of StDunstan, Eadwig slippedaway from his coronationfeast.When his absence wasnoticed, Abbot Dunstan andhis kinsman, BishopCynesige, were sent to fetchthe king back.27 Everyone in

attendance at the feastsuspected that the king hadleft in order to enjoy thecompanyofamotherandherdaughter, both of whomhoped to entice him intomarriage. According to theLife:

When in accordance with theirsuperior’sorderstheyhadentered,theyfoundtheroyalcrown,whichwas bound with wondrous metal,gold and silver and gems, and

shone with many-coloured lustre,carelessly thrownon the floor, farfrom his [Eadwig’s] head, and hehimself repeatedly wallowingbetween the two of them [themother and daughter] in evilfashion, as if in a vile sty. Theysaid: “Our nobles sent us to askyoutocomeasquicklyaspossibleto your proper seat, and not toscorn to be present at the joyfulbanquet of your chief men”. Butwhen he did not wish to rise,Dunstan, after first rebuking thefolly of the women, replaced thecrown, and brought himwith him

to the royal assembly, thoughdragged from the women byforce.28

TheLife of StDunstan givesthe lurid details of thisencounter and, through itsdepictionofwhatcanonlybedescribed as a ‘threesome’betweenthekingandthetwowomen,iteffectivelydamnedthe reputations of the threepeople involved for all later

historians. There is alsosomething distinctlyunsavoury about theparticipation of Aelfgifu andhermother,Aethelgifu,intheseductionofthekinganditishardtoresisttheimplicationsofincestthattheparticipationof a mother and daughterimplies. The Life of StDunstan portrays Aethelgifuas a ruthless procuress,determinedtowinthekingat

all costs, and Aelfgifu as awillingparticipant.ThattheLifeofStDunstan

does not tell the whole truthabout Aelfgifu is clear fromother scattered sources.Aelfgifu is known to havebeen from a wealthy noblefamily and both she and hermother were also of royaldescent – clearly not thecommonwhores that theLifesuggests.29 She was also the

king’s wife, rather than aconcubineanditislikelythatthe marriage helped provideEadwigwithapowerbase insouthernEngland.30AlthoughAethelgifu, as Aelfgifu’smother,maywellhavehelpedarrange her daughter’smarriage to the king, inreality it seems impossiblethat she would have gonequite as far as the Lifesuggests in order to ensure

the king’s compliance. It isalsoworthlookingattheLifeitself, the earliest source forthe coronation incident. StDunstan, who always strovetobe thecurrentking’schiefcounsellor, was not welldisposed towards queens.One of Aelfgifu’s successorsas queen, Aelfthryth, wouldalso have difficulty with thepowerful Dunstan. Herecognised the potential

influenceaqueencouldhaveover a king and, alwaysuneasy with powerfulwomen, he sought to keepthem in the background byany means possible. InAelfgifu’scasehedeniedthatshewaseventheking’swife,depicting her as a concubineand,intheprocess,heutterlydestroyed her reputation.Aelfgifu and Aethelgifu willalways be associated with

theirsupposedménageatroiswith the king and theunsavouryimageofamotherand daughter bothparticipating in the seductionof the dissolute king. Thisview of Aelfgifu wascertainly the one held by thetwelfth-century historian,William ofMalmesburywhowrote‘Eadwigwasledastrayby the enticements of onecourtesan,andwhenDunstan

rebuked him most severelyfor his folly, he expelledDunstan from England’.31William of Malmesbury alsoreferstoAelfgifuasa‘harlot’and a ‘strumpet’, hardly theusual descriptions given to along-deadformerqueen.32Aelfgifu’s reputation, like

that ofEadwighimself, ridesfirmly on the fact that bothwere members of a factionthat ultimately failed to

triumph at court. WhilstDunstanandArchbishopOdasupported Edgar, Aelfgifuand her family were behindEadwig. In the first years ofEadwig’s reign, Eadwig’ssupporters clearly had theupper hand and he was ableto politically disable severalof his opponents, throughmethods including the exileof Dunstan to the continentand the denial to his

grandmother, the powerfulQueen Eadgifu, of herlands.33 Much of theopposition to his rule thatEadwig facedwas due to hismarriage and the threat thatthis posed to the moreestablished members of hiscourt.34 Like Judith onehundred years before her,Aelfgifu was certainlyunfairly blamed for thepolitical changes that her

marriage allowed andAelfgifu struggled toestablish her position asqueen in the face of thisopposition.She is recognisedas the king’s legitimate wifein only one charter from hisreign which, once again,shows the deep hostility ofleading churchmen, whowould have been responsiblefor drawing up and storingthecharters.35

The depiction of AelfgifuintheLifeofStDunstanwasnot the only attack on hermarriage and character thatshe sustained duringEadwig’sreign.Oppositiontothe marriage was directlyconnected to a rebellion infavour of Eadwig’s brother,Edgar,in957.36Accordingtoseveralsources,EadwigruledEnglandsobadlythat,in957,all of England north of the

Thames deserted him andchose Edgar as king.37 ThismusthavebeenamajorblowforbothAelfgifuandEadwiganditseemslikelythatitwasonlythesupportofAelfgifu’spowerful family that helpedsecurethesouthfor theking.Boththekingandqueenmusthave been concerned for thefuture as their position grewsteadily worse over the nextyear.

The Anglo-SaxonChronicle for 958 states,blandly,that‘hereinthisyearArchbishop Oda divorcedKing Eadwig and Aelfgifubecause theywere related’.38This entry once againsuggests that a charge ofincestwasbeingusedagainstAelfgifu todiscredither.Thepretext used for the divorcewas probably used todemonstratefurthertheking’s

supposed immorality and anumber of sources refer toAelfgifu and Eadwig being‘near of kin’.39 As with themarriage of Judith of Franceand Aethelbald, incestappears to have beenassociated with badgovernance. It seems likelythat consanguity wasdeliberately chosen as thereason for the divorce inorder to highlight Eadwig’s

unsuitability as a ruler. Thefact that the couple onlyappear to have been relatedthrough shared great-great-grandparents does not seemto have been mentioned soprominently. It is clear thatthe intention was to portraythe couple as much moreclosely related.That thiswasusedasapretextonwhichtoseparate Eadwig from hisinfluential wife as is

demonstratedby the fact thatat least one more inbredAnglo-Saxon marriage hadremained unchallenged: thatof Eadwig’s grandfather,Edward the Elder, to hiscousin’s daughter, Aelfflaed.Like the earlier suggestionsof incest regarding Aelfgifuandhermother,however,thischarge achieved whatEadwig’s opponents intendedand Aelfgifu’s name is

irrevocably associated withincest.Aelfgifu was exiled from

Englandfollowingher forceddivorce and she probablyspentseveralyearswanderingonthecontinent.40 Ifshehadentertained any hopes of areconciliation with Eadwig,she was to be disappointed.According to William ofMalmesbury,Eadwig died ofshock at seeing all the

calamitiesthathadbesethim,dying on 10 October 959.41Although few details surviveof Aelfgifu and Eadwig’srelationship it can, perhaps,be inferred that they wereclose and Aelfgifu nevermarriedagain.Atsomepointduring the reign of Edgar,Eadwig’s successor Aelfgifureturned to England and sheseemstohavelivedthelifeofa wealthy widow. Eadwig

was buried in the NewMinster at Winchester andaround twentyyearsafterhisdeath hewas joined there byAelfgifu, who requestedburial there in her own will.Perhapsshechosethissiteforherownburial inorder tobewithherhusbandindeathinaway that she had not beenabletobewithhiminlife.Aelfgifu of the House of

Wessex backed the wrong

faction at court and she paidfor this both with herhappiness andher reputation.Much less deserving of thesmear of incest than herpredecessor JudithofFrance,Aelfgifu’s existence is stillonly remembered for thestory surrounding Eadwig’scoronation and both her andher mother’s harlotry. Bymarrying the king, Aelfgifuprovided Eadwig with the

powerful support of herfamily and, as such, shewasalwaysseenasathreattotheking’s more establishedcounsellors.UnfortunatelyforAelfgifu, these disgruntledcounsellors were oftenchurchmen and it was theChurch who controlled whatwaswritten down, at least inthe early medieval period. Itwas very easy for them toattack her with stories of

incest and since she wasfemale,theselabelsremained.Eadwig, althoughrememberedasaweakkingisnot so damned for his ownalleged incestuous behaviourwith Aelfgifu. Sexualindecency was always lessdamagingtomen.BycontrastAelfgifu,beingawoman,wasalways regarded withsuspicion by the chroniclermonks and consequently

suffered, despite the lack oftruthbehindtherumours.Both Judith of France and

Aelfgifu of the House ofWessex are notorious for thelives they are supposed tohave led and, in particular,thechargesofincestthathavebeen laid against them. Bothhadverydifferent characters,however, and responded indifferentways to the chargeslaid against them. Judith of

France appears to haveactively rejected her lot andsought personal happinessover the preservation of herreputation. Aelfgifu, on theother hand, lost both. Bothqueens were attacked withclaims of sexual improprietyand this was always apowerfulway of nullifying apolitical queen. Despite theirdenouncement however,JudithofFranceandAelfgifu

insomewaysenduredamildfate. Other Anglo-Saxonqueens are remembered foreven more villainous crimessuchasmurderandadultery.

Adultery&MurderintheAnglo-Saxon

Eadburh,Aelfthryth&

EdithGodwine

The poor reputations ofJudithofFranceandAelfgifuof theHouseofWessexpaleinto insignificance whencompared to those of certainother Anglo-Saxon queens.Even in the Anglo-Saxonperiod, some queens werevery prominent politicalfigures and in a male-

dominated society this wasseen as unacceptable. In anage when political murderand other unsavoury aspectsof political life werecommon, men often escapedcriticism in the sourcesprovided that they remainedon friendly terms with theChurch and, thus, thechroniclers.The samecannotbe said for female politicalfigures. Eadburh, Aelfthryth

and Edith Godwine wereheavily criticised for theirpolitical activities in theirownlifetimesandafterwards.They are remembered asmurderesses and, in the caseof Eadburh and Aelfthryth,also adulteresses, although,after1,000years, thetruthofthese claims is difficult toverify. What is certainhowever is that it is thequeens Eadburh, Aelfthryth

and Edith Godwine who areperceivedasatfault,whereastheir male accomplicesreceive only minor criticism,ifanyatall.

Eadburh was a very earlyqueen and little evidencesurvives relating to her life.The surviving informationprovided the stereotype of asinful queen and her storywasusedasacautionary tale

for later queens, such asJudith of France. Accordingto several sources Eadburh’slifenearlybrought thewholeoffice of queen to extinction.Her life, which apparentlyincluded both murder anddubious sexual morality,became a model for exactlyhowanearlymedievalqueenwasexpectednottobehave.Eadburh was the daughter

of the famous King Offa of

Mercia, a man who couldclaim dominance over mostof what would later becomeEngland.1Althoughnodetailssurvive of Eadburh’s earlylife, she would have beenawarefromherinfancyofherfather’s power and accordingto some sources, she washeavilyinfluencedbynotionsof her father’s eminence.Simeon of Durham, forexample, claimed that when

Eadburh ‘was raised to somany honours, she becameinflated with marvellouspride,andbegantoliveinherfather’s tyrannical manner’.2Eadburh clearly saw herfatherassomethingofaheroand she may have seen hermarriage, in 789, toBeorhtric,KingofWessex,assomewhatbeneathherexaltedstation.3 Although she iscriticisedforthisattitude,itis

perhaps not surprising thatshewas not entirely satisfiedwith a socially sub-statusmarriage.BeorhtrichadbecomeKing

of Wessex in 786 andsecuring his overlord’sdaughter in marriage wouldhave been something of acoupforhim.Eadburhherselfhad probably been wellschooled by her father inensuring that Beorhtric

remained an ally of theMercian king. She wouldhavebeenwellawarethatthiswas the primary purpose ofthe match from her father’spoint of view. She certainlyappearstohavehadinfluencein shaping Wessex politicalpolicy. According to theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, forexample, ‘Offa king ofMercia, and Beorhtric, kingofWessex,puthim[Ecgbert,

a claimant to the crown ofWessex] to flight from thelandoftheEnglishtothelandof theFranksfor threeyears;and Beorhtric helped Offabecause he had his daughteras his queen’.4 Eadburhwouldhavebeenpleasedwiththeclosealliancebetweenherfather and husband and,perhapsflushedwithsuccess,she also extended herpolitical interests to matters

concerningBeorhtric’scourt.Eadburh appears to have

quicklygainedinfluenceoverher husband and she becameawell-known figureat court.AccordingtoAsser:

Assoonasshehadwontheking’sfriendship, and power throughoutalmost the entire kingdom, shebegan tobehave likea tyrantafterthemannerofherfather–toloatheevery man whom Beorhtric liked,todoallthingshatefultoGodand

men, to denounce all thosewhomshecouldbeforetheking,andthusby trickery to deprive them ofeither life or power; and if shecouldnotachievethatendwiththeking’scompliance,shekilledthemwithpoison.Thisisknowntohavehappened with a certain youngman very dear to the king; whomshe poisoned when she could notdenounce him before the king.King Beorhtric himself is said tohave taken some of that poisonunawares.Shehadintendedtogiveitnottohim,buttotheyoungman;but theking took it first, andboth

ofthemdiedasaresult.5

According to all versions ofthis story, Eadburh was notabove using underhandmethods to get what shewanted politically, althoughthe death of her husbandappears to have beenaccidental. It is impossiblenowtoknowthetruthbehindthis episode, if indeed ithappened at all, but it is

interesting to note thatBeorhtric’s death alsoheralded in anewdynasty inWessexwiththeaccessionofEcgbert, the man thatEadburh’s own father hadhelped to exile. Ecgbert wasnot closely related toBeorhtric and his accessiondid not follow the normalrules of succession. IfBeorhtric was murdered atall, therefore, it would seem

more likely thathismurdererwasEcgbert,whowouldgainadvantage from the death,rather than Eadburh, whocould only suffer as a result.Eadburh, as a prominent andpolitical queen who hadalready attracted criticism asapowerfulwoman,wasmorelikely to have been aconvenient scapegoat than amurderess in the death ofBeorhtric. It is as amurderer

however that shewill alwaysberemembered.According to the story,

Eadburh recognisedBeorhtric’sdeathasasteptoofar and, gathering up all thetreasurethatshecouldlayherhandson,fledto thecourtofCharlemagne in France.6Eadburh’s personal charmsattracted the king and, soonafter her arrival, hesummonedhertoanaudience

before himself and his son.Charlemagne offeredEadburh the choice ofmarriage to either himself orhis son. Eadburh consideredthis choice for some timebeforereplying,‘ifthechoiceis left to me, I choose yourson, as he is younger thanyou’.7 The choice wasobviouslynotlefttoEadburh,however, and Charlemagne,offended by her answer, sent

hertoruleasabbessatoneofhis nunneries. Ignoring hervows as a nun however, sheembarkedonanaffairwithanEnglishman and was caughttogether with this man in acompromising situation.8Uponthisrevelation,Eadburhwas expelled from hernunnery and spend her lastyears begging for her foodand wandering aroundEurope.

Eadburh is portrayed inthis story as a foolish andvain woman even after herflight from Wessex. Clearlythiswasanattempt toutterlydestroy her reputation andshowherasawomanwillingto commit murder and othersins.Theaccountisclearlyanattack on Eadburh’s integritysince events are unlikely tohave occurred in the waydescribed. Eadburh was told

that she had a choice for hersecond husband and shecannot be blamed forchoosing the man shepreferred rather than bowingto flattery by selecting thefather.Shewasthenforcedtolive a nun’s life against herwill and, again, with novocation and little likelihoodof any future it isunderstandable that she tooka lover to try and find some

happiness. However thechurchmen who wrote thechronicles did blame her andwhatever the truth ofEadburh’s activities it is thechronicles that survive todestroy her reputation.Eadburh’s reputation wasapparently the reason behindattempts by the kings ofWessex to limit thepowerofqueens, furthermore toeradicatetheoffice.9Eadburh

was not the only Anglo-Saxonqueentobeimplicatedin a political murder,however.EdithGodwine, thelast effective Anglo-Saxonqueen,wasrumouredtohaveimitated her predecessorwhenseeking todisposeofarivalatcourt.

Edith Godwine was thedaughter of the famous andpowerful Earl Godwine of

Wessex. Following her birthinthe1020sor1030sshewasraisedforagrandmarriage.10Edith was given a goodeducation at the nunnery atWilton and her father mayalways have had royalambitions for her. Theseambitionscame to fruition in1045 when Godwine, as theking’s most powerfulcouncillor, was able topersuade the new king,

Edward the Confessor, tomarry his daughter.11 Edithherself probably shared herfamily’s ambitions andWilliamofMalmesburygivesa somewhat ambiguouspictureofheras:

A woman whose bosom was theschool of every liberal art, thoughlittle skilled in earthlymatters: onseeing her, if youwere amazed athererudition,youmustadmirealsothe purity of her mind, and the

beauty of her person. Both in herhusband’slifetime,andafterwards,she was not entirely free fromsuspicion of dishonour; but whendying,inthetimeofKingWilliam,she voluntarily satisfied thebystanders as to her unimpairedchastitybyanoath.12

Edith was an effectivepropagandist andwasable tomakethebestofanysituationin which she found herself,including claiming that her

childlessnesswas due, not toany incapacity on her part,but her own and herhusband’s sanctity andchastity. Even thosechroniclers who believedEdith’s claims that themarriage was notconsummated, however, didnotalwaysbelieveherclaimsthat thiswasdue toholiness.William of Malmesbury, forone, implied thatEdward the

Confessorconsideredhiswifefoisteduponhimandrefusedto consummate the marriagedue to a dislike of herfamily.13 Certainly, EdwardandEdith’smarriagedoesnotappear to have been entirelyhappy and, in 1052, whenEdward was finally secureenough to send herdomineering family intoexile, he also repudiated hismarriage to Edith, sending

her on foot with only oneattendant to the nunnery atWherwell, presumablyhopingthatshewouldremainthere.14Withthereturnofherfamily in 1053, however,Edith was also restored andremained in an unassailablepositionasqueen for the restofEdward’slife.15Edith herself

commissioned a book in herwidowhood in order to

present her point of view totheworldandtheLifeofKingEdward who Rests atWestminster thereforepresents Edith’s ownpropaganda message. In thiswork, Edith claimed that,following her restoration tothe position of queen, she‘wasinalltheroyalcounsels,aswemightsay,agovernessandthefountofallgoodness,stronglypreferring theking’s

interests to power andriches’.16 This is the imagethat Edith wanted to presentto the world but Edwardhimself certainly does notseemtohavethoughtthatsheacted only in his bestinterests. Edith was alsointimatelyassociatedwiththeinterestsofherownfavouritebrother,Tostig,anditwasonhis behalf that she becameembroiled in the political

murder that mars herreputation.Edith appears to have

favoured Tostig over all herotherbrothersanditwasbothshe, and her eldest survivingbrother, Harold, who wereable to persuade Edward toappoint Tostig Earl ofNorthumberland soon afterher restoration to power.17However Edith’s actions onbehalf of Tostig did not end

there and according toSimeon of Durham, atChristmas 1064, a certainGospatric was ‘treacherouslyordered to be slain’ by‘QueenEgithaforthesakeofher brother Tosti’.18 Fewdetails survive for thismurder, butEdith andTostigwere both plainly heldresponsible. Gospatric was aNorthumbrian thegn and it isprobable that he was in a

position to incite unrest inTostig’s earldom ofNorthumbria. Certainly,Tostig appears to have beenregarded as something of aninterloper in Northumbria; itispossiblethatGospatricwasviewed as the local claimantand,thus,adangerousrivaltoTostig.Edith was fond of her

brotherTostigand,ifshewasindeed involved, she may

have carried out the murdersolely to safeguard hisposition. However, it is alsopossible that Edith mighthave had her own reasonsbehindher actions.Gospatricwas probably the son of thepowerful Earl Uhtred andUhtred’s wife, KingEdward’s sister.19 As anephewof thechildlessKingEdward, Gospatric may wellhave been regarded as the

heir to the throne and this issomething that Edith couldnot have countenanced.Although Edith herself waschildless, she gathered asmany of the children withroyal blood at court that shecould and raised them underher own tutelage. Sheprobablyhopedthiswaytobeabletoinfluenceafuturekingand the appearance of aclaimantwithwhom she had

noconnectionwouldnothavebeenpleasantforher.IfEdithwas involved in the murdershe probably hoped thatGospatric’smurderwouldnotbewidelypublicisedandthathis death would safeguardboth her favourite brother’spositionandherown.If this iswhatEdithhoped

for,shewastobeprovedverywrong.Rather thanpacifyingthe north, Gospatric’s death

stirred the Northumbriansinto rebellion against Tostigin1065.20Edithwasprobablyinfuriatedby thenewsof therebellion and she may havepetitioned her eldest brother,Harold, to support Tostig.Harold, however, apparentlyrealising that Tostig’sposition in Northumbria wasunsustainable, refused tosupport his brother, to thechagrin of both Edith and

Tostig.21Atcourt,Edithmusthave listened to news of therebellion with increasinganger but she would havebeen powerless to act. ShemusthavebeendeeplyangrywithherbrotherHaroldwhenTostig was forced into exilein Flanders and she may nothave supported Harold whenhe succeeded her husband,EdwardtheConfessor,onhisdeath in 1066. Certainly, she

came to terms quickly withWilliam the Conqueror afterthe Battle of Hastings andEdithmanaged to sustainherposition as queen dowagerand live in some style untilherdeathin1075.22Edith Godwine was

implicated in the politicalmurderofarivaland,inspiteof her attempts to portrayherself inapositiveway,sheretained a slightly unsavoury

reputationuntiltheendofherlife.Whether or not shewasinvolved in the murder isimpossiblenowtosayand,itis possible that attempts toplace the blame on her werepart of a wider campaignagainstherunpopular family.Ifshewasinvolvedhowever,it is interesting that theblames falls squarely on herrather than the equally guiltyTostig. Rumours of

misconducttendtostickmorefirmly to any queen or otherwomaninvolvedthantheydotomen. Thanks partly to herown propaganda efforts, andalso to the Normans’ effortsto honour the widow ofEdward the Confessor, EdithnevergainedthereputationofEadburh and the murder ofGospatric remains somethingofafootnotetoherlife.EdithGodwine certainly had a

dubious reputation, but thatreputation was nothingcomparedtothereputationofher own husband’sgrandmother, QueenAelfthryth.

Aelfthryth isoneof themostnotorious of any queen ofEngland and this centresmainly on the murder of herstepson, King Edward theMartyr.Edward’smurderwas

not the only one in whichAelfthryth’s name wasimplicated however, andthroughout her lifetimesources claim that she wasinvolved in a number ofmurders designed to furtherher ambition. The storiessurrounding her rival eventhose of Eadburh in theirwickedness.Aelfthryth was the

daughterofapowerfulthegn,

Ordgar, who later becameearldorman of Devon.23 Sheappears to have beenambitious from an early ageand a grand marriage wasarranged for her toAethelwold, the son and heirofthefamousAthelstanHalf-King, ruler of much ofeastern England. The firstmurder in which Aelfthrythwas implicated was that ofher first husband. A number

of sources suggest thatAelfthryth quickly becamedisaffectedwith her life as anobleman’s wife. Accordingto William of Malmesbury,Aelfthryth and her parentswere tricked into sanctioningthematchwithAethelwold:

The king had commissioned[Aethelwold] to visit Elfrida[Aelfthryth], daughter of Ordgar,duke of Devonshire, (whosecharms had so fascinated the eyes

of some persons that theycommended her to the king,) andtoofferhermarriage ifherbeautywere really equal to report.Hastening on his embassy, andfinding every thing consonant tothe general estimation, heconcealed his mission from herparents, and procured the damselforhimself.Returning to theking,he told a tale whichmade for hisownpurpose,thatshewasagirlofvulgar and common-placeappearance, and by no meansworthy of such transcendent

dignity.24

Aethelwold must have beenrelieved that the kingappearedtohaveacceptedhisstory and he and Aelfthrythsettleddowntogether.Whilstshe was pregnant with herfirst child, however,Aelfthryth apparently learnedthe truth of the story behindher marriage from herhusband’s own mouth.25 For

an ambitious woman likeAelfthryth, this news musthave been devastating andsheapparentlyceasedtoloveher husband from that point.Edgar had also becomesuspicious of Aethelwold asreportsofAelfthryth’sbeautyhad continued to reach himandheresolvedtovisither,tosee the truth for himself.Newsof theroyalvisit threwAethelwoldinapanicandhe

beggedAelfthrythtodisguiseher beauty in her ugliestclothes.26 Aelfthryth,however,apparentlydeceivedher husband and appearedbefore the king in her finestgarments. Aelfthryth andEdgarquickly fell in love, inspite of the fact that bothweremarried. The pair cameto an understanding tomarryand,soonafter theirmeeting,Aethelwold was invited on a

hunting expedition byEdgar.27 William ofMalmesbury narrates howEdgar whilst out hunting ranAethelwold through with ajavelin.28 Soon afterwards,Edgar divorced his wife andthe couple were able tomarry.The stories surrounding

Aelfthryth’s first marriageand her husband’s deathportray Aelfthryth as a

dishonest, adulterous andmurderous woman and oneentirely unsuited to theposition of queen. However,as with so many storiesconcerning medieval queens,there ismore to theevidencethanmeetstheeye.ThestoryofAelfthryth’s firstmarriageis recorded by William ofMalmesbury and Gaimar,both of whom were writingseveral centuries after

Aelfthryth died and thereforeunlikely to have had firsthandevidenceofherconduct.It is therefore debatable thatevents actually happened inthat way at all and it seemsmore likely that stories ofAelfthryth were coloured bythe later murder of Edwardthe Martyr. Also, even ifthese stories can be acceptedas true, which seemsdoubtful, Aelfthryth cannot

be entirely blamed forAethelwold’s murder. Heapparently tricked her intomarriage, something forwhich she had a right to begrieved.Aelfthrythisalsonotnamed as the murderer ineither account although shereceivestheblameforit.Thetrue murderer is Edgar, whoescapesallblameandcensureintheaccounts.Edgar,unlikeAelfthryth, enjoys a good

reputation despite his allegedinvolvementinthemurderofAelfthryth’sfirsthusbandandtherebellionwhichledhimtotake the throne from hisbrother Eadwig. The majordifference between him andAelfthryth is that, as a man,he was expected by hiscontemporaries and thosefollowing to be politicallyactive and to sometimes actwith dubious morality to

furtherhispolitical ambition.Aelfthryth, as a woman, wasnot.Aethelwold’s murder was

not theonly accusation tobemade against Aelfthryth.Chroniclers recorded anumber of stories in anattempt to prove herwickedness. Aelfthryth hadapparently not been faithfulto her first husband,beginning an affair with the

king during Aethelwold’slifetime, and, according to anumber of sources, she wasalso not faithful to Edgar.Onestoryinparticularclaimsto testify both to herreputationasamurderessandan adulteress, found in theHistoriaEliensis:

It happened at a certain time,therefore, that the holy AbbotByrhtnoth set out for the king’scourt on church business; as he

was journeying on this side of“Geldedune” through the woodcalledtheNewForest,asitissaid,hesoughtsomemoresecludedspottosatisfytheneedsofnature;ashewas a modest man and of greatintegrityhetookcaretolookroundon every side. By chance under acertaintreehesurprisedthequeen,Aelfthryth, engaged in thepreparation of magic potions (for,transformed, by her caprice andmagic art into an equine animal,shewishedtoappearasahorseandnot as a woman to onlookers, sothat she might satisfy the

unrestrainable excess of herburning lust, running and leapinghither and thither with horses andshowing herself shamelessly tothem,regardlessofthefearofGodandthehonouroftheroyaldignity,she thus contemptibly broughtreproachuponherfame).29

This account suggests thateven a king as notoriouslylicentiousasEdgarcouldnotsatisfy Aelfthryth’s lust and,although it is likely to have

been considerablyembellished, showssomething of the unsavouryreputation had byAelfthryth.The story continues to relatehow Aelfthryth’s wickednessdid not end there and, uponher return to court, sheattempted to seduce theAbbot in order to ensure hissilence.30 When the Abbotrefused,Aelfthryth,desperatenottobeunmaskedasawitch

andanadulteress,summonedher ladies and, together theyheated up sword thongs onthe fire and murdered theAbbot by inserting them intohis bowels.31 This was aparticularly horrible deathand, interestingly, one that alater queen of England, andAelfthryth’s own descendant,would be accused ofinflicting on her husband.This story is clearly an

invention of the writer.However it does demonstrateAelfthryth’s notoriety andtherewasa thirdmurder thatshe was almost certainlycomplicitin.Although rumours of

adultery and the murders ofAethelwoldand theAbbotofElyhavedoggedAelfthryth’sreputation for over 1,000years, it is themurder of herstepson, Edward the Martyr,

with which she is mostfamously associated. Edgarhad been married twicebefore his marriage toAelfthryth and his firstmarriagehadproducedason,Edward.32 Aelfthryth,however, had ambitions forher own sons by Edgar,Edmund and Aethelred, andthere is some evidence thatshe was able to persuadeEdgar to make Edmund his

heirovertheolderEdward.33However any tacit agreementtomakeAelfthryth’ssonheirto the throne died withEdmund in 970 and there isno indication that the muchyounger Aethelred was eversimilarly designated.34Aelfthryth was probably notunduly concerned at Edgar’sfailure tonominateAethelredashisheir.In971,Edgarwasonly in his late twenties and

she must have reasoned thatthere was plenty of time forAethelredtogrowup.If this was Aelfthryth’s

plan,itwastobethrownintodisarray in 975 with thesudden death of Edgar.35Neither of Edgar’s survivingsons were adults butAethelred, who was onlyaboutsevenyearsold,wasata distinct disadvantage.Nonetheless, Aelfthryth and

her allies appear to havemade a credible case for thesuccession of Aethelred, asthe legitimate son of Edgar,over that of his half-brother,who was born of a moredubious marriage. Accordingto theLife of St Oswald, thewhole country was throwninto confusion by Edgar’sdeath and there was a greatdeal of debate over whowouldsucceedhim:36

Certain of the chief men of thisland wished to elect as king theking’selderson,Edwardbyname;some of the nobles wanted theyounger; because he appeared toall gentler in speech and deeds.The elder, in fact, inspired in allnot only fear but even terror, for[he scourged them] not only withwords but truly with dire blows,and especially his own mendwellingwithhim.37

Even in his early teens,Edward apparently had an

unsavouryreputationandthismay have increased supportfor Aethelred. Dunstan, whohad been made Edgar’sArchbishop of Canterburyearly in his reign, proved tobe as opposed to Aelfthrythas queen as he had been toAelfgifu of the House ofWessex and, as England’sleading churchman, he wasable to insist upon Edward’saccession in preference to

thatofAethelred.Thiswouldhave been a great blow forAelfthrythandhersupportersanditmusthavebeendoublyhardforAelfthryththatitwasherenemy,Dunstan,whowasable to ensure that her sonwasnotproclaimedking.Sheclearly did not abandonAethelred’s cause, however,andover thenext threeyearsboth Aelfthryth and hersupporters continued to

scheme for Aethelred’saccessiontothethrone.Aelfthryth apparently saw

her chance to act againstEdward in 978 when hedecided to pay a visit to herandAethelredatherhouseatCorfe. Accounts differ as toexactly what happened buteven the earliest detailedaccount places themurder atAelfthryth’s home andblames the men of her

household for it.38 Lateraccounts, such asWilliam ofMalmesbury, lay the blamefor plotting the murder withAelfthryth, and some evenplaceAelfthrythasoneoftheking’s assailants. AccordingtoWilliamofMalmesbury:

The woman, however, with astepmother’s hatred, began tomediate a subtle strategem, inorderthatnoteventhetitleofkingmightbewantingtoherchild,and

to lay a treacherous snare for herson-in-law, which sheaccomplished in the followingmanner. He was returning home,tired with the chase, and gaspingwiththirstfromtheexercise,whilehiscompanionswerefollowingthedogs in different directions as ithappened, when hearing that theydwelt in a neighbouring mansion,the youth proceeded thither at fullspeed, unattended andunsuspecting, as he judged ofothersbyhisownfeelings.Onhisarrival, alluring him to her withfemale blandishments, she made

him fix his attention uponherself,andaftersalutinghimwhilehewaseagerly drinking from the cupwhich had been presented, thedaggerofanattendantpiercedhimthrough.Dreadfullywounded,withall his remaining strength hespurred his horse in order to joinhis companions; when one footslipping he was dragged by theother through the winding paths,while the steaming blood gaveevidence of his death to hisfollowers.39

Aelfthryth may not actuallyhave gone out to meet thekingorplungedthedaggerinherself,but shewascertainlynearby at the time of themurder and it isinconceivable that herfollowers would have actedon anything other than herorders.Aelfthryth,alongwiththeyoungAethelred,alsohadthe most to gain from themurder and so she is an

obvious suspect. She appearsto have considered heractions to be natural for anambitious mother and it hasbeen claimed that she beatAethelred with a candlestickon seeing himmourn for thebrother who had blocked hispath to the throne.40 Thememory of this beatingapparently stayed withAethelred for the rest of hislife, giving him a terror of

candlelight.Lateraccountsofthe murder are certainlyembellished to giveAelfthryth a more prominentand crueller role but there islittledoubtthatshewasinthevicinity and aware of whatwastohappen.By helping to plot the

murderofEdwardtheMartyr,Aelfthrythwasabletosecureher greatest desire andAethelred was quickly

accepted as king andcrowned. She probablyignoredDunstan’spropheciesof disaster at the coronationas the mutterings of a badloser and shemaywell havealso ignored the strangeclouds seen after thecoronation that were held toauger doom for Aethelred’sreign.41 However, Aelfthrythmay have quickly come toregretheractionsonbehalfof

herchildandperhapsshesawthe reappearance of theVikingsa fewyearsafter themurder as a judgement onboth her and her son.According to a number ofreports, Aelfthryth becameincreasinglypenitentbothforthe murder of Edward andthat of Aethelwold and sheapparentlyfoundedanunneryat Wherwell, the site of herfirst husband’s death.42

Legend states thatAelfthrythalsoretiredtothatnunneryinanattempttowinforgivenessfor her crimes and, whilstthere, wore hair-cloth andslept on the ground in herpenance.43 This is certainlyan exaggeration andAelfthryth remained animportantfigureatcourtuntilalmost the end of her life.However her last yearscannot have been easy and

she would have watchedAethelred’s increasingtroubles with concern.Perhaps she came to regrether ambition in the yearsbefore her death in either1000or1001.Aelfthryth was an

extremely ambitious womanandsheappears tohavebeendetermined to get what shewanted, even if this requiredadulteryormurder.Hername

will forever be associatedwith the death of her youngstepson, Edward the Martyr,and she has remainednotorious up to the presentday. Aelfthryth was almostcertainly involved in thismurder and she may alsohave been complicit in themurder of her first husband.However,manyofthedetailsof her life have beenembellishedovertimeandthe

figure presented in thesources is an almostgrotesque caricature of awicked queen almostcertainly very far removedfrom the real woman.Aelfthryth was an ambitiouspoliticalwomanandherownhusband,Edgar,hadcertainlycommitted murder andadultery despite beingremembered as one ofEngland’s best kings.

Aelfthryth as a woman,however, received norehabilitation from the malechroniclers of her own timeand laterandshewillalwaysbe rememberedasoneof theworst queens England everhad, regardless of the truefactsofherlife.

Eadburh,EdithGodwine andAelfthryth are allremembered for their

unsavoury reputations,although it is the lives ofEadburh and Aelfthryth thatarepresentedastrulycorrupt.All three of the women aredescribed as ambitious and,because of this, they wererumouredtohavetakenstepsthat were unacceptable forwomen. Eadburh andAelfthryth survive almost asstereotypes and it is difficultto separate the fact from the

fiction. Two later Anglo-Saxon queens, in particular,would have noted the effectthat a bad reputation couldhave on a queen’s positionalong with that of herchildren:EmmaofNormandyandAelfgifuofNorthamptonof the eleventh century usedpropagandaintheirbattlesfordominance after the death oftheir shared husband, KingCnut. Both these women are

remembered as notoriousqueens, though in a verydifferent way to thestereotyped Eadburh,Aelfthryth and EdithGodwine.

FemalePowerStruggles

EmmaofNormandy&AelfgifuofNorthampton

ManyAnglo-Saxonkingscanbe described as serialmonogamists. Kings such asEdward the Elder, Edmund Iand Edgar enjoyed asuccession of wives,discarding them withapparent ease. Few Anglo-Saxonkingscanbesaidtobepolygamous however andmost at least divorced theirwife before taking another.KingCnut is an exception to

this rule. Rather thandivorcing his first wife tomarry his second, he simplymaintained both queens,allowing them separatespheres of influence in hisempire. This was a positiondeeply resented by the twowomen and for over twentyyears, Emma of Normandyand her rival Aelfgifu ofNorthampton were locked ina power struggle with each

other that made them bothnotorious in England. Bothsoughttomaketheirownsontheheir of their husbandandbothwent toextreme lengthsin doing so. Although theyare blamed for this and theirbad reputations are partly oftheir ownmaking it must besaid that Cnut himselfpropagated the situationwithhis conduct. As women theyalso received harsher

criticism than their sons,which is clearly a biasedresult,consideringthat itwasthe sons who were the truerivalsforthecrown.

Emma of Normandy wasdestinedforagreatmarriage.AsthedaughterofRichardI,Duke of Normandy, shewould have known that herfate lay in an arrangedmarriage, although itwas the

Viking raids that determinedwho her husband would be.The Dukes of Normandywere of Danish descent andEmma’s own mother,Gunnor, was Danish.Normandy therefore appearsto have been seen as a safe-haven for the Viking raidersand it is likely that Emma’ssympathies lay with them.Her father certainly appearsto have favoured the Danes

and this brought him intoconflict with the King ofEngland, Aethelred. In 991the Pope brokered a peacebetween the two rulers inwhich each agreed not toharbour theothers’enemies.1This truce appears to havehad little effect, but it mayhave brought the courts ofEngland and Normandy intoclosercontact.The agreement between

England andNormandy doesnot appear to have beenlasting and, in 1000, theVikings raided Englandbefore travelling toNormandy.2Theraiderswerewelcomed by Emma’sbrother, Richard II, andAethelred apparently decidedthat a more lastingrelationship with Normandywas required. The oldestEmmacouldhavebeenatthis

time is mid-teens and she isunlikely to have had any sayin the negotiations for hermarriage to Aethelred. Shemust have been daunted bythe news that she was tomarry a forty year-oldwidower with a large familyof his own. However,England was larger andwealthierthanNormandyandit is possible thatEmmaalsorelishedtheriseinstatus that

marriage to Aethelred wouldbring. Certainly, there is norecord that she objected and,in early spring 1002, Emmacrossed thechannelandsoonafterwards marriedAethelred.3Emma was crowned as

queensoonafterhermarriageand she was obviouslyaccorded a great deal ofrespect in England, alwaysbeing referred to as ‘the

Lady’ in the Anglo-SaxonChronicle, for example.However, her youth and thelargeagegapbetweenherselfand Aethelred means thatEmma was not expected toplayanypoliticalroleandsheappearsonlyasabackgroundfigure in the last years ofAethelred’sreign.Duringhermarriage she bore Aethelredonly three children and thissuggeststhat thecouplewere

rarely together. Emma mayalso have been viewed withsuspicion in an Englanddamaged by years of Vikingraids and, certainly, sheseems to have continued toassociatewiththeDanes.TheAnglo-SaxonChronicle entryfor 1003, for example,records that ‘hereExeterwasdestroyed because of thebusiness of a French churlcalledHugh,whom theLady

had set up as reeve; and theraiding army completely didfor the town’.4 WhetherEmma was involved inHugh’s treachery or not heralienation was apparentlyuppermost in English mindsduringherfirstmarriage.England had been plagued

by Viking attacks since the980s and Aethelred wasunable tocontendwith them,earninghimselfthenickname

‘the Unready’. He may,however, have consoledhimselfwith the thought thattheVikingsofthe980s,990sand early eleventh centurycame only for plunder,leavingforthecontinentoncetheyhadwreakedtheirhavoc.However, in 1013, the tenorof the Viking attackssuddenly changed with thearrival of a Viking fleet atGainsborough led by Swein,

King of Denmark, and hisson, Cnut.5 Swein had beenraidinginEnglandforseveralyears but, in 1013, he camelookingforconquest,perhapsseeingtheweakenedkingdomasaneasytarget.Hecertainlyappears to have conqueredthe kingdom with ease and,soonafterhisarrival,muchofnorthern England submittedto him, abandoning theirloyalty to Aethelred.6

Gratified at the ease of hisconquest, Swein left his sontoguardhisshipsandmovedsouth.By the time of Swein’s

invasion, Emma had beenAethelred’s wife for over adecadeandwasthemotherofhischildren.Whatever innatesympathies she had had forthe Vikings were probablylonggoneandshemusthavefeared for the fate of her

children. Aethelred was alsoanxious for the safety of hisyoungerchildrenandhiswifeand,latein1013,bothEmmaand her children fled toNormandy to seek sanctuaryat the court of her brother.7Emma may have beenpleasedtoseeherhomeagainbut also acutely awareof thedifficultpositioninwhichshefound herself. This wouldhave been compounded

when, only weeks after shearrived, she was joined byAethelred himself.8Aethelred’s presence as adeposed king cannot havebeen welcome to eitherEmma or her brother andEmmamayhavefeltconcernfor the future of her sons,EdwardandAlfred.In Aethelred’s absence,

Swein was accepted as kingthroughout England.

However, on 2 February1014, he died suddenly,leaving his teenaged son,Cnut,ashisheirinEngland.9According to William ofMalmesbury, the Danes inEngland immediatelyattempted to declare Cnutking.10TheEnglish,however,decidedtosendforAethelred,‘declaring that their naturalsovereignwasdearertothem,if he could conduct himself

more likeaking thanhehadhitherto done’.11 Emma mayhave been sceptical, alongwithmuchofEngland,aboutAethelred’s ability in thisrespect but she returned toEnglandalongwiththerestofher English family, leavingNormandyforthelasttimeinherlife.Aethelred quickly provedhimself unequal to the taskbeforehimand,inthefaceof

both rebellion by his eldestson,Edmund,andaninvasionby Cnut, he died quietly inLondon on 23 April 1016.12Emma,whowasinLondonatthetime,wasprobablybyhisside.Aethelred’s death left

Emma in a difficult position.For much of her marriage,Emma had probably hopedthat her own son, Edward,would be chosen to succeed

hisfatherinpreferencetohisolder half-brothers. She mayhave been the source of arumour that his father hadnamedhimasheir.Accordingtoonesource:

When the royal wife of old KingAethelred was pregnant in herwomb, all themen of the countrytook an oath that if a man childshould come forth as the fruit ofher labour, they would await inhimtheirlordandkingwhowould

rule over the whole race of theEnglish.13

Emmalaterprovedherself tobe a proficient propagandistanditispossiblethatshetooksteps to ensure that thesuccession to the throne fellto her own son, as hermother-in-law, QueenAelfthryth, had done earlier.If this had been Emma’shope, however, she would

have realised in 1016 thatneither of her sonswere in aposition to claim the crown.SoonafterAethelred’sdeath,Emma’schildrenwere taken,once again, to her family inNormandy, although Emma,perhapsunwillingtoreturntoNormandy as a pennilessexile, remained behind inEngland,placingherhopesinherstepson,Edmund.Soon after Aethelred’s

death, the royal council inLondon elected Edmund asking.14 Emma, seeing littleother hope, probably agreedwith this election althoughshe must have beenuncomfortably aware thatEdmund, as a mature man,already had both a wife andsonsofhisown.Healsodoesnot appear to have beeninclined to protect hisstepmother personally, and

left London soon after hiselection in order to raise anarmy. Cnut quickly besiegedLondonandEmmamusthavefelt let down by Edmund onhearing, in the autumn, thatEdmundandCnuthadagreedto divide the kingdombetween them, leavingLondoninthehandsofCnut.When news of this divisionreached London, the citizensbought peace with the new

king, finally lifting thesiege.15Emma’swhereaboutsin thewinterof1016arenotrecorded but she waspresumably quickly takeninto Cnut’s custody. Emmaprobably lost all hope whenwordarrived soonafterwardsthat Edmund had died,leaving Cnut as sole ruler ofEngland.Emma of Normandy was

anexcellentpropagandistand

provided her own version ofthe year followingAethelred’s death.Accordingto an account commissionedby her, after Cnut had wonthecrownhe‘lackednothingexcept a most noble wife;such a one he ordered to besoughteverywhereforhim,inorder to obtain her handlawfully, when she wasfound, and to make her thepartner of his rule,when she

was won’.16 According toEmma’s Encomium, Cnutsearched across Europe tofind such a bride and foundherinagreatqueenwhowaslivinginNormandy.17Hedidnot,inreality,havetolooksofar afield and, in a moreaccurate account, the Anglo-SaxonChronicle records that‘before 1 August [1017] thekingorderedthewidowoftheformer king Aethelred,

Richard’s daughter, to befetched to him as queen’.18Emma, as Cnut’s prisoner,probablyhadverylittlesayinhermarriagetoCnutanditislikely that she would haveseen it as the best offer thatshewas likely toget.As sheherselflaterclaimed,itisjustpossible that she alsoobtained a promise from theking that a son of theirmarriage could succeed in

precedencetohissonsbyanyother wife.19 This wouldcertainly have been anecessary provision forEmma as she cannot havefailed to know, in 1017, thatCnutwasalreadymarried.When Cnut had been left

behind at Gainsborough in1013 to guard his father’sships he did not concernhimself only with militarypreparations.Itislikelythatit

wasduringthisperiodthathefirst met Aelfgifu ofNorthampton, a youngnoblewoman from aprominentMidlandsfamily.20Aelfgifu belonged to thefamily from whichAethelred’s son Edmund hadtaken hiswife and it is clearthat there were politicalconsiderations in both kingsdrawing theirwives from thefamily.However,Cnut’slater

conduct towards Aelfgifusuggests that there was astrong personal attachmentbetween them and Aelfgifubore Cnut two sons in quicksuccession. Aelfgifu isreported to have been themistress of the NorwegianKing Olaf before hermarriage to Cnut and it islikely that her sympathieswere wholly Scandinavian.21Her own father, Ealdorman

Aelfhelm,hadbeenmurderedonAethelred’sordersandshewould have had no love foreither theEnglishkingorhisNormanwife.Aelfgifu’s whereabouts in

1016arenotrecordedandshemay have remained on herfamily’s estates in theMidlands with her children.She must have been jubilantwhen word reached her ofCnut’s victory over Edmund

and it is possible that shewaitedtobecalledtoLondonto take up her position asCnut’s queen. If thiswas thecase, she was to bedisappointed and must havebeen horrified to hear thenews that her husband hadmarriedEmma.Aelfgifumusthave feared repudiation byCnutand relegation to life ina nunnery, the fate of earlierabandoned queens. Aelfgifu,

however,seemstohavehadapersonal hold over Cnut thatEmma could never have.Although her marriage hadgiven Cnut some politicaladvantage in England, therewas probably an additionalpersonal element in hischoice of her. ConverselyCnut’s marriage to Emmawaswhollypolitical.Throughhis marriage to the Englishqueen he was probably

hoping both to presenthimself as an English kingand to neutralise any supportthat Emma’s Norman familymightgivetohersons.Itwascommon practice forconquering kings to marryinto an existing royal familyand Cnut’s own father,Swein, had married theQueen of Sweden afterdeposing her son.22Throughout her marriage to

Cnut,EmmawaspresentedasanEnglish queen, in spite ofherforeignorigins;hencesheisalwayslistedinsourcesbyherEnglishname,‘Aelfgifu’.Emma was more than a

decade older than Cnut and,inspiteofthepoliticalnatureoftheirmarriage,sheappearsto have quickly gainedinfluence over him. Thisinfluence was probablycemented by the births early

in their marriage of a son,Harthacnut, and a daughter,Gunnhild. Cnut certainlyappears to have treatedHarthacnut as his heir,perhaps obeying his promiseto Emma.23 Emma was alsocrowned with Cnut in 1017andappearstohaveenjoyedahigher status than she haddone in Aethelred’s reign,even early in her secondmarriage.24 It has even been

suggested that she can beseen as Cnut’s co-ruler.25Certainly, attempts weremade to emphasise Emma’spositionasanEnglishqueen,asseenforexampleinaletterfrom 1020 in which theArchbishop of Yorkaddressedthekingandqueenjointly.26Whilstthisimprovementin

her status must have beenpleasing to Emma she must

always have been acutelyaware of Aelfgifu’s positionasarivalinEngland.Shehadprobably expected Cnut toquietly repudiate Aelfgifusoon after theirmarriage anditmusthavecomeasashocktoherwhen thekingshowedno signs of doing so.Aelfgifu’s whereabouts arenot recorded for most ofCnut’sreignbutitispossiblethat she and Emma often

came into contact with eachother. It has been suggestedthat Aelfgifu was given ahousehold at Bosham inSussex and, certainly, it isrecorded that a daughter ofCnut drowned there and wasburied in the local church.27If such a daughter existed,she would have beenAelfgifu’s rather thanEmma’s. For Aelfgifu to belodged at Bosham would

have seemed uncomfortablyclosetoEmma’sownbaseatWinchester, although Cnutmay well have liked to keepboth his wives within easyaccessofhiscourt.However,as the sons of both womengrewup,Cnutalsoappearstohave realised the difficultiesof keeping two rival wivesand, in the late 1020s, heapparently began lookingaround for some way of

makingprovisionforAelfgifuandherchildren.As well as being King of

England and Denmark, CnutwasKingofNorway.In1029his regent in NorwaydrownedwhichleftCnutwithan opportunity to advanceAelfgifu and her children.28In 1030, Cnut named hiseldest son by Aelfgifu,Swein, King of Norway anddispatched the boy to

Norway, along with hismother who was to act asregent.29 This appointmentmust have pleased Aelfgifuand is a measure of Cnut’srespect for his first wife andher abilities. However themove was probably lesspopular with Emma and itmay be significant thataroundthesametimeherson,Harthacnut, was appointedKing of Denmark by his

father.30DenmarkwasCnut’sancestralkingdomratherthanone of his recent conquestsand Emma may have felt asense of satisfaction in thepreferential treatmentaccordedtoherownchild.Aelfgifu seems to have

adopted her role as regent ofNorway with gusto. She andSweinquicklytookcontrolofthe country and set abouttrying to mould it into a

Danish kingdom, as Cnutwould have wanted.According to Saint Olaf’sSaga, the pair promptlyintroduced Danish laws toNorway, such as thatforbidding anyone to leavethe country without theirleave.31 The king and queenalso introduced a number ofnew taxes to Norway,insisting, for example, thateverymanover fiveyearsof

age contribute towardsequippingwarshipsaswellastaxes in food which wererequiredbythenewkingandhismother.32 Although thesenew lawswere introduced inSwein’sname,itwascleartoeveryone that it was hismother who was the realpower in Norway. Eventoday, ‘Aelfgifu’s time’ isremembered as a period ofmisery and repression.33

Aelfgifu was probably onlycarrying out Cnut’scommandsbut in theprocessshemadebothherselfandtheother Danes in Norwaydeeply unpopular, causing awave of Norwegiannationalism to quickly sweepthroughthecountry.This nationalism quickly

took the form of a cult thatbegan togrowuparound thegrave of King Olaf, the last

native Norwegian king.Aelfgifu is reported to havebeen Olaf’s mistress in heryouth and it is possible thatshe knew better than mosthow this king was no saint.However,shealsorecognisedthe dangers of this cult toDanish rule in Norway andapparentlytookstepstotrytodispel it. Saint Olaf’s Saga,which recounts Aelfgifu’sattempts to dispel the cult

aroundOlafistheonlysourcein which this shadowyqueen’s character is fullydeveloped and clearly showsher as something of a cleverand determined woman.Accordingtothesaga, itwasdecided to disinter the bodyofKingOlafinordertoseeifit showed any signs ofsanctity.34Thebodywasdulyfound to be remarkablypreserved and only Aelfgifu

of those assembled seems tohaveshowedanyscepticism:

Then Alfifa [Aelfgifu] said,‘Mightylittledobodiesdecomposewhenburied in sand. Itwould notbethecaseifhehadlaininearth.’Then the bishop took a pair ofshears and cut the king’s hair andtrimmedhiswhiskers.Hehadlongwhiskers as people in those daysusedtohave.Thenthebishopsaidtotheking

andAlfifa, ‘Now the hair and thebeardof thekingareas theywere

whenhedied,but ithadgrownasmuchasyoucanseeherecutoff.’Then Alfifa replied, ‘That hair

wouldseemtomeaholyreliconlyif fire does not burn it. We haveoften seen wholly preserved andundamaged the hair of personswhohavelaininthegroundlongerthanthismanhas.’Thereupon the bishop had fire

put in the censer, blessed it, andput incense on it. Then he laidKingOlaf’s hair into the fire, andwhen all the incense was burned,thebishop took thehairoutof thefire, and it was not burned. The

bishop had the king and the otherchieftains view it. ThereuponAlfifa bade them lay the hair intofirethathadnotbeenblessed.ThenEinar Thambarskelfir bade her besilent and used hard languageagainst her. So then, by thebishop’s pronouncement, theconsent of the king, and thejudgment of all the people, KingOlafwasdeclaredatruesaint.35

Clearly, Aelfgifu was atenacious woman andunwilling to admit that she

had been beaten. Beaten shewas, however and, by 1035,both her and Swein’spositionswere untenable andthepairfledbacktoDenmarkas failures.36 This was,perhaps,theendofAelfgifu’sambitions for her eldest son,Swein, who died soon aftertheirexpulsionfromNorway,leaving her with only onesurviving child, Harold, whowaslivinginEngland.

Swein’s death was not theonly one to rock the royalfamilyin1035andthatsameyear Cnut himself diedsuddenly at Shaftesbury.37Newsof thedeathmusthavecome as a shock to both ofCnut’s wives, although itappears to have been Emma,perhaps present at Cnut’sdeathbed, who acted first.Emma settled in Winchestersoon after the death and

quickly took possession ofCnut’s treasury, presumablyhoping to hold it until herson,Harthacnut, could returnfromDenmark to claim it. Itwas at this point that Emmaannounced that Harthacnuthad been named as Cnut’ssuccessor in England,although this was stronglydisputed.The news of Cnut’s death

would have taken longer to

reach Aelfgifu in Denmarkand she must have beenequally shocked at the news.Shewasprobablywellawareof Emma’s hopes thatHarthacnutwould succeed tothethronebothDenmarkandEngland and whilstHarthacnut was alreadyestablished in Denmark, shemay have quickly turned tolook at England with hopesfor the future of her second

son, Harold. Certainly withSwein’sdeathshehadlittletohold her in Denmark and bythe end of the year, at thelatest, Aelfgifu had returnedtoEnglandandbeenreunitedwith her son,Harold.HaroldHarefoot is a shadowy figureand it is likely that Aelfgifuwas the driving force behindhis actions following Cnut’sdeath, just as Emma wasbehindtheactionsofherown

sons.It was certainly Harold

who took the initiative and,soon after his father’s death,hewent totheArchbishopofCanterbury and demanded tobe crowned King ofEngland.38 It seems likelythat Aelfgifu would havebeen behind this directattempt to pre-empt Emmabut if this was the case, shewas to be unsuccessful. The

Archbishop,whoperhapshadalready been approached byEmma, refused to grantHarold the crown. Insteadheplaced the coronation regaliaon the high altar, prohibitinganyonefromtouchingit.Thismust have been a blow toAelfgifu’shopesandbothsheand Emma had to resignthemselves to the successionbeingdecidedbythecouncil.Emma and Aelfgifu may

havebeenpresentattheroyalcouncil that was held atOxford and their presencewouldhavecontributedtothealready tense atmosphere inthe kingdom. Both womenhad certainly been busyrallying their supporters inthemonthssinceCnut’sdeathand it appears to have beenAelfgifu who was the moresuccessful. At the council itwas decided that although

Harthacnut was his father’sheir, Harold as the only sonof Cnut present in EnglandwastoruleEnglandasregentuntil the return of hisbrother.39 This situationwould not have been judgedsatisfactory by either ofCnut’s queens but, certainly,it was Aelfgifu who had theupper hand and, around thattime,Haroldwasalsoabletodeprive Emma of the royal

treasury, further cementinghis hold on the kingdom.Rather than bringing therivalry of the two women toan end, however, the councilat Oxford appears merely tohave increased the tensionbetweenthem.Numerous Anglo-Saxon

and latermedieval chroniclesrefer to suggestions thatneither Swein nor Haroldwere sons of Cnut. Florence

of Worcester, for example,claimsthatSwein:

WassaidtobehissonbyAelfgifuof Northampton, daughter ofEaldormanAelfhelmand themostnoble lady Wulfrun; but someassertedthathewasnotthesonofthekingandthisAelfgifu,butthatthis sameAelfgifuwished tohavea son by the king, but could not,andthereforeorderedtobebroughtto her the newly born infant of acertain priest, and made the kingfully believe that she had just

bornehimason.40

Florence of Worcester hadalso heard a similar storyabout the birth of Harold,whom he claimed to be afoundling and the child of ahumble shoemaker ratherthan the king.41 Stories suchas these appear to havebecome common around thetime of Cnut’s death and,tellingly, a version exists in

the Encomium of QueenEmma herself. In thisaccount, Aelfgifu was a‘concubine’ of Cnut, ratherthanhiswife,andHarold,thesonofaservant,wastakenbyAelfgifu to pass off as herchild by the king.42 It seemslikely that Emma was thesource of the rumours bothaboutAelfgifu’sconcubinageand the rumoursofher sons’births. This was probably a

deliberate policy to damagethe status of Harold in theeyes of the nobility ofEngland, thus emphasisingher own legitimate marriagetoCnutandthelegitimacyofherson,Harthacnut.If Emma resorted to dirty

tricksinordertodenigratethesonofher rival thenshewasnot the only one. ByAugust1036, word had reachedGunnhild, Emma’s daughter

byCnutwhowas living in aGermanic state, thatAelfgifuwas working to ensure thesuccession of Harold.43Aelfgifu was apparentlyholding feasts and offeringgifts to the nobles of thekingdom in order to bringthem round to her point ofview.This togetherwith factthat Harthacnut had still notmaterialised in Englandappears to have strengthened

Aelfgifu’scauseinrelationtoherrival.Emmacouldspreadrumours about Aelfgifu andHarold but without a sonpresentinEngland,therewasverylittlethatshecoulddotoadvanceherowncause.By mid-1036, Emma

herself appears to havebecome exasperated atHarthacnut’s failure to arriveandclaimtheEnglishcrown;for the first time in twenty

years, she once again lookedtowards her sons byAethelred. According toEmma’sownaccount,writtenseveralyearsafterthedisasterof 1036, it was Haroldhimself who summoned hertwo older sons to England,forging a letter to appear tobefromtheirmother invitingthem to claim the Englishcrown.44 However it seemsunlikely that Harold and, for

that matter, Aelfgifu wouldhaveriskedsummoningrivalsto England in 1036. A morelikely candidate is Emmaherself, writing to her sons,pointing out to them: ‘Iwonder what plan you areadopting,sinceyouareawarethat the delay arising fromyour procrastination isbecoming from day to day asupport to the usurpers ofyourrule’.45

It is unlikely that Emmaexpected both sons to heedher summons. Both decidedto come to their motherseparately and Edwardarrived safely with Emma inWinchester.Alfred,however,decided to come by a lessdirectrouteandhispartywasintercepted by Harold atGuildford. Simeon ofDurhamwrites:

[Alfred] Was carried heavilychained to the Isle of Ely; but, assoon as the ship reached the land,immediately his eyes were theremost cruelly torn out, and thenhewas taken to the monastery anddelivered to the custody of themonks.46

Alfred died soon after hisblindingandEdward,hearingthenews,fledquicklybacktoNormandyleavinghismotheralone and without sons in

Englandonceagain.Aelfgifu,whowas so often behind theactionsattributedtohersons,may have played a role inorderingthemurderofAlfredand it would have given hersome satisfaction to bebehindthedeathofthesonofthe rival who had deprivedher of her husband and hersonsoftheirinheritance.The death of Alfred and

Harthacnut’s continued

failure to return to Englandmarked the end of Emma’shopes for the English crownfor one of her sons for sometimeand,in1037,Haroldwasfinally able to claim thecrown in his own name.According to the Anglo-SaxonChronicle, Emmawas‘driven out without anymercy to face the ragingwinter beyond the sea toBruges’.47 Once again,

Emma’s propagandist wouldappear to have been behindthis account but there is nodoubt that in 1037 withEmma driven to Flanders asan exile, her future lookedbleak indeed. Aelfgifu, nowthe only queen in England,must have been jubilant andapparently set about rulingEngland alongside her son,HaroldHarefoot.Emma of Normandy’s

prospects looked bleak in1037, but she was notdefeated and from Flandersshe sent once again toHarthacnut, asking him tocome and claim the Englishcrown.48 Harthacnut, perhapsangered at the way that hismother had been treated,finally arrived in Flanderswith a fleet in early 1040.Emma and Harthacunt werestill in Flanderswhen, on 17

March1040,HaroldHarefootdied suddenly in Englandhaving reigned as king foronly three years.49 Aelfgifuof Northampton disappearsfrom the sources with thedeath of her only survivingson and it seems likely thatshe quickly fled, knowingthather rivalwould return totake her vengeance. Her fateis a mystery but she cannothave enjoyed a happy old

age.Emma, on the other hand,

arrivedinEnglandintriumphasthemotherofthenewkingand quickly took up aposition as Harthacnut’sclosest advisor. Perhapsremembering her earliervulnerability when none ofher sons were present inEngland, she also persuadedHarthacnut to invite his half-brother, Edward, to return to

Englandtosharehisbrother’srule:

Obeying his brother’s command,he was conveyed to England, andthe mother and both sons, havingno disagreement between them,enjoy the ready amenities of thekingdom. Here there is loyaltyamongsharersoftherule,herethebond of motherly and brotherlyloveisofstrengthindestructible.50

This was the point at whichEmma’sEncomium ends and

it was the image of avictorious queen mother thatshe wanted to present to theworld,particularlyperhapstoher rival Aelfgifu ofNorthampton.Whilstshewasthe victor in the powerstruggle with Aelfgifu, thiswasnot the endofher story,however. After ruling foronly two years, Harthacnutalso died, leaving the throneto his half-brother, Edward

the Confessor. Emma musthave been pleased that thesuccession had been securedforherlastremainingsonbutshe did not have the samegood relationship withEdward that she had enjoyedwith Harthacnut. In 1043,only a short time afterEdward’s coronation, Emmawas forcibly deprived of herlands and treasures on theorders of the new king and

retired from her place atcourt.51For the rest of her life,

Emma was always treatedwiththerespectduetoherasthe king’s mother, but shewas denied any political roleand she died, almostunnoticed, on 6 March1052.52 ItwasnotforaquietretirementthateitherAelfgifuor Emma had foughtfollowing the death of Cnut

and, in their old age, theymay both have reflected onthefutilityoftheirstruggleonbehalf of their sons. Bothwomen were determined tosecure the lucrative role ofqueenmother for themselvesandboth,ultimately,sufferedfor their attempts. It isdifficult to see either asentirely blameworthy,however, and Cnut, throughhis failure to regulate his

unorthodox maritalinclinations must ultimatelybear much of the blame. Itwasonlynaturalthatbothhiswiveswouldwanttoseetheirown son on the throne andclear that, without effectiveprovision made for all hissons, his wives wouldcompete. Both Emma ofNormandy and Aelfgifu ofNorthamptonarerememberedasnotoriousfortheirpolitical

actions and the underhandmethods that they bothemployed; for both, theseactionswereultimatelyfutile.

PARTII

POST-CONQUESTQUEENS:

ARROGANCE,REBELLION&

Post-ConquestQueens

If there is doubt about therecognition Anglo-Saxonsgave to the role of queen,

there is no such ambiguityregarding post-conquestsociety. The period betweenthe eleventh century and theendof thefourteenthsawtheemergence of queenship as amajor political role and theperiod included someexceptionally powerfulqueens. The period is alsoremembered for some of themost notorious queens thatEnglandhaseverknownand,

once again, it is the churchchroniclers and other malewriterswho claim to provideevidence for their wickedbehaviour. There is no doubtthat conditions following theNorman conquest helped tocultivate powerful andpolitical queens who wereviewed with suspicion andoften hostility by many oftheirmalecontemporaries.

The Norman conquest had aprofoundeffectontheroleofthe queen in England.Previously, kings tended tolook for theirwives amongsttheir own nobility, selectingtheir spouses from thefamiliesof thepowerfulmenat court. The Normanconquest saw a move awayfrom this and introduced aninternational flavour toqueenship that had only

previously been seen withwomen such as Judith ofFrance and Emma ofNormandy.Rightupuntilthemid-fifteenth century, theEnglish crown retainedcontinental possessionsseparate from their lands inEngland and this meant thattheir rule was never entirelycentred on England. Thisinterest in continental affairswas reflected in the policies

of these kings, in theselection of their wives andthe lives that these womenwereexpectedtolead.Post-conquestkings’wives

were generally selected aspart of a deliberate policy toeither protect or extendcontinental lands. ExamplesincludeMatilda of Boulognewho brought her rich countyofBoulognetoKingStephen,andEleanorofAquitainewho

could offer Henry IIAquitaine.1 Isabella ofAngouleme, the second wifeof King John, also broughther husband the country ofAngouleme, so strategicallyimportant that John wasforced to act to acquire herlandssothattheydidnotfallinto thehandsofa rival.Notallqueensbroughtlandswiththem however: Eleanor ofProvence brought her

husband little in the way ofmaterial benefit. Howeverthrough marrying Henry IIIdid neutralise any politicaladvantage that his rival, theKing of France, had gainedfrom marrying Eleanor’ssister, ensuring support forEnglish interests on thecontinent. Similarly, Eleanorof Castile and Isabella ofFrance were selected asbridesinanattempttoensure

the protection of Gascony,and Berengaria of Navarre,the wife of Richard I, waschosen towin the support ofherbrother forherhusband’sruleintheprovince.2Post-conquest queenswere

therefore chosen from acrossEurope rather than from theEnglish nobility due to theadvantage it gave theirhusbands in continentalaffairs. Just how marked a

changethiswasisclearfromthefactthat,ofallthequeenswho reigned between theNormanconquestandthelatefourteenth century, only onewas of English birth. John’sfirst wife, Isabella ofGloucester was an Englishheiress and selected for herwealth rather than anypolitical advantage shemightbring.3 However, she iscertainlyanexceptionandher

marriage occurred whilstJohnwas still a younger sonwithlittlechanceofathrone.Almost as soon as John hadsecuredthecrownforhimselfin 1199, he began lookingaround for another wife and,soon after her husband’scoronation, Isabella ofGloucesterhadbeendivorcedin favour of the morepoliticallyglamorousIsabellaof Angouleme.4 The foreign

natureofmostqueens in thisperioddidhoweveralsohaveaneffectontheirreputations;Eleanor of Provence forexample was often unfairlycriticised and censured forhernon-Englishbirth.A change in how queens

were selected was not theonlychange that theNormanconquestbroughttotheofficeof queenship. Anotherconsequence of the new

interest in continental affairswas that queens wereexpected to play a moreactive political role inrepresenting the royal familywhilstthekingwasinanotherpart of his empire. WhenWilliam the Conqueror leftNormandyforhisinvasionofEngland, hiswifeMatilda ofFlanders remained as co-regent of Normandy withRoger of Montgomery.5

Matildaobviouslydidagoodjoband,in1069,shewassentback to Normandy fromEngland. Orderic Vitalisdescribedhow‘KingWilliamsenthisbelovedwifeMatildabacktoNormandysothatshemight give up her time toreligious devotions in peace,away from the Englishtumultsandtogetherwiththeboy Robert could keep theDuchy secure’.6 It seems

probablethatMatilda’sreturnto Normandy was due moreto the need for amember ofthe ducal family to keep aneyeonWilliam’saffairstherethan to Matilda’s desire forreligious devotions and,throughout her time asDuchess of Normandy andQueen of England, she spenttime as regent in bothcountries.Matilda of Flander’s

daughter-in-law, Matilda ofScotland, was also expectedto play the role of regent inEngland during the frequentabsences of her husband,Henry I. She had, in fact,been ruling England capablyfor twoyearsas regentwhenshediedin1118andherrulewasprobablyusedasamodelofwhat a queen could be byher daughter, the EmpressMatilda.7 Eleanor of

Aquitaine, thewife ofHenryII,wasalsofrequentlyleftasregent in England whilstHenry visited his continentaldomains and she took on therole capably following theaccessionofherson,RichardI. It is clear, therefore, thatmany post-conquest queenswere actively encouraged totake on political roles whilsttheir husbands were absentand it was only with the

decline of the continentalempire that this aspect ofqueenship declined. Evenafter the disasters of John’sreign, however, and the lossof most of the continentalpossessions,queenswerestillcalled upon to act as regentsfrom time to timewhen theirhusbands were abroad. Forexample,EleanorofProvenceacted as regent whilst herhusband, Henry III, was

campaigning in Gascony.Allowingthequeentoruleasregent in her husband’sabsence greatly increased theresponsibility given to theking’swife compared to thatof the Anglo-Saxon period.However, in many respectsthe role was still essentiallythe same and queens wereexpectedtobehaveinsimilarways to their Anglo-Saxonpredecessors.

William I presentedhimself as an English kingand heir to Edward theConfessor following hisvictory at Hastings.Accordinglyhiswife,MatildaofFlanders,waspresentedasanEnglish queen and heir tothe Confessor’s wife, EdithGodwine. Matilda wouldhavebasedmanyofherideasof queenship on herimmediate predecessors in

England and shewould haveunderstood, like herpredecessors, what made agoodornotoriousqueen.In spite of their increased

political role, post-conquestqueens were still expected,firstandforemost,toproducean heir. Failure to produce ason could have disastrousconsequencesforaqueeninastill heavily male-dominatedsociety.Itseemsunlikelythat

the childless Isabella ofGloucester, for example,would have been divorced ifshe had borne King John ason and heir. Eleanor ofProvence was also underpressure to produce an heirafter several years of barrenmarriage and there wererumours across England thatshe was infertile. This musthave been discomfiting forthe young queen who was

stillonlyinherlateteensanditmust have beenwith reliefthat she finally providedHenryIIIwithason.Queensin the post-conquest periodwould have known, likeAnglo-Saxon queens such asEdith Godwine, thatchildlessness had the powerto marginalise a queen andevenstripthemofthatrole.Itisunlikely thatBerengariaofNavarre, queen of Richard I,

for example, would havelived a life of such greatobscurity had she beenmothertoherhusband’sheir.TheimportanceofMatildaofScotland was diminishedposthumously with the deathof her only son two yearsafter her own death. Queenswere always expected to bemothers; to produce healthysons was a prerequisite forbeing a good queen. In the

eyes of their contemporaries,particularly the malechroniclers,itwasalwaysthequeen’s fault if no heir wasborn and it was always thequeen, never the king, whowascriticisedforthatfailure.Fertilitywas,ofcourse,not

the only requirement of agood queen. As in the pre-conquest era, post-conquestqueens were expected to begod-fearing and the most

famous ‘good’ queens of theperiod are remembered asdeeply pious. There were nosaintly queens in the post-conquest period but,certainly,MatildaofScotlandwas venerated to a near-saintly level for centuriesafter her death. She is alsodescribed in the sources insimilar terms to those usedfor her saintly predecessors,St Aelfgifu and St

Wulfthryth. Whilst StWulfthryth retired from theworld to avoid the repetitionof the sexual act followingthe birth of her daughter,Matilda of Scotland appearsto have found an equallysuccessful deterrent.According to William ofMalmesbury, ‘the bearing oftwo children, one of eithersex, left her content, and forthefuturesheceasedeitherto

haveoffspringordesirethem,satisfied, when the king wasbusy elsewhere, to bid thecourt goodbye herself, andspent many years atWestminster’.8 This impliesthat Matilda also chose toshunsexualrelationswithherhusband in favour of areligious life.However, therewere rumours that the realreason behind the couple’slack of further children after

thebirthoftheirheirwasthatHenryIwasdisgustedbyhiswife’s kisses on the sores oflepersaspartofherreligiousdevotions and shunned herbedforfearofcatchingsomecontagion.9Regardlessof theunderlyingreality,MatildaofScotland is remembered as agood queen in a similar wayto her Anglo-Saxonpredecessors, that is for herreligiousdevotions.Pietywas

always a very importantaspect of the role of queenandeveryfemalemonarch inthe period between theNormanconquestandtheendof the fourteenth century isremembered as a patron oftheChurch.Clearly,therefore,muchof

whathadbeenexpectedofanAnglo-Saxon queen was stillthecaseforthepost-conquestperiodandanywho failed to

live up to thismodel ran theriskofbeinglabelledasabador notorious queen. Queenswere still not expected tohave political ambitions oftheir own and any politicalactivity carried out by herwastobeforthebenefitofamale family member ratherthan herself. This unwrittenrule caused trouble for anumber of post-conquestqueens who, perhaps

bolstered by the greaterpolitical role they wereoffered,soughttoextendtheirpower even further. TheEmpress Matilda is a primeexample of this.As aQueenRegnant she was in theunfortunatepositionof tryingto assert her own rightswithout a male relative tohide behind. She can becontrasted effectively withhercontemporary,Matildaof

Boulogne, who, whilst alsomilitarily and politicallyactive, escaped much of thereprehension directed at theEmpress.10 The differenceliesinthefactthatMatildaofBoulognealwaysactedinthenameofherhusbandandsonwhilst the Empress wasforced,bynecessity,toactforherself. As a consequence,the Empress Matilda isremembered as greedy and

arrogant whilst Matilda ofBoulogne is a selflessindividual who fought onbehalfofherfamily.Totheircontemporaries, a woman’splacewasasaquietsupporterofhermalekin andEmpressMatilda, by virtue of herposition as heir to the thronecould never achieve this. Byfailingtoliveuptotheidealsof queenship, howeverunattainable, Empress

Matilda’s reputation paid theprice and shewill be forevernotorious. To modern eyeshowever she appearscourageousinfightingforherrights when the odds wereheavilystackedagainsther.

As with the Anglo-Saxonperiod, the post-conquestperiodproducedanumberofnotoriousqueensandthiswasdue to their perceived failure

to live up to contemporary,male ideals of queenship.Empress Matilda, Eleanor ofAquitaine, Isabella ofAngouleme, Eleanor ofProvence, Eleanor of CastileandIsabellaofFranceareallremembered as selfish andgreedy women, often eagerfor power at the expense oftheir husbands. The periodcertainly produced the firstqueens to rebel against their

husbands and it saw themurder of one king at thehands of his wife. Howeverboth Eleanor of Aquitaineand Isabella of France, whoare known to have rebelledagainst their husbands, wentthrough difficult times andtheir actions now seemunderstandable, even if theywere not to the chroniclers.Eleanor of Aquitaine hadbeen the greatest heiress in

Europeandbythetimeofherrebellion she had enduredover a decade of infidelityand indifference from herhusband,HenryII.IsabellaofFrance was unfortunateenough to be married as achild to the homosexualEdward II who also flauntedhismaleloversatherexpenseduring their marriage. Is ittherefore surprising thatEleanor,agreatheiressinher

own right, and Isabella, thedaughter of the mostpowerful ruler in Europe,were not content to simplyignore this behaviour? It iscertainly true that manyqueens of the period wouldnothavetakenthisactionbutboth had their reasonswhichwould have been sociallyacceptable if they had beenmen. Most of the notoriousqueens in the eleventh to

fourteenthcenturieswerealsovery political and it was thispolitical activity that terrifiedtheir contemporaries andcaused them to attack theirreputations. For all thechanges that the conquestbrought to queenship, theexpected role of women stillremainedwoefullystagnant.The Empress Matilda,

EleanorofAquitaine,Isabellaof Angouleme, Eleanor of

Provence, Eleanor of Castileand Isabella of France werefamous and powerfulwomenin their own lifetimes.Althoughtherecordedstoriesof their lives vary, they aremostly remembered for theirpolitical activities. For theircontemporaries,womenwerenot expected to seek anypolitical role for themselvesandsothiswasunacceptable.The conquest changed the

role of queen because theempires of the Norman andAngevin kings requiredtrustworthy regents. Thesewere often queens whowereconsequentlyexpectedtotakeonaprominentpolitical role.Society does not appear tohave accepted this changeandthepoliticalqueensoftheperiod will always beremembered as notorious.The period between the

Normanconquestandtheendofthefourteenthcenturysawsome of the most notoriousqueens thatEnglandhaseverproduced and this is a directreflectionofthefactthattheywere also amongst the mostpowerful.

Arrogance&Pride

EmpressMatilda

The Empress Matilda couldhave been the first ruling

queen of England. This wascertainly the cause to whichshe devoted her life. Apartfrom a few brief months ofpower, she was ultimatelydoomed to failure. Byclaiming the crown ofEngland, Matilda thrustherself into a man’s worldand she quickly discoveredthat very different standardswere expected of women.Although Matilda enjoyed

considerable success in herquest to win the crown ofEngland,ultimatelyitwastheway that her contemporariesperceived her character thatled to disappointment.Matilda is remembered as ahard, proud and unwomanlyqueen and her ‘reign’ wasused for over four hundredyears as evidence for howwomen were not fit to rule.Crucially her contemporaries

failed to understand that inseeking to claim the crownMatilda was trying to asserther rule because she wasqueen regnant, not simply aqueen, and that such a roledemanded the characteristicsof a king. To be hard, proudand masculine werecharacteristics admired in aking but for Matilda as awoman they brought onlycriticism. Clearly, the

characteristics deemedvirtuousinakingcouldeasilymake a woman notorious, asMatildafoundtohercost.

The Empress Matilda wasforced by circumstances toenter a man’s world, but tobegin with her life followedthe pattern of a normalmedieval princess. Matildawasbornon7February1102,the eldest child of Henry I

and his wife, Matilda ofScotland.1Forabrief timeinher infancy, therefore, shewas actually heiress toEngland, although thischanged the following yearwith the birth of a brother,William. No evidencesurvives of Matilda’s earlychildhood. She may havebeenraisedbyhermotherandit is likely that Matilda ofScotland’s influence

remainedwithherfortherestof her life.Many consideredHenry’s marriage to theScottish princess to havelegitimised his kingship inEngland and, as the great-great niece of Edward theConfessor, Matilda ofScotland brought anotherelement of royalty to thestatus of her daughter. Shewould also have provided apowerful role model to the

young Matilda since shefrequently ruled England asregent during Henry’sabsences.MatildaofScotlandwould also have been animportant example to herdaughter of how a womanmight be able to hold andtransferaclaimtothethrone.The young Matilda

emerges suddenly fromobscurity at the age of sevenin 1109. In that year, the

GermanicEmperor,HenryV,sentenvoystoEnglandtoaskfor the hand in marriage ofHenry I’s only daughter,Matilda.2 This was aflattering offer and one thatMatilda’s father leapt at,lavishing a rich dowry andtrainonhisyoungdaughtertoprepare her for themarriage.The marriage negotiationsmoved quickly and early in1110 Matilda left England

accompanied by an Imperialescort.3 At the age of eight,Matilda must have beenapprehensive about leavinghome to marry a man oldenough to be her father. Shewould have known that shewasunlikelyevertoreturntoher home and she never sawhermotheragain.If Matilda was nervous

about meeting her husbandand adapting to life in the

Germanic states, she was toprove more fortunate thanmany other medievalprincesses. The Emperor,Henry V, was notoriousacross Europe for his part inthe deposition andmurder ofhis father. However, heproved himself to be a kindand loving husband to hislittle wife, apparently goingthrough awedding ceremonywithMatildauponherarrival

in1110,beforesendinghertoberaisedinawayfittingforaGermanic empress.4 Matildamust have been relieved tofind her husband personableand she quickly adapted toGermanic ways. In 1114,when she was finally judgedold enough for a fullmarriage,Henry andMatildaenjoyed a grand secondwedding.5Thecouplequicklybecame close and in 1116

they travelled to Rometogether.MatildaremainedinItaly after her husband left,ruling the kingdom as regentfortwoyearsandgainingherfirst experience of rulership.6Matilda probably grieved forherhusbandwhenhedied inMay1125.7Itispossiblethatthecouple,whohadappearedsomismatchedat the start oftheir union, had grown tolove each other;Matildawas

popular with the Germanicpeoples and retained areputation for goodness formanyyearsafter shehad lefttheempire.8In 1125, Matilda was

twenty-three years old and achildless widow. She hadlived in the German Empirefor most of her life and shemust have been tempted toremain there, perhapsaccepting one of the

numerous offers of marriagethat she received followingher husband’s death.9However circumstancesconspired against her andsoon after Henry V’s death,Matilda’s father sent anescort to bring her toNormandy.Her only brother,William, had drowned fiveyears earlier and Henry I’ssecond marriage had provedbarren, leaving Matilda, as

Henry’sonlylegitimatechild,of immeasurable value tohim.William of Malmesbury

relates how Matilda wasreluctant to leave theGermanic states whensummoned and it is possiblethat she extracted a promisefromHenrythatshewouldberecognised as his heir if sheagreed to his demands.10Henry quickly set about

establishing her as his heir,and, at Christmas 1127,everyonepresentatcourtwasinduced to swear allegianceto Matilda as heir to thethrone.11 This oath wasrepeated at Northampton in1131 with all the leadingnoblesofEnglandagreeingtoaccept Matilda’s claim.12Henry also set aboutarranging a second marriagefor Matilda in the hope that

she would provide him withgrandsons to continue hisline. Matilda must haverealised that she would berequired to marry again andshewasgivennomoresayinher second marriage than inherfirst.Henry opened marriage

negotiations for Matilda inearly 1127 with the thirteenyear-old son of the Count ofAnjou, Geoffrey.13 Matilda

was furious when she heardthe news of the match herfather had arranged for her.This is hardly surprising for,at twenty-five,Matildawasamature woman, alreadywidowed, and had been thewifeofanemperor.Sheusedher title ofEmpress until theend of her life and it wassomething of which she wasjustifiably proud. Matildaprobably felt humiliated by

the news that not only wasshe tomarry a child, but theson of a mere count. Theevents surroundingMatilda’ssecond marriage give us thefirst hint of her fierycharacter. According toreports, she argued andfought against her fatherwhen she was informed,finally being locked in herroom by her father until shegave in to his demands.14

This must have been deeplyhumiliating forMatilda,whotook out her inevitableresentment on her younghusbandratherthanhermoreintimidatingfather.In June 1128Matilda was

forced to travel with herfather to Normandy whereshewasmarried toGeoffrey.Thefirstmeetingbetweenthecouple cannot have beeneasy, and Matilda, probably

stillseethingwithresentment,made no effort with heryoung husband. Sheapparently disdained herhusband for his youth andinferior rank; Geoffreyhimself found her proud andfrosty.15 He may also havebeen irked by her refusal, totheendofher life, touse thetitle of Countess of Anjou,instead favouring the title ofherfirsthusband.16Giventhe

circumstances in whichMatilda’s consent for thismarriage was obtained,Matilda’sbehaviour ishardlysurprising and Geoffrey wasan entirely unsuitablehusband for her. It wasprobably little surprise toanyonewhenthecouplespenta difficult year together inAnjou following theirmarriage and, in June 1129,Matildareturnedtoherfather

inNormandy. It seems likelythat after a year of childlessand stormy marriage, bothwerehopingforadivorceandMatilda must have entreatedher father to help end herunendurablemarriage.Henry,whohadforced the

marriageuponhisdaughterinthefirstplace,wasatalossasto what to do with hisdetermined daughter andallowedher to staywith him

for two years. No movesseem to have been madetowards a divorce and by1131, both Henry andGeoffrey had decided thataction was necessary. HenryofHuntingdonwrites:

In the summer, Henry returned toEngland, bringing his daughterwith him. There was a greatassembly at Northampton at theNativity of St Mary. All theleading men of England gathered

there, and it was decided that hisdaughter shouldbe restored toherhusband,theCountofAnjou,whowas asking for her.After this, theking’s daughter was sent to herhusband,andwasreceivedwiththepomp that befitted such a greatheroine.17

By1131,Geoffreywasolderandmorematureandhemusthave reasoned that marriagewith the greatest heiress inEurope was worth having to

put up with a haughty wife.Matilda may also havereasoned that she wasunlikely to be provided withany husband other thanGeoffrey and, approachingthirty, she was concerned atherlackofanheir.Certainly,both Geoffrey and Matildaseem to have beendetermined to try to maketheirmarriageworkandon5March 1133, Matilda gave

birth to her first child, ahealthysonwhomshenamedHenry, after her father.18Matilda wept throughout herson’s christening and shemust have felt exoneratedfrom the stigma ofchildlessness. A second son,Geoffrey, was born in 1134and two years later Matildabore a third son, William.19MatildaandGeoffreyseemtohavefelt that,withWilliam’s

birth, their family wascomplete and they ceased tolive together, probably toboththeirrelief.If Matilda was pleased

withthebirthofhersons,herfather, King Henry, wasoverjoyed and Matilda withher eldest two sons spentmuch time with him duringthe last years of his life.20However the relationshipbetween Matilda and her

fatherdoesnotappeartohavemellowed and theirrelationship remainedtempestuous. Henry ofHuntingdon, for one, evensuggests that Matilda’sbehaviour was partlyresponsible for Henry’ssuddendeathon1December1135:

Inthethirty-fifthyear,KingHenrystayed on in Normandy. Severaltimes he planned to return to

England, but he did not do so,being detained by his daughter onaccountofvariousdisputes,whicharose on a number of issues,betweenthekingandtheCountofAnjou,due to themachinationsofnone other than the king’sdaughter. The king was provokedby these irritations to anger andbitterill-feeling,whichwassaidbysometohavebeentheoriginofthechill in his bowels and later thecauseofhisdeath.21

The charge that Matilda

contributed to her father’sdeath is unjustified. Matilda,as Henry’s heir, butGeoffrey’s wife, was in adifficult position and wouldhave been expected to obeyboth men – an impossibletask when they were inconflict.Inleavingherfather,Matilda was criticised whenhediedbut,ifshehadstayedwith her father, she wouldalmost certainly have been

accused of disobeying herhusband. Despite thecriticism of the chroniclers,Henry does not appear tohave blamedMatilda and, ashelaydying,heconfirmedtothose present that he wishedhis daughter to succeedhim.22England had never had a

female ruler before Matildaand Henry, aware of thedifficulties that she would

face, had tried to prepare theway for Matilda’s accessionthroughrequiringoathsinherfavourfromhiscourt.Oneofthe most prominent of theoath takers was Henry’snephew, Stephen of Blois,whowas thesonofhissisterAdela.Inspiteofhisoathsinsupport of Matilda, Stephenappears to have had his eyeon the English throne forsome time and, as soon as

word reached him of hisuncle’s death, he hastened toEngland and had himselfcrowned king.23 News ofStephen’s actions caughtMatilda by surprise andStephen may have been thelastpersonMatildasuspectedof betraying her. Stephenappears to have been anaffable man, with onechronicler praising him as‘rich and at the same time

unassuming, generous,courteous; moreover, in alltheconflictsofwaror inanysiegeofhisenemies,boldandbrave, judicious andpatient’.24 Stephen andMatildamayhavebeencloserthan usual for cousins and alegend exists that Matilda’seldest son, Henry, was theproduct of an adulterousaffair between them.25 If soStephen’s betrayal would

have been doubly hard forMatilda to accept. However,once again, it would seemthat this story was aninventiondesignedtoblackenMatilda’s name rather thanrepresent the truth.Certainly,Geoffreyneverseemstohavedoubted that Henry was hischild and Matilda laterdisplayeda savagery towardsStephen that belied anyproximity between them.

Stephen’sbetrayalmusthavedeeply angered Matilda, buttherewas little she could do.At the time of her father’sdeath she was expecting herthirdsonandunabletoreturnto England to personallyclaim the crown. All shecoulddoin1135wasoccupya small number of castles inNormandyandallowStephento consolidate his positionalmostunopposed.

In spite of Stephen’sactions, Matilda was notprepared to simply return toAnjou and forget her grandinheritance. It was forEngland and Normandy thatshe had consented to leaveher comfortable life in theGermanic states and shewasnotpreparedtorelinquishherroyal prerogative. She was,however, forced to bide hertime whilst Stephen enjoyed

an initial surge of popularityin England. By 1138 certainEnglish lords had tired ofStephen’sruleandonceagainbegan looking toMatilda. Inthatyearherillegitimatehalf-brother, Robert, Earl ofGloucester came to her inNormandy and offered hishelp in securing the Englishcrown.26EarlRobertwasoneofthemostpowerful lordsinEngland and Matilda was

eager to receive his help,sailing with her brother toEngland in October 1139.27Matilda went directly toArundel Castle, which wasbeingheldbyherstepmother,Queen Adeliza. There shewasbesiegedbyStephenwhoeventually however was trueto his affable and oftenfoolish nature. He waspersuadedtoallowMatildatoleave and travel to her

brother’s supporters atBristol.28 Matilda quicklymade the West Country herbase, receiving homage thereas queen and making lawsand minting coins.29 Shewould always have beenpainfully aware, however,that she was not the onlyperson claiming to ruleEngland.Matilda’sreturntoEngland

sparkedacivilwarthatwould

lastforthenextfifteenyears.Although Matilda never ledan army, she was probablyintimately involved inplanning her campaign. Itseems likely that Matildahoped for a swift campaignand, according to John ofWorcester, shewas ‘ecstatic’inearly1141whensheheardthat Stephen had beencapturedbyher supportersatLincoln.30 Stephen was

brought toMatilda at Bristoland she must have felt thatthe crownwas finally withinher grasp.31 Certainly, manyofStephen’ssupportersmadetheir peacewith theEmpressand Stephen’s own brother,the Bishop of Winchester,became an importantsupporter. The Bishop ofWinchester was also thepapal legate in England andhis support was essential in

establishingMatilda’s rule inEngland.She travelled to seehim atWinchester soon afterStephen’s capture and thepair made a pact. AccordingtotheGestaStephani:

Whentheyhadjointlymadeapactof peace and concord he[Winchester] came to meet her incordial fashion and admitted herinto the city of Winchester, andafter handing over to her disposalthe king’s castle and the royal

crown, which she had alwayseagerly desired, and the treasurethe king had left there, though itwas very scanty, he bade thepeople, at a publicmeeting in themarket-place of the town, saluteherastheirladyandtheirqueen.32

On that day in Winchester,Matilda was accepted asEngland’s first reigningqueen. This was her greatestmomentoftriumph.Howeverit is also at this time that

many sources begin to turnovertly hostile towardsMatilda and this suddenunpopularity is oftenattributed to her conduct asqueen.The Gesta Stephani

describes how following heraccession Matilda quicklyshowed herself to becapricious and headstrong.33Stephen’s wife, Matilda ofBoulogne, came to Matilda

personallyandbeggedfortherelease of her husband inorder that he could livequietly in retirement withher.34 Instead of heeding thewoman’s pleas, Matildaabused her in ‘harsh andinsulting language’, causingStephen’s wife to take uparms on her husband’sbehalf.35 Regardless of anypromiseshemadetoher,itisto be expected that Matilda

would not have willinglyreleased Stephen, a knownoath-breaker, from captivity.There is no doubt that thissource,whichisalifeofKingStephen, was deeply biased.However, this and othercharges of arrogance mayhavethwartedherattemptstofully establish herself in1141. In the sourcesMatildaungraciously received thoselords who had supported

Stephen, even though theycameofferingtheirallegianceand this may well havecausedthesementoturnonceagain to Stephen.36 Evenmore damningly, sheapparentlybegantobehaveina proud and disdainfulmannertowardsevenherownmost loyal supporters. In theGesta Stephani she insistedon remaining seated evenwhen her greatest supporters

King David of Scotland,Robert of Gloucester or theBishop of Winchesterentered, requesting them tokneel in her presence.37Furthermoreshe:

Repeatedly sent them awaycontumely, rebuffing them by anarrogant answer and refusing tohearkentotheirwords;andbythistime she no longer relied on theiradvice,assheshouldhave,andhadpromised them, but arranged

everything as she herself thoughtfit and according to an arbitrarywill.38

Asa reigningqueen,Matildawas in a difficult position. Itwas natural for the monarchto receive supporters on bentkneewhile remaining seated,and to expect to rulethemselves rather than beruled. It is certainly hard toimagine Matilda’s

grandfather, William theConqueror, for example,receivingcriticismforsimilarbehaviour and a kinglymanner in male rulers waspraised. However, as awoman, any attempt byMatilda to behave in themannerofarulerwasseenasboth unwomanly andinsufferably arrogant.Matilda’s understandableattempts assert her authority

as a monarch thereforedamned her queenship in theeyesofhercontemporaries Itwas accusations of arrogancethatledtotheultimatelossofallshehadwoninEngland.Although she had been

recognised as ruler inEnglandin1141,Matildastillneeded to be crowned toensure her position. Shetherefore travelled toLondonsoon after her meeting with

theBishop ofWinchester, toprepare for her coronationand consequent formalrecognitionasqueen.Londonhad been loyal to Stephenthroughout the early years ofthe civil war and Matildamust have realised that shefaced a struggle to win theLondoners’support.Howevermost sources claim thatinstead of approaching thesituation in a conciliatory

mannerMatilda stormed intothe city and alienated thepopulation almostimmediately. For example inthe Gesta Stephani, Matildaarrived in London with anarmy, but was welcomed bythe Londoners, anxious tocreate good relations withtheir new queen.39 Matildawas in no mood to besympathetic to the supportersof her enemy and demanded

largeamountsofmoneyfromthecity.WhentheLondonersaswered that they could notpay, Matilda acted in thefollowingway:

With a grim look, her foreheadwrinkled into a frown, every traceof awoman’s gentleness removedfrom her face, she blazed intounbearable fury, saying thatmanytimes the people of London hadmade a very large contribution tothe king, that they had lavishedtheir wealth on strengthening him

andweakeningher.40

Matilda was justified inpointing out that theLondonershadspentall theirfunds for the sake of ausurper.Kingswereexpectedto display fortitude andStephen for example wasoften criticised for being toosoft on his enemies.Matilda,however, could never be aking in the eyes of her

contemporaries and to thechurchmen who recordedhistory she was dangerouslyunwomanly. The Londonerswere probably also seekingany excuse to abandon theirnew queen and Matilda’sreply to them was not themost tactful. Her behaviourcertainly alienated theLondoners and the city’sleaders instead joined withStephen’s wife, who was

busy raising an army inKent.41 Matilda does notappear to have noticed theincreasing ill feeling towardsher inLondon and continuedmaking the arrangements forher coronation. Her likelyopinion was that she wasacting exactly as a rulershould. Nevertheless thisbehaviour in a queen wasunacceptable in a male-dominatedsociety.

Matilda’s relationshipwiththe Londoners becameapparent one day as shewassittingdowntohavedinnerather base outside the citywalls.42 According to theGestaStephani,suddenly:

The whole city, with the bellsringing everywhere as the signalfor battle, flew to arms, and all,with the common purpose ofmakingamostsavageattackontheCountess [Matilda] and her men,

unbarredthegatesandcameoutina body, like thronging swarmsfrombeehives.43

Matilda was apparentlycaught completely unawaresby this dramatic assault onher camp and was forced toflee the city, leaving herbelongingstobeplundered.44Matilda’s expulsion fromLondon signalled the end ofherhopesofacoronationand

soon after she had goneStephen’s queen tookpossessionof the city for theking. In retaliation, MatildaorderedStephen tobeplacedinchainsinhisdungeon.45Although Matilda had

suffered a setback at thehands of the Londoners,Stephenwasherprisonerandshe could still lay a claim tothe title of ‘Lady of theEnglish’.Shemusthavebeen

angered to hear that soonafter the fall of London, theBishop of Winchester alsoabandonedhercause.Matildaand her supporters movedquickly to Winchester andbesieged the bishop in hiscastle.46Thisprovedtobethegreatestmistake ofMatilda’sbrief reign. Hearing of thebishop’s situation, Stephen’swife mustered a force ofLondoners and rushed to

attack the besiegers.47Matilda was able to flee buther half-brother, and mostimportant supporter, Robertof Gloucester, was capturedbyStephen’squeen.48Forallthe accusations of arroganceagainst Matilda, sherecognised the fact that sherelied on her brother and hewas ransomed forStephen inNovember 1141, bringingMatilda’sreigntoanend.49

In spite of Stephen’srelease and re-establishmentas king,Matilda did not endher campaign to win theEnglish throne and shereturned to theWestCountryto gather her forces, stilldetermined to assert herauthority as queen. Stephenwas equally determined tocapture his rival. InSeptember 1142 Matildafound herself besieged in

OxfordCastle.50Matilda hadno intention of surrenderingto her cousin and it wasduring the siege that sheshowed something of hercourageanddetermination.Anumber of sources state howMatilda decided tomake herescape one snowyDecembernight. Dressed in white ascamouflageagainstthesnow,Matildaandthreeknightsleftthe castle, sneaking through

the ranks of the besiegers.51This journeymust have beenanordealforthewholegroupand they walked six milesthrough the snow toWallingford, crossing thefrozenRiverThamesonfoot.Matilda must have been

relieved to return to therelative safety of her ownterritory in theWestCountryand she would have beencheered by the arrival soon

afterherescape fromOxfordof her eldest son, Henry.52.Henrywas still too young toplay an active role in thecampaign but as Matilda’sheir his presence must haveboosted morale amongstMatilda’s supporters. By thelate1140s,Henrywasalmostan adult andMatilda appearsto have decided that it wastime to pass her claim on tothe next generation. In 1148,

she left England for the lasttimeandsailedtoNormandy,where she would remain forthe rest of her life. Sheprobably followed the courseof Henry’s wars in Englandclosely and must have felttriumphant when, on 6November 1153, Henry wasfinally recognised as heir tothe throne by Stephen.53 Shemust also have felt that heractivities in England were

vindicatedwhenonthedeathof Stephen just under a yearlater Henry was proclaimedKing of England.Remembering her ownproblematic relationshipwithEngland however, Matildaacted wisely and did notattend Henry’s coronation inEngland.

Matilda lived out the rest ofher life inRouen, effectively

ruling Normandy as anunofficial regent for herson.54 She remained a stronginfluence over her son untilher death and shemust havefeltproudofallshehaddoneto secure the throne ofEngland for him. We canspeculate that Matildaprivately regretted that shehadbeenunabletosecureherowncoronation.Accordingtoone chronicler, ‘she was

swollen with insufferablepride by her success in war,andalienatedtheaffectionsofnearly everyone’.55 Perhapsin her old age she came toregret the way she behavedwhen the crown was withinhergraspbutrealisticallyitisdoubtful that she could haveacted in any other way. ThefactsofMatilda’s lifeprovedclearly that a woman couldnot be both a queen regnant

and enjoy a spotlessreputation. Matilda foundherselfinauniquepositionasa female claimant to thethroneandshediscovered, toher cost, that women weresimply not expected tobehave in the same way asmen.Matilda died on 10

September 1167 at thevenerable age of sixty-five.Her attempts to fulfill what

was considered a man’s rolewrecked her reputation andshe remains notorious today.For four hundred years afterher death her story was helduptodemonstratethedangersoffemaleruleandeventodayshe is portrayed as anunnatural and unwomanlyfigure. The actions ofEmpress Matilda have beendamned through allegationsofarroganceandpride.Inthe

twelfth century,Englandwassimply not ready for areigning queen and, in theend, the best Matilda coulddo was keep the voice oflegitimacy alive long enoughfor her son to grow into amanandclaimthethrone.Asaqueenregnant,Matildawasunabletorulethroughamalerelative, at least nominally,andwas therefore held up asan oddity and an unnatural

woman. This is a view thatstillpersistsandthehernamewill always bear thisnotoriety. This can also beseen with the reputation ofMatilda’s daughter-in-lawand contemporary, thefamousEleanorofAquitaine.

Adultery&Rebellion

EleanorofAquitaine

EleanorofAquitainewas themost famous woman of her

generation. No othermedieval woman hascommanded such enduringinterest and numerousbiographieshavebeenwrittenabouther.Certainly,herfameexceeded even that of hermother-in-law, EmpressMatilda, andEleanorbecamea legend inherown lifetime.LikeMatilda,Eleanor’s famewas perhaps not entirelywelcomeandeventothisday

she retains a slightlyunsavoury reputation. In heryouth,Eleanorwasportrayedas a selfish and domineeringwoman, who would becomean adulteress, then arebellious and disloyal wifeand finally simply a womanwho did not know her placeand would not let go of theempire she had ruled fornearly fifty years. Eleanor’slong and active life defied

attemptstoclassifyher,sotothe conservative chroniclersshe was someone to befeared.Eleanorwasawomanliving in a man’s world andunlike many other queens ofEngland,sheexcelledinit,tothe chagrin of many of hercontemporaries.

Much of Eleanor ofAquitaine’s notoriety comesfrom her marriages and

relationships with husbandsand children. It is probablethat much of her behaviourwas a result of herunorthodox upbringing.Eleanor’s childhood wouldhave been dominated by hergrandfather, Duke WilliamIX of Aquitaine. Aflamboyant figure, heovershadowed her father,William X. William IX wasnotorious across Europe for

hisabductionofthebeautifulViscountess of Chatelerault,who appears to have beenmore than willing to acceptthe position of the Duke’sofficial mistress, driving hiswife to seek refuge in anunnery.Despite the protestsof the duchess, William’srelationship with hisViscountess was lasting andafter several years hismistresswasabletopersuade

him to marry his son to herdaughter.1 Eleanor’s mother,Aenor, is a shadowy figureandwasprobablyveryyoungat the time of her marriage.Nonetheless, she boreWilliam three children;Eleanor in1122, followedbyPetronilla and WilliamAigret.In1130whenEleanorwas eight, both her motherand her brother died, leavingEleanor as her father’s heir.2

It is unlikely thatWilliamXintended to be succeeded byhis daughter. In 1136 hebecameengaged toEmmaofLimoges but before theweddingcouldoccur,shewaskidnapped and forced tomarry her abductor, Williamof Angouleme – yet anotherexampleofanunconventionalmarital arrangement inEleanor’s childhood.3 In1137, William X, who had

still not remarried, diedsuddenlyoffoodpoisoning.4As he lay dying, William

confirmedEleanorashisheirand entrusted herguardianship to his overlord,LouisVIofFrance.LouisVIimmediately seized theopportunity presented byWilliamX’sdeathand,on18June 1137, his sixteen year-oldson,Louis,setoutwithalarge escort for Aquitaine in

order to marry Eleanor.5Young Louis had been bornas a second son and wasraised by the Church. Thismade him deeply religiousandsomewhatunsuitedtotherole of heir to the Frenchthrone, which was presentedto him on his brother’sdeath.6 Throughout herlifetime, Eleanor showed aninterest in romance and it islikely that shewas expecting

awarrior in thesameveinasher father and grandfather.Louisprovedtobeaconstantdisappointment for her. Hearrived in Aquitaine in Julyand married Eleanor atBordeaux on 25 July 1137.The new Duke and Duchessof Aquitaine were crownedtherebeforemovingonto theducal capital of Poitiers.7Eleanor was as tall as Louisand attractive, with red or

auburnhair.8Louisappearstohave been overawed by hiswife throughout theirmarriage and from the outsetEleanor was the dominantpartner.Whilst Louis and Eleanor

were still becomingacquainted, word arrived atPoitiers that Louis VI ofFrance had died, leaving hiskingdom to his son, LouisVII. This must have been a

shock to the young couple.For Eleanor, the newsmeantthat shewould have to leaveher homeland for the firsttime in her life. The youngking and queen immediatelyset out from Aquitaine forParis in order to claim theircrown. It is likely thatEleanor was as disappointedin Paris as she was in herhusband and they found thecity palace in a state of

disrepair.9 Eleanorimmediately beganremodelling the palace,probably in the style of themoreopulentpalacesshehadknown in Aquitaine.10 Shewas crowned queen atChristmas1137buthad littleroleingovernment,appearingonlyrarely inchartersduringLouis’ reign, something thatmust have been anotherdisappointmentforher.

Despite her lack of adefinedpoliticalrole,Eleanorhad a great deal of influenceover Louis. Eleanor’sgrandmother had been theheiress to Toulouse, but theterritoryhadbeenusurpedbya kinsman. Eleanormaintained her claim toToulouse throughout herlifetime and, in 1141,persuaded Louis to invadeToulouseonherbehalf.11Itis

possiblethatshewastryingtomould her unpromisinghusband into awarrior but ifso her encouragement failed.Thecampaignprovedtobeadisaster for Louis and it islikelythatEleanoragainfeltadeep disappointment in herhusband.Eleanor’s influence over

Louis did not end with theToulousedisasterandin1143Louiswasagainembroiledin

awar at Eleanor’s behest. In1142, Eleanor’s sisterPetronillafellinlovewiththenobleman, Raoul deVermandois, and Louis gavehis permission to the matchdespite the fact that Raoulalready had a wife.12Petronilla and Raoul wereduly married and Raoul’sdiscardedwifewassentbackto her uncle, the Count ofChampagne. It is likely that

Eleanor, who is known tohaveappreciatedtheidealsofcourtlyromance,waspleasedthathersisterhadmarriedforlove and she proved a loyalsupporter of the couple.Howeverthemarriagedidnotplease everyone and theCount of Champagneimmediately appealed to thePope demanding that hisniecebereinstatedasRaoul’swife.ThePoperespondedby

declaringthemarriageinvalidand excommunicating Raouland Petronilla. Eleanor andLouis reacted angrily to thissentenceandinJanuary1143Louis invaded Champagneand laid waste to theprovince, probably onceagainatEleanor’sbehest.13Eleanor’s influence in

Louis’ actions is plain to seeand this campaign, like theinvasionofToulouse,proved

tobeadisaster.WhenLouis’army reached the town ofVitry in Champagne, thetownspeople sheltered in thechurch. Flames from theburning town caught thechurch roof and, as Louiswatchedinhorror,thechurchburnedtothegroundwiththepeople of Vitry inside.14Louis’ captains found himshaking and unable to speakfollowingthedisasteratVitry

and he remained in a trance-like state for two days.15Louis finally emerged fromhistranceachangedmanandinlatersummer1143appearsto have had a furtherbreakdown. He ordered thathishairbeshornlikethatofamonkandhetooktowearingmonastichabitsandspendinghours at prayer.16 ForEleanor, thischange inLouismust have been intolerable

anditispossiblethattherealproblems in their marriagedatefromtheVitrydisaster.Eleanor had troubles apart

from those concerningPetronilla. Early in hermarriage,Eleanorisknowntohave miscarried a child.17Following this Eleanor doesnot seem to have conceivedand by 1144 she wasconcerned. On 10 JuneEleanor met privately with

the churchman Bernard ofClairvaux and asked for hishelp in lifting theexcommunication on Raouland Petronilla. Bernardreproved Eleanor forinterferinginpoliticsandsheburst into tears saying sheonly did so because she hadnochild.Bernardthenofferedher a deal: if she desisted inherinterferenceinpolitics,hewouldaskGod to sendher a

child.18Eleanoraccepted thisand in 1145 she bore adaughter, Marie. A daughterwas not Eleanor preferencebut this was, at least, proofthat she was able to bearchildren.Following Vitry, Louis

grewsteadilymorepiousand,at Easter 1146, he undertookto go on crusade.19 Eleanor,whohadbythenspentseveraluneventful years in France,

musthavebeenanxioustobeincluded in this campaign.Insisting on taking part,Eleanor took the cross andonelegendholdsthatsheandher ladies dressed asAmazons and rode throughthe crowd, to encourageotherstojointhecrusade.20Itis likely thatEleanorsawthecrusade as a way of leavingbehind the monotony of herlife in France and her

unsatisfactory marriage toLouis. Certainly she threwherself into preparing for thecrusade and a number of herpersonal vassals took thecross. Louis and Eleanor setout for the Holy Land in1147.21Itwasnotunusualforwomen to go on crusade inthis period, although it hasbeen suggested that Louisloved Eleanor so much thathecouldnotbeartoleaveher

behind.22 It is, of course,possible that he did not trusther enough to leave herbehindunsupervised.Thereisno doubt that by 1146 anylove Eleanor had felt forLouishadevaporated.TheFrench army followed

the route towardsConstantinoplethatConradoftheGermanEmpirehadtakena few months earlier.23Throughout her life Eleanor

seems to have enjoyedtravellingand it is likely thatshewasexcitedaboutvisitingConstantinople. InConstantinople Eleanor andLouis were entertainedlavishly by the emperor andhiswife, being taken to visitshrinesandothersites.24Theemperor was, however,anxious to be rid of hisFrench guests and Eleanorand Louis soon set off again

for the Holy Land. It musthave been very disconcertingfor them when, soon afterleaving Constantinople, theyheardnewsthattheGermanicarmy had been decimated inthe Holy Land. The Frencharmy came into contact withseveral Germanic survivorsandwas joined inNovember1147bytheinjuredGermanicemperor, Conrad himself.Despite the worry caused by

the Germanic defeat, theFrench had no option but tofollow the same routetowardsAntioch.25In order to reach Antioch

the French had to crossMount Cadmos, where theGermans had sustained theirheavydefeat.Eleanorappearsto have ridden in thevanguard of the army,whichwas led by one of herAquitainian vassals.26 The

vanguard carried littleluggage and so was able tomove swiftly. On the day ofthe crossing, the vanguardreached the proposedcampsiteearlyanddecidedtopress on to the other side ofthemountain.Therearofthearmy, which was muchslower, reached the originalcampsiteasnightwas fallingandweredisconcertedtofindthat the vanguard was not

there. The Turks, seeing thatthe French armywas split intwo, attacked the rear,causing heavy losses. Louis’royal guard were killed andLouis himself, who foughtbravely, was only sparedbecause his simple clothesmeant he was notrecognised.27 Louis wasforced to spend the nighthiding in a tree beforelimping back to join the

vanguardinthemorningwiththe few other survivors. Thevanguardwasoblivioustothefate of the rest of the armyand Eleanormust have spentthe night worrying aboutwhathadbefallenLouis.Thedefeat was a disaster for thecrusadebutalsoforEleanor’sreputation. Almostimmediately, she waspersonally blamed for theambush, with rumours that

her enormous amount ofluggagehamperedtherearofthe army’s progress.28 Thisclaim seems unjustifiablesinceitisimpossiblethatonewoman’s luggage could havesloweddownan entire army.To the churchmenwhowerestruggling to establish whathad gone wrong on thecrusade,Eleanor,asawomanofalreadydubiousreputation,was a convenient and easy

target. There would havebeen nothing Eleanor couldhave done about thisportrayal of her and,regardless of her true actionsand the weak leadership ofthe French army, she willalwaysberememberedasthecause of the Frenchmisfortunes.Thearmywas leftwithno

food or water following theMountCadmosdefeatandthe

remainder of the crossingmust have been an ordeal.When the army finallyreachedAdalia, it was foundthat there was no food thereeither. Louis at first refusedtoabandonhisarmytotravelto Antioch by ship, but wasforced by his barons to doso.29 The royal couple sailedaway from Adalia leavingthousands of their menbehind, most of whom

starved or converted toIslam.30 It must have been arelievedEleanorwhosteppedashore at Antioch in March1148.31AntiochwasruledbyEleanor’suncle,RaymondofAquitainewholikeherfatherand grandfather was ahandsomeandwarlikeman–a contrast to Louis, and heand Eleanor seem to havespent a great deal of timetogether.Suchconduct led to

rumours and John ofSalisbury claimed that ‘theattentions paid by the princetothequeen,andhisconstant,indeed almost continuous,conversation with her,aroused the king’ssuspicions’.32 It is notimpossible that Eleanor andherunclewerelovers;thereisno doubt the scandalaccompanied Eleanorthroughout her life. Eleanor

certainly preferred thecompanyofRaymond to thatofLouisandduringtheirstayshe toldLouis shewished toremain in Antioch and havetheir marriage annulled.33This seems to have been thefirst time divorce wasmentioned and Louis wasdeeplyshocked.Heconsultedhis counsellors and was toldthathewouldbeshamedifheleft his wife behind. The

French therefore leftAntiochsecretly at night, takingEleanor with them as aprisonertoJerusalem.Eleanor must have been

furious at her treatment byLouis and seems to haveremained in disgracethroughout her time inJerusalem. The king andqueen finally set sail forhome with the 300 menremaining in their army in

April 1149, having failed towin any military victories.34It isperhapsindicativeof thestate of the royal marriagethatEleanorandLouissailedinseparateships.OnthewaybacktoFrance,

thecouplevisitedthePopeatTusculum.Theirpurposemayhave been to discuss theirmarriageandthePopetookitupon himself to reconcilethem, even going so far as

preparing a special bed forthem.35 Louis, whopreviously seems to havebeen uninterested in sexualintercourse, took this as asign of God’s approval and,in early summer 1150,Eleanor bore a seconddaughter,Alix.36Thebirthofanother daughter wassomething of a blessing toEleanor and even Louis’councilbegan to suggest that

Louis take a new wife whocouldbearhimason.To themale councillors it was, ofcourse, entirely Eleanor’sfault that Louis had no sonalthough,inonlyafewyears,Eleanor would be able todemonstrate that the problemwasnothers.Events began to move

more quickly for Eleanor inAugust 1151whenGeoffrey,CountofAnjou,andhis son,

Henry FitzEmpress, arrivedin Paris to perform homagefor Normandy. Henry wasover ten years younger thanEleanor and does not appeartohavebeenhandsome,beingdescribedashavingareddish,freckled complexion, largehead and stocky build.37However,toEleanor,hemusthave seemed an interestingproposition. According toWilliam of Newburgh,

‘Eleanor was extremelyirritated by the habits of theking, and claimed that shehad married a monk, not aking’.38UponmeetingHenry,she apparently longed todivorce Louis and marryhim.39. It seemsunlikely thatEleanor and Henry had theprivacytocommitadulteryinParisbutitislikelythatsomeagreement to marry in thefuture was reached between

them. It was claimed byGerald of Wales that Henry‘basely stole Queen Eleanorfrom his liege lord, Louis,king of the French, and thenmarriedher’,implyingthatanunderstanding had beenreached between Henry andEleanorbeforeherdivorce.40One person who was

apparently against theproposed marriage wasHenry’s father, Geoffrey.

Capgrave describes in hisChronicleofEngland:

Geoffrey Plantagenet warnedHenryhissonethatheschuldinnowiseweddeHelianoretheqwenofFrauns, for he told him in verytreuththatwhanhewasstewardofFrauns,anddwelledwiththekyng,he had comounde with the sameqwenoftetyme.41

Several other sources assertthat Eleanor and Geoffrey

committedadulterywitheachother.Theevidenceforthisiseven more tenuous than forEleanor’s supposed liaisonwithRaymondofAntioch. Itseems likely that rumours ofanaffairbetweenEleanorandher future father-in-lawwerebased on her notoriousreputation and the belief ofcontemporaries that she wascapable of any sexual sin,rather than the facts. To her

contemporaries, she hadalready proved herself anincestuousadulteresswithheruncle and it was not a greatstretchof the imaginationforthem to believe that she hadhad an affair with her futurefather-in-law. Eleanor wasprobablyasunconcernedwiththese rumours as herpredecessor Judith of Francehadbeen;similarlywouldshediscover just how firmly

rooted negative associationscouldbeforafemale.Following Henry’s

departure, Eleanor againraised the suggestion ofdivorce.This timeLouiswasprepared to consider thematter and, on 21 March1152, Eleanor and Louis’marriagewasannulledonthegrounds of consanguity.42The separation appears tohave been amicable and

Louis retained custody oftheir daughters. He did notknowofHenryandEleanor’splansandallowedEleanor toreturn home to Aquitaine.LouisandEleanorwerenevertomeet again. Following thedivorce,Eleanorsetouthometo Poitiers. She must havetravelled with a considerableescort, as Eleanor was onceagain the most desirableheiress in Europe. En route

she learnt of two separateambusheslaidforher,onebyTheobold of Blois and theother by Henry’s ownbrother, Geoffrey.43 Bothmen meant to kidnap andforcibly marry her andEleanormusthaveknownshewas in considerable danger.She probably uncomfortablyremembered the fate ofEmma of Limoges and shecannot have relished the

possibility of being forcedinto yet another arrangedmarriage.Itmusthavebeenagreat relief to arrive back inAquitainesafely.Henrywasalso journeying

secretly to Aquitaine and hearrived in Poitiers in mid-May, where he and Eleanorwere married. It is actuallyunlikely that the marriagewas a love match and itseems tohavebeenbasedon

political considerations.However, Eleanor probablyreflected that Henry wouldmake a more fulfillinghusbandthanLouishadbeen.The marriage was conductedwithgreatsecrecy.Louishadclearlybeenunawareof theirintentions. He had agreed todivorce Eleanor on the basisof consanguity because hebelieved their marriage wasagainstGod’swill.However,

Eleanor and Henry weremuchmoreclosely related toeachotherthansheandLouisand the latter was furiouswhen word reached him ofthe marriage. Louisapparently claimed thatHenry had basely stolen hiswife and immediatelyinvaded Normandy, only tobequicklyrepelledbyHenryand forced to retreatimpotentlytoParis.44Eleanor

must have known how hurtLouiswouldbeuponhearingof her marriage and it ispossible that there was anelement of revenge in herchoice of Louis’ greatestrival.45 The marriage alsoprovided personal fulfillmentfor Eleanor because on 17August 1153, she gave birthtoherfirstson.46ForEleanor,at thirty-one, this must havebeen a major source of

satisfaction and a majorreprooftoLouis.The first years of Eleanor

and Henry’s marriage weredominatedbyhisstruggleforthe crown of England andthey were often apart. ThedeathofKingStephen’s son,Eustace led to Henry beingnamed heir to England andthiswas amajor triumph forthe couple. In June of 1154Eleanor joined Henry in

Rouen then on the death ofStephen in December sailedfor England.47 Henry andEleanor were crownedtogetheratWestminsteron19December 1154 and inFebruary 1155 Eleanor boreher second son, Henry.48Eleanor must have felttriumphant.Henry and Eleanor ruled

vast lands inEnglandandonthecontinentandEleanorwas

expectedbyHenrytoplayanactive political role. Early in1156, Henry crossed toNormandyleavingEleanorasco-regent in England withRichard of Luci.49 Eleanorobviously performed the rolesatisfactorily and was left asregent again when Henrytravelled to Normandy in1158.50 Eleanor also hadsome influence over Henry,encouraging him to invade

Toulouse on her behalf in1159.51 This campaignproved a failure butdemonstrates Eleanor’scontinuing preoccupationwiththecounty.Despite the importance of

Eleanor’s politicalcontribution, her mainpurpose during the earlyyears of hermarriagewas tobearchildren.Hereldestson,William, died in 1156 but in

JuneofthatyearEleanorborea daughter, Matilda.52 Thisbirthwas followedatOxfordin September 1157 byRichard and then Geoffreyone year later. DaughtersEleanor and Joanna wereborn in 61 and 65 andEleanor’s last child, John,was born on Christmas Eve1166. After years ofchildlessness anddisappointment Eleanor must

have been delightedwith herchildren. Richard appears tohavebeenEleanor’sfavouriteand she named him heir toAquitaineathisbirth.Henry was also pleased

withthebirthsofhischildrenand proved to be a fondfather. Like Eleanor, he alsohad great plans for theirfutures and attempted toarrange grand marriages forthem.InAugust1158,Henry

crossed to France and sworefealtytoLouisforhisFrenchpossessions. Whilst he wasthere, he betrothed youngHenry to Marguerite, Louis’eldest daughter from hissecond marriage. Thisbetrothal was made forpolitical reasons and it isclearfromitstermsthatLouishadnotyet forgivenEleanor.It was usual for a betrothedgirltoberaisedbyherfuture

husband’s mother, but Louisstipulated that Margueriteshould not be placed inEleanor’s care, instead beingraised by a mutuallyacceptable Norman family.53Eveninhisprovisionsforhisdaughter,however,Louiswastobethwarted.In1160Henryhad the two infants broughttogether and marriedprematurelyinordertoclaimMarguerite’s dowry for

himself.54 Marguerite wasthen given over to Eleanor’scare.In the early years of their

marriage Eleanor and Henryworked together as aneffective team in ruling theirempire. However, relationsbetween them began to sourquickly,perhapsasaresultofHenry’s adultery. In around1165Henrybeganhisfamousand lengthy affair with

Rosamund Clifford.55 TheChristmas of that year wasthe first Eleanor and Henryhadspentapart,withEleanorat Angers and Henry atOxford. Eleanor probablydeeply resented RosamundClifford who proved a moreenduring rival than Henry’searliermorefleetingaffairs.Itwas rumoured that EleanorevenwentsofarastomurderRosamund in her jealousy:

according to legend, Henry,concerned for Rosamund’ssafety, built a speciallydesigned maze in which tohide his mistress. Eleanordiscovered the way throughthe maze with the use of athread and, in the centre,offeredRosamund thechoiceof a dagger or poison withwhich to kill herself;Rosamund chose the latter.56This story is clearly fantasy

and Rosamund is known tohaveretiredtoaconventafterher affair with Henry.However,itdoessuggestthatEleanor’s feelings againstRosamundwerestronganditis possible that this affairturnedEleanoragainstHenry.At Christmas 1167, Eleanorinformed Henry of herdecision to return toAquitaine, a move thatsignified an informal

separation. Eleanor spent theyears 1168 to 1173 rulingAquitainepersonally.In spite of the apparently

amicable nature of theseparation, over the yearsanimosity grew betweenEleanor and Henry. In 1170Henry succeeded in havingyoungHenry crowned as hisheir at Westminster andEleanor does not appear tohave been invited to the

coronation. Eleanor wasambitiousforallherchildrenand probably resented thiskeenly. Henry was also fondof his children but, unlikeEleanor,wasunabletoacceptthat they had grown up andneeded to be givenindependence. This led to agrowing resentment betweenHenry and his sons and, inApril 1173, they rose againsthim. Most contemporary

sources make it clear thatEleanor was considered aringleader in the revolt and,when Henry summoned herto join him at Easter 1173,she refused.57 TheArchbishop of Rouen alsothreatened Eleanor withexcommunication if sherefused to join her husbandbut still she remained inAquitaine, conspiring withher children and her ex-

husband. There is no doubtthatEleanor,asHenry’swife,received the greater share ofthe blame for the revolt andthiswasverydamagingtoherreputation. Eleanor wascertainly guilty of conspiringagainstHenrybuthehadalsotreated her badly through hisaffairs and her actions seem,to modern eyes,understandable, even if theywere not so excusable to her

contemporaries.By June, the rebellion had

spread throughout Henry’sFrench lands, with his sons,young Henry, Richard andGeoffrey, as activeparticipants.InAugustHenrystruck back and soonrecaptured his lands, makingpeace with Louis inSeptember. Eleanor was leftwithoutsupport inPoitiersasHenry marched towards her.

She cannot have relishedbeing captured by herhusband and shewould haveknown that she could expectno mercy from him. InSeptember she was capturedtrying to escape to FrancedressedasamanandbroughtasaprisonertoHenry.58Thismust have been one of thedarkestmomentsofEleanor’slife and it would have beendoubly worse for her

knowing that the man whohad brought her so low washer own husband, the hatedHenry. Perhaps at this pointEleanor looked back on hertimeasQueenofFrance andconsideredthatLouishadnotbeen so bad after all. HenrytookEleanorovertoEnglandwith him where she wasconfinedatSalisbury.Eleanor’s fortunes reached

their lowest ebb in 1173 and

she must have felt that thefuture looked bleak. Henrytalked openly of divorcingher and, in 1175, the papallegate was sent to her topersuade her to retire toFontevrault Abbey as itsAbbess.59 This would haveallowed Henry to bothremarry and keep control ofEleanor’s lands.As such thiswas unacceptable toEleanor,despite the only chance of

freedom it offered. Eleanortotally refused to agree to adivorce and remained incaptivity. Shemust have hadlittlehopeas, at elevenyearsHenry’s senior, she wasunlikelytosurvivehim.Eleanor spent the rest of

Henry’sreignaprisoner.Itislikelythatnewsdidreachherin her prison but she wasisolated from the world. In1179 Louis died. Whilst

Eleanor is unlikely to havegrievedfromhim,newsofhisdeathmusthaveremindedherofherownmortality andherown bleak future. A biggerblowreachedEleanorinJune1183 when Henry theyounger fell ill and diedsuddenly on the continent. Itis reported that his lastrequest was for his father toshow Eleanor mercy but sheremained a captive. In 1186

Eleanor suffered a furtherblow when her thirdsurviving son, Geoffrey, waskilled in a tournament inParis.60Eleanormusthaverealised

that she would never bereleased in Henry’s lifetimeandprobablyresignedherselftodie inprison.Theyearsofrebellion by his sons hadaffected Henry adversely,however. During the winter

of 1188 and 1189, Richardwas in open rebellion inalliancewithPhilipAugustus,theyoungkingofFrance.ByJuly 1189 Henry was ill andfinally defeated by his son.As part of the terms of hissurrender, Henry asked for alist of names of those whohad rebelled against him.Onseeingthatthefirstnamewasthat of his favourite son,John,Henryturnedhisfaceto

thewallanddied.61Eleanorisunlikelytohave

mourned for Henry and sheprobablywelcomedhisdeath.Her favourite son, Richard,succeeded to his father’slands unchallenged andimmediately sent word toEngland for Eleanor to bereleasedandappointedregentinhisabsence.62Thisprovedunnecessary; once word ofHenry’s death reached

England, Eleanor’s gaolersreleased her, presumablyrecognisingthatthenewkingwas unlikely to favour thosewho imprisoned his mother.After years of inactivity,Eleanor threw herself intopreparing England forRichard’s arrival. Richardwas not a familiar personagein England and Eleanorimmediately carried out anumber of acts in his name

withtheaimofincreasinghispopularity.Oneoftheseacts,probably also close to herown heart, was to order therelease of all prisoners inEngland.63 She also orderedthe removal of royal horsesfrom religious houses,thereby removing anexpensive and hatedburden.64Richard landed at

Portsmouth on 13 August

1189 and met Eleanor atWinchester.Theyhadnotmetfor several years and it musthave been an emotionalreunion.RichardandEleanorthen travelled slowly toLondon for his coronation.Richard was crowned on 3September in WestminsterAbbey.Eleanorhadarrangeda splendid ceremony and shetook a prominent place,dressedinsilkandfurs.65Itis

clear that Eleanorwas happyto resume her role of queenand was not prepared torelinquish her position toanyone. Nevertheless thisprobablysuitedRichardasheknew little of England andrelied on Eleanor to helpgovernhis newkingdom.Healso had no intention ofremaining in England forlong and quickly set aboutraising money to fund his

crusade.Eleanor’s release also saw

her reunited with heryoungest son, John. It hasoften been suggested thatEleanor hated John andcertainly she seems to havepreferred Richard. However,the surviving evidencesuggests that Eleanor was asambitiousforJohnasshewasfor the rest of her childrenand was prepared to support

his interests. When Richardwasreadytogooncrusadeheasked his brother John andHenry II’s illegitimate son,Geoffrey, to take oathsswearingthattheywouldstayout of England for threeyears.66 Richard of Devizeswrites how Eleanor beggedRichard to release John fromhis oath – hardly the actionsof a mother who hated herson.67 Nonetheless her

actions do seem to havefocused on her eldestsurviving son. Soon afterRichard left England for theHoly Land in December1189, Eleanor set out forNavarretofetchBerengaria,asisteroftheKingofNavarre,to marry Richard. They thentravelled together to SicilywhereEleanorleftBerengariawith Richard before rushingback to England where her

presencewasbadlyneeded.With both Richard and

Eleanor absent, John hadbegun to call himself theking’s heir and had himselfappointed supreme governorof England in Richard’sabsence.68 He also orderedthatallthecastlesinEnglandbe turned over to him,ignoring all Richard’sprovisions for the regency.EleanorlandedatPortsmouth

on 11 February 1192. Onhearing of his fearsomemother’s arrival, Johnattempted to flee to FrancebutEleanorswiftlypreventedhim.AccordingtoRichardofDevizes‘withallherstrengthshewanted tomakesure thatfaith would be kept betweenheryoungestsons,atleast,sothat their mother might diemore happily than theirfather, who had gone before

them’.69 Eleanor arrestedJohn’s Flemish mercenariesand closed the channel portstopreventanyfurthersupportarrivingforJohn.70Followingher arrival she also called anumber of councils and tookcontrol of the government ofEngland.Eleanormust have eagerly

awaited Richard’s return toEngland in order to put anend to John’s pretensions.

However, in January 1193,the devastating news reachedEngland that Richard hadbeen captured on his wayhome from the crusade.Eleanor immediatelydispatched the Abbots ofBoxley and Robertsbridge tothe Germanic states to findoutwhereRichardwasbeingheld.71 From them, Eleanorlearnt that Richard had beencaptured by the Duke of

Austria and handed over tothe Emperor Henry VI.EleanorcalledacouncilatStAlbans in June 1193 todiscussthetermsofRichard’sreleaseandtoappointofficersto collect the ransomdemanded by the emperor.She threw herself intosecuring Richard’s releaseand personally selected 200hostages from amongst thenobility to be sent to the

Germanicstates.72Eleanor also wrote two

remarkable letters to thePope,beggingforhisaidandexpressinghergrief.Thefirstbegan:

To the reverend Father and LordCelestine,bytheGraceofGod,thesupremePontiff,Eleanor,inGod’sanger,QueenofEngland,DuchessofNormandy, Countess ofAnjou,begs him to show himself to be afather to a pitiablemother. I have

decided to remain quiet in case afullness of heart and a passionategrief might elicit some wordagainst the chief of priests whichwas somewhat less than cautious,and I was therefore accused ofinsolenceandarrogance.Certainlygrief is not that different frominsanity while it is inflamed withitsownforce.Itdoesnotrecogniseamaster,isafraidofnoally,ithasno regard for anyone, and it doesnotsparethem–notevenyou.73

The second letter continues

on the same theme of griefand touched upon Eleanor’sdeadsons:

My insides have been torn out ofme, my family has been carriedoff, it has rolled past me; theYoung King [young Henry] andthe earl of Brittany [Geoffrey]sleep in the dust – theirmother issoill-fatedsheisforcedtolive,sothatwithoutcuresheistorturedbythememoryof the dead.As somecomfort,Istillhavetwosons,whoarealive today,butonly topunish

me, wretched and condemned.KingRichardisdetainedinchains;his brother John is killing thepeople of the prisoner’s kingdomwith his sword, he is ravaging thelandwithfires.74

These letters show moreabout Eleanor’s characterthan any other. Theydemonstrate her passionatenatureandthegreatgriefshefelt. Even by the 1190s,Eleanor had outlived her

generation and many of theyounger generation. Theseletters show clearly that shekeenly felt her age and thelosses which time hadinflicted on her. They alsoshow her as a very effectivepropagandist.Despite her pleas, Eleanor

received little help from thePope. Nonetheless by 1194the ransom was raised andEleanor and the Archbishop

ofRouenweresummonedbythe emperor to bring theransomtoSpeyer.75Eleanor’shopesofseeingRichardagainweredashed,however,on17January when the emperorannounced that he hadreceived an alternative offerfromKingPhilipAugustusofFrance and John to keepRichard in prison. It took allhernegotiatingskilltosecureRichard’s release later that

monthbyconvincingRichardto declare himself theemperor’s vassal. She thenreturned in triumph withRichard toEnglandwherehewas ceremonially recrownedatWinchester.Soon after the coronation,

Eleanor and Richard crossedto Normandy where Eleanorengineered a reconciliationbetween Richard and John.Eleanor must have felt

pleased about the work shehaddoneforhersonsbutshebegan to feel her age aroundthis time. Soon after thereconciliation she retired tothe Abbey of Fontrevaultwhereshemusthavehopedtolive quietly until her death.Eleanor rarely appears insources between 1194 and1199 and appears to havelivedasecludedreligiouslife.She did not, however, cut

herself off totally from theworld and was ready foractioninApril1199whenshereceived word that Richardwas lying dangerouslywounded at Chalus. Eleanortravelled day and night to bewith him but hewas beyondhelp when she arrived. Hedied in her arms on 6 April1199, having named John ashis heir.76 Despite the deepgrief she must have felt,

Eleanor immediately threwherself into securing thethrone for John. Thesuccession was disputedbetween John and hergrandson Arthur, son of herdead son Geoffrey ofBrittany. Eleanor was actingas John’s chief advisor in1199andadvisedhimtogoatonce toChinon to secure theroyal treasurybeforemeetingwith her at Niort. John then

crossed to England to becrowned whilst Eleanortouredher lands inAquitaineto ensure their support forJohn. In mid-June she eventravelled to Tours where shedid homage to PhilipAugustus for Aquitaine inorder to ensure that Arthurcould have no claim to theduchy.SoonaftertheChristmasof

1199, JohnandPhilipmet to

discussatruce.Itwasagreedthat in order to secure thetruce, John would supply abrideforPhilip’sson.Eleanortherefore set out on the longjourney to Castile to selectone of her daughter Eleanor,QueenofCastile’s,daughters.There she spent severalmonths, no doubtreacquaintingherselfwithherdaughter and meeting hergrandchildren, before

selecting the youngestdaughter, Blanche. Eleanorand Blanche then began tojourneytoNormandy,partingcompany when Eleanorunexpectedly decided toreturntoFontevrault.ItseemslikelythatEleanor,attheageof seventy-eight, had begunto feel the effects of anarduousjourneyandcouldgonofurther.Blanchecontinuedto Normandy where she was

metbyheruncle,KingJohn,andmarriedtothedauphinofFrance.77 Eleanor must havebeen pleased with the workshe had done in securing herandHenry’s empire for theirlastsurvivingson.Eleanor’s story does not

end with her secondretirement, however. ArthurofBrittanystillposedamajorthreat to Johnandmusthavebeenasourceofworrytohis

grandmother. In May 1202Eleanor decided to travel toPoitiers to help John in hiswar against Arthur. WhenArthur learnt that hisgrandmother had leftFontevrault, he immediatelyset out in pursuit in anattempt to capture her andEleanor found herselfbesieged in the flimsy castleofMirebeau.78Eleanor sent an urgent

message to John at LeMansbefore trying to delayArthurwith attempts at negotiation.This tactic had limited effecthoweverandbythetimeJohnarrived Eleanor was trappedin the keep with the rest ofthe castle occupied byArthur’smen.Johnhadforcemarched the eighty milesfrom Le Mans and caughtArthur by surprise.He sweptinto Mirebeau and won his

onlyvictoryonthecontinent,rescuing his mother andtaking Arthur prisoner.79Eleanor must have beenrelieved to see John andseemstohavegladlyreturnedto her retirement atFontrevault.Sheisunlikelytohave been sympathetic aboutthe fate of Arthur followinghisattackonheratMirebeau.He disappeared into John’sdungeons and was probably

murderedsoonafterwards.80Eleanor never emerged

from her third period ofretirement at Fontevrault. Atsome point in 1204 sheslipped into a comaanddiedon1April1204,agedeighty-two.81 Her deathmeant Johnlosthismostableadvisoranditmusthavebeenpainful forEleanor to watch himgradually lose the Angevinempirefromherretirementat

Fontevrault.Shediedatanancientagebythestandardsof the timeandshemayhavereflected,intheend, that she would berememberedasagreatqueen.Certainly, Eleanor ofAquitainewasapowerfulandinfluentialqueenandbroughtmuch to the role. However,shedidnotalwaysconformtothe behaviour expected of aqueen and, as such, has a

somewhat ambiguousreputation.EleanorofAquitainewasa

legend in her own lifetimeand her story is still ofimmense interest to readerstoday.ButEleanor has neverbeenuniversally admired.Tomedieval writers, she was awoman who interfered inpolitics when they did notconcernher.Thefactthatshewas the ruler of an

independent state which waslarger than the country ruledby her first husband wasimmaterial to hercontemporaries.Asamarriedwoman, it was for herhusbandtoruleherlandsandfor Eleanor to placidly obeyand bear children. In herrefusal to do this, Eleanorattractedunwelcomeattentionfrom the male chroniclers;influential churchmen, such

asBernardofClairvaux,wereno friends to her. As apowerful and independentwoman,Eleanorwas a threattomale rule, just as her firstthreats of divorce to Louisdirectlythreatenedhisdignityand kingship. To hercontemporaries, Eleanor wasan oddity and they couldeasilybelievethatshewasanadulteress and disloyal wifewith ambitious and

unwomanly characteristics.Like her mother-in-law, theEmpress Matilda, Eleanor ofAquitainewas awoman in aman’s world andconsequently her reputationsuffered. She is thereforeremembered as a notoriousqueen and an example ofwhat a queen should not be.Eleanor, as one of the mostvividwomenofthemedievalperiod, probably would not

havecared.LiketheEmpressMatilda, Eleanor is notuniversally criticised in thesources, and it is admittedthat she had some positivetraits. Her daughter-in-law,IsabellaofAngouleme,ontheother hand, is recorded tohave had no redeemingfeatures whatsoever and,unlike her more famousmother-in-law,isportrayedasa model of true queenly

wickedness.

‘MoreJezebelthanIsabel’

IsabellaofAngouleme

Isabella of Angouleme hasone of the most grim

reputations of any queen ofEngland. She led atumultuouslifethatwasfilledwithhighdramaand intrigueand shewas infamous acrossEurope even during herlifetime. Isabella isremembered today as anadulteress, a disloyal motherand a poisoner. Onecontemporary writer evenwentsofarastodescribeheras‘moreJezebelthanIsabel’.

Today, Isabella is considereddishonourable like hermother-in-law, Eleanor ofAquitaine, but with none ofthe olderwoman’s admirablequalities.Inshort,sheisseenasthesortofconsortthatherhusband, King John,deserved. There is no doubtthat Isabella was hated andfeared but how much shedeserved this amoralcharacterisation is debatable.

Isabella was the wife of thedisastrous and highlyunpopularKingJohnanditisnot surprising that much ofhis bad reputation infectedhers. She lived in turbulenttimes and, as a prominentlandowner in her own right,Isabellaoftenfoundherselfatthe mercy of the changingfortunes of the English andthe French on the continent.Therefore it is not entirely

surprisingthatshesometimessought to play the two offagainst each other in anattempttopreserveherlands.Although Isabella has beenunfairly blamed for the lossofEnglishlandsinFrance,inreality she suffered as muchfor this disaster as anyone.Shemerelyprovidedausefulscapegoat for criticism ofroyalpolicy.

Isabella was the only childand heiress ofAymer,Countof Angouleme. Her date ofbirth is not recorded, but herparents cannot have beenmarried before 1184. Theyare first recorded as marriedin 1191 and it is likely thatIsabella was very young atthe time of her marriage toJohn in 1200.1 She is oftendescribed as being twelveyears old in 1200 but since

thiswasthelegalearliestagefor marriage, this may havebeen an official age. It hasbeen suggested that Isabellawasasyoungaseightorninein1200.2Isabella’sfathertechnically

held Angouleme as a vassalof the duchy of Aquitaine.However, in reality,hehadagreat deal of independence.Hehadcausedtroubleduringthe reign of Richard I of

England, claimingindependence and doinghomage directly to PhilipAugustus.3 Count Aymer isknowntohaveentered intoamore formal alliance withPhilip Augustus soon afterJohn’saccession.4As part ofthisagreement,heabandonedhis claims to theneighbouring county of LeMarcheinfavourofHughdeLusignan.5 Isabella’s future

was also tied up in thisagreementand,inearly1200,Isabella was betrothed toHughdeLusignanandsenttoliveinhishouseholduntilshewas old enough to bemarried.6AmarriagebetweenIsabella and Hugh posed aserious political threat toJohn, who was at that timestill trying to impose hisauthority on his empire. Themerging of the counties of

Angouleme, La Marche andLusignan would split thelands of the duchy ofAquitaine in half, dividingGasconyfromPoitou.7ItwasthereforeverymuchinJohn’sinterests to stop themarriagebetweenIsabellaandHugh.It is often claimed that

John’s marriage to Isabellawasdrivenbylustwithallthecriticism of Isabella that thisimplies.8 In the summer of

1200 John set out on aprogress through Poitou.DuringhisprogresshevisitedtheLusignansatLeMarche.9JohnsawIsabellaforthefirsttime there and, according toreports, immediately lustedafter her, desiring her as hiswife. Isabella was, at most,twelve years old at this visitbut she is depicted bycontemporaries as a youngtemptress, fuelling the king’s

lust with her beauty andbetrayingherfiancé,HughdeLusignan. This is clearlyunrealistic; Isabella had hadno say in her betrothal toHugh, nor did she in herbetrothaltoJohn.HavingmetIsabella,JohnspoketoCountAymer discreetly about thematch and Aymer, eager forhis daughter to become aqueen, agreed to recall hisdaughter.10 John then sent

HughdeLusignantoEnglandon official business beforereturning secretly toAngouleme with theArchbishop of Bordeaux.11On 23August 1200, Isabellawas informed by her parentsthat she was to marry Johnthe next day. Her feelingsconcerning this are not clearand she must have beenbewildered at the suddenchange in her fortunes. Both

Hugh and John wereconsiderably older than herand she is unlikely to havebeen emotionally attached toeither man. It has beenclaimed that she wept andprotested12; equally, it hasbeen suggested that shegreatly desired to be aqueen.13 Whatever herfeelings, Isabellawould havehad no option but to gothrough with the marriage

and she was married on 24April1200atBordeaux.Following the marriage,

JohnandIsabellacrossed thechannel and were crownedtogether in WestminsterAbbey on 8 October 1200.14By the end of 1200 Johnprobablyfelthehadreasontocongratulate himself on thewayhehandledhismarriage.The Lusignans initially didnothing and Hugh accepted

Matilda of Angouleme,Isabella’s cousin, as analternative bride.15 Matildawas no compensation for theloss of Isabella’s county,however, and the insultrankled the Lusignans. In1201, trouble broke out inPoitou and John charged theLusignans with treason. TheLusignans turned to PhilipAugustus for support and, in1202, Philip declared that

Johnhad forfeitedAquitaine,Poitou and Anjou and gavethem to John’s rival, Arthurof Brittany.16 John seems tohave blamed Isabella for thelossofhisFrenchpossessionsandapparentlytoldherthisin1205.17 Sources also blameIsabella, claiming thatfollowingtheirmarriageJohnand Isabellawould lie inbedtogether rather than attend tobusiness, again suggesting

that Isabella’s precociouscharmskeptthekingfromhisproper duties.18 No sensibleblame can be attachedpersonally to the very youngIsabella and she is treatedonly as auseful scapegoat inthese sources. As a woman,Isabella would always beviewed with suspicion byboth the political leaders atJohn’s court and by maleclergymen, and it was

convenient to blame ahelpless child who in realityhad been forced into anarrangedmarriage. If anyoneshouldbeartheblameforthedefection of the Lusignans itis John and the underhandway in which he marriedIsabella. Isabella herself wasneveranactiveparticipant inthisbut,asawoman,shewasan easy target and therumours of John’s sexual

misconduct would alwaysattach themselves more toIsabella than to the king.Isabella never attained apolitical role in John’s reignbut her name will always beassociatedwiththelossoftheAngevin Empire due to theactionsthatotherstookonherbehalf.As well as being linked

with the disasters on thecontinent, Isabella was also

caught up personally in thewar.InJanuary1203shewasbesieged by rebels whilststayingatChinonCastle.Thismusthavebeenterrifyingandshe sent frantic messages toJohnbeggingforrescue.Johnsetouttorescueherbut,afterreachingLeMans,hebecamefearfulofbeingcapturedandinstead sent mercenaries toChinon.19 This must havebeen a frightening time for

Isabella and she must havefeltagreatdealofreliefatthearrival of John’s mercenaryforce. However it is justpossiblethatJohn’sfailuretocome to her aid in personhints at trouble in the royalmarriage. Only the yearbefore, John had gonepersonally to Mirabeau tofreehismotherwhenshewassimilarly besieged but, in1203, he apparently ratedhis

personal safety higher thanany dramatic gesture. Johncertainly did have reason tofear for his personal safetyand it is possible that thisinduced John and Isabella toleaveNormandyinDecember1203. John claimed that hewent to England to gathermore resources for hiscontinentalwars,butheneverreturned, leaving the bulk ofthe Angevin Empire to the

French king.20 John andIsabella must have spent asombre Christmas atCanterbury that year. InMarch 1204 they receivednews that Normandy hadfallen.21Isabella spentmuch of the

next few years travellingaround England with herhouseholdandwasnotgivenany role in government. In1202 Count Aymer had died

and Isabella inheritedAngouleme. She took littlepart in its government,however, with first hermother and then John’sofficials controlling thecounty. She did visitAngouleme during John’sexpeditionstoPoitouin1206and 1214 but it is likely thatthis was merely to establishan Angevin presence in thecounty.22 Certainly Isabella

had no active position inAngouleme during hermarriage to John and it isunlikely that thiswouldhavebeen permitted. She alsoplayed no role in John’sdispute with the papacy andher thoughts on hisexcommunicationin1209areunknown.23 This eventtogether with the InterdictimposedonEnglandbetween1208 and 1214 provide

examples of the politicalturmoilofJohn’sreign.John and Isabella’s

personal relationship alsodoesnotseemtohavebeenasuccess. John is known tohave had several illegitimatechildren with at least twoborn to noblewomen.24 In1214 John abducted thenoblewoman MatildaFitzWalter, forcing her tobecome his mistress.25 It is

likely that this action botharoused Isabella’s jealouslyand stirred up baronialopposition to John inEngland.SourcesalsorefertoJohn’s ‘lady friends’, one ofwhomhesentrosestoinJune1212.26ItseemsprobablethatJohn took mistressesthroughout his marriage toIsabella, something that awoman as strong-willed asIsabellacannothaveaccepted

easily. For hercontemporaries of theopposite sex however maleinfidelitywas acceptable andIsabella would have beenexpected to simply ignoreJohn’s conduct. The onlyreason he was chastised forhisaffairswashispreferencefor abducting noblewomen,the implication being that hecould have relations withwomen of lower status with

impunity. However as is thenormforthemedievalperiod,there was one standard formen and quite another forwomen. Although John haslargely escaped censure forhis affairs, a great deal ofIsabella’s poor reputationstems from her supposedinfidelity. A contemporary,MatthewParis, described heras guilty of adultery, sorceryand incest.27 One suggested

lover is Isabella’s own half-brother, Peter de Joigny, andthis would account for theaccusation of incest. Petervisited England in 1215 andpossibly1207soIsabellaandherbrothermayhaveformedacloserelationshipwitheachother.28 However Isabellawas mostly pregnant duringhis visits and it is amark ofher unpopularity that thissuggestionhasbeenmade.A

further story grotesquelynarrateshowJohnhadoneofIsabella’s lovers strangledand his corpse suspendedover her bed.29 There wasprobably little affectionbetween John and Isabella.Shewasnotmentionedinhiswill and, after his death,Isabella issued threeperfunctory charters for hissoul then never mentionedhim again.30 She may also

havetakenloversduringtheirmarriage; if so, she was nomore at fault than herhusband but because of hersex, such accusations wereenoughtodamnher.Isabella had little contact

with her children by John. Itis unclear whether this washer choice or not but shenever seems to have built arelationship with them. Theeldest, Henry, was placed in

the household of the Bishopof Winchester in 1212 andwas joined by his youngestsister, Eleanor, in 1216.31Neitherwereher secondson,Richard, and daughter,Isabella, raised by theirmother.DuringJohn’sPoitoucampaign in 1214 Isabellaalso lost custody of her finaldaughter,Joanna.Aspartofapeace agreement with Hughde Lusignan, Joanna was

betrothed to Hugh’s son,Hugh the Younger, and sentto be raised inLeMarche asIsabella had been.32 Isabellawas never given theopportunitytobeamothertoherchildrenintheirformativeyears.Theseearlyseparationsand, perhaps, dislike of theirfather, may have beenmajorfactors in Isabella’ssubsequent conduct towardsherchildren.

The last few years ofJohn’s reign were racked bycivil war in England. It hasbeen suggested that Isabellawas imprisoned by Johnduring these years but it ismore likely that this refers toher being guarded for herown protection.33 Isabellawas one of the mostunpopular figures in John’sregime and underconsiderable threat from the

people of England. Isabellaspent the lastyearsof John’sreign in the relative safetyoftheWest Country.34 In early1216John’srelationswithhisbarons took a turn for theworst when they held acouncilinwhichtheydecidedtoelecttheDauphin,LouisofFrance, as king.35 Louislanded at Thanet on 20May1216 and quickly tookRochester Castle. He was

received with joy in Londonand by autumn 1216,controlled most of southernEngland.36 News of Louis’progress must have filledIsabella with dread as shewaitedinBristol.Inthemidstofthischaos,Johndiedon18October1216andwasburiedatWorcester.37WhennewsreachedBristol

of John’s death, Isabellaimmediately showed the

strength of character thatwould underpin herwidowhood.Isabellatravelledat once to Gloucester whereher nine-year-old son, HenryIII,hadbeenbrought.Hewashastily crowned on 28October, with one ofIsabella’s gold collars.38Despite this decisive action,Isabella was not given aposition in the regency andWilliam Marshall was

appointed regent at a councilthe following day.39 Thismust have been galling forher but it is, once again, ameasure of her unpopularityin England and ademonstrationofherinabilityto build a political party ofher own during her time asQueenofEngland.Certainly,Isabella’spositioninEnglandfollowing John’s death doesnotappeartohavebeengood.

Denied any political role,Isabella also seems to havehad trouble securing herproperty.40 This explainsIsabella’s decision to returnto Angouleme in June 1217,leaving her children inEngland.Isabella’sbehaviouronher

return toAngouleme in1217illustrates her forceful andindependent character. Shequickly established her

lordship in Angouleme,gaining control over Cognaceven, a region which hadbeenlosttoAngoulemeinthe1180s.41 The Englishminority council seem tohave expected Isabella togovern Angouleme for thebenefit of Henry III, but, in1220, Isabella once againdemonstrated her self-direction, marrying Hugh deLusignan, son of her former

fiancéand themanbetrothedto her own daughter, Joanna.Isabella appears to have hadno qualms about robbing herdaughterofherfiancéandshemay have reasoned that thesame had happened to herwhen she was a young girland that, after years of alovelessmarriagetoJohn,shedeserveda littlehappiness. ItislikelythatIsabella’ssecondmarriage was basedmore on

personal liking thanher first.The elder Hugh had been awidower with children whenhe was betrothed to Isabellaand the young Isabella maywell have got to know theyounger Hugh when shejoinedhisfather’shousehold.Perhaps they rememberedeachotherfondlyand,inanyevent, Isabella would haveknown the value of analliance between herself and

Hugh territorially. Isabellawould also have known thather marriage would not belooked upon favourably inEngland and her letter toHenry III, explaining heractions, provides a strongindicationofhercharacter:

We hereby signify to you thatwhentheCountsofMarchandEudepartedthislife,thelordHughdeLusignan remained alone andwithout heirs in Poitou, and his

friends would not permit that ourdaughtershouldbeunitedtohiminmarriage, because her age is sotender, but counselled him to takea wife from whom he mightspeedily hope for an heir; and itwasproposedthatheshouldtakeawife in France, which if he haddone, all your land in Poitou andGascony would be lost. We,therefore,seeingthegreatperilthatmight accrue if that marriageshould take place, when ourcounsellors could give us noadvice, ourselvesmarried the saidHugh, count of March; and God

knowswe did this rather for yourbenefitthanourown.42

The reasons Isabella gives toexplain her marriage seemimplausible. It is clear that itwas Isabella’s own desire tomarry Hugh and her excuseswere merely an attempt toavertHenry’sangerandtrytopersuade him that she wasactually acting in his bestinterests. BymarryingHugh,

however, Isabella created thevery political crisis that Johnsought to avert by marryingIsabellain1200.Itispossiblethat, in her second marriage,Isabella also allowed herselfto enjoy a little revenge atJohn’sexpenseand,certainly,she had never been welltreated in England. It isthereforeeasytoseewhyshemight not have proved loyalto a country where she had

beensounhappy.Isabella’s excuses

convinced no one and hermarriage caused anger inHenry’s minority council,who responded byconfiscatingIsabella’sdower.Inretaliation,Isabellarefusedto release her daughterJoanna,Hugh’sjiltedfiancée,until her rights werereinstated,essentiallykeepingthe girl as a hostage.43 The

dispute dragged on untilOctober1220whenHenryIIIfinally agreed to reinstateIsabella’s dower. Hugh thenescorted Joanna to LaRochellewhereshewastakenback into English custody.44The negotiations followingIsabella’s marriage show herto be a shrewd negotiator.Theincidentwasalsothefirstindicationofthetroubledandmanipulative relationships

Isabellawould havewith herEnglish children and it isclear, from her behaviour,that she saw Joanna as abargaining chip in herattempts to get what shewanted.Again, however, shehad also never been allowedmuch contact with herEnglishchildrenandshemaywell have reasoned that theycould fend for themselveswithout theirmother, as they

had always done. In anyevent Isabella’s relationshipwith Henry’s minoritycouncil was tense; in 1224sheandHughdefectedtotheFrench and Isabella wasgranted a pension in returnfor her dower lands forfeitedin England. In 1230 Isabellaentered into anotheragreement with France atHenry’s expense, increasingthe size of her pension.45

There is evidence that, from1228,HenryIII’sgovernmentwere petitioning the Pope toannul Isabella’s marriage toHugh.This,however,cametonothing.46It is likely that Isabella’s

second marriage was moresatisfying than her first. Sheand Hugh enjoyed a moreequal relationship, issuingcharters together.47 Isabellaalso had a great deal of

influence over Hugh. Forexample in June 1241 Hughswore fealty to the Frenchcandidate for Count ofPoitou,atitletowhichHenryIII also laid claim.48 Thisenraged Isabella, who hadalso been slighted by theQueen of France when sheattendedcourtatPoitiers;shewasnotinclinedtomakeanyfurther agreements with theFrench crown.49 Furious at

her husband’s conduct,Isabella stripped LusignanCastle of its furnishings andreturned to her own castle atAngouleme with Hugh’spossessions. Hearing of hiswife’s activities, Hughfollowed, but Isabella wouldnotadmithimtothecastleforthree days, forcing him tosleepinabuildinginfrontofthecastle.When Hugh was finally

admitted,Isabellaabusedhimfor supporting an alternativeCount of Poitou to her sonHenry.50 This obviously hadaneffect–atChristmas1241,Hugh declared himselfagainst the French andpersuaded Henry to join amilitaryexpeditiontoPoitou.The English army, led by

Henry III and his brotherRichard, sailed on 9 May1242. No evidence survives

ofIsabella’sreunionwithhertwo English sons. It seemslikely that it was a tensemeetinggiventhetwenty-fiveyears since she had last seenthem and her politicalactivities during that period.Certainly Henry and Richardare likely to have turnedagainst their mother duringthe campaign, when HughdesertedthemfortheFrench.The English campaignwas a

disaster and Henry barelyescaped with his life,returning to Englanddefeated. Henry’s disastrouscampaign opened Isabella’seyes to the reality of thepolitical situation in Europeand she resigned herself tothe fact that her sons couldnotdefeattheFrenchforher.Isabella therefore decided totake matters into her ownhandsand, in1244,assassins

were captured in the royalkitchens trying to poisonLouis IX’s food. Whenquestioned, the menconfessed that they had beensent by Isabella and there isnoevidencethatIsabellaeverattempted to deny thischarge.51Isabellawouldhaveknown that a militarycampaign against Louis wasno longer a possibilitywithout English backing and

shemayhaveconsideredthatthe death of Louis wouldenable her to hold her landsmore securely. Poisoning,however, was a grievous sinand Isabella would haverealised that with the crimediscovered she would behunted down. When Isabellawas informed of the arrestsshe threatened to kill herselfwith a dagger before beingrestrained.52 She then fled to

Fontevrault Abbey, seekingsanctuary from her pursuers.Isabella spent her last yearssafely immured in theAbbeyand died there on 4 June1246.53

In England, news ofIsabella’sdeathwasmetwithabriefdisplayofmourning.Itis, however, unlikely thatIsabella’s English childrenfeltrealgriefalthoughHenry

did extend a warm welcometosomeofIsabella’schildrenby Hugh who arrived inEngland in1247.54Theeightchildren Isabella bore Hughde Lusignan proved a majorsource of tension in Englandduringthereignoftheirhalf-brotherHenry III and it is astheir mother that Isabella isnowprimarilyremembered.55Isabella’s children by Hughalso seem to have been born

with Isabella’s gift forpolitical intrigue, whichHenry III failed to inherit,and theywere toprove tobemajor political rivals toHenry’s own queen, EleanorofProvence.Isabella of Angouleme is

not the most ill-famed ofEnglish queens but she isremembered as among theworst. Bad King John andIsabella of Angouleme were

described in the sources as awell-matched couple – bothwere portrayed as deviousand self-interested figures.Isabella of Angouleme’slegacy is so disreputable thatit is now difficult to see thereal woman behind thischaracterisation. There is nodoubtthatIsabellaoftenactedin a self-interested way,sometimes at the expense ofherownchildren,butshewas

born into a difficult politicalsituation in Europe. She hadto fight to maintain herposition throughout herlifetime, a situation likely toincline most people towardsselfishness. Until she arrivedin Angouleme in 1217,Isabella was essentiallypowerless in every aspect ofherlife.Shehadnosayinherfirst marriage, no say in theupbringing of her children

and she had no say in thegovernment of her husband’skingdomorherownlands.Itisthereforenotsurprisingthatshe grasped her freedomeagerly. She proved hercapacity for effective rulingin Angouleme. It is alsopossible to see Isabellaattempting to help her eldestson in her later life, even ifthese attempts, such asencouragingHenry’s ill-fated

campaign and trying tomurder the King of France,were ultimately harmful.When the facts of Isabella’slife are analysed she can,perhaps,besaidtohavebeenanunsuccessfulqueen, ratherthan a wicked one.Presumably recognising herfailureintherolein1217,sheresolved to build a life forherself even if it furtherdamaged her reputation.

There is no doubt thatIsabella was hated andwhateverthetruthofherlife,to the chroniclers and laterwriters she had few of theredeeming features of herdaughter-in-law, Eleanor ofProvence, who althoughnotorious, is noted for herdevotiontoherfamily,orhergranddaughter-in-law,Eleanor of Castile, whoenjoyed a remarkably happy

marriage. Although thesewomen were attributed withdubious morality, neithersuffered the iniquitous imagebornebyIsabella.

Nepotism&Greed

EleanorofProvence&EleanorofCastile

Far from now representingthemostill-famedofEnglishqueens, Eleanor of Provenceand her daughter-in-law,Eleanor of Castile, areremembered favourably, thelatter having often beenpresented as the model of agood queen since the latemedieval period. Howeverthis has not always been thecase. Their unpopularity didnot surpass that of women

such as Isabella ofAngouleme and Isabella ofFrance, but during theirlifetimes in England theyweretwoofthemostscornedEnglish medieval queens.Eleanor of Provence wasphysically attacked by aLondon mob and Eleanor ofCastile was the subject ofmuch grumbling from thepopulation throughout herreign. The ostracisation of

both women derived fromideas of their foreign birth,together with the immigrantsthattheirpresenceattractedtoEngland.EleanorofProvencewas remembered for themanypenniless relativeswhojoined her in England andwhom she attempted toadvance through patronage;nor was nepotism an alienconcept for Eleanor ofCastile. Both are also

portrayed in sources asinsatiably greedy, strippingthe country of resources fortheir own profit. Althoughtwo very different women,theirstoriesandtheproblemstheyencounteredestablishingthemselves in a foreigncountryrunparallel.Withtheloss of the Angevin Empire,England had become moreinsular with more stronglydefined ideas of what

constituted a ‘foreigner’. Asnatives of France and Spainrespectively, both Eleanorswere considered foreign inEnglandandtheyexperiencedall the suspicion anddisapprovalthisbrought.

Eleanor of Provence was thesecondoffourdaughtersbornto Count Raymond Berengarof Provence and his wife,Beatrice ofSavoy.1 The four

sisters were all legendarybeauties and this attractedhigh-rankingsuitors,ensuringthat all four became queens.Eleanor’s elder sister,Margaret, married Louis IXof France when Eleanor wasstill young and thismarriageserved to increase Eleanor’sown value on the marriagemarket. Although nothingsurvives of Eleanor’s earlylife, legend suggests that she

attempted to take her futureinto her own hands.According to one account,Eleanorcomposedaromanticpoem about a legendaryCornish hero which she senttoRichard,EarlofCornwall,the brother of Henry III ofEngland.2 If Eleanor didindeed write this poem herintention may have been tobring herself to the attentionof one of the most powerful

men in Europe and, if thiswas the case, it succeeded.The story continues: Richardwas impressed by the poemand, knowing that his elderbrotherhadbeenunsuccessfulin finding his own bride,suggested that he marry thebeautiful Eleanor. The ideaappealedtoHenryandhewasso impressed with reports ofEleanor’s beauty andcharacter that he privately

instructed his envoys tonegotiate amarriage contracteven if she brought nodowry.3Eleanorwasapproximately

thirteen at the time of hermarriageandmusthavebeenapprehensive when shelanded at Dover in January1236.4 Her family wasunusuallycloseandshemusthave missed her parents andsisters. She may have had

some consolation from thefactthatheruncle,WilliamofSavoy, accompanied her toEnglandandshequicklytriedtoshowhergratitudetowardshim. Perhaps at Eleanor’srequest,Williambecame oneof Henry’s chief counsellorsand Henry also attempted tomake him Bishop ofWinchester.5 For Eleanor, itmust have seemed onlynatural toattempt toadvance

her relatives in her newhome.However, almost fromthe outset there appear tohave been hostileundercurrentsaboutEleanor’sforeignbirthandthestrangersshe brought with her.Eleanor, however, would nothave been aware of this onher arrival in 1236 and shemust have been anxious tomeethernewhusband.HenrywasovertwiceEleanor’sage

but made an effort to ensurethat his young wife wascomfortable and happy. Thepair quickly became close.Eleanor must certainly havebeen hopeful for the futurewhen she and Henry weremarried at Canterbury on 14January 1236.6 Eleanor wascrowned soon afterwards inWestminster Abbey,appearing richly adorned inthe jewels that Henry had

giventoher.7EleanorandHenryquickly

settled into married life and,throughout their lives, theywere renowned for theirexceptionally happymarriage. In spite of heryouth, however, Eleanorquickly came under pressureto produce an heir and therewere rumours across thecountry that she wasinfertile.8 Such accusations

cannothavebeeneasyfortheyoung Eleanor to deal withand it is likely that shecametolookmoreandmoretoherhusband and relations forsupport. Shemust have beenrelievedwhen, in June 1239,she gave birth to a healthyson who was baptisedEdward after Henry’sfavourite saint, Edward theConfessor.9 Eleanor musthave felt vindicated and the

following year she also gavebirth to a healthy daughter,named Margaret afterEleanor’s older sister, theQueenofFrance.Thesebirthswere followed in quicksuccession by two furtherhealthychildren,BeatriceandEdmund.Aswellasbeingrenowned

for their happy marriage,Eleanor and Henry are alsoremembered as being loving

parents to their children.Eleanor had enjoyed a closeand loving family life inchildhood and she took stepsto replicate this for her ownchildren. Edward, Eleanor’seldest son, remained devotedto his mother throughout hislifetime and Eleanor alsoretained a close relationshipwithherdaughtersevenaftertheir marriages. In 1253, forexample, Henry wrote to

Alexander of Scotland, thehusband of their daughterMargaret,askinghimtosendMargaretsouthwhilstbothheand Alexander were absentabroadsothatshecouldvisither mother.10 Eleanor musthave been greatly grievedwhen this request wasrefused.She andHenrywerealso distraught when theiryoungest child, Catherine,was bornwith a disability in

1253. The extent ofCatherine’s disability is notclear but both her parentsgave generous gifts to thechurch to pray for herhealth.11 They also providedtheir daughter with a finememorial when she diedbefore her fourth birthday.The illness and death of heryoungestchildmusthavehadaprofoundeffectonawomanas devoted to her family as

Eleanor and it may havemade her more determinedthan ever to promote thewelfare of her remainingchildren,atwhatevercost.Certainly, Eleanor’s

actions towards her childrendid,onoccasion,damageherreputation still further inEngland. In 1255, forexample, when Henry andEleanor received news thattheirdaughter,Margaret,was

being badly treated inScotland, the coupleimmediately droppedeverything and set off forScotland at the head of anarmy.12 They then broughtthe Queen of Scotland toEngland whilst theynegotiated for her bettertreatment. This actiondemonstrates Eleanor’sdevotionasamotherandwasentirelyunderstandable,butit

was also rash. This is alsoshown in the ‘SicilianBusiness’,aschemeinwhichEleanor became involved in1254.13 During that year thePope contacted Eleanor andHenry offering the crown ofSicily to their younger son,Edmund, if they would onlyconquer the island for him.The prospect of a crown forher son was too much forEleanor to resistandshewas

amajor driving force behindthe scheme, ensuring thatEdmund was officiallyinvested as King of Sicily atWestminster Abbey inOctober1255.14Howevernoteveryone in England was asconvinced as Eleanor by themerits of this expensivescheme. Nonetheless shecould not have actedwithoutHenry’s support and shouldnot be held wholly

responsibleforthescheme.Itmust have been a greatdisappointment when inNovember 1255, her uncle,Thomas of Savoy, acting asher envoy in the matter wascaptured and imprisoned inTurin. Eleanor immediatelyset about raising the ransom,but the setback signalled theendoftheSicilianBusiness.The Sicilian Business

damagedEleanor’sreputation

but, by the mid-1250s, shewas already deeplyunpopular. Throughout herlifetime, Eleanor showedherself anxious to advanceher relatives and this wasnoted and commented onfrom early in her marriage.Eleanorwasparticularlycloseto her mother’s family, theSavoyards, and on hermarriage they flocked toEngland.Over170Savoyards

are known to have visitedEngland during Eleanor’smarriage and at least 70settled, making them apowerful group amongst thehigher ranks of society inEngland.15 Eleanorencouraged Henry topatroniseherrelativesandheappears to have been willingto do so. In 1243 Eleanor’smother, Beatrice of Savoyvisitedandshewasrewarded

with a generous pension byher son-in-law.16 Eleanor’suncles, Amadeus of Savoyand Thomas of Savoy werealso granted pensions byHenry in the 1240s; in 1244another uncle, Boniface ofSavoy, was appointed asArchbishop of Canterbury.17Thesegrantssparkedjealousyamongst the English nobilityand the honours were notmerely limited to a financial

nature. Eleanor’s most ableuncle, Peter of Savoy,became one ofHenry’smosttrusted advisors and he wasalsogivenrichgrantsofland.Eleanor encouraged theEnglish nobility to arrangemarriages with theSavoyards,perhapsplayingapart in the marriage of heryounger sister, Sanchia, toHenry’s brother, Richard ofCornwall.18 On a personal

level, this marriage broughtEleanor’s much loved sisterinto her daily life however italso caused discontentamongst theEnglishnobility,whichshedoesnotappear tohavenoticed.The growing Savoyard

community in Englandcongregated around EleanorandsheconsideredherselftheleaderoftheSavoyardfactionatcourt.Shewouldhavebeen

perturbed when, in 1247,Henry’s four Lusignan half-brothers and a half-sisterarrived in England, seekingtheir brother’s protection andpatronage.19 Henry openlywelcomed his mother’schildrenandquicklysetaboutshowering them withpatronage as he hadpreviously done withEleanor’s family. One half-brother,William of Valance,

was permitted to marry theheiress of the Earl ofPembroke and another,Aymer de Lusignan, becameBishop of Winchester. AlicedeLusignanwasalsomarriedto the heir to the Earl ofSurrey, further strengtheningthe Lusignans’ position inEngland.NeitherEleanornorher closest ally, Peter ofSavoy, welcomed thesenewcomers and the court

divided into Lusignan andSavoyardfactions.Bothsidesresorted to dirty tricks to ridthemselvesoftheirrivalsandit is possible that theLusignans stirred up troublein Eleanor’s close marriage.According to Eleanor’scontemporary, MatthewParis, when the Lusignanswere exiled from England in1258, theyasked theKingofFranceforpermissiontoenter

hiskingdom:

But the King of France refused,being exasperated by a complaintmade against these Poitevins [theLusignans]bytheQueenofFranceto the effect that they hadshamefully scandalised anddefamed her sister, the Queen ofEngland.20

This was probably Eleanor’srevengeontheLusignansbutit is likely that their

defamation caused Eleanor’sreputationfurtherdamage.Eleanor’s interest in the

Savoyard faction and heropposition to the Lusignansgaveherapoliticalpositionatcourt and she retained aninterest inpolitics throughouther lifetime. In 1253, Henryleft England in order tocommand a militaryexpedition toGasconyand,acomplement to his wife’s

abilities, leftherasco-regentof England with his brother,Richard of Cornwall.21Eleanor threw herself intothis role enthusiastically,raising troops in England tojoin Henry in his campaignagainst the King of Castile’sinvasionofGascony.Perhapseager to aid Henry’scampaign on the continent,Eleanoralsobegan tostrictlyenforce tax on cargoes

loading and unloading atQueenhitheinEnglandandtoinsist upon her right toQueen’s gold payments fromfines owed to the crown.22These extra payments wouldhave bolstered Henry’sfinances in his campaign butthey also increased thehostility of the Londonerstowardsthequeen,ahostilitythatEleanorwouldlatercometo experience more directly.

In any event, Eleanor’s ruleas regentwasnotdestined tolast long and, in April 1254,shesetoutfromEnglandwithhereldestsonEdwardtoplayher part in the peace Henryhad negotiated for Gascony,exchanging war for amarriage.The crisis in Gascony had

arisenwhenAlfonsoX,Kingof Castile, claimed theterritory by virtue of his

descent from Eleanor ofAquitaine, through herdaughter,Eleanor.23Castile’sclaim to the province hadbeen intermittently raised forhalf a century by the 1250sbut, in late 1252, Alfonsorenewed his claim, invadingthe province. Henry III wasnot a warlike king and,although he travelled toGascony to conduct acampaign, on 15 May 1253,

heinstructedhisambassadorsto try to arrange a marriagewithCastileinordertoavoidhostilities.24 After longnegotiations, it was decidedthat Henry’s eldest son,Edward, would marryAlfonso’s twelve-year-oldhalf-sister, Eleanor. Eleanorof Castile must have waitedwith apprehension for thearrival of Edward and hismother but, unlike many

other medieval princesses,she was apparently lucky inthe husband chosen for herand the couple quicklybecame close, marrying atBurgos in Castile on 1November1254.25Soon after the wedding,

Eleanor of Castile andEdward returned to Gasconywhere they spent a yeargetting to know each otherand adapting to married

life.26 It is possible thatEleanor of Castile perceivedher mother-in-law’s poorreputation and shemay havedeliberately limited thenumber of Castilians whoaccompanied her to Englandin October 1255.Nevertheless her arrival didstir up another wave ofxenophobia in England.HenryIII,eagerforhisyoungdaughter-in-law to be

comfortable,hadtakenadvicefrom Eleanor’s half-brother,Sancho of Castile, to furnishher apartments in Castilianfashion.27 Eleanor wasprobably grateful for thecarpeted rooms she receivedfromHenry III but even thisgesturestirreduptroublewithfear that Eleanor’s arrivalwouldbeaccompaniedbyaninflux of foreigners as hermother-in-law’s had done. In

reality her foreign birth wasdamning and it seems likelythatanyactioncarriedoutbyEleanor would have beenwrong in the eyes of theEnglish.Eleanor of Castile appears

rarely in sources between1250 and 1260 and she mayhavespentmuchof this timegrowing up, learning thecustoms of her adoptedcountry. She may have had

some influenceoverEdward,and it is possible that sheapproved when, in 1258, hefinally broke away from hismother’s Savoyard factionand began allying himselfwith the Lusignans.28 Thiswas a deliberate act ofrebellion against hiscontrolling parents andEleanor of Provence musthave been deeplyworried byherson’sactions.Herdistress

would have increased when,in October 1259, Edwardannounced that he was nowallying himself with hisuncle, Simon de Montford,the leader of the baronswhoentered into rebellion againstHenryIII’srulein1258.Henry,likehisfather,King

John, had had trouble withthe barons for much of hisreign. This hostility erupteddramaticallyin1258,perhaps

catching both Henry III andEleanor of Provence bysurprise. In two parliamentsof that year, Henry wasforced to agree to thedemandsofthebarons,ashisfather had done, and to exilehis half-brothers, theLusignans.29 Eleanor ofProvence must have beenrelievedtoseethebackofthehated Lusignans but thatwould have been a small

consolation. Eleanor herselfwasalsoseenasanenemybythe barons and her lands andcastleswereseized.30Eleanorand Henry deeply resentedthe dominance of the baronsbuttherewaslittletheycoulddo. In 1260, Simon deMontford was in a strongenoughpositiontohavePeterof Savoy removed from theroyal council, somethingwhichmusthavebeendeeply

worrying for Eleanor. Oneconsolation must have beenEdward’s return to hisparents’ causebut, evenwithhis support, Henry andEleanor were forced toemploy foreign mercenariesand, in June 1263, theywithdrew to the Tower ofLondon.31Locked in the Tower of

London together, the futuremust have seemed bleak for

Eleanor and Henry and theyappear to have quarrelledabout the best way toapproach the situation. Thecouple were in a hopelesssituationandmatterscanonlyhavebeenmadeworsebythefact that they had no moneywith them and nobody inLondon would agree to givethem credit.32 Eleanor, whowas always active herself,maywell have felt frustrated

at Henry’s lack of activityand, when word reached herthat Edward had takenmatters into his own handsand stolen money from theNew Temple in London, sheapparently decided toabandon her husband andthrow in her lot with herson.33 According to theAnnalsofDunstable:

The queen left the Tower by the

ThamesonherwaytoWindsorbyboat and came to London Bridge;when the Londoners assailed herand hermen shamefullywith fouland base words and even castingstones;sothatfreedwithdifficultybythemayorofLondonanddrivenby necessity shewent back to theTower.34

Eleanor must have beenhorrified by the Londoners’reaction to her and perhapsthis was the first moment in

which she truly realised howunpopular she was. NoEnglish queen either beforeor after her was actuallyattacked by a mob andEleanor must have emergeddishevelled and bruised fromherordeal.The indignitiesofthe day were not over forEleanor, however, and,whenshearrivedbackattheTowershe found the gates barredagainst her on Henry’s

orders.35 Itmusthavebeenafurious and distraughtEleanor who was finallytakentolodgeattheBishop’spalace, although she andHenry appear to have beenreconciledsoonafterwards.As in other perilous times,

Eleanor immediately turnedtoherfamilyforhelpand, inSeptember1263,herbrother-in-law, Louis IX, summonedHenry, Eleanor and their

sons, along with Simon deMontford, to present theircasesbeforehiminFrance.36ThebaronsforcedHenryandEleanor to swear oaths thattheywouldreturntoEngland,but Eleanor clearly had nointentionofkeepingheroath.Henry and Eleanor laid anumber of complaints aboutde Montford before Louis,but there was little he coulddo. Soon after the meeting,

Henry and Edward returnedto England but Eleanor andEdmund, inviolationof theiroaths,refusedtoreturn.Henry and Edward were

not idle on their return toEngland and both set aboutraisinganarmyinanattempttodefeat thebarons.37On14May1264a royalarmy, fourtimes the size of the forcecommanded by deMontford,met the barons in Battle at

Lewes. Both Eleanor ofProvence and Eleanor ofCastile would have waitedanxiously for news of thisbattle, hoping for word of aroyalvictory.Itwasnottobe,however, and the Battle ofLewes proved to be a greatdisasterforHenryIII.Bytheendof thedayHenry III, hisbrother,RichardofCornwall,and Edward were allprisoners and it was left to

EleanorofProvencealone tocontinue the struggle againstthe barons.38 The royalwomen were clearlyconsideredapotentialdangerby the barons and this islikelytobeduetoEleanorofProvence’s reputation as aformidable woman. Theytook no chances and EleanorofCastilewasorderedtojoinHenryIIIinhisimprisonmentsothat thebaronscouldkeep

aneyeonher.39Thebaronswererighttobe

worried about Eleanor ofProvence’s activities and,soonafternewsof theBattleof Lewes reached her, shebegan collecting troops inorder to invade England.40News of this deeply troubledthe barons and theAnnals ofDunstabledescribeshow‘theking on their advice had hisletterssenttoalltheshiresof

England commanding all theadjacent sea coasts ofEngland tobeguardedby anample force of armed menagainst adversaries comingfrom foreign parts’.41 Newsof thisprobablyonly spurredEleanor on and she alsopersuaded the King andQueenofFrance toapproachthePopetoannulthebaron’sactions and toexcommunicatethem.42

In spite of the difficultiesof her position, Eleanorpressedonwithgatheringherforces and, by autumn 1264,shewasbasedontheFlemishcoast with a large army.43Eleanor was probablyconfident of victory againstthe barons and must haveimaginedthatshewouldlandin England in triumph.However, once again, badluck dogged her and storms

kepther trappedon thecoastfor several months. Eleanormusthavewatchedanxiouslyas she quickly ran out ofmoney and, with the last ofher funds, her army driftedaway, leaving her unable todo anything for Henry andEdward except watch,impotently, from France. Fora woman as active andresourceful as Eleanor ofProvence, this must have

been difficult to bear and itwould have been with relief,inMay1265, that she finallyheard that Edward hadescaped his captors and wasraising his own force inEngland.44On4August1265EdwardandthebaronsmetinbattleatEveshamand,duringthe day, Simon de Montfordwas killed, crushing thebaron’s resistance andrestoring Henry III to

power.45EleanorofProvencelanded at Dover on 1November 1265 to bereunited with her husbandandsonand toberestored toherpositionasqueen.46Although glad to return,

Eleanor of Provence wasnever to regain the sameinfluence that she had hadbeforethebaron’srevolt.Shemay, perhaps, have beencontentwiththisandtoallow

her daughter-in-law, Eleanorof Castile, more influence.Certainly, after the birth ofher first son, John, in July1266 and a second son,Henry, inMay1268,Eleanorof Castile’s position inEngland was secured.47 Thebirthsofthesesons,aswellasa number of daughters, alsoseems tohaveunited the twoEleanors and both Henry IIIandEleanorofProvencewere

doting grandparents, takingcustodyoftheirgrandchildrenwhenEdwardandEleanorofCastile decided to go oncrusadein1270.As the story of Eleanor of

Castile’s own ancestress,Eleanor of Aquitaine shows,it was not unheard of forwomen to accompany theirhusbands on crusade andEleanor of Castile wasadamantaboutaccompanying

Edward.Accordingtolegend,when attempts weremade todissuadeEleanor fromgoing,shereplied thatnooneoughtto separatehusbandandwifeand that, in any event, Syriawas as near to Heaven asEngland and Spain.48Whether or not these wereEleanor’s exact words, sheprobably said something tothat effect and Edward andEleanor of Castile were

devoted to each otherthroughout their marriage.Eleanor certainly sufferedemotional and physicalhardships whilst in the HolyLand, giving birth to twodaughters during thecampaign.49Thecrusadeisnotablefora

legend that has grown uparound Eleanor of Castile.Whilst theywere in theHolyLand, Edward was stabbed

twice by an assassin with apoisoned dagger before hewas able to overpower hisassailant and kill him.50Edward was grievouslyinjured in this attack and,according to some reports, itwas Eleanor herself whosavedhim.Camdenwrote:

When her husband wastreacherouslywounded by amoorwithapoyson’dsword,and rathergrewworsethanreceiv’danyease

bywhat the Physicians apply’d toit,shefoundoutaremedy,asnewandunheardof,asfullofloveandendearment for by reason of themalignity of the poison, herhusband’s wounds could notpossibly be clos’d: but she lick’dthem dayly with her own tongue,and suck’d out the venomoushumour, thinking it a mostdelicious liquor. By the powerwhereof,or ratherby thevirtueofa wife’s tenderness, she so drewout the poisonous matter, that hewas entirely cur’d of his wound,and she escap’d without catching

anyharm.What thencanbemorerare than thiswoman’s expressionof love? Or what can be moreadmirable? The tongue of a wife,anointed (if I may so say) withduty and love to her husband,draws from her beloved thosepoisonswhichcouldnotbedrawnby the most approv’d Physician,andwhatmanyandmostexquisitemedicinescouldnotdo,iseffectedpurelybytheloveofawife.51

ThestoryofEleanor suckingoutthepoisonfromEdward’s

wounds is one of the mostenduring that surrounds her.However, no version of thisstory is contemporary withEleanor. In fact, thosecontemporary sources whichmention the assassinationattempt on Edward present avery different picture of ahysterical Eleanor having tobecarriedfromEdward’stentso that his surgeons couldoperate.ThestoryofEleanor

sucking the poison fromEdward’s wounds fits wellwith the almost saintlyposthumous reputation thathas grown up around her.However, the image of ahysterical Eleanor fits moreaccuratelywith the reality ofher character. It is alsoentirely understandable andEleanor,whowascompletelydependent on Edward andappears to have loved him,

musthavebeenterrified.The assassination attempt

in June1272marked theendof Edward’s interest incrusading and, as soon as hewas well enough, the couplesetouttoreturntoEngland.52Eleanor was probablyrelieved. The couple movedin leisurely stages towardsEngland and it was whilstthey were staying in Sicilythey received the news that

their eldest son, John, andEdward’s father, Henry III,had died. Edward apparentlytook the death of his fathermuchharderthanthedeathofhis son although Eleanor’sfeelings are not recorded.By1272, she had already lostseveral daughters and thedeathofaninfantsonthatshehad not seen for two yearsmayhave had little effect onher. Certainly, both Edward

and Eleanor seem to havereasoned that they still hadone surviving son and thattheywerealsostillyoung.Inanyevent,duringthejourneyback to England, Eleanorbore a third son, Alphonso.Edward and Eleanor finallyarrivedback inEnglandon2August 1274 and werecrowned together inWestminsterAbbey.53Eleanor of Provence took

the deaths of hergrandchildren harder thantheirparentsdid.Sheretainedcustody of her grandson,Henry, after his parentsreturned to England and shewas with him when he diedon 14 October 1274.54 Thiswas in stark contrast to hisparentswho,althoughstayinginLondonatthetimeoftheireldest surviving son’s death,did not bother to make the

short trip to visit him atGuildford.55 They also didnot commission anymemorial masses for theirnext eldest son, Alphonso,whenhediedin1284,averyunusual omission for thattime.56 Eleanor of Castilespent the majority of hermarriage in childbearing andborearoundfifteenorsixteenchildren.57 To modern eyes,at least, neither she nor

Edward appear to have beenfond parents and they hadlittle involvement in theirchildren’s upbringing, forexample, sending theirdaughter,JoanofAcre, toberaised in Ponthieu byEleanor’smother.58 It is truethat Edward and Eleanor’scourt was extremely mobile,constantlymovingaroundthecountry. However, HenryIII’s court had also been

mobileandheandEleanorofProvence had always shownaninterestintheirchildrenina way that Edward I andEleanorofCastiledidnot.The children were,

however,asourceofcommoninterest between Eleanor ofProvence and Eleanor ofCastile in a relationship thatmight otherwise have beentense.AfterHenryIII’sdeath,Eleanor of Provence still

retained a keen interest inpoliticsandit ispossible thather influence over Edwardirked Eleanor of Castile.Certainly, Eleanor ofProvencewasunabletoletgoof her children, even whenthey were well and trulygrown up, as one letter thatshewrotetoEdwardshows:

Know,dear sire, thatwe aremostdesiroustohavegoodnewsofyourhealth and how things have been

withyousinceyouleftus.Weareletting you know that we are ingoodhealth,thanksbetoGod.Wehave left Gillingham sooner thanwe expected, because of thenoisomeness of the air, and thethickcloudsofsmokewhichriseinthe evenings and have come toMarlborough, arriving on theFriday after Michaelmas. Thanksbe to God we are in good health,andwegreatlydesire toknow thesameofyou.59

After the loss of her two

daughtersin1275,EleanorofProvence was probablyextremelyanxioustoknowofthe health of her survivingchildren.Her letter,however,shows a single-mindednessand forcefulness thatEleanorof Provence exhibitedthroughout her life and onethat nevermade her popular.This possessivenesswas alsoexhibited in her relationshipswithhergrandchildrenand,in

1285, the two womencertainly came into conflictwhen Eleanor of Provenceinsisted that hergranddaughter,Mary,becomeanunatAmesbury,inspiteofthe protestations of Mary’smother to the contrary.60Eleanor of Provence lived atthenunneryofAmesburyformost of the time after 1276and, in 1287, became a nunherself.61 She probably

wanted Mary to keep hercompany but such a movecertainly did not make herpopularwithherdaughter-in-law.Although Eleanor of

Castile’smainactivityduringher marriage waschildbearing, she is alsochiefly remembered for heracquisition of land. Thisbegan early in her marriageand she was apparently

determined to carve out alarge landholding in Englandatwhatevercost.Evenbeforeshe was queen, Eleanor hadan excellent grasp of thelandholdings in the countryandwasrelentlessinpursuingwhat she believed belongedtoher.A letterbyEleanor in1265 to John of Londonshows something of thisaspectofhercharacter:

Know that our lord the king gaveus the other day the manor ofBerewicwith its appurtenances, atthe solicitation of Sir Roger deLeyburn, and because it isappurtenant to theguardianshipofCantilupe,my lord has given it toanother, so that nothing of it isremittedtous,but thereisanothermanor close by in the county ofSomerset,which is at the town ofHeselbere, which belonged to SirWilliam theMarshal,who is deadand held it of the king in chief.Wherefore we would desire thatyou should ask of Sir John de

Kyrkbi if the guardianship of thatmanor is granted, and if it is not,them that you should pray SirRoger deLeyburn and theBishopof Bath on our behalf that theyshould procure from our lord theking that he grant us the manoruntil thecomingofageoftheheirofSirWilliam.And, if it isgiven,there is another manor in thecounty of Dorset, which is calledGerente, which belonged to SirWilliam de Keenes, who is dead,andheheldit inchiefof theking,wherefore we would that if wecannot have the other, you should

praythemonourbehalf that theseshould apply to the king to allowusthisone;themanorofHeselbereisworth less.And if neither, praySirRogerinthisway.TellhimthatthemanorofBerewicthatthekinggaveusathissuggestionhasbeentakenfromus,forthiswilltendtomake us seem less covetous; andsay the same to the bishop ofBath.62

If Eleanor hoped that shewould not be seen ascovetousinheracquisitionof

land,thenshedidnotsucceedbut quickly gained areputationacrossEnglandforgreed.Onepopular rhymeoftheperiodsumsup themoodinEnglandatthetime,saying‘thekinghewants togetourgold, the queen would likeour land to hold’.63 Eleanordisregarded the popularperceptionofher,neitherdidshe heed Archbishop Pechanof Canterbury when he

admonishedherforthesinofusury and warned her thatEdward’s harsh rule wasbeing blamed by the peoplesquarely on her influence.64The second charge was notreasonable since Eleanor ofCastile never managed toachieve political influenceover her husband. However,she was certainly guilty ofusury and greed and thedetails of her land

acquisitionsdonotmakeeasyreading.Eleanor appears to have

been happy to use anymethodspossibleinherquestfor land and she was notaverse to bending and evenbreaking the law in order toincrease her own wealth. In1278, for example, she wasable to acquire Leeds Castlein Kent from WilliamLeyburnbytakingoveradebt

which he owed to a Jewishmoneylender.65Onceshehadacquired the debt, Eleanorimmediately repossessed thecastle, which had been usedas security, giving the owneronly minimum compensationfor his loss. Eleanor’s landacquisition was very tied upwith Jewish moneylendersand,in1283,Edwardgrantedher thegoods andchattelsofcondemned Jews.66 This

certainly helped Eleanorincreaseherwealthbut itdidnot increase her popularityand her name came to beassociated with the hatedJewishmoneylenders.Eleanor’s agents also

committedanumberofharshactsinhernameandEleanor,although not personallyinvolved,would have knownwhat was happening and hersilence suggests that she

approved of her officials’actions. At Havering, forexample, Eleanor’s agentslimited local hunting rightsby extending her rabbitwarrens.Whentwelvetenantsprotested, they wereimprisoned.67 Eleanor’sagentsalsoseizedahouseonanother estate and had theowners imprisoned ontrumped up charges. Theirbabywas then dumped in its

cradle in the middle of theroad.68 Eleanor wasapparently unconcerned bytheseactionsandon theonlyrecorded occasion that shedismissed an official it wasfor his failure to generatesufficientrevenue.69EleanorofCastilealsohad

a reputation for having afierceandimplacabletemper.In 1279 Archbishop Pechanwrote to the nuns at

Headingham who wererefusing to admit a friend ofEleanor’s to their nunnery.70The Archbishop, whoapparently knew Eleanorwell, warned them that theywoulddowellnottocrossthequeen. In 1283, Eleanor alsothreatened to prosecute theBishop of Worcester for adebt she claimed he owedher.71Thebishopwasequallyadamant that there was no

debtbutEdward’s chancelloradvised him to pay heranyway ifheknewwhatwasgood for him. Clearly,EleanorofCastilewasknownas a domineering woman.Sometimes even Edward feltshehadgone too far, forcingher to relax a fine she hadimposed in 1283.72 EvenEleanor herself later came torealise that she had beenunjust and, on her deathbed,

begged Edward to makeamendsforheractionsforthegood of her immortal soul.Eleanor’s acquisitivenesswent beyond that of mostother medieval queens. Itmustalsobepointedout thatEdward benefited from hiswife’sacquisitionsandhedidnot work very hard toencourage moderation in herbehaviour.Herpoliciessuitedhim, but it is Eleanor who

bears the full blame.Similarly with Edward’sharshrule.ItseemsthattothepeopleofEngland,Edwardasa popular and English kingwasincapableofdoingwrongexceptattheinstigationofhisunpopularforeignqueen.Eleanor continued to

acquirelandrightupuntiltheend of her life and itwas anabiding interest for her.During1290, itbecameclear

that Eleanor’s health wasdeteriorating. In November1290, the court set out northon a progress and Eleanorinsisted on accompanyingEdward, as she had alwaysdone, not wanting to beparted from him. The courtmade slow progress,however,and, it seems likelythatthiswasduetoEleanor’spoor state of health. Theytried to reach Lincoln but,

duetoEleanor’sillness,wereforcedtostopatthemanorofHarbyanditwasthere,on28November1290,thatEleanorofCastiledied.Edward I was devastated

by the death of his wife andresolved to give her thegrandest memorial of anyEnglish queen. He had herbody transported slowly toWestminster and, at everyplaceherbodystayedfor the

night, he erected a cross inmemorialtoher,constructingtwelve in all.73 According toCamden, the crosses were ‘amonument which KingEdward I erected inmemorytoQueenEleanor,thedearesthusband to the most lovingwife’.74Thesetwelvecrosses,the most famous of whichwaserectedatCharingCross,in London, served as atestament to Edward’s

devotion and caught theimagination of people forseveral centuries afterwards.It was on the basis of thesecrosses thatEleanorachieveda posthumous reputationcompletely remote from thatwhichshehadenjoyedinlifeand, after her death, shewasportrayedasapiousqueen.75This is not how she wasviewed in her own time,however, and her reputation,

during her lifetime, was ofoneofthemostnotoriousandunpopular queens thatEnglandhadeverhad,justashermother-in-law,EleanorofProvence,wasalsoperceived.Eleanor of Provence

survived her daughter-in-lawby just over six months,dying at Amesbury on 24June 1291.76 She had alsobeen unpopular during herlifetime but, unlike her

daughter-in-law, wassurvived by no husband toprovide an extravagantmemorial to her. In her dayshe was seen in a negativelight by the people ofEngland and through herassociation with the troublesof Henry III’s reign theywouldneverhave judgedherto be a successful monarch.Tomoderneyes,at least, sheappears as one of the most

personally likeable of allmedieval queens. For bothwomen it is clear that theirrealcrimesweretheirforeignbirths.There isnodoubt thatatpoints theyactedunwiselyand even harshly, butsimilarly did their husbandsand many othercontemporaries. Thedifference is that, by thethirteenthcentury,kingswerebeginningtobeconsideredas

Englishmen. Queens on theother hand, who weregenerally brought from thecontinent, were not. Theywere therefore alien to theincreasingly insular countryand, as such, usefulscapegoatsandeasytargets.

Eleanor of Provence andEleanor of Castile weredeeplyunpopularduringtheirlifetimesandwerescornedas

poor queens by theircontemporaries. Over theyears Eleanor of Castile’sreputationcompletelyaltered,such that by the latermedievalperiodshewasusedas amodel of queenly virtueforotherwomentofollow.Itwas only much later that amore accurate picture of herlifeandreputationwasabletoemerge, providing a muchless likeable, butmuchmore

human, picture of the queen.Eleanor of Provence, on theother hand, received no suchattestation of her husband’sdevotion and retained animage of an unloved andunsuccessful queen untilrecently. Her reputation hasimproved in recentyearsandshe shows a likeable qualityinherdevotiontoherfamily.Neither queen, however,wasa success in their time and

this was largely due to theirforeign birth and theirapparent avariciousness.Eleanor of Provence wascertainly acquisitive for herfamily, procuring honoursand wealth for them at theexpense of others, andEleanor of Castile wasacquisitive for herself. Itamountedtothesamethingintheir contemporaries’ eyes,however, and both queens

were always ill-famed fortheir greed. However incomparison with Eleanor ofCastile’s own daughter-in-law, Isabella of France, thiswas a small matter and thetwo Eleanors’ notoriety palein comparison to that of theShe-WolfofFrance.

TheShe-WolfofFrance

IsabellaofFrance

With the exception, perhaps,of Aelfthryth, Isabella of

France has the worstreputation of any queen ofEngland. However, until1325, Isabella’s career wasthat of a traditional queenconsort and her career after1330 was mostly that of atraditional queen dowager.Isabella’s sullied reputationrests on the years between1325 and 1330 and theextraordinary course that shetook during that period,

leading to Isabella and herlover establishing themselvesasrulersofEnglandbehindapuppet king. There is nodoubtthatIsabellawentmuchfarther than any othermedieval queen and sherightly attracted a great dealof attention. However it isalso necessary to look at thecircumstances that causedIsabellatotaketheactionshedidin1326anditisclearthat

Isabellawas sorely tried.Foryears, Isabella attempted toplay the role of a good anddutifulqueenanditwasonlyafteryearsofprovocationthatshe finally snapped and tookunprecedented, and to many,damningaction.Itshouldalsonot be forgotten that shereceived the support of thecountry in her endeavours. Itwasonlylaterashersituationdegenerated that she became

the victim of her own famewith the irretrievable loss ofher reputation. Isabella ofFrancecarriedoutsomecrueland terrible actions but shewas driven into these andsupported,at leastfora time,by the entire country, onlylater being transformed from‘Isabella the Fair’ intoIsabella the She-Wolf ofFrance.

Isabella of France was theonly surviving daughter ofPhilip IV of France and hiswife, Jeanne, Queen ofNavarre. As the daughter oftwomonarchs,Isabellawouldhave been raised to have thehighest opinion of her ownstatusandshewasthoroughlyspoiledbyheradoringfather.Isabella enjoyed a cossetedupbringing and she wouldhaveknown, fromheryouth,

that shewasdestined tobeaqueen. Relations betweenFrance and England wereoften tense and, in 1298, thePope proposed a doublemarriage to cement analliancebetweenEnglandandFrance, with Edward Imarrying Isabella’s aunt,Margaret, and his sonmarrying the infant Isabella.1The first marriage occurredsoon afterwards, but

Isabella’swaspostponeduntilshe was older. Isabella wasformally betrothed by proxyto Prince Edward in May1303.2 Isabella probablyenjoyed being the centre ofattentionattheceremonyandshemusthavewonderedwhather absent future husbandwaslike.Edward, who was twelve

years older than Isabella,showed no interest in his

future bride and was onlyinterested in the politicaladvantages of the match.Isabella, as the daughter oftwosovereigns,wasthemosteligible princess of hergeneration. According toFroissart, she was also ‘oneofthegreatestbeautiesofhertime’andshemusthavebeenconfident in her ability toplease her husband.3 Shecame from a very good-

looking family and bothIsabella and her father Philipwere nicknamed ‘the Fair’.Throughout her lifetimeeveryone praised Isabella’sbeauty and her charms andshecannothavedoubted thatshe would be anything otherthan adored by Edward, asshewasbyeveryoneelse.Edward I of England died

in 1307 and Edward IIdecided to delay his

coronation until he couldshare it with Isabella. Soonafter his accession, Edwardcrossed to France and wasmet at Boulogne by Isabellaandherfather,Philip,aswellas many other members ofher family. Philip hadprovided Isabella with amagnificent trousseau forherwedding, including seventy-twoheaddressesandtwogoldcrowns.4 Isabellaalsoworea

richweddingdress,whichshepreservedallherlife.Edwardand Isabella were marriedwith great ceremony atBoulogne on 25 January1308.5 Isabella must haveseen her wedding as theculmination of her destinyand she had been preparingherself to be Queen ofEngland since her infancy.She is likely to have beenpleased with Edward as he

was, by all accounts, ahandsomeandcharmingman.Itisunlikelythat,atfirst,shenoticed anything unusualabout Edward’s behaviourtowards her, although someof his actions may havecaused concern to her fatherand her other relativespresent. Certainly, the factthatEdwardsenthisweddingpresentstohisfavourite,PiersGaveston, inEnglanddidnot

gounnoticedbytheFrench.6PiersGaveston had been a

member of Edward’shousehold since1300 andhequickly became Edward’smost intimate companion.7Their relationshiphadcausedEdward Imuch concern and,in February 1307, he hadbanished Gaveston, only forEdward II to immediatelyrecall him on his accession.Edward II is known to have

had an illegitimate son whowasbornbefore1307andsoheclearlydid,atleastononeoccasion, have a mistress.8There has been much debateover the exact nature of therelationship between Edwardand Gaveston. However,severalcontemporarysourceshint at an intimaterelationshipandmostmodernhistorians believe that therewas a homosexual

relationship between them.Edward relied on Gavestonand had left him regent ofEnglandwhenhetravelledtoFrancetomarryIsabella.ItisunlikelythatIsabellaknewofthis before her marriagealthough she may quicklyhave come to suspect thetruth after her arrival inEngland.Edwardand Isabella sailed

for England soon after the

wedding. Isabella must haveeagertovisithernewcountryand she would have beenshocked to discover theextent of Edward’s feelingsfor Gaveston when theylanded in England. As soonas the ship docked, Edwardran off the ship and flew toembrace Gaveston who waswaiting in the harbour.9Isabella had been escorted toEngland by her uncles, the

CountsofValoisandEvreuxand they were dismayed bythis incident, writingindignantly to her father inFrance.10 It is likely that thiswasthefirstIsabellaknewofEdward’s relationship withGavestonandthis,alongwiththe events of the next fewweeks, must have made herincreasinglyuneasy.The royal couple travelled

to London where they were

crowned together in greatceremony. This event mustalso have been marred forIsabella, however, asGavestonplayedaprominentrole in the ceremony andcaused offense amongst theEnglish barons by carryingthe royal crown before theking.11 Edward also sat withGaveston at the coronationbanquet that followed, ratherthan with Isabella.12 Isabella

was always keenly aware ofher royal dignity and theseslights would have weighedheavily on her mind. It wasalso around this time thatIsabella noticed Gavestonwearing the jewelsher fatherhad given to Edward as awedding present, somethingthat she wrote indignantly toherfatherabout.13Isabella was not the only

person to notice and resent

the prominence of Gaveston.Her uncles, the counts ofEvreuxandValoisreturnedtoFrance soon after thecoronationbringingreportsofthe poor reception Isabellahad met with in England.EdwardalsofacedoppositioninEngland and, according totheChronicleofLanercost:

Thepeopleof the country and theleadingmen complained loudly athis [Edward’s] coronation against

the aforesaid Piers, andunanimouslywishedthatheshouldbedeprivedofhisearldom;butthisthe king obstinately refused. Therumoursincreasedfromdaytoday,andengrossed the lips andearsofallmen,norwasthereonewhohadagoodwordeither for thekingorfor Piers. The chief men agreedunanimously in stronglydemanding that Piers should besent back into exile, foremostamongthembeingthenobleearlofLincoln and the young earl ofGloucester,whosesister,however,Piers had received inmarriage by

theking’sgift.14

From early in his reign withregard to this there had beenmuch opposition to Edwardand in June 1308 he wascompelled by parliament tosendGavestonintoexile.15Isabella must have been

elated to hear of Gaveston’sexile, and she spent moretime with Edward duringGaveston’s absence.16

Isabella and Edward alsoseem to have reached anunderstandingwitheachotherand even after Gaveston’sreturn they were oftentogether. She also seems tohavebeenongoodtermswithGaveston. It is probable thatIsabella was prepared toaccept Edward’s relationshipwith Gaveston in return forthe status of queen.By 1311she was probably aware of

the homosexual nature ofEdward’s relationship withGavestonbutwaspreparedtoignore it in return for goodtreatmentandthetrappingsofqueenship. She and Edwardalso developed some kind ofrelationshipduringthisperiodand by early 1312 she waspregnant.Despite the rapprochement

between Isabella andGaveston, his presence was

deeply resented by theEnglish nobility. Gavestonwasseenasanupstartbythemoreestablishednobilityandhated for his closerelationshipwiththeking.By1312, the barons wereactivelyworking towards thedestruction ofGaveston. Thetwo leadingbarons, theEarlsof Lancaster and Leicesterwere the maternal half-brothers of Isabella’s mother

and it has often beensuggested that they acted astheirniece’schampionsinthedestruction of Gaveston.17However, the evidence ofIsabella’s pregnancy and herimproved status suggest thatshe had come to accept thepresence of Gaveston. Shedoes not appear to haveidentified with her uncles’policies at this stage of herqueenship.

Midway through 1312,Isabella, Edward andGaveston set out northwardsforYork.18Whilst there theyheard the news that Thomasof Lancaster was secretlymarchingnorthwithanarmy,so they fled to Newcastle.Isabella would have knownthat shewasnot the focusofLancaster’s anger but theescape must have been anordeal for her. Soon after

their arrival, Edward andGaveston took ship toScarborough,leavingIsabellaunprotected at Newcastle.19Isabella left Newcastle soonafterwards, travelling to thesafety of Tynemouth Castleto await events. She musthavebeenveryanxiousaboutwhat the future would holdfor her unborn child and,perhaps,angryatEdwardandGaveston’sdesertionofher.

Isabella was not the focusof the baron’s wrath,however,andinsteadtheysetoff in pursuit of Gaveston.Soon after their voyage toScarborough, Edward andGaveston separated. Theywere never to see each otheragain. Gaveston was quicklyattacked and captured byLancaster and he was turnedovertothecontroloftheEarlof Pembroke.20 On 19 July

1312,hewastakenouttothecrossroads at Blacklow Hill,nearWarwick, and beheadedby the baronswithout trial.21Edward was furious at thedeath of his favourite butpowerless to take anyimmediate action against thebarons. Isabella’s feelingsabout the death of Gavestonare unclear, but it is likelythat she was not displeasedwith his now permanent

absence from Edward’s side.Some time after the murder,Isabella travelled slowlysouthtowardsWindsor.Isabella of France gave

birthtohereldestchildon13November 1312 at WindsorCastle.22 According to JohnCapgrave ‘many Frenschlordis, that were aboute hir,wold a clepid him Philippea,aftir the kyng of Frans: theEnglisch lordes wold have

himEdward.Thekinghadsogrete joy of this child newborn, that his heavinesse forPetir [Gaveston] cesedsome’.23 Isabella must havebeen triumphant in the birthof her son, even if she wasunable to name him Philip.By 1312 her career followedthat of a traditionalmedievalqueen and the birth of a soncemented her role. She alsogained a much greater

political role following herson’s birth and demonstrateda politically independentstreak on a number ofoccasions over the next fewyears.Isabella set herself up as a

peacemaker during Edward’stroubled reign. In early 1313she is mentioned in sourceswith the Earl of Gloucester,presiding over peacenegotiationsbetweenEdward

and the nobility.24 Isabellaattempted to reach acompromise between theopposing sides in thedisputein order to restore ameasureof stability in England. In1318sheisrecordedagainasapeacemakerinconcertwiththeEarlofHereford. Isabellaand the earl appear to haveachieved a measure ofsuccess in their endeavoursandthepeacenegotiationsled

to a Treatywith Lancaster.25For much of her queenship,Isabella quietly promotedEdward’s policies andensuredthatsomemeasureofstabilitywasmaintained.Isabella did not onlywork

forEdward,howeverbecauseshealsohadherownpoliticalinterests during the middlepart of Edward’s reign. Thiscan be clearly seen in heractions concerning the

election of the Bishop ofDurham in1317.26 Lancastersuggested one of his clerksfor the position and Edwardalso supported his owncandidate, Thomas deCobham. Isabella, ignoringthe wishes of both her uncleand her husband, supportedLewis de Beaumont, akinsman of hers and amember of her household.When the monks of Durham

elected one of their ownmonks, Isabella appealed toEdward on her knees on deBeaumont’s behalf. Edwardyielded to her pleas andrefused to elect the monks’candidate, securing theelection for de Beaumont.Isabella busied herself withsecuring Churchappointments for hersupporters and, in 1316, isknown tohavepetitioned the

Pope in an attempt to securethe election of her confessortotheseeofRochester.27Shealso enlisted the support ofthe King of France, despitethe fact that Edward hadalready written to the Popesupportinghisowncandidate.Clearly, Isabellawas used togettingherownway,andwasdetermined in what shewanted.Isabella also remained an

important political figure inrelationswithFrance.InMay1313,sheandEdwardvisitedtheFrenchcourt atParis andIsabella played an importantrole in political negotiationsbetween the two countries.Isabella must have beenpleased to see her familyagain after five years sinceshe is known to have beenfondofher family. Isabella’svisit may, however, have

been tainted by her concernregarding the behaviour ofher three sisters-in-law,Margaret, Blanche andJeanne of Burgundy.28Duringthevisit,Isabellagaveher three sisters-in-law silkpurses that she hadembroidered herself. In July1313, following their returnto England, Isabella andEdward held a banquetattended by several French

knights. During the banquet,Isabella noticed the pursesthat she had given toMargaret and Blanchehangingfromthebeltsoftwoknights.In February 1314, Isabella

returned to France withoutEdward in order to negotiateatreaty.29Itislikelythatshementioned her suspicions toher father whilst there and,soon after her return to

England in April, scandalrocked the royal family inFrance. Margaret andBlanche of Burgundy werefound to have been havingaffairs with the two knights,aided by their sister, Jeanne.Theknightsweretorturedandexecuted on the orders ofIsabella’sfatherandMargaretandBlanchesentencedtolifeimprisonment. Isabella’seldest brother, Louis,

immediately annulled hismarriage to Margaret anddisinherited his youngdaughter. Isabella was notpresentinFrancewhilsttheseevents occurred but she wasconsideredbycontemporariesto have been directlyinvolved in events and wasvilified for her disloyalty toher sisters-in-law.30 Thescandal led to the earliestcriticism of Isabella in the

sources and she certainlydoes not come out of thisincident as an entirelyattractive figure when it isviewedinthelightofherownsubsequent conduct. But atthe time she probablybelieved that she had servedher family and saved theprestige of the French royalhouse. It is alsounderstandable that Isabella,whowas fond of her family,

would not have wanted tostand by whilst her brotherswere cuckolded, particularlywhen the succession to thethroneofFrancewasatstake.Isabella’s marriage during

this period was, by contrast,scandal-free. Isabellaconceived children onlyoccasionally and it appearsthat she and Edward wererarely intimate with eachother. She did however bear

him three further childrenafter after the birth ofEdward.31 Isabella’sinfluenceoverEdwardduringthis period appears to havebeen widely recognised and,in1319,attemptsbytheScotstocapture Isabellawhilst shewas staying near Yorkhighlight the importance shewasseentohaveinEdward’sgovernment.32Nonetheless Isabella’s

position in government wasalways tenuous asdemonstrated by the rise ofthe Despensers. In the yearsimmediately after PiersGaveston’sdeathEdwarddidnothave a favourite at court.Afterafewyears,hebecamenotably fond of a father andson, both called HughDespenser. The elderDespenser had been animportant figure in

governmentsincethereignofEdwardIbuthisriseandthatof his son proved dramaticunder Edward II. Somecontemporary sources hint atthe relationship betweenEdward and the youngerDespenser and the actions ofIsabella herself towards herrival suggest strongly thattheir relationship washomosexual. The rise of thetwo new favourites cannot

have been welcome toIsabella and was the catalystfor the breakdown of hermarriage.The Despensers viewed

Isabella as a rival and theirattitude towards her wasconsistently hostile. In 1320,the elder Despenser refusedtopayIsabellamoneythatheowed her from the manor ofLechlade and, in 1321, theyoungerDespenserrefusedto

pay Isabella rents he owedher from Bristol.33 Thesewere calculated slightsagainstthequeenandEdwardrefused to act on Isabella’sprotests. Isabella must havefelt that her influence overEdward was slipping awayand she became increasinglymarginalised in Englishpolitics and court life. Shenevertheless remained loyalto Edward throughout the

early1320sdespiteincreasingbaronialopposition.In February 1321 the

baronsmetwithLancaster inorder to enlist his supportagainst the Despensers.Isabella must have beenanxious about the rise inbaronial discontent andretired to the Tower ofLondon in July to bear heryoungest child, Joan.34 Thismusthavebeenanordeal for

Isabellabutshestillremainedloyal to Edward and inOctober 1321 she played amajor role in providing apretext for him to make waronthebarons.Isabella departed on a

pilgrimage to Canterbury inlate 1321 and, on 2October,sheapproachedLeedsCastle,whichwaspartofherdower,intending to stay the night.Upon arrival, Isabella’s

stewardsweredeniedentrytothe castle by the wife of thecastellan and, when theyinsisted, the castle guardsbecame violent, killing someofIsabella’sattendants.35Thecastellan was a knownsupporterofthebaronsanditis likely that Isabella hadbeensenttoLeedsinordertoprovideanexcuseforEdwardto attack him.However, it isalso likely that Isabella was

genuinely shocked at theviolent response shemet andmay have harbouredresentment towards Edwardfor sending her there,effectively using her as bait.When Edward heard ofIsabella’sexperienceatLeedshe set out with an army ofLondoners to capture thecastle.Thecastlequicklyfelland thecastellanwashangedfromthegates.36Edwardthen

marched north where hemetthe barons in battle atBoroughbridge to win astunning victory. Isabella’suncle, Thomas of Lancaster,was taken prisoner andexecuted, poignantly in thesame manner used uponGaveston.Isabella’s feelings on the

death of her uncle wereprobablymixed.Hehadbeena thorn in the side of

Edward’s rule for years andshemayhavebelievedthathedeserved to die.However, ashiskinsmanshewasboundtobeaffrontedbythemannerofhisdeathandmusthavebeenuneasy at the powerLancaster’sdeathwouldgiveto the Despensers. Certainly,Isabella’s treatment inEngland deteriorated rapidlyafterLancaster’sexecution.RelationsbetweenEngland

andFrancehadbeendifficultfor some years duringEdward’s reignand, in1324,Isabella’s uncle, Charles ofValois, overran the Englishpossession of Gascony.37Edward retaliated on 28September by seizingIsabella’s lands and those offoreign monasteries.38SuspicionfellonIsabellaasaFrenchwoman and Edwardand theDespensers exploited

thistogainmorecontroloverthequeen.Herallowancehadalreadybeencutdramaticallyand, in late 1324, Isabella’sthree youngest children wereremoved from her custody.39The younger Despenser’swife was also ‘appointed, asit were, guardian of thequeen, and carried her seal;nor could the queen write toanybody without herknowledge: whereat my lady

the queen was equallyindignant and distressed, andtherefore wished to visit herbrother in France to seek aremedy’.40Isabellamusthavebeen furious at Edward’streatment of her after sixteenyears of loyal marriage andthis, in addition to allEdward’s other bad conducttowards her, would be anentirely understandablemotive for her to hate him.

She had, after all, done nowrong and had been a loyalqueen of England. Herimprisonment, on the pretextthatshewasaFrenchwoman,would therefore rightly haveinfuriatedher.Isabella kept her

resentment hidden andEdward’s actions show thathe did not regard her as athreat, entirelyunderestimating his dynamic

wife. Isabella had acted as anegotiator between Englandand France on a number ofoccasions and Edward doesnot seem to have recognisedthe danger in sending heragain on 9 March 1325.41AccordingtotheChronicleofLanercost:

The King of England sent hisconsort the queen to her brother,thekingofFrance,hopingthat,byGod’s help, peace might be

established between himself andthe king of France through her,according to her promise. But thequeen had a secret motive fordesiring to cross over to France;for Hugh Despenser the younger,the king’s agent in all matters ofbusiness, was exerting himself atthepope’scourttoprocuredivorcebetween the king of England andthequeen.42

There is no other evidencethat Edward was consideringa divorce and it is unlikely

that he considered going sofar. However, there wasclearly very bad feelingbetween Isabella and theDespensers and Edwardalwayssidedentirelywithhisfavourites rather than hiswife.Isabella must have felt a

great sense of freedom andrelief as she arrived inFrance. Isabella landed atBoulogne and was lavishly

entertained there beforetravelling to Paris where herbrother, King Charles,welcomed her.43 CharlessecretlypromisedIsabellaaidandsheclearly felt confidentenoughtoactagainstEdward.SoonafterherarrivalshewasalsoabletopersuadeEdwardto send their eldest son,youngEdward,toherinParistodohomage forGascony.44Young Edward’s arrival

meant that Isabella held atrump card against herhusband and she began toattractEnglishexilestoherinParis, themost significant ofthese being Edmund, Earl ofKent, her husband’s ownbrother. She was also joinedby Roger Mortimer, anobleman who had escapedfrom the Tower of Londonsomeyearspreviously.WithyoungEdward inher

possession and her brother’said, Isabella finally showedher true intentions and theanger that must have beenbuilding within her for yearsand she refused to return toEdward in England. TheChronicle of Lanercostrelates how there wererumours in England thatIsabella, young Edward andKent intended to invade toexact revenge upon the

Despensers,whotheyblamedfor Lancaster’s death.However, there were also‘contradictory rumours inEngland about the queen,some declaring that she wasthe betrayer of the king andkingdom,others that shewasacting for peace and thecommon welfare of thekingdom,andfortheremovalof evil counsellors from theking’.45 Reports of Isabella’s

actions sent Edward and theDespensers into panic andproclamations were read inLondon calling Isabella andher son traitors.46 They alsosent bribes to France,attempting to have Isabellaand young Edward returnedtoEngland.Isabella’s brotherwas also

under increasing pressure toreturn her to England,especially as rumours began

to emerge regardingIsabella’s relationship withMortimer. The pair becamelovers during their stay inParis and Isabella wouldremain devoted to Mortimerfor the rest of her life. It islikely that she revelled inMortimer’s attentions afterescaping her lovelessmarriage and she may wellhave seen no harm in heractions given Edward’s own

relationships with his malefavourites. Certainly, theirrelationship appears to havehad a fiery passion thatIsabella’s own marriage hadlacked. During their time inFrance, Isabella andMortimerarereportedtohavequarrelled, with IsabellathreateningtoleaveMortimerand return to her husband.47Mortimer responded bythreatening to kill her if she

tried to leave him.Thiswas,of course, a disturbingincident but, for Isabella, itmayhavebeentakenasproofof the depth of Mortimer’sfeelings towards her. Shedoes not seem to havethreatenedtoleavehimagain.Although her relationship

with Mortimer gave Isabellapersonal satisfaction, therumours about herrelationship did nothing to

help her and women werealwaysmoreheavilycensuredfor adultery than men.Finally, disturbed by thescandal shewas causing, herbrother asked her to leaveFrance, allowing her and theother exiles to travel toHainault. Isabella found awarm reception in HainaultandarrangedatreatywiththeCountofHainaultformilitaryaid in returnfor themarriage

ofherson,Edward,tooneofthe count’s daughters.48Isabella must have beenpleasedwiththisallianceandeager to return to Englandwithherarmy,inspiteoftheuncertainty of her enterprise.She clearly saw her owncause as righteous and theDespensers as the enemy,writing to the Bishop ofExeter in one letter that ‘wecanseeclearlythatyouarein

league with the said Hughand more obedient towardshim than towards us’.49 ShecouldhavebeenwritingtheselinestoEdward.Isabella and her fleet

landed at Harwich on 24September 1326.50 Isabellahad always been popular inEngland and she exploitedthis on arrival, insisting thatshe had come only to ridEdward of his evil

counsellors. In aproclamation issued soonafter their arrival, Isabella,young Edward and Kentinsisted that they had ‘cometo this land to raise up thestateof theHolyChurchandof the kingdom, and of thepeopleofthislandagainstthesaid misdeeds and grievousoppressions,andtosafeguardand maintain, so far as wecan, the honour and profit of

the Holy Church, and of oursaid lord the king’.51 It isunclear what their actualintentions were upon arrivalin England but it seemsunlikely that Isabella wouldhave considered returning toEdward even if theDespensers were removed.Shemusthavebeentooangrywith the memory of histreatment of her tocountenance this and, again,

this is an entirelyunderstandable position, tomoderneyesatleast.Uponlanding,Isabellasent

word to London asking foraid and the city rose tosupport her.52 The mobseized the king’s treasurer,the Bishop of Exeter, andmurdered him in the streetbefore capturing the Towerand placing Isabella’s youngson, John of Eltham, as its

warden.53 Isabellamust havebeenanxious tohear thatheryoungestsonwasunprotectedinLondonbut jubilant at thepopularsupportforhercausein England. She must alsohavebeenanxious tocaptureEdward and the Despenserswho had fled London uponhearingofherlanding.Isabella and her army set

out for Bristol a few weeksafter landing. The town was

being held by the elderDespenser and he wasquickly captured following asiege. Isabella must havebeenpleasedtotakehimintocustodyalthoughtheyoungerDespenserwas the truefocusof her hatred. UnderIsabella’s orders, the elderDespenser was executed andhis corpse chopped up andfed to dogs.54 There is nodoubt that she approved of

this treatment of the elderDespenserandthisisthefirstreal indication of a bloodystreakinIsabella’scharacter.Following theexecutionof

the elder Despenser,Mortimer and Henry ofLancastersetoffinpursuitofEdward and the youngerDespenser. They were foundwandering aroundWales andEdward was despatched toKenilworth Castle.55 The

youngerDespenserwastakento Hereford where he wasbrutally executed. Amongstthepunishmentsmetedoutonhim was castration, anindication of Isabella’s beliefabout his relationship withher husband. The youngerDespenser was Isabella’sgreatest enemy and shemusthave been jubilant at hisdeath.CertainlywithEdwardaprisonerandtheDespensers

bothdead,Isabellamusthavethought her and Mortimer’sfuturewassecure.Isabellamust have spent a

triumphant Christmas atWallingford in 1326, beforeenteringLondonon4January1327.56She called a meetingofparliamentafewdayslaterand played a prominent rolein its proceedings.57 At theparliament itwas agreed thatEdward IIwouldbe replaced

on the throne by his son,Edward III. This must havebeen the culmination ofIsabella’s dearest hopes andshe was also able to use theparliamenttofurtherherownposition. According to theChronicle of Lanercost, ‘itwas furtherordained thatourlady theQueen, for the greatanxiety and anguish she hadsuffered as well this side asoverseas, should stay queen

allherlife’.58Thismusthavereassured Isabella that shewould not be forced back tolive with Edward II, aprospect she cannot haverelished. Isabella sentembassies to Edward IIaskinghimtoabdicateand,assoon as they obtained afavourable answer, herfourteen-year-old son wascrowned as Edward III.Isabellaisrecordedashaving

wept throughout thecoronation, although it islikely that these wereimitationtearsratherthanthesymptom of any grief at herhatedhusband’sfate.59Edward III’s youth meant

that Isabella and Mortimerwere able to set themselvesup as the real rulers ofEngland. Isabellawasable towield more power than anyearlier queen ofEngland and

assigned herself amagnificent dower, leavingthe crown itself in relativepoverty.60 Isabella probablywanted this money to helpsafeguardherpositionandtheexistence of her deposedhusband in England musthave been a worry to her.Isabella had no wish to seehim again and, when herequested that she visit, sherefused, saying that the lords

would not allow her to seehim.61 Edward presents apitiful figure in hisimprisonment, recorded asweeping when he was askedto abdicate and requestingvisits from his wife andchildren. It is possible thatIsabella also felt some pityforhimandshesenthimgiftsand clothes.62 It seems morelikely,however, that, likehertears at Edward III’s

coronation, Isabella’s giftswere really just to maintainthe appearance of a dutifulwife. She certainlyrecognised that he was athreat to her regime and shewouldhavebelieved,asmostpeopleinEnglanddid,thathewas the architect of his owndownfallanddeservingofhisfate.Edward II did not long

survive his deposition. His

death was shrouded insecrecyandprecisedetailsaredifficult to discover but latein1327,EdwardwasbroughttoBerkeleyCastleand,onthenight of 21 September, hewas murdered. The exactmanner of his death isunknown but the mostcommon story is that hewaskilledwhenared-hotspitwasinserted into his rectum, toensurethatnomarkshouldbe

seen on his body.63 There isno contemporary evidence tosupport thismanner of deathbut it is now irrevocablyassociatedwiththemurderofEdward II. Isabella’s exactinvolvement in themurder isunclear.However,as rulerofthekingdomitisunlikelythatsuchamomentousstepwouldbe taken without Isabella’sapproval, even by thedomineering Mortimer.

Certainly, Isabella andMortimer benefited mostfromEdward’sdeathandthis,taken with Isabella’s laterobviousremorseathisdeath,suggestsstronglythatshewasinvolved. Isabella’sreputation is irreparablytarnished by the death ofEdward II and the misruleoverwhichsheandMortimerpresided.Isabella and Mortimer

quickly became unpopularrulers.Theirmostunwelcomeactionwhichlaterledtotheirdownfallwastheirinstigationof peace with Scotland. TheScots hoped to takeadvantageoftheconfusioninEngland following EdwardII’s deposition and invaded,ravaging the north. Isabella,Mortimer and Edward IIIheaded north and theunwilling kingwas forced to

agreetoapeaceagreementinScotland, sealed by themarriageofhis sister Joan toDavid of Scotland.64 Themarriage was celebrated atBerwick and attended byIsabella and Mortimer.Edward III, however, refusedto attend. Isabella may havebeen perturbed by thisevidence of her son’sdisapproval of her policy butshe failed to heed the

warning. She probablyconsidered him to still be achild and she and Mortimercertainlytreatedhimlikeone.Isabella remained devoted

toMortimer throughout theirperiodofruleandhebecameincreasingly domineering. In1329, Isabella and Mortimerfelt strong enough to moveagainst the Earl of Kent, theking’s uncle. Kent had beenone of their most important

supporters in the invasion ofEngland but he quicklybecame disillusioned withIsabella andMortimer’s rule.In 1329, Kent was told thathis brother, Edward II, wasstill alive and imprisoned atCorfeCastle.65Hesentafriarto Corfe to see whether therumourwastrueandsworetoreleasehisbrotherifitprovedto be so. It seems likely thatthis rumourhadbeencreated

by Mortimer to incriminateKent. Certainly, Isabella andMortimermadeuseofKent’sconduct and, at a parliamentsoonafter,Kentwasarrestedfor conspiracy to restoreEdward II. Kent wassentenced to death andexecuted, against the wishesof his nephew, Edward III.66Theexecutionofthesonofaking sent shock wavesthroughout the nobility and

any remaining support forIsabella and Mortimerevaporated with his death.IsabellaandMortimerappearto have remained indifferenttotheirunpopularity,perhapsbelieving that they stillmaintainedthesupportoftheking.Isabella and Mortimer’s

rule was certainly notcondoned by the king,however,andEdwardIIIhad

grown increasingly resentfulofhistreatmentbyhismotherandherlover.EventscametoaheadwhenMortimercalledaparliamentatNottinghamin1330. Edward III believedthatMortimerwasshowntoomuchhonourthereandhearda rumour that Mortimerwished to depose him andbecome king himself.67Edwarddecidedthat thetimewas finally right for him to

assume royal authority and,one night, he and somefriends entered NottinghamCastle secretly through ahiddentunnel:

Having rushed out of theunderground passage andsubterranean route, the king’sfriends advanced with drawnswordtothequeen’sbedroom,theking waited, armed, outside thechamber of their foes, lest heshould be seen by hismother. Asthe conspirators charged in, they

killed Hugh de Turpinton, knight,as he tried to resist them, LordJohn de Neville of Hornbydirecting the blow. Then theyfound the queen mother almostready for bed, and the Earl ofMarch [Mortimer] whom theywanted.They ledhimcaptive intothehall,whilethequeencried‘fairson, fair son, have pity on gentleMortimer’; for she suspected thathersonwasthere,eventhoughshehadnotseenhim.68

Thismusthavebeenthemost

traumatic event of Isabella’slife and she never sawMortimer again. She musthave realised, in an instant,that her reign was over andthat both she, andMortimer,wereindanger.EdwardIIIwastedno time

in establishing his authorityafter his coup against hismother and Mortimer.Mortimer was sentenced todeath, despite Isabella’s

pleas,andwashanged,drawnand quartered.69 Someaccounts suggest that theshock of Mortimer’s deathdrove Isabellamad although,given the evidence of herlater lucidity, this seemsunlikely. It must certainlyhave deeply affected her,however. Edward nevercountenanced putting hismother to death butimmediately after the coup

she was placed under housearrest and stripped of herlands and goods. Isabellaspent two years under guardinisolationatCastleRisinginNorfolk.70 She was grantedgreater freedom later but shenever regained Edward’strust.After the harshness of her

imprisonment was lessened,Isabellawasgivenpermissiontotravelandtoplayaroleas

amemberoftheroyalfamily.In 1338 she spent time atPomfret Castle and in 1344she attended Edward’sbirthday celebration inNorwich.71 Isabella all butdisappears from the sourcesafter 1330 and her time as apolitical figure of note hadended. She spent theremainder of her life livingquietly, mainly at CastleRising. Isabella fell ill on 22

August 1358 and died laterthat same day at the age ofsixty-two, venerable for thetime.72Shewasgivenaroyalfuneral and, according tolegend,shewasburied,atherown request, wearing herwedding dress and clutchingEdward II’s heart in a silvercasket.73 This demonstratesthat,withthepassingoftime,Isabella had learnt to feelremorse for all that had

occurred in hermarriage andthe terrible way in which itended. It is perhaps moresignificant, however, thatwhen Isabella chose herburial place she selectedGreyfriars in London, theburial place of her belovedMortimer.

IsabellaofFranceisthemostvilified of all the queens ofEngland and, although she

was known as ‘Isabella theFair’inherownlifetime,sheis now better remembered asthe ‘She-Wolf of France’.The poem, The Bard, byThomas Grey perhaps bestsums up the reputation thatIsabellahaslefttohistory:

The shrieks of death, thro’Berkley’sroofsthatring,Shrieksofanagonisingking!She-wolf of France, withunrelentingfangs,

That tear’st the bowels of thymangledmate,From thee be born, who o’er thycountryhangsThescourgeofHeav’nwhatterrorsroundhiswait!74

Isabellawas among themostpowerful of all medievalqueens. No other Englishqueen invaded and won acountry, openly took a loveror murdered her husband.IsabellaofFrancewasunique

and between 1325 and 1330pursued a role very far fromthe ideal expected of amedieval queen. Herreputation was black and thestory of her life would havecastadarkshadowovermanyof the latermedievalEnglishqueens as they strove not toemulate her. However, itmustbe remembered that theperiod1325to1330wasonlya small part of her long life

andheractionswerecertainlydriven by years ofmistreatment andunhappiness.Itwasnot,afterall, Isabella’s fault that shefound herself married toEdward II and most otherkingswouldhaveadoredher.Isabella had been cossetedthroughoutherchildhoodandshetriedtomakethemostofher difficult and lovelessmarriage. It is perhaps

understandablethatintheendIsabella snapped and tookdrastic action to secure herown happiness. Some of heractions are likely to havebeen driven by revenge butthese are understandable.Isabella of France had beenthemostdesirableprincessinEuropeandtofindherselfanunloved and disparaged wifemust have affected her. Shetriedtoendureand,whenthat

failed, she took action, atterrible cost to her ownreputation.

PARTIII

LATERMEDIEVAL&

TUDORQUEENS

WITCHCRAFT,

WAR&AMBITION

LaterMedieval&TudorQueens

In 1399, Henry Bolingbrokeusurped the throne from hiscousinRichardII,usheringin

a century of intermittentconflict as different branchesof the royal family vied forthe throne. This conflict isknown as the Wars of theRoses and it impacteddirectly not just on the livesof the kings concerned butalsoonthelivesofthequeensandthenatureoftheiroffice.The fifteenth- and sixteenth-century queens were, ingeneral, markedly less

powerful than their earlierpost-conquestpredecessorsasqueenship to some extentreverted to its pre-conquestantecedents. With a fewnotable exceptions, thefifteenth-century kings werealmost entirely focussed onEngland and, by the mid-fifteenth century, all butCalais of the once vastcontinental empire had beenlost. This meant that kings

hadnooptionbuttofocusonEngland, which led to adiminishedscopeforqueenlypolitical power. At a timewhen kings could be madeand deposed by noblemen,queens, whose power wasdependent on these kings,were in as vulnerable aposition as they had beenbefore theNorman conquest.This vulnerability continuedintothesixteenthcenturyand

theTudorperiod.

In spite of the great changesto society, queenship in thefifteenth and sixteenthcenturies remainedsuperficially similar to whathadgonebefore.Asinearlierperiods, queens were, firstand foremost, expected to befertile and produce an heir.Thiswas always the primaryfunction of a queen in

medievalEngland and itwasno exception for latemedievalqueens.MargaretofAnjou,whowasthequeenofHenry VI, was in a verydifficult position until shefinallyboreasonaftersevenyears of marriage and shemust have been relieved toprove to her critics that shewasnotsterile.AnneNeville,the wife of Richard III, alsofound herself in danger

following the death of heronly child in 1484 when herhusband’s attitude abruptlychanged towards her.Rumours quickly emergedthatRichardmeanttodivorcehis sickly wife to marry amore fertile woman and, byChristmas 1484, it waswhispered around thatRichard was even trying tohasten his wife’s death.1Richardmayhave spread the

rumour that his wife wasalreadydead in thehope thatthe shock would kill her.Hall’sChronicledescribesitsversionoftheevent:

When the quene heard tell that sohorriblearumourofherdeathwassprong emongest the comminallieshe sore suspected and judged theworldtobealmostatanendewithher,andinthatsorofullagony,shewith lamentable countenaunce ofsorofull chere, repaired to thepresenceof thekyngherhusband,

demaundynge of hym, what itshould meane that he had judgedher worthy to die. The kyngaunswered herwith fakewoordes,and with dissimulyngeblandimentes and flatteringlesynges comforted her, biddyngeher tobeofgoodcomforte, for tohis knowledge she should havenoneothercause.2

Anne lostherhusband’s loveand respectwith thedeathofher only child and, in early1485,shediedunlamentedby

Richard. A good queen wasone who produced healthysons in the late medievalperiod, just as had alwaysbeenthecaseinEngland.Themostextremeexampleofthiswas the six wives of HenryVIII and his willingness todispose of wives who couldnotbearsons.Asanumberoflater medieval queens foundto their cost, to be a goodqueenwastobeafertileone.

The expectation ofconspicuious piety in goodqueens also continued intothe later medieval period.This position did, however,becomemorecomplex in theTudor period. With theReformation, it becamepossible to be pious in thewrong religion. Catherine ofAragon and her successor,Anne Boleyn, for example,are good examples of this.

Anne Boleyn is known tohave had Protestantsympathies and, as a heretic,she was chastised byCatholics. However, to theProtestants of her daughter’sreign shewas seen almost asa saint, challenging thesuperstitions of Catholicism.Catherine of Aragon is alsotoday remembered for herpietybut,toProtestantsinthesixteenth century, she was

seen as both superstitious,ignorant and certainly notsomeone to admire.Catherine’sdaughter,MaryI,was also very pious and tosome shewas a great queen.However, to the majority ofher Protestant subjects, shewas seen as a dangerousfanatic in her attempts torestore Catholicism, just asher predecessor, Lady JaneGrey, might have been seen

by her Catholic subjects hadshe lived longer. To be agood queen in the latemedieval period was still tobeapiousone.However, theReformation added anotherlayer to this and it was alsonecessary to be religious inthe accepted way. HenryVIII’s last queen, CatherineParr, is a particularly goodexampleof thisand, in1546,wasnearlyarrestedforheresy

due to her radicalProtestantism.3 OnlyCatherine’sintelligencesavedher and she claimed to theking that she had only beenoutspoken in her religion inorder to engage him inconversationsothatshecouldlearn from him.4 Clearly,therefore, it was possible foraqueentobetooreligiousinthe Tudor period and MaryI’s notoriety, for example, is

linkedtoherreligiousfaith.Changes to religion were

nottheonlychangestooccurin England during thefifteenth and sixteenthcenturies and, on the whole,thecountrywasamuchmoreinsular nation than it hadpreviously been. AlthoughHenry VI very nearlyconqueredFranceintheearlyfifteenth century, by themiddle of his son’s reign all

that remained of England’scontinental possessions wasCalais. The loss of thecontinental territories meantthat,unlike their earlierpost-conquest predecessors,fifteenth- andsixteenthcentury kings hadless reason to leave Englandand so there was also lessscope for their wives to becalled upon to becomeregents.Henry IVandHenry

VI, forexample, remained inEngland throughout theirreignsandEdwardIV,HenryVI’s successor, only leftEnglandoncevoluntarily, fora brief campaign in France.On this campaign he didindeed leave his wife,Elizabeth Woodville, asregent, but this proved to beonly a brief period ofauthority bearing littleresemblance to the long

regenciesofherpredecessorssuch as Matilda of Scotlandand Eleanor of Provence.RichardIIIandHenryVIIdidnot leave England duringtheir reigns although EdwardIV’s grandson, Henry VIII,alsoleftEnglandontwobriefcampaigns inFrance, leavinghis wives, Catherine ofAragonandCatherineParr,asregentsinturn.5Aqueenwasstill considered to be a

suitable regent in latemedieval England but thelack of opportunities forregencies meant that, inreality, any political powerthat they might have wouldbe limited. Moreover aregency was by no meanscertain and, when Henry VIcame to the throne when hewas less than a year old, itwas never even suggestedthat hismother, Catherine of

Valois should rule for him –insteadshewaskeptfirmlyinthebackground.The lack of opportunities

for regencies alsomeant thatqueens were no longerexpected to have a politicalrole. Consequently adevelopment can be seen inthe ideas of what made agoodqueenandwhatmadeabadqueen.ElizabethofYork,for example, is remembered

very favourably and this islargely due to her apparentlack of personal ambition,modestlyacceptingthecrownmatrimonial rather thanassertingherownrighttothecrownasheiressofEngland.6Elizabeth of York is alwayscompared favourably toMargaret of Anjou, forexample, andMargaret’s badreputationisbasedlargelyonher political activity.

However, even the mildElizabeth of York wasviewedasapotentialpoliticalthreat by her husband and,according to Francis Bacon,‘it lay plain before his eyes,thatifherelieduponthattitle[claiming the throne throughElizabeth], he could be but aking at courtesy, and haverather a matrimonial than aregal power; the rightremaining inhisqueen,upon

whose decease, either withissue, or without issue, hewas to give place and beremoved’.7 Mary I was alsoextremely popular until shewasforced tobecomeafullypolitical figure. Immediatelyshe appeared unwomanly toherpeopleandisrememberedasacorruptqueen,justasherpredecessorasqueenregnant,the Empress Matilda, hadbeen. In late medieval

England, therefore, goodqueens were expected to bedomestic and pious,something that most of thenotorious queens of theperiodweredecidedlynot.The change to a more

insular style of kingship alsohad another effect on thepower of the queen andreflectsapartial return to theAnglo-Saxon style ofqueenship. Anglo-Saxon

kings generally selected theirwives from the nobility andthis reflected the fact thattheirinterestsprimarilylayinEngland. This changeddramatically in thepostconquest period and,between the late eleventhcentury and the fourteenthcentury, royal wives weremostly selected fromcontinental families in anattempt to safeguard foreign

possessions. By the latefifteenth century, however,there were no Englishpossessions on the continentand kings appear to havelooked increasingly togaining English wives.Edward IV, for example,selectedtheEnglishElizabethWoodville for his bride.Whilst this marriage causedscandal, the fact that ithappenedatalldoeshighlight

a change in ideas of bothkingship and queenship.Edward’s brother, RichardIII, followed his brother’sexample in marrying theEnglish Anne Neville. Annehad previously been marriedto Edward of Lancaster,Prince of Wales, whichhighlights her perceivedsuitability to be a queen ofEngland. Edward IV’sgrandson, Henry VIII also

followed this ideaenthusiastically, marryingfour Englishwomen anddoing more than any otherking to demonstrate thepotential for anEnglishwoman who attractedtheking.Thispolicydidhaveadownside,asmanyEnglishqueens discovered. AnEnglish queen did not, bydefinition, have a powerfulforeign family to protect her

in times of trouble and thiscan be seen clearly, onceagain, in a comparison ofCatherine of Aragon andAnne Boleyn. Catherine ofAragon, as the aunt of theHoly Roman Emperor, wasmerely divorced by Henry.Anne, as the daughter of SirThomas Boleyn, wasexecuted. As with theirAnglo-Saxon predecessors,English-born queens in the

later medieval period musthave quickly come to realisethat their position also madethem uniquely vulnerable tothe whims of their husbandsandenemies.The fifteenthand sixteenth

centuries were thereforedangerous times for queens.The fate and reputation ofmany queens were tied upwith the Wars of the Roses.When Henry Bolingbroke

usurped the throne in 1399,becomingHenryIV,hesetinmotion a conflict that wouldlast for a century. Henry IVwas the son of Edward III’sthird sonand took the thronefrom the only descendant ofthe first son. However, thesecond son, Lionel ofAntwerp, had produced adaughter and by the reign ofHenry VI, who was HenryIV’s grandson, that

daughter’s claim wasrepresented by herdescendant,Richard,DukeofYork. York was able toexploitHenryVI’s ineptitudetohighlight his own superiorclaim to the throneand,afteryears of conflict, his son,Edward IV, was able tosnatch the throne from hiscousin.In1483,onEdward’sowndeath, the thronepassedto his young son,EdwardV,

but the throne was againusurped, this time by theboy’s uncle, Richard III.Finally, in 1485, the lastremaining Lancastrianclaimant,HenryVII,tookthecrown,marryingElizabethofYork and uniting the twowarring houses. Thedescendants of the couplenever felt entirely safe ontheir thrones.HenryVIIIandhis children persecuted their

relatives to ensure thestabilityoftheirownposition.The Wars of the Roses

characterisedthefifteenthandsixteenth centuries, causingviolenceandconfusioninthefifteenth century and thenfuellingTudorparanoiainthesixteenth. The conflict alsohad a major effect on thereputations of the queens oftheperiod,withsomesuchasMargaretofAnjousometimes

forced to take an active andunpopular course. Howeverthe conflict alsohad another,less foreseeable outcome: bythe mid-sixteenth centurythere were very few peoplealive who possessed acredible claim to the throne.WhenEdwardVIcastaroundfor someone to succeed himin 1553, all the plausiblecandidates proved to befemale, making it inevitable

that England would finallyhave its first effective queenregnant.Queenship during the

fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies was often insecureand the office itself waschangeable. Itwasstillbasedfirmly on its Anglo-Saxonand post-conquestfoundations but in theturbulent times of thefifteenth century, queens

often had to adapt to fulfil amorevariedrole.Bythemid-sixteenth century, Englandwas moving away from themedievalperiodintotheearlymodern period. However,queens such as Mary Tudorstill consciously looked backat the medieval past for amodel of queenship, provingthat, even in adverse andunprecedentedcircumstances,Englishqueenshipremaineda

recognisable office withguidelines on how to be agood queen and avoidnotoriety. Joan of Navarre,MargaretofAnjou,ElizabethWoodville, Anne Boleyn,CatherineHoward,LadyJaneGrey and Mary I are allrememberedasnotoriousandtheyall, at least according totheircontemporaries,failedtoliveuptotheidealofagoodqueen. As with the earlier

queens, however, there wasoften a motive behind theattacksonthewomen,usuallytied up in the politics of theday.Duetothedifficultiesofthe period in which theylived, all of these womenfound themselves indangerous situations and, astheirownpartydiminishedinpower they were activelyattacked, leading to thedestruction of their

reputations. Once again, inthe fifteenth and sixteenthcenturies, women provedparticularly vulnerable toattackandthemostlyEnglishqueens of this period provedas vulnerable as any, to theirconsiderablecost.

Witchcraft

JoanofNavarre

Joan of Navarre has thedistinction of being the onlyEnglish queen to ever be

punished forwitchcraft. Joanwas disliked in Englandduringher timeasqueenandwasheavilycriticised forherforeign birth. During thereign of her stepson, HenryV, her reputation took adramatic turn for the worsewhen she was accused ofplotting to murder the kingthrough sorcery and spentseveralyears inprison.Littleevidence was ever presented

to explain Joan’s arrest and,as the example of Joan’sstepdaughter-in-law EleanorCobhamshows,anaccusationof witchcraft was aconvenientwayofattackingaroyal woman in the fifteenthcentury. Joan was certainlynowitchbut,asaforeignerinatroubledperiod,shewasaneasy target, just as herpredecessors,suchasEleanorof Provence and Isabella of

France had found. For awoman to be accused ofwitchcraftwasforheralsotoloseherplaceinsociety.Joanof Navarre’s reputation hasnever been able to shake offthe stigma of the chargesagainstheranditisclearthatthey were used as an easyway of robbing her of herproperty. Henry V, thearchitect of Joan’smisfortunes, would have

known the power that hisaccusations of witchcraftcould have and Joan, as awoman and a foreigner, washis helpless victim.When hewas overcome with remorseatthetreatmentofthequeen,it was already too late. Asearlier queens had found, atarnished name is difficult tolose.To modern eyes, the

charges against Joan appear

tohavebeenunprovokedbutshe may already have had asinister reputation byassociation. Her fatherCharles the Bad, King ofNavarre, was known acrossEurope for his unsuitablebehaviour. Charles was theson of the dispossessedheiress of France, Jeanne ofNavarre; as such he hadpolitical ambitions towardsthat country. It is possible

thathiswife,JoanofFrance,was offered to him as awayofneutralisinghisclaimbutifso the policy failed.1 JoanofNavarrewas born in 1368 inNormandy and had aturbulentchildhood.2In1381,Charles was once again atwar with France, and Joanand her two elder brotherswere lodged in one ofCharles’s castles inNormandy.3 The regents of

France, exasperated byCharles’sbehaviour,capturedJoan with her brothers andtook them to Paris as suretyfor their father’s goodbehaviour.Joan must have been

shocked to find herself ahostage but the terms of hercaptivityareunlikely tohavebeenonerous.The regents ofFrance were Joan’s maternaluncles and it is likely that

they treated Joan and herbrothers kindly. Despite this,Charles was anxious for thereturn of his children andattempted to poison theregents. This only increasedFrenchangertowardsCharlesand it was only through theintervention of the King ofCastile that she and herbrothers were released.4Joan’s feelings on hercaptivity and release are

unclear. Given theuncertainty of life as thedaughter of Charles the Badshe may have missed herstablelifeinParis.Soon after Joan’s release,

Charles opened negotiationstomarryhertoJohnIV,DukeofBrittany.JohnIV’ssecondwife, JoanHolland, had diedin 1384 and he urgentlyneededanheirforhisduchy.In June 1386 Breton envoys

arrived in Navarre to fetchJoan and she sailed forBrittany immediatelyafterwards, marrying DukeJohn at Saille on 11September.5 Joan must havebeen apprehensive about hermarriage to the middle-agedDuke.However she seems tohave consented to the matchand it proved to be a happyunion.Joan’sfatherpromisedagenerousdowryof120,000

goldlivres,althoughhisearlydeathmeantthatmuchofthiswas never paid. True to histaintedreputation,CharlestheBad suffered a particularlyhorrifying death in 1387.Suffering from paralysis tohis limbs through someailment, Charles tried toeffect a cure by beingwrapped from head to toe inbandages.Immobilisedinthisway, Charles was unable to

save himselfwhen a carelessservant allowed a candle toignite the bandages, causingthe king to burn to death.6Many of Charles’scontemporaries probably sawthis as divine judgement forCharles’s sinister life,although Joan’s feelings arenot recorded. Joan’s timeafterhermarriagewas,inanyevent, taken up withchildbearingand,in1389,she

providedanheirtotheduchy,as well as bearing six otherchildrenduringhermarriageJohn IV had always had

stronglinkswithEnglandandhevisitedthecountryinApril1398.7ItispossiblethatJoanaccompaniedhimonthisvisitand if so she would havecome into contact withRichard II’s cousin, HenryBolingbroke.JoanandHenrycertainly met at some point

during her first marriage.Henry also spent time inBrittany during his exile in1399 and is again likely tohave spent some time withJoan.8 No evidence survivesofJoanandHenry’smeetingswitheachotherbutitislikelythat there was a mutualattraction. It is unlikely thatJoan was ever unfaithful toJohnbutthefactthatsheandHenry proved so eager to

marry suggests somethingmore than just diplomaticrelations.John IV died on 1

November 1399. Joan hadbeenan impeccablewifeandhe entrusted her with thegovernment of Brittany untiltheir son came of age. Joanruled Brittany well andarranged an impressiveinauguration for her son in1401, an event which ended

herregency.9Withtheendofher regency, Joan may havefelt that her role in Brittanywas over. She was still onlythirty-three and probablydesiredasecondmarriage.In1399HenryhadbecomeKingof England and, at somepoint,hemusthavecontactedJoan with an offer ofmarriage. Certainly, byMarch 1402 negotiations hadbeen opened and on 3 April

1402 Joan’s emissary andHenry underwent a proxyweddinginEngland.10Joanhadbeen leftwealthy

byherfirsthusbandandithasoften been suggested thatHenry’s motive in marryingherwastoobtainthiswealth.However,Joanseemstohavekeptpersonalcontroloverherwealth during her secondmarriage and Henry did notbenefit financially from the

match. Theremay have beena political element in thematch on both sides. Henry,as a usurper, needed theforeign contacts that Joancouldprovide and it is likelythat Joan wanted to be aqueen.11 The marriage mustbe considered more than amerely political alliance,however.12Henrywasclearlypartial to Joan and remainedfaithful to her throughout

theirmarriagesoattractionislikely to have played a largepart in his proposal ofmarriage. Joan also gave upher children to marry Henryand it seems inconceivablethat, as an independentwidow, she would do this ifshe also was not attracted toHenry.The marriage negotiations

wereconducted in secretdueto the likely unpopularity of

the match in Brittany.Whennews of the proposedmarriage became commonknowledge the Bretonnoblemen reacted in anger,fearing that Henry wouldobtain custody of their duke.Joan was forced to leave allher children, save her twoyoungestdaughters,behindinBrittany.13 Joan and herdaughters sailed for Englandon13January1403,enduring

a traumaticcrossing thatwasseenbycontemporariesasanevilomen:

As shee crossed the seas forEngland, her passage was veriedangerous by reason oftempestuous wether, whichaccidentwasesteemedominous inboth kingRichard’swives [HenryIV’sunluckypredecessorasking].The king received her atWinchester,andtherehavingspentsome time indevisesofpleasures,upon the viith of Februarie the

marriage was solemized betweenthem, and upon the xxvith of thesame moneth shee was with allceremonies of state, crowned atWestminster.14

Henry rushed to meet her assoonasheheardthatshehadlanded and Joan must havebeen pleased at this sign ofhisaffection.Shecannothaveseenhimforover threeyearsand may have worried thatneither of them would be as

theotherexpected.Suchworrieswere invain.

On 8 March 1403 Henrygranted Joan a dower of10,000 marks, the largestdower granted to an Englishqueenup to that time.15Thiswasprobablyboth amarkofrespectforJoanandintendedtodemonstratethewealthandstability of the newLancastriandynasty.Coupledwith her Breton dower, this

grant made Joanexceptionally wealthy. Sheadministered this wealthherself and isknown tohaveheld councils and conductedher business at WestminsterPalace.16 Joan was an adeptfinancial manager whoexcelled in increasing herwealth – although a lesspleasantsideofhercharacteremerges in stories of herstripping the estates of

childreninherwardship.17Joanappearstohavefound

happinessinthehusbandandfamily she acquired throughher secondmarriageandwasquickly on good terms withher stepchildren. In spite ofthis, she was not popular inEngland and often foundherselfcensuredforher linkstoBrittany and foreign birth.Aparliamentin1404orderedthatallforeignersberemoved

from the royal households,with the exception of Joan’stwo daughters.18 Joan, whoappears to have tried toconform, complied with thisorder and was eventuallyallowed to keep severalBretons in her household.However, in1406parliamentonce again ordered thatforeigners be removed fromher household and Joan wascompelled to send her

daughters back to Brittany.19Joanappearstohaveacceptedall of parliament’s demands,but the loss of her daughtersmust have hit her hard. Shemust have quickly realisedthat she would always becriticisedforherbirthandherforeign first marriage butthese were not things whichcouldbechanged.AsEleanorof Provence and Eleanor ofCastilehad foundbeforeher,

the circumstances of aqueen’s birth could bedisadvantageous.Throughout Joan’s time in

England, attacks were alsomadeonherforherpartialityto foreigners. Joan certainlydid seek to promote Bretonswho visited England and inFebruary1404hersonArthurwas granted the earldom ofRichmond.20 It was also atJoan’s request in 1405 that

Henry IVordered the releaseof all Breton prisoners inEngland without ransom.21Joanactivelypromotedpeacebetween England andBrittany; in 1417 Henry VmadeatreatywithBrittanyatJoan’s intercession.22 Joan’sefforts may not always havebeen treated as pacific inEngland however and, in1415, the Bretons wereaccused of learning state

secretsinJoan’shousehold.23Onceagainthiswasnotbasedintruthbutduetoheroriginspeople appear to have beenready to believe the worstabouther.Despite being a kind and

attentive husband, Henrycannotalwayshavebeeneasytolivewith.Byaround1408,Henry was suffering fromleprosy and pressure appearsto have been brought to bear

on him to relinquish hiscrown.24 Henry seems tohave retreated more into hishousehold as his illnessprogressed and Joan mayoftenhavefoundherselfshutawayalonewithhim.Itmusthave been sad for Joan,whohad known Henry in theprime of his life, to see himstruck down with hisdisfiguring disease. Henryalso appears to have been

beset by guilt for hisusurpation of the crown.According to John Hayward,his mind was ‘perpetuallieperplexed with an endlesseandrestlessechardge,etherofcares, or greifes, or ofsuspicions and feares’.25 ForJoan, it may, perhaps, havebeenareliefwhenHenrydiedin1413.26Joan made no attempt to

return to either Brittany or

Navarre, and, in spite ofsuspicions raised against her,she was content to stay inEngland. She was oftenreferred to as QueenMotherin her stepson Henry V’sreign and continued to playthe public role of queen,takingaprominentplaceinaprocession from St Paul’s toWestminsterincelebrationofHenry V’s victory atAgincourt against the

French.27 This must havegone against Joan’s ownpersonal feelings about thevictory. Her son-in-law, theDuke of Alencon, and herbrother Charles of Navarredied fighting for the Frenchand her own sonArthurwascaptured and brought aprisoner to England.28Despite her personal grief,JoantookherdutiesasQueenofEnglandseriouslyandtook

a prominent part in therejoicing in England. Thisdevotion to duty probablywent unnoticed andunappreciatedinEngland.Henry V’s French wars

took a harsh toll on hisfinancesandheseemstohavebegun to look greedily atJoan’s immense dower. On27 September 1419, theEnglish council suddenlymadeanorderdeprivingJoan

of all her possessions andrevenuesand,fourdayslater,she was arrested on chargesofwitchcraft at her palace atHavering-atte-Bower.29 Herarrest would have been anenormous shock to theinnocent Joan and she musthavebeenatalosstoexplainher situation. The chargesstemmed from a confessionby her confessor, JohnRandolf, claiming he had

tempted her into usingwitchcrafttotrytokillHenryV.30Whilst it ispossible thatthe charges were at firstbelieved, no attempt wasmadetoinvestigatethematteror bring Joan to trial and itappearsthatJoan’sarrestwasa pretext to enable Henry Vto take her dower.31Certainly, Joan was treatedvery leniently for someoneaccused of witchcraft.

However,at leastatfirst,shemusthavebeen terrified, andachargeofwitchcraftwasnolaughing matter, as thetreatment of Joan’sstepdaughter-in-law, EleanorCobham, Duchess ofGloucester, twenty yearslater,wouldindicate.Like Joan, Eleanor

Cobhamwasalsoarrestedforconspiring to kill the kingthrough sorcery and,

according to reports, she andher accomplices produced awax doll with which to killtheking.32Eleanorappearstohave dabbled in sorcery forsome years before her arrestand a woman known as theWitch of Eye was alsoarrestedatthesametime:

Whose sorcery and witchcraft thesameDameEleanorhadlongtimeused; and by such medicines anddrinks as the saidwitchmade, the

said Eleanor compelled theaforesaid Duke of Gloucester tolove her and to wed her.Wherefore, and also because ofrelapse,thesaidwitchwasburntatSmithfield.33

Eleanor’s other accomplice,Roger Bolingbroke, washanged drawn and quarteredfor his part in the affair andthe duchess herself was alsoseverely punished.34 Afterbeingexaminedbytheking’s

council, Eleanor was forcedto perform a public penancethree times by walking barefooted and bare headedthroughLondonandcarryingaheavytaper.35ForawomanasproudasEleanorCobham,thismusthavebeenanordealand, following her penance,she was taken away to lifeimprisonment on the Isle ofMan, from which she wasnever released.36

Shakespeare,whowasclearlyfascinated with the story ofEleanor Cobham puts thesewords into the duchess’smouth as she carried out herpenance:

Ah,Gloucester,teachmetoforgetmyself:ForwhilstIthinkIamthymarriedwife,AndthouaPrince,Protectorofthisland,Methinks I should not thus beled

along,Mailed up in shame, with papersonmyback,And followed with a rabble thatrejoiceToseemytearsandhearmydeep-setgroans.37

Clearly, a charge ofwitchcraft was a dangerousand shameful thing and Joanmust have been terrified byherarrest.After her initial terror,

however, Joan appears tohave settled in easily to herimprisonmentand,despite itsindignity, managed tomaintainaluxuriouslifestyle.In the first months of herimprisonment, Joan’saccountsshowthatshehadastable and she waspresumablyallowedtoride.38Shewasalsoallowedtokeepnineteen grooms and sevenpages.Joan’spurchasesinthe

first months of herimprisonment also show thatshe was able to purchaseluxuries, such as furs, lace,gold chains and a goldgirdle.39 This was not theusual treatment meted out toan imprisoned witch anddemonstrates that thechargeswerenotwidelybelieved.Joanwasalsoabletostock

a large wine cellar and sheoften entertained.On1April

1420, the Archbishop ofCanterbury came to dinner.Joan’s stepson the Duke ofGloucester also visited ontwooccasionsandtheBishopof Winchester spent theweekend there.40 LordCamoys appears to havespent nine months enjoyingJoan’s hospitality.41 Joan’streatmentshowstheabsurdityofthechargesagainstheranditislikelythatapartfromthe

knowledge that she was aprisoner, Joan was able tolead a comfortable existencein much of her old style.Certainly the visits suggestthat she remained arecognised member of theroyal family rather than anoutcast who had plotted tokill theking throughsorcery.She must still have beenaware, however, during theperiod, of the charge that

hungoverherand,forallthecomforts provided for her,she must have longed to befreed.Joan’s innocence can also

be seen in Henry V’sdeathbed remorse at histreatment of her. As he laydyingofdysenteryinFrance,he remembered hisstepmother’spredicamentandordered that she beimmediately released and

compensated for the loss ofher dower.42 Joanmust havebeen glad to hear ofHenry’sremorse although it seemsunlikelythatshewasentirelyable to forgive him for histreatment of her. Joan wasreleased soon after Henry’sdeathandmuchofherdowerwas returned. In 1422, Joanfound herself once again awealthy and independentwidow.Followingherrelease

sheseemstohaveledalifeofretirement, dying in July1437.Joan of Navarre was the

only queen of England to bepunished for witchcraft andthestigmaof thischargestillhangs over her reputation.Although there was nosubstance in the charge, itdoes illustrate something ofthe dangers in which royalwomen could find

themselves. Joan of Navarrewas never able to winpopularity in England due toher foreign birth. She wasthereforeaneasytargetwhenher stepson, Henry V, choseto move against her and hisactionshelpedensurethatshewill always have a certainnotoriety.Althoughshewasaqueen,thechargesagainsthershow that, in a hostileEngland, Joan was also

essentially powerless. As awoman, she was alreadyparticularly vulnerable tosuch a charge and as aforeigner she was despisedandalone.JoanofNavarreisdescribedasbothawitchandas a grasping queen in thesources and, although thesecharges had little substance,they have clung to her,destroyingherreputation.Hernotoriety pales in

comparison, however, withthatofherstepgranddaughter-in-law, Margaret of Anjou,the original She-Wolf ofFrance.

Shakespeare’sShe-Wolf

MargaretofAnjou

Margaret of Anjou was thefirst queen of England to be

nicknamed the ‘She-Wolf ofFrance’and,inspiteoflosingthis name to Isabella ofFrance, she is stillremembered as a notoriousqueen.PortrayalsofMargaretover the years showher as avengeful and ambitiouswomanwhobroughtwarandmiserytoEnglandanditisinShakespeare’s portrayal ofher as an adulteress andwarmongerer that she is best

remembered.Astheleaderofthe House of Lancaster,Margaret participated in oneof the bloodiest civil warsthat England has known andher actions certainly helpedprolong the war by almost adecade.Howeverheractions,insupportoffirstherhusbandandthenherson,areentirelyunderstandable and withoutthe benefit of hindsight shecan never have realised just

how futile her actions were.Margaret ofAnjou genuinelyacted with the best possiblemotives. She was not a badwoman, in spite of herterrible reputation but, as thewife of an ineffectual anddoomedking,shewasforcedto take on a role that, for awoman, was deemed to besavage. Margaret of Anjouwasforcedtotakethecourseof action she did but, in the

eyes of her contemporariesandmanylaterhistorians,thisdidnotredeemher.

MargaretofAnjougrewuptobe a powerful and dominantwoman and she may havelearnt the lessons of femalepower during her childhood.Shewasborn inMarch1430and was the fourth child ofRene of Anjou and Isabel,Duchess of Lorraine.1

Margaret’s childhood wasdominated by womenfollowing the capture of herfatherin1431atthebattleofBulgneville. On 12November1435,Rene’selderbrother died and he inheritedthe county of Anjou as wellas the crowns of Jerusalemand Naples. Early thefollowing year, Rene alsoinherited the kingdom ofSicily.2Inspiteofthesegrand

titles, Renewas only able toexerciseauthorityoverAnjouand Lorraine although, as aprisoner, it was his wifeIsabel who ruled. Isabel ofLorraine was an indomitablefigure and it is likely thatMargaretgainedmuchofherideaofqueenshipfromher.In1435Isabelsetoutwith

an army to conquer Naples,leaving Margaret in the careof her paternal grandmother,

YolandeofAragon.3YolandewasMargaret’ssecondmodelof a powerful woman.Yolande had ruledAnjou forseveral years and had alsoraised the French king,CharlesVII,marryinghimtoher daughter Marie. Shecouldalso layclaim tobeingthemost powerfulwoman inFrance, something of whichMargaret is likely to havetaken note.4 Margaret’s

mother and Rene (who hadbeen released in 1436)returned to Anjou in 1442,following defeat in Naples,and Margaret passed backinto her mother’s custodysoon after her grandmother’sdeathinthatyear.Margaret’s childhoodmust

have been overshadowed bythewarbetweenEnglandandFrance. In 1444, a meetingwas held at Tours between

theFrenchandtheEnglishinanattempttocometopeace.5It was at this meeting that amarriagebetweentheEnglishking,HenryVI,andaFrenchprincess was first suggestedandMargaret,as thenieceofthe Queen of France, waschosen as the most suitablecandidate. According toHall’s Chronicle, Reneagreedinreturnforapromisefrom the English that they

would surrender lands inAnjou and Maine to him.Rene was renowned acrossEurope for his poverty‘callyng himself kyng ofScicile, Naples, andHierusalem,hauyngonelythename and stile of the same,without any pay profite, orfote of possession’.6 HenryVI was also eager for thematchandaskedforaportraitof Margaret to be sent to

him.7 He also agreed to payfor Margaret’s journey toEngland. ‘For kyng Reynerher father, for all his longstile, had to short a purse, tosende his doughterhonourably, to the kyng herspouse’.8 To save face,however, Margaret wasdowered with the islands ofMinorca and Majorca.9 Theonly problem with thisgenerous gift was that, as

with so many of Rene’s‘lands’,Henrywouldhave toconquerthemifhewantedtoassertMargaret’srightsthere.Margaret was living with

her mother in Angers whenthe marriage treaty wassigned and the two of themsetouttomeettheEnglishatTours.10 On 23 May 1444,Margaret underwent a proxymarriage in St Martin’sCathedral at Tours with the

Earl of Suffolk playing thepartofHenryVI.11Early thefollowing year, Margaretagain travelled with hermotherandatNancyshemayhave undergone anotherbetrothal ceremony.Certainly, her time in Nancywas filled with banquets andentertainments.Margaretthenset out for England,accompanied part of thewayby both her father and her

uncle, Charles VII. She alsohad an escort of 1,500people.12Margaret landed in

England on 9 April 1445.13Henry had been waitingimpatiently for Margaret’sarrival and, according to onereport,determinedtovisitherin disguise.14 Henry dressedhimselfasasquireandtookaletter to Margaret. If heintendedthistobearomantic

meeting, he was to bedisappointed. Margaret tooktheletterfromthe‘squire’butwassoengrossedinreadingitthatshedidnotnoticeHenryandkepthimonhisknees.Itwas only later, after Henryhad left, that Margaret wastold who the squire hadbeen.15 The couple metofficiallysoonafterwardsandwere married at TichfieldAbbey on 22 April, before

travelling on to Londontogether.16 Margaret andHenry appear to have got onwellwitheachotherfromthebeginning and Margaretwould have been relieved tofind her husband congenial.She was crowned in Londonon30Aprilandisrecordedashaving worn her hair looseunderacoronetofpearlsandjewels.17 Margaret probablyonceagainenjoyedbeing the

centreofattention.Margaret gained a great

influence over Henry fromearly in their marriage.18Henry was a gentle andcompassionate man and waseager to please his youngbride and place her at herease.19 Margaret had beenconditioned by her familybeforesheleftFrance.On17December, for example, shewrote to her uncle, Charles

VII to say that shewoulddoall she could to persuadeHenry to surrenderMaine toFrance.20Her pleas toHenryobviouslyhadtheireffectandfive days later Henry wrotehimself to Charles, agreeingto surrender Maine andsaying that he did so as afavour to Margaret.Unfortunately, however,whilst Henry’s gesture wasromantic, it also appears to

have been inappropriate andHenry’s ministers refused tosurrender the territory untilApril 1446.21 Margaret musthave been jubilant at hersuccessbutitdidnotaugmentherpopularityinEngland.In July 1449 Charles

declared war on Englandonce again, ending the trucethatMargaret’smarriage hadushered in. This alsodamaged Margaret’s image

sinceshewasseenasbeinginleague with Henry’s hatedchief minister, Suffolk.According the Hall’sChronicle, it was Margaretand Suffolk who ruledEngland and the chroniclerconsidered the pair to belovers, calling Suffolk ‘theQuenes dearlynge’.22Shakespearealso implies thatthe pair were lovers and itwasacommonrumourduring

Margaret’s lifetime.23 Theallegation that Margaret andthemuch older Suffolk werelovers is untrue and inventedto smear the queen. It wasSuffolk and his wife whoescortedMargarettoEnglandand arranged her marriageand she appears to havelooked upon the couple assurrogate parents. Certainly,both she and Henry wereclose to Suffolk and grieved

for him when he wasmurdered in 1450.24Margaret, apparently, refusedto eat for three days onhearingthenewsofSuffolk’sdeath.25Touching thoughhergriefis,itdidnothingforherreputationwhichwasalreadyshaky, due primarily to thefactofherFrenchbirth.Margaret was also heavily

criticised during the earlyyearsofhermarriage forher

failure to conceive. It seemslikelythat thisdelaywasduemoretoheryouthatthetimeof her marriage than anyfailure of Henry toconsummate the marriage.Certainly, a delay inchildbearingwas not unusualin thisperiodandMargaret’scontemporary, CecilyNeville, Duchess of York isknown to have producedtwelve children after a

childless decade ofmarriage.26 NonethelessMargaret’schildlessnessmusthave caused her considerableworry.Henryhadnosiblings,unclesorfirstcousinsandthecontinuation of the House ofLancaster relied onMargaret’s ability to producean heir. It must have been agreatrelief toMargaretwhenshefinallyfoundthatshewaspregnant early in 1453.With

herpregnancy,MargaretmusthavefinallyfeltsecureinherpositionasQueenofEngland,despite the criticism that hadbeen previously levelled ather.Margaret’s joy must have

been short-lived, however,and, on 16 July 1453, theEnglish army was decisivelydefeated in France at theBattle of Castillon, leavingthe English in effective

control only of Calais.27 Thenews of this disaster causedconsternation in Englandwhich again wasunreasonably directed atMargaret as a Frenchwoman.The news of the battle alsohadagreat impactonHenry.On 15 August 1453, heapparently feltvery tiredandwent to bed early.28Wheathampstead’s Registerdescribes how that night, ‘a

diseaseanddisorderofsuchasortovercamethekingthathelost hiswits andmemory foratime,andnearlyallhisbodywasuncoordinatedandoutofcontrol that he could neitherwalk, nor hold his headupright,noreasilymovefromwherehesat’.29Henrywasina catatonic state, unable totake in anything around him.It seems likely that thiscondition was hereditary and

was inherited from hisgrandfather, the mad KingCharles VI of France.Margaret must have beendevastatedwhensheheardofHenry’s condition but therewas little that she could doand itmusthavebeenwithaheavy heart that she enteredherconfinementinLondoninSeptember.On 13 October 1453,

Margaret gave birth to her

only child, Edward ofLancaster, at Westminster.30Shemusthavebeendelightedto have borne a healthy sonbut this delight would havebeen tempered with sadnessat Henry’s continuingincapacity. Edward’s birthbroughtouta fiercematernalinstinctinMargaretandfromthat day onwards her focuswas always on his future.Margaret’s first concern was

toobtainHenry’s recognitionofhisson.ThiswascrucialtoMargaret as, according toHall’s Chronicle, there wererumoursthatEdwardwasnotthe son of the king, withclaims that he was either achangeling or the son of theDuke of Somerset.31 TheserumoursagainhadnobasisinfactandHenryhimselfneverdoubted Edward’s paternity.They may have been stories

spread by the rival House ofYorkandthroughouthertimeas queen Margaret, as aprominent member of theHouse of Lancaster, was atarget for Yorkistpropaganda. Soon afterEdward’sbirth, thebabywastakentoHenryatWindsor inthe hope of raising someresponse in Henry.32 TheDuke of BuckinghampresentedtheprincetoHenry,

butHenrygavenoresponse:

Natheless the Duke abode stillewith the Prince by the Kyng; andwhat he coude no maner answerehave, the Queene come in, andtoke the Prince in hir armes andpresentedhyminlikeformeastheDuke had done, desiring that heshoutblisseit;butalletheirlabourwas in veyne, for they departedthens without any answere orcountenauncesavingonlythatoneshe loked on the Prince and castedounehiseyeneagen,withoutany

more.33

The lack of response fromHenry made Margaretdeterminedtoprotecthersonbyherself.Soon after her visit to

Henry, in February 1454,Margaret returned to Londonand presented a bill of fivearticles to parliamentclaiming the regency forherself.34 This was an

unprecedented step for aqueenofEnglandtotakeandit is likely that Margaretbased her political ambitionon the examples of hergrandmother, Yolande ofAragon, and her mother,Isabel of Lorraine, both ofwhom had ruled as regentswhen their husbands wereincapacitated. The politicalroleopentoanEnglishqueenhad diminished since the

times of the Angevin andearly Plantagenet queens andbythemid-fifteenthcenturyitwasunthinkableforawomanto be made regent for anylength of time, particularly aFrenchwoman. Henry VI’sown mother, Catherine ofValois, had been denied anypolitical position during herson’s minority andMargaret’s claims to theregency were never

countenanced by parliament.On27March1454,theDukeofYork,wasnamedProtectorof England.35 Margaret hadallied herself with York’senemy, the Duke ofSomerset, and thisappointment must havehorrified her. It seems likelythattheinvestitureofEdwardof Lancaster as Prince ofWalesinJunemayhavebeencarried out to appease

Margaret. Certainly, sheemerged as the leader of theLancastrianfactionduringthecrisisofHenry’sillness.Margaret joined Henry at

Windsor following thedeclaration of York’sProtectorate. She must havebeen greatly troubled aboutthe future and may havefeared that York would takeallthepowerfromthecrown.It seems likely that during

this period she continued totry to wake Henry from hisstupor and her efforts appearto have finally becomesuccessful in late December1454, when Henry suddenlyrecovered:

The Queen came to him, andbrought my lord Prynce with her.AndthenheaskidwhatthePrincesnamewas,andtheQueentoldhimEdward; and than he hild up hishands and thankid God thereof.

Andheseidheneverknewtilthattyme,norwistnotwhatwasseidtohim, nor wist where he had bewhilshehathbeseketilnow.36

Margaret must have beenrelieved to finally haveHenry’s recognition of hersonand,soonafterwards,shetravelled with Henry toLondon where he relievedYork of his Protectorate andreleased Somerset from theTower where he had been

imprisoned.Henry’srecoverywasonlypartialandMargaretquicklyestablishedherself asthe real power behind thethrone.Henry’s return to power

proved to be short-lived and,following his removal fromoffice, York began raisingtroops. In late May 1455,HenrysetoutfromLondontotravel to a parliament inLeicester with a number of

his important ministers,whilst Margaret remained inLondon.On21May,Henry’smen were attacked by anarmy headed by York at StAlbans. This was the firstbattle of the Wars of theRoses and signified the startof a period of great politicalinstability in England. TheDuke of Somerset and otherleading Lancastrians werekilled and Henry, who was

slightly wounded, was takenprisoner by York andescorted back to London.37WhennewsreachedMargaretofthefirstBattleofStAlbansshe withdrew to the Towerwith her son. Without anarmy, however, she waspowerless and was forced toaccept York’s secondprotectorate, which wasdeclared on 17 November1455.38

Margaret realised that shehadlittlescopeforoppositiontotheYorkists.On25March1458 she took part in thepublic ‘loveday’reconciliation between theLancastrians and theYorkists. The two sideswalked in formal processionatStPaul’stosymbolisetheirreconciliation, with Margaretholding York’s hand.39 Theloveday was seen as a great

symbol of hope but thereconciliation completely fellapart in October 1458, whenan attempt was made toassassinate the Duchess ofYork’s nephew, the Earl ofWarwick, at Westminster.WarwickfledtoCalaiswherehebeganraisingtroopswhilsthis father, the Earl ofSalisbury, raised an army inthe north and York beganrecruiting in Wales. This

must have greatly alarmedMargaretandshetravelledtoCheshirewhere she began toraise troops in her son’sname.40By1459,Margaretwasthe

acknowledged military andpolitical leader of the houseof Lancaster and she wouldhaveknownthattherewasnooneelsewiththecapabilitytoprotect her son. By October,she had raised a sizeable

army and headed to confrontthe Yorkists in the Welshmarches. Her army greatlyoutnumbered York’s and theYorkists fled from her,Yorktravelling to Ireland andSalisbury, Warwick andYork’s son, Edward, Earl ofMarch, to Calais. Margaretmusthavebeenjubilantathervictoryand,withtheYorkistsdispersed, must have beenconfident that her cause

wouldsucceed.InJune1460,however, Warwick andSalisbury returned, defeatinga Lancastrian army atNorthampton and takingHenry prisoner once again.41Margaret and her son musthave been waiting near thesite of the battle.When theyheard of their defeat theyfled. During their journeytheywere robbed of all theirpossessions and deserted by

their guards but made itsafely to Harlech Castle.42Margaret’s determination toremain at large demonstratesthat she intended to continuetofightonherson’sbehalf.On10October1460,York

arrived at parliament inLondonandsatontheking’sthrone, formallyclaiming thecrown.43 When Henry IVusurped the crown fromRichard II in 1399 he also

ignored the claims ofEdmundMortimer,Richard’sacknowledged heir and thegreatgrandsonofEdwardIII’ssecond son, Lionel ofClarence. York was the sonofEdmundMortimer’ssister,AnneMortimer,andthereforedescended fromEdward III’ssecond son. Henry VI wasonly descended from histhird. Parliament listened toYork’s claims and it was

decidedthat,whilstHenryVIshould not be unthroned,Yorkwould be named as hisheir, inpreference toEdwardofLancaster.44Margaretwasfuriouswhen

she heard the news of herson’s disinheritance andimmediatelybeganraisinganarmy again, intent onreasserting her son’s rights.According to Hall’sChronicle,shemarchednorth

with 20,000 men and, on 31December1460,metanarmycommanded by York andSalisburyatWakefield.45TheLancastrians won a decisivevictory and York was killedon the field. York’s brother-in-law, theEarl of Salisbury,was also captured andexecuted soon afterwards,without trial.Margaret’smen‘came to the place wher thedead corps of the duke of

Yorke lay, and caused hisheadtobestrykenof,andseton it a croune of paper, andso fixed it on a pole, andpresented it to the Quene’.46Margaret must have beenjubilant to have the head ofher son’s greatest enemybefore her and she cannottruly be blamed for beingpleased at the death of theman who had so threatenedher son. She had York and

Salisbury’sheadssetonpolesover the gates ofYork as anact of revenge, beforebeginning to march south intriumph.Margaret met a second

Yorkist army at St AlbanssoonafterWakefieldandwonanother decisive victory.Henry VI had been broughtfrom London as a puppet tolead the Yorkist army andwas reunited with his wife

and son after the battle.Margaret’s feelings on thisreunionareunclear.Shemayhave resented Henry’sdisinheritance of their sonandshecertainlyneverseemsto have held his interests asparamount after Edward ofLancaster’s birth.Nonetheless, Henry was animportantpolitical figure andMargaret must have felt thather cause was bolstered by

his presence in her army.Following the battle,Margaret marched onLondon, intending to enterthecity.Margaret’sarmywasknown for being unruly and,outside the city walls,Margaret received adelegation headed by theDuchesses of Bedford andBuckingham and LadyScales, who begged her tospare the city and not allow

her army to enter, a clearindication of just howunpopular she had become.47Margaretagreed to leaveandtook her army back towardsthe north. Thiswas probablyher greatest mistake and, afew days later, the Yorkists,led by Edward, Earl ofMarch,enteredLondon.On4March, Edward wasproclaimed King as EdwardIV.48Thisproclamationmust

have come as a shock toMargaret and, on 29 March,her army was decisivelydefeatedatTowtonbyaforcecommanded by Edward IV.Margaret,Henryandtheirsonfled to Scotland, hotlypursuedbytheYorkists.49For the next two years,

Margaret waged a guerrillacampaigninthenorthagainstEdwardIV.InApril1462sheand her son travelled to

France to ask her cousinLouis XI for aid. Louis wasnot eager to help, butMargaret appealed to hismother, her aunt Marie ofAnjou and he finally agreedto help her in exchange forthe surrender of Calais.50 Byagreeing to surrender Calais,Margaret obtained importantmilitaryaidbutat thecostofany remaining popularity shehad in England. As the last

area of English rule inFrance, Calais held a specialplace in the hearts of theEnglish and it is clear thatMargaret never understoodthis position.51Margaretwasgiven500FrenchsoldiersandsailedforScotlandinOctober1462. She attempted to landat Tynemouth but wasrepulsedbycanonfire,whichscatteredher fleet.Thismusthavebeenanarduousjourney

forMargaret and they finallylanded at Berwick, whichMargaret used as a base toattack northern England. InMay 1464, Edward IV metMargaretinbattleontheedgeof Hexham Forest. Thisprovedtobeadisasterforherand she and her son wereforced to flee into the forestwhere they were attacked byrobbers and only survivedwhenonerobbertookpityon

Margaret in her misery.52Margaretseemstohavegivenup following her defeat atHexham Forest. Soonafterwards she and her sonsailed again to France, thistime not planning animmediatereturn.Margaret refused to

concede that her cause waslost whilst in France andcontinued to lobby Louis XIover the years, with little

success.53 She must havespent the lonelyyears raisingher son and attempting tokeep his cause alive. Thenews, in1465, thatHenryVIhad been captured hiding innorthern England must alsohave been a blow and shemust have considered itunlikely that she would eversee him again once he hadbeen taken to the Tower –andshewascorrect.

Margaretwassomethingofan embarrassment to LouisXI and it was only in 1470that she became a usefulpolitical figure for him.RelationsbetweenEdwardIVand his closest ally, the Earlof Warwick, had becomeincreasingly strained duringthe 1460s and, in 1470,Warwick had fled to France.LouisXI saw an opportunityto attack Edward IV and

offered to reconcileMargaretand Warwick so that theycould launch a joint invasionof England. Margaretregarded Warwick as hergreatest enemy andresponsibleforallhermiseryandittookLouisagreatdealof effort to persuade her toeven see him.54 Margaret,however, must haverecognised the possibilitiesfor the revival of her son’s

cause and finally agreed to areconciliation with Warwick.A formal reconciliation wasstaged on 22 July 1470 and,afterkeepingWarwickonhisknees for quarter of an hour,Margaret formally forgavehim.55 It was agreed thatWarwick would restoreHenry VI to the throne withFrench aid. To seal theiralliance Margaret’s sonwould be married to

Warwick’s daughter.Margaret cannot have beenhappywiththisclausebut,asa pragmatist, she must haveseenitasasmallpricetopayfor the restoration of herson’sposition.Warwick sailed to invade

England before the marriagebut, true to her word,Margaret allowed Edward ofLancaster to marryWarwick’s daughter, Anne

Neville. Soon after thewedding, news reached herthat Warwick had beensuccessful and thatHenryVIwas restored and Edward IVfled. Margaret must havebeen jubilant and attemptedto sail immediately toEngland. Bad weather,however, kept her partystranded in France.56 Finallyin April 1471 Margaret andher son and daughterin-law

wereabletosailforEngland,landing on 18 April 1471.Almost immediately uponlanding Margaret’s hopeswould have been dashed.Onthedaythatshesetfootonceagain in England, Warwickhad fought a battle with thenow returned Edward IV atBarnet and had been heavilydefeatedandkilledandHenryVI had been returned to theTower.57 Polydore Vergil

writes:

When she heard these things themiserable woman swooned forfear, shewasdistraught, dismayedand tormented with sorrow; shelamented thecalamityof the time,the adversity of fortune, her owntoil and misery; she bewailed theunhappyendofKingHenry,whichshe believed assuredly to be athand,and,tobeshort,shebehavedas one more desirous to die thanlive.58

This disaster so sudden afterMargaret’slandingmusthavedentedherconfidencebutshehad spent the last twentyyears fighting and she wasdetermined to continue toupholdherson’srights.Margaret immediately

began raising an army in theWest Country beforemarching on to Tewkesbury.ThereshefoundEdwardIV’sarmy waiting for her and

prepared to do battle.According to Hall’sChronicle, Margaret and herson rode among the troopsencouraging them, althoughMargaret was not presentduring the battle.59 Shemusthavehadananxiouswait fornews, knowing that her sonwas fighting and that all hishopes depended on the day.She would have beendistraught when news was

brought to her that her armywascompletelydestroyedandthat her son was among theLancastrians killed.60 Withthe loss of her son,Margaretlost the will to escape andwas captured by Edward IVat a religious house near thebattlefield.With her son dead,

Margaret was a brokenwoman with nothing left tofight for. Shewas taken as a

prisoner to London and ledthrough the streets andjeering crowds as the prizecaptive in Edward IV’svictory procession. Margaretwas then imprisoned in theTower,arrivingtheverynightthat her husband Henry Vwas murdered by thevictoriousYorkistking.Withthedeathofherhusbandandson,Margaret was no longera political force and after a

few months in the TowerEdwardIVturnedherovertothecustodyofher friend, theCountess of Suffolk atWallingford.61 Margaretappears to have borne herimprisonment and may havefoundsomecomfort inbeinglodged with her greatestfriend.

In August 1475, Edward IVsetouttoinvadeFrance.Ata

meeting with Louis XI atPicquigny on 25 August1475,itwasagreedthattherewould be a nine-year trucebetween the two countriesand that Louis would payEdward a pension.62 AfurtherconditionofthetreatywasthatLouiswouldransomMargaret for 50,000 crowns.In late January 1476,Margaret sailed for France,landinginDieppe.Margaret’s

feelingsabouther releaseareunrecorded although it ispossible that shewas glad tosee the back of a countrywhich held such unhappymemories.Margaret travelledto meet Louis’s envoys atRouen where she was madeto renounce all her claims toAnjou and Maine ascompensation for the ransomLouis had paid for her.63Margaretwasgivenamodest

pensionbyherfatherandwasallowedtoliveinhiscastleatReculee. In July 1480, herfather died and Margaretfound herself entirelydependent on Louis XI. Shediedinmiseryandpovertyon25August1482atDampierreCastle, leaving her few poorpossessionstoLouisXI.Margaret of Anjou was

forcedbynecessitytotakeonan extraordinary role for a

medieval queen. Throughadverse circumstances, shefound herself the leader of apoliticalfactionandamilitarycommander. There is noevidence that Margaret everdesired this role; she wasmotivatedbyconcern forherson throughout. Despite this,Margaret was a hated figurein her own lifetime and hasbeen criticised ever since.There is no doubt that

Margarethelped toprolongawarthatwasalreadylostandthather actionsoftendidnothelpherowncause.Shewasproud, domineering andbloodthirstyattimesalthoughmuch of what made herdislikedwas forced upon herby the weakness of herhusband and his rule.Furthermorethereisnodoubtthat she was the victim ofYorkist propaganda and as

she rose to prominence withthe growing weakness ofHenry VI she wasincreasingly vilified. To themale propaganda writers,writing to a mostly maleaudience,Margaretmusthavemadeaneasy target andas apowerful woman there wasno shortage of peopleprepared tobelieve theworstof her. However, Margaretneversoughttheroleshewas

forced to take and all heractionswereonbehalfofheronly child. The Wars of theRoses, like any civil war,forced people into positionsthattheywouldnototherwisehavetakenandMargaretwasforced to compromise herreputationfor thesakeofherchild. Margaret of Anjoulivedduringadifficultperiodof English history and muchof her unpopularity was due

tothecircumstancesinwhichshe found herself. This isverysimilartothepositionofher successor, the firstYorkist queen, ElizabethWoodville,whowas also thevictim of propaganda andrumours both from theLancastrianfactionand,moredamagingly,theYorkistside.

TheSeductress

ElizabethWoodville

Elizabeth Woodville isremembered today as themother of the princes in the

Tower.Sheisoftenviewedasa tragic figure. Accounts ofherlifegenerallybearoutthesuggestion that she somehowcaused her misfortunethrough her actions – that itwas her own greed andambition which led to thedestruction of her family.With the exception of KingJohn’s first wife, theineffectual Isabella ofGloucester, Elizabeth

Woodville was the firstEnglish queen of the post-conquest period. HermarriagecausedahugestirinEngland and throughout herlifetime Elizabeth Woodvillewas dogged by scandal. Tomanyofhercontemporariesitwasunthinkablethatthekingwould have freely chosen tomarry a woman so farbeneath him and there wererumours of witchcraft and

seduction which marredElizabeth’s reputation bothduring her lifetime andafterwards. Elizabeth’sdetractorsweresimplyunableto believe that the couplecould have been motivatedonly by love and thiscriticism of Elizabeth wassomething that her greatestenemy, Richard III, washappy topubliciseduringhisreign. Elizabeth Woodville’s

life was one of greatextremes, punctuated bytriumph and despair. Hercontemporaries believed thatshe simply overreachedherself, causing her positionto topple once her protectorwasdead.Inreality,however,asanEnglishqueenwithoutapowerful foreign family,when her husband died shewas left helpless, an easytargetforherpoliticalrivals.

Elizabeth Woodville wasborn in 1437 and was thedaughter of Sir JohnWoodville and his wife,Jacquetta de St Pol,DuchessofBedford.1ThemarriageofElizabeth’s own parents hadcausedagreatscandalacrossEurope. Jacquetta was thedaughter of the Count of StPol, one of the greatestnoblemen in Luxembourg.She was a descendant of

Charlemagne and wasmarried in 1433 to John,DukeofBedford,theyoungerbrotherofHenryV.HowevertheDuke of Bedford did notlong survive his wedding,leaving Jacquetta a widowtwoyearslater.Noonewouldhave seriously thought thatthe Duchess of Bedfordwould remain single for longbut she stunned all hercontemporaries when she

marriedSirJohnWoodville,amember of her husband’shousehold and a man vastlybeneathherinstatus.Inspiteof this, her second marriageappears to have been happyand she bore John thirteenchildren, of whom ElizabethWoodvillewastheeldest.Little evidence survives

pertaining to Elizabeth’schildhood, although ThomasMoore claimed that she had

been in the service ofMargaretofAnjouduringheryouth.2Bythemid1450s,shewasmarriedtoSirJohnGrey.The couple probably lived atGrey’s manor at Astley inWarwickshire and had twochildren, Thomas bornaround 1455 and Richard inthe late 1450s.3Greywas aneldest son and a goodmatchfor Elizabeth and they mayhave been happy together.

Themarriagewasdestinedtobe short-lived however andon 17 February 1461, SirJohnGreywaskilledfightingfor the Lancastrians at thesecondbattleofStAlbans.4The death of her husband

musthavebeenamajorblowfor Elizabeth and sheprobablyfearedforthefuture.A further blow was dealt afew weeks later when herfatherandeldestbrotherwere

captured by the Yorkistsfighting for the Lancastriansat Towton.5 Following thesedisasters, Elizabeth returnedtohermotheratGraftonwithher two young sons. Thedefeat of the Lancastrians atTowtonalso leftElizabeth inconsiderable financial straitsdue to the ensuingconfiscation of herLancastrian family’s estates.At somepoint, followingher

return home, she devised away to present a petition toEdward IV whilst he washunting in the area.6According to some reports,she positioned herself underan oak tree with her sons.ElizabethWoodvillewasverybeautiful and Edward fell inlovewithheratfirstsight.Elizabeth’s contemporary,

Dominic Mancini wrote thatmarriage was not the first

thing which Edward had onhismindwhenhefellfor theyoungwidow:

When the king first fell in lovewith her beauty of person andcharm of manner, he could notcorrupt her virtue by gifts ormenaces.ThestoryrunsthatwhenEdward placed a dagger at herthroat, to make her submit to hispassion, she remainedunperturbedand determined to die rather thanlive unchastely with the king.Whereupon Edward coveted her

much themore,andhe judged theladyworthy to be a royal spouse,whocouldnotbeovercomeinherconstancy even by an infatuatedking.7

When he first saw her,Edward wanted Elizabeth tobe his mistress. This was aposition of honour inmedieval England and hemust have been surprised ather refusal, perhaps evenresorting to threatening rape

with a dagger. Elizabeth,however, as the daughter ofthe Duchess of Bedford,consideredthestatusofroyalmistress beneath her own,apparentlysaying‘thatasshewist herself too simple to behis wife, so thought sheherself too good to be hisconcubine’.8 It seemsunlikely that Elizabethconsidered marriage apossibilityatthebeginningof

her relationshipwith Edwardbut she may have hoped togain the return of herhusband’s estates throughhisinfatuationwithher.Shemusthave been surprised andflatteredwhenitbecameclearthatEdwardwished tomarryher.Theexactdateandlocation

of Elizabeth’s secondmarriage is unknown,althoughitmayhavebeenon

1 May 1464.9 It appears tohavebeenanimpulsivemoveandbothwereforcedtokeepit secret for some time.Elizabeth was the firstEnglish woman to marry theking since the Normanconquest and both Elizabethand Edward must haverealised that it would causeconsternation in England.Edward may have notconsidered the consequences

of the marriage properly. Itwas inappropriate and waslater used to bolsteraccusations of witchcraftagainst Elizabeth and hermother. Edward had also notseen fit to inform his mostpowerfulmagnate,theEarlofWarwick,whowas inFrancearrangingamarriagebetweenEdward and the sister-in-lawof the King of France.10Following Warwick’s return,

Edward was forced to admitat a council meeting that hewas, in fact, already marriedandhadbeenforsometime.When news of Elizabeth

and Edward’s marriage wasmade public, there wasuniversal disapproval.Edward’s mother, CecilyNeville, apparently objectedthat Elizabeth was not goodenoughforhim.11Sheisalsosupposedtohaveclaimedthat

he was not the son of herhusband, the Duke of Yorkbut instead the result of anadulterous affair.12 Whilstthis appears merely to havebeen an impulsive statementmadebytheirateduchess,thecomment sowed a seed thatwould bear fruit nearlytwenty years later. Edward’sbrother, George, Duke ofClarence also objected to themarriage,saying thatEdward

shouldhavemarriedavirgin,rather than a widow withchildren.13 By far the mostseriousopponenttothematchwas Warwick who wasangered at the failure of hismarriage negotiations inFrance. The secret marriageof Edward and ElizabethcausedariftbetweenEdwardand Warwick whicheventually resulted in openwarbetweenthem.

Elizabeth is unlikely tohave taken objections to hermarriage too seriously. Shewas already Edward’s wifeand must have felt that theyhad presented objectors witha fait accompli. Edward alsofully supported his wife andmade plans for a lavishcoronation for her. Attemptswere made to stressElizabeth’s grand continentalconnections. In January1465

Edward sent envoys to theDukeofBurgundytoarrangeforElizabeth’suncle,Jacquesof Luxembourg and aBurgundian entourage toattend Elizabeth’scoronation.14 Elizabeth alsoadopted a coat of armsincorporating those of St Poland other maternalconnections. Elizabeth’scoronation was delayed inorder to allow time for her

foreignrelativestoarriveandshewas finally crowned in aglittering ceremony on 26May 1465.15 In spite of this,most considered the newqueen an upstart. Elizabeth,however, must have felttriumphant and she quicklysetaboutsharingsomeofhergood fortune with herrelatives.Elizabethhasalwayshada

reputation for greed and

much of this stems from theseries of marriages that shearrangedforhersiblingsonceshe was queen. Elizabeth’ssistersweremarried in quicksuccession to the Earls ofEssex and Kent, the wealthyLord Strange and the heir ofLord Herbert. Her youngestsister Catherine also securedone of the most prestigiousmatchesinEnglandwhenshewasmarriedinherinfancyto

the young Duke ofBuckingham.16 She alsoarranged rich marriages forher brothers and in February1467ElizabethpaidEdward’ssister, theDuchessofExeter,for the marriage of herdaughter and heiress to hereldest son Thomas Grey.These marriages wereresented by many of thenobility in England as thesheer number of Elizabeth’s

siblings effectively floodedthe aristocratic marriagemarket.Warwickinparticularwas angered by ThomasGrey’smarriageastheking’sniece had previously beenbetrothed to his nephew,GeorgeNeville.17Elizabeth’sactivity on behalf of hersiblings and sons severelydamaged her reputationamongst the jealous nobility.However, shecouldnothave

arranged these marriageswithout the support of othermembers of the nobility;Edward’s sister, the Duchessof Exeter, could hardly havebeen forced into treatingElizabeth thewayshedidonthemarriageofherdaughter.Elizabeth was fond of herfamily and it is natural thatshewouldwantthemtosharein her good fortune. Thesheer number of her siblings

however and the fact thatmany more establishedfamilies saw the Woodvillesas upstarts led to anunderhand campaign againstthequeenacrossmuchof thenobility.Elizabeth had already

proved herself able to bearhealthy children before hermarriage to Edward and shequickly conceived by him.Her eldest child by Edward,

Elizabeth of York, was bornon11February1465andwasquickly followed by twootherdaughters.18Thesexofthesechildrenmusthavebeena disappointment to theirparents but Edward does notseem to have blamedElizabeth. She was a fondmotherwholikedtokeepherfamilyaroundher,appointinga number of her relatives toher household staff. Her

brother John Woodville washer master of horse and hersister-in-law, Lady Scaleswas a lady-in-waiting.19These appointments causedfurther resentment butElizabeth ignored theillfeeling, perhaps believingthatwithEdward’sprotectionno ill could befall her. Shewould have been well awareofthehostilityofmuchofthenobility towardsher and it is

therefore not surprising thatshechose tosurroundherselfwith friendly figures,regardlessofthefactthatthiscausedfurtherdiscontent.Elizabeth quickly took to

her role as queen and hermarriage with Edward washappy.Neverthelessshemustneverhavebeenabletoforgetthat Edward was a usurpingking and that there werealways factions in England

working against him.Warwick and Clarence hadalwaysopposedhermarriage.By 1469 their latent hostilityhad developed into outrightrebellion. Elizabeth wasvisiting Norwich with herdaughterswhenWarwickandClarence launched an attackon the king. Events movedquickly and Edward’s forceswere heavily defeated at theBattle of Edgecote on 26

July.20 Warwick seized theinitiative that this victoryaffordedandquicklycapturedEdward IVnearNottingham,takinghimasaprisonertohiscastle at Middleham. Thismust have been a blow forElizabeth and she wasprobably terrified aboutwhatwouldbefallherhusband.Aneven greater blow was dealtwhennewsreachedElizabethatNorwichthatherfatherand

brother John Woodville hadbeen captured by Warwick’sforces near Coventry andexecuted without trial.Elizabethmust have plungedintomourningandshewouldhavedespairedforthefuture.There can have been no

doubt in anyone thatWarwick and Clarence’sattacks were aimed againstthe Woodvilles. Soon afterElizabeth’s return toLondon,

her mother was publiclychargedwithwitchcraft.21Asthe fate of Jacquetta’s ownsister-in-lawEleanorCobhamhad shown, such a chargecould be disastrous andElizabeth would have beenaware of the dissent aroundLondon against both her andher mother. Some of theclaimswere of enchantmentsthat Jacquetta used topersuade the king to marry

her daughter, againhighlighting Elizabeth’sextremeunpopularity and thesuggestion that she wasunworthy to be a queen.Elizabeth and Jacquettamusthavespenta tensetimeuntil,finally, they heard thatWarwick had been forced torelease Edward. Elizabethmust have been glad to bereunited with her husbandand to have his protection

again. Any sense of triumphwould have been short-lived.Following a brief exile,Warwick and Clarencereturned to England alliedwith the Lancastrians inSeptember 1470, with anarmy,and intentondeposingEdwardIV.Edward quickly realised

thattheLancastriansweretoostrong and fled to Burgundyfrom Kings Lynn,

abandoning his family.Elizabeth was in Londonwhen news reached her ofWarwick’s invasion and itmust have been with asinkingheartthatsherealisedthat Edward was once againunable to protect her.Unwilling to simplysurrender,Elizabethbegan toprovision the Tower towithstandasiege.22Warwickwas too strong and by early

October Elizabeth, hermother and daughters hadentered the sanctuary atWestminster Abbey.23 Soonafterwards, Warwick enteredthe city and removed HenryVI from the prison in theTowertotheroomsElizabethhad prepared in the samefortress for her ownconfinement.Frominside thesanctuary, Elizabeth and hermother must have heard the

commotion that therestoration of Henry VIentailed with despair.Elizabethprobablyfearedthatshe would be forciblyremoved from the sanctuaryat any time and must havebeenrelievedtodiscoverthatthe new regime had decidedto leave her untouched.As aqueen without strong foreignconnections, there was littleElizabeth could do but wait

andseewhatdirectioneventstook.Elizabeth had been in

sanctuary for several weekswhen she gave birth to herfirst son by Edward.24 Asmall christening wasarranged for the infant inWestminster Abbey with theAbbotandPrioroftheAbbeystanding as godfathers andLady Scrope as godmother.Thesesponsorswereafarcry

from the foreign royalty theeldest son of a king couldusually expect for hisgodparents. Elizabeth andJacquetta appear to havemadethebestoftheirtimeinsanctuaryand it is likely thatElizabeth relied on hermother considerably. Thesanctuary was small and itmust have beenuncomfortableforthewomensharing a space with three

young girls and a newbornbaby. They would havepinned all their hopes onEdward obtaining sufficientsupport abroad to try to winbackhiscrown,orattheveryleastrescuehisfamily.Edward had been working

hard to gain support on thecontinent and eventually on11March 1471 he sailed forEngland with an army. Hemade swift progress through

England.On11April,hewasadmitted to London by thetownspeople.25HenryVIwasquicklyreturnedtotheTowerandElizabeth,hermotherandchildren emerged fromsanctuary. The meetingbetween Edward andElizabeth must have beenemotional, with Elizabethproud to show Edward theirbaby son. She was probablyrelieved to be able to move

freelyaroundLondon for thefirst time in months and toassume her role as queenagain. Despite her optimism,however, Elizabeth wouldhavebeenawarethatEdwardhad not yet won the countryback. After capturing HenryVIandreleasingElizabeth,heagainmarchedoutofLondonat the head of an army, thistime to confrontWarwick atBarnet. Elizabeth must have

hadananxiouswaitfornewson the day of the battle andmust have been relieved tohear of Edward’s victory.Thiswas followedon4May1471 by the defeat ofMargaret of Anjou atTewkesbury, leaving Edwardsecure once more on histhrone.Elizabeth appears to have

quickly settled back into herroleasqueen.Asbefore, she

played a major role in theupbringing of her childrenandin1473sheaccompaniedhersonEdwardtoLudlowsothathecouldruleasPrinceofWales.26 Edward was stillonlytwoyearsoldanditwasElizabeth who effectivelyruled the principality. Shealso appointed the Prince’scouncil while she was there,filling the leading positionswithherbrother,EarlRivers,

and son, Richard Grey.Elizabeth was back with herson in London in summer1475 when Edward IVassembledanarmy to invadeFrance. It is a mark of hisconfidence in her abilitiesthat he appointed her as theeffective ruler of England inhis absence by placing theirson, the nominal regent, inher care.Edward’s campaignin France proved to be brief,

butElizabethmusthavebeenglad of the trust Edwardplacedinher.EdwardIVwasanotorious

womaniser and tooknumerous mistressesthroughout his marriagewhich Elizabeth deliberatelyignored. Elizabeth was fiveyears older than Edward andit is a mark of her personalqualities and attractions thatshewasabletoretainhislove

untilhisdeath.Elizabethboreher youngest child, Bridget,inNovember1480,whenshewas 43, demonstrating thatshe andEdward still enjoyeda close and loving marriage.It is possible that Edwardenjoyed the happy familyatmosphere that Elizabethbrought him when his ownbrothers were often at odds.ByChristmas1482Edward’shealth was deteriorating and

it is likely that Elizabethquickly became concernedabouthim.Hediedon9April1483,adeathhastenedbyhisoverindulgence in food anddrink.27Elizabeth must have been

grief-stricken at Edward’sdeath yet realising that therewasagreatdealtobedonetoensure thesmoothsuccessionof her son. According to theCrowland Continuations,

EdwardIV’scouncilattendedElizabeth at Westminstersoon after Edward’s death inorder to arrange Edward V’sjourney to London.28 TheWoodvilles were stillperceived with suspicion inEngland. The council fearedthat Edward V would bebrought to London with alargeforceinordertoenforcethe Woodville’s rule. Thiswas put to Elizabeth at the

council meeting and sheagreed towrite toEdward toinstructhimtobringnomorethan 2,000 men.29 Elizabethprobably later came to regrether willingness to allay thecouncil’s fears, but in April1483shehadnothingtofear.Edward V’s accession hadbeen uncontested andElizabethwascontenttowaitin London for her son toarrive.

Edward V set out forLondon soon after news ofhisfather’sdeathreachedhimin Wales. He made steadyprogress and on arriving inStony Stratford his escortsheardthathisuncle,Richard,Duke of Gloucester and theDuke of Buckingham hadarrived at Northampton.30Elizabeth’s brother EarlRivers with Elizabeth’s sonSirRichardGrey rode out to

meet the two dukes and thefourspentapleasanteveningtogether, feasting anddrinking.31 They agreed tospend thenight at thedukes’camp and in the morningwere horrified to find thatthey had been placed underarrest in the night. WithRivers and Grey imprisoned,Gloucester and Buckinghamrode to intercept the king atStonyStratford.Theytoldthe

young king that they hadarrested his uncle and half-brother because they and hiselder half-brother, ThomasGrey,Marquis ofDorset hadplanned to rule the countrythrough him.32 The youngkingprotestedtheirinnocencebut there was little the boycould do. Gloucester andBuckingham took control ofhisprogresstoLondon.33ElizabethWoodville heard

the news of Gloucester’scoup just after midnight thefollowing day.34 She andDorsetimmediately:

Began collecting an army, todefend themselves and to set freethe young king from the clutchesof the dukes. But when theyexhorted certain nobles who hadcome to the city, and others, totake up arms, they perceived thatmen’s minds were not onlyirresolute,but altogetherhostile tothemselves.35

Itmusthavebeena shock toElizabeth to realise just howunpopular she had becomeand she may have realised,perhapsforthefirsttime,justhow vulnerable Edward’sdeath had left her. Certainly,without the support of thepeople of London, there waslittle Elizabeth could doexcept gather her childrenand flee into sanctuary at

Westminster. Elizabeth musthave been appalled to findherselfonceagain inneedofthe church’s sanctuary andconditions, which this timewith two sons and near-adultdaughters, must have beenveryuncomfortable.Shemusthave felt alone and hercontemporaries seem to havebelieved she was actingunreasonably. The followingday, for example, the

Chancellor visited her insanctuary and gave her thegreatseal,todemonstratethatthere was no threat to herposition.36 This may havebeensomecomforttoher,butsoon afterwards theChancellorcametoheragain.He had been sent byGloucester to obtain thesurrender of her youngestson, Richard, Duke ofYork.37

The Chancellor tried topersuade Elizabeth toacquiesce by arguing thatEdward V needed hisbrother’s company. Sherepliedthatitwouldbebetterforbothboystobewiththeirmother then attackedGloucester verbally forkeeping her son away fromher. The Chancellor, clearlybelieving that Richardmeantthechildrennoharm,offered

Elizabeth a pledge for heryoungest son’s safety.AccordingtoThomasMoore,Elizabethrepliedthat‘eachofthese children is the other’sdefence while they beasunder, and each of theirlives lie in the other’s body.Keep one safe and both besure, and nothing for thembothmoreperilousthantobeboth in one place’.38Elizabeth feared that

Gloucester meant to gaincontroloverhersonsandkillthem. The sanctuary hadalready been surrounded bysoldiers, however, andElizabeth must have fearedthat Gloucester wouldforciblyenterthesanctuarytoremove them all. Shethereforekissedheryoungestson and, weeping, handedhimovertotheChancellor.39For a fond mother like

Elizabeth, this must havebeenthemosttraumaticeventofherlife.Events moved quickly

followingthesurrenderoftheDukeofYork.Sixdays lateron 22 June, a sermon waspreached at Paul’s Crosscalling Edward IV a bastardand claiming that he andElizabeth had never actuallybeen married.40 Gloucesterclaimed that Edward had

beenprecontractedtoEleanorButler before hismarriage toElizabeth and that hismarriage had never beenvalid.41 This claim neverseems to have been widelybelieved and Elizabeth islikely to have beenincredulousatthesuggestion.MostpeopleinEnglandseemtohaveseenitforthepretextitwas,allowingGloucestertoremove his young nephew

and claim the throne asRichard III. Soon afterRichard III’s accession,Edward V and his brotherRichard, Duke of Yorkdisappeared into the Towerandwereneverseenagain.Itwas widely believed thatRichardorderedtheirmurderssoonafterhiscoronationandElizabeth is also likely tohave believed that hemurdered her sons. It is very

likely that he followed theprecedent set by all otherEnglish usurping kings andmurderedhispredecessor.Elizabeth must have been

horrified at her predicament,having gone from beingQueen of England to merelyDame Elizabeth Grey overthe course of a few weeks.However she was not beatenbut quickly began plottingagainst the new king. At a

council meeting a few daysbeforehis accession,RichardIII had accused Elizabeth ofusing sorcery against himtogether with Edward IV’smistress, Jane Shore.42 ThiswasnotthefirstaccusationofsorceryagainstElizabethandit would have furtherdamaged her already poorreputation, something ofwhichRichardIIIwouldhavebeen very much aware.

Whilst it seems unlikely thatElizabeth and Jane Shorewere using witchcraft toinjureRichard, shedidbeginplotting with Lady MargaretBeaufort soonafterher son’sdeposition. Lady MargaretBeaufortwasadescendantofJohn of Gaunt, the third sonofEdwardIII.Heronlychild,HenryTudor,wastheleadingLancastrianclaimant andhadbeeninexileonthecontinent

for a number of years.Elizabeth and Margaretshared a physician and hecarriedmessagesbetweenthetwo women who both hadgood reason to despiseRichard III.43Margaret, withthe consent of her son,promisedthathewouldmarryElizabeth’s eldest daughterElizabethofYorkifElizabethWoodville would supportHenry’s bid for the throne.

Excited by the prospect of athrone for her daughter,Elizabethagreed.Elizabeth and her son,

Dorset,wereheavilyinvolvedin the rebellion which brokeoutinOctober1483,aimedatdeposing Richard III. Therebellion involved uprisingsthroughout England and aninvasion by Henry TudorfromBrittany.Elizabethmusthave been eager for news in

hersanctuaryandwouldhavebeen distraught to learn ofRichard’s decisive action toconfront the rebels. HenryTudor’sfleetwasscatteredbystorms and returned, beaten,to Brittany. Elizabeth musthavefeltthatherlasthopeofremoving Richard from thethronehadpassed.Elizabeth was more than

ten years older than Richardandshemusthaveconsidered

itunlikelythatshewouldliveto see another king on thethrone. At some pointElizabeth accepted that forherdaughters’ future,aswellas her own, she had tomaketerms with Richard III andleave sanctuary. Afterobtaining promises fromRichardthathewoulddoherand her daughters no harm,Elizabeth left sanctuary.Throughout her life,

Elizabeth was veryresourceful and it is likelythat she accepted thissituation as the best that shecould hope for. At somepoint, she is known to havewrittentoDorsetinFrancetorecommend that he abandonHenryTudorandreturnhometo England.44 Elizabethprobably lived quietly,visiting court on state andfamily occasions. It seems

likely that she knew andapproved of Richard’sscheme to marry herdaughter, Elizabeth of York.However,again,herhopesofacrownforherdaughterweredashed and Elizabeth musthave resigned herself toliving out her life inobscurity.Elizabeth Woodville’s

fortunes changed again inAugust 1485. Shewas living

inLondonwhenHenryTudorlaunchedasecondinvasionofEngland,havingswornbeforehe left tomarry Elizabeth ofYork. Elizabeth must havewatched his progress withinterest and, in spite of herreconciliation with RichardIII, she must have beenpleasedtohearofhisdeathinbattle. Richard had beenresponsible for the deaths ofthreeofherfoursons,aswell

as her brother; even aftermaking terms with him shecannot have been sorry tohear of his death. Soon afterHenry VII’s accession, theAct invalidating Elizabeth’smarriage was repealed byparliament – a satisfyingvindicationforElizabeth.After the marriage of

ElizabethofYorkandHenryVII, Elizabeth Woodvilleappeared to settle down into

lifeasqueendowager.Asthemother of the queen and notthe king, however, Elizabethappears to have resentedbeing given less prominencein Henry’s regime than hisown mother, MargaretBeaufort and it has beensuggested that she began toconspire against him. Theearly years of Henry’s reignwereplaguedbypretenderstohiscrownandoneofthemost

dangerous was LambertSimmnel.Hewas aboywhohad been taught toimpersonate first Richard,Duke of York and thenClarence’s son, the Earl ofWarwick. He was aparticularly convincingpretender and, according toFrancisBacon:

Sothatitcannotbe,butthatsomegreatpersonthatknewparticularlyandfamiliarlyEdwardPlantagenet

[Warwick], had a hand in thebusiness, from whom the priestmight take his aim. Thatwhich ismost probable, out of precedentandsubsequentacts,is,thatitwasthe Queen Dowager, from whomthisactionhadtheprinciplesourceand motion. For certain it is, shewas a busy negotiating woman,and in her withdrawing-chamberhadthefortunateconspiracyforthekingagainstKingRichardthethirdbeen hatched; which the kingknew,andrememberedperhapsbuttoo well; and was at this timeextremelydiscontentwiththeking,

thinking her daughter, as the kinghandled the matter, not advancedbut displeased: and none couldhold the book so well to promptand instruct this stageplay as shecould.45

In this account, Elizabeth isportrayed as a connivingwomanand there isnodoubtthat throughout her lifeElizabeth was implicated inconspiracies and otherunderhand political dealings.

Asthefactsofher lifeshow,however, without theprotection of a powerfulforeignfamilyshewasforcedtoplot in order to ensure thesecurity of herself and herfamily. There were rumoursthat Henry VII did not treathis wife, who had after allbeen the heiress of England,exactly as he should have.Elizabeth as a fond mothermay well have been anxious

to ensure her daughter’sposition.ElizabethWoodvilleherself had also sufferedattacksonherpositionduringRichard III’s reign and it istherefore not surprising thatshe was fearful of a loss ofinfluence during the reign ofhis successor. ElizabethWoodville never had enoughpolitical influence to enableher to change her situationopenlyandshewas therefore

forced into conspiraciesthroughoutherwidowhood.Assoonastheplotbecame

known to Henry he seizedElizabeth’s property and senther to the convent atBermondsey, officiallyclaimingitaspunishmentforher delivering her daughtersinto Richard III’s custody.46The rebellion was soondestroyed by Henry but hedoes not seem to have

forgiven Elizabeth and shelived quietly for the rest ofherlife,dyingatBermondseyon8 June1492at the ageoffifty-five.47 She was given aquiet funeral, attended byDorset and some of herdaughters, and was buriedbeside her second husband,EdwardIV.Elizabeth Woodville had

oneofthemosteventfullivesof any medieval queen,

marked by great highs andlows.Certainly,muchof thisturmoilwascausedbytheerain which she lived and hercontemporary, Margaret ofAnjou,cannotbesaidtohavebeenmuchhappier.Elizabethwas attacked during herlifetime for her marriage; inthis and the marriages thatshe arranged for her familyshe was seen as greedy andgrasping. During the

tumultuous events of 1483,Elizabeth appears as awailingCassandra,foreseeingall too clearly what wouldoccur and unable to makeherselfbelieved.Shewasalsocriticised for her decision tomake terms with Richard IIIand then for her plot againstHenry VII. However, it isdifficult to see how any ofthis was really Elizabeth’sfaultanditappearsalmostas

ifElizabeth’scontemporaries,in seeking to see her as thearchitect in her own ruin,were trying to distancethemselves from their ownparts in the acceptance ofRichard III anddepositionofEdward V. ElizabethWoodville did not set out tomarry Edward IV but it ishard to blame her foraccepting such a glitteringmarriagewhenitwasoffered

to her. She and Edward alsoappear to have been happyandmereambitionisunlikelyto have driven Elizabeth’sactions. She was also enviedanddisparagedfromthestartof her queenship and it isthereforeeasytoseewhyshesoughttoraiseherrelativestopositions where they couldkeep her company. It is alsoclearthat,forallthecriticismofElizabeth,therewasatime

during Edward IV’s reignwhen a Woodville marriagewasdesirableandit ishardlyElizabeth’s fault that, in atimeofhigh infantmortality,so many of her siblingssurvived to adulthood.As anEnglishwoman,Elizabethwaseasy to attack. Her parentscouldnotthreatenaninvasionor lobby the Pope in hersupport as the families offoreign-born queens could.

Ultimately she was an easytarget for bullying andneutralisation, as bothRichard III and Henry VIIdiscovered. That Elizabethstill sought to improve herposition and that of herchildren in the face of thistreatment is hardlyunacceptable, even if shedidsometimesemployunderhandmethods. No one could havepredicted the life Elizabeth

Woodville would lead at herbirth. Edward IV’s marriage,as the first to an Englishcommoner since the Normanconquest,setaprecedentthatwould be followedenthusiastically by thecouple’s grandson, HenryVIII.

AnneBoleyn

Anne Boleyn is the mostcontroversial woman ever towear the crown of England.Like Elizabeth Woodville,

sherosefromhumbleoriginstomarrythekingbutherkingwas already married. Bydeciding to marry, AnneBoleynandHenryVIIIsetinmotion a divorce whichdraggedonforoversixyearsanddramatically changed thecourse of English history.Anne Boleyn had a hugeimpactonreligioninEnglandand helped to shape thecourse England would take

into theearlymodernperiod.In spiteof this,however, shewas never popular andAnne’s security wasultimately based onmaintaining the king’s love.One of the most studied ofher generation, AnneBoleyn’s life held momentsof great triumph andcalamity. She is also one ofthe most vilified, thoughHenry should bear most of

the blame, as he held thepower in their relationship.Anne ended up anunfortunate victim, just likeHenry’s first wife, CatherineofAragon.

Anne Boleyn was probablybornin1500atBlicklingHallin Norfolk.1 Anne’s fatherwas Sir Thomas Boleynwhose family had marriedwell, over a number of

generations. Thomas hadcontinued his family’s policyof good marriages, marryingElizabeth Howard, sister ofthe Duke of Norfolk. TheHowards were one of thepremier families in Englandand Anne would have beenaware of the advantages ofher connection to the familyfrom an early age. Both ofAnne’s parents also hadstrong connections with the

court and her mother hadbeen one of Catherine ofAragon’s ladies.2 In1512SirThomas Boleyn was sent asambassador to Margaret ofAustria in Brussels and thetwo got onwell.3 It is likelythatMargaret offered to takeone of his daughters into herhousehold during his stay inBrussels and Thomas,perhaps viewing his youngerdaughter as more promising

than his elder Mary, sentAnne.MargaretofAustria’scourt

was renowned throughoutEuropeasacentreoflearningand Anne appears to havequickly absorbed its culture.Annewasfamousthroughouther life for her intelligenceand she learnt French easily,as a language in which shewas noted for being fluent.Anne probably enjoyed the

status of being one ofMargaret’s maids of honourbut she did not stay therelong. In August 1514,England switched itsallegiancefromtheEmpiretoFrance and Thomas wasobliged to write to Margaretfor the release of hisdaughter.4 Anne’s Frenchskillswere probably requiredandatsomepointinlate1514she travelled to Paris to join

thehouseholdofMaryTudor,Henry VIII’s sister and thenew Queen of France. Annewas probably sorry to leaveMargaret of Austria but sheflourished in France wherehersisterwasalsooneof thequeen’s ladies. Mary Tudorreturned to England in April1515 and was accompaniedby Mary Boleyn, who hadalready disgraced herself bybecoming themistress of the

French king.Anne, however,passed into the household ofthe new Queen of France,Claude.Anne Boleyn’s life in

Franceisnotrecordedinanysources but she was youngandprobablyquicklybecameFrench in all but birth. It islikely that she took part inClaude’s coronation at StDenis in 1516 and otherceremonial events at the

French court. Anne clearlyreceived an excellenteducationinFranceandsheisknown to have been able toplay the lute and sing anddance well. She wouldprobably have been happy toremain in France. In 1515,however, Anne’s great-grandfather, the Earl ofOrmonde, died. The earl hadexpressed a wish that he besucceeded by his grandson,

SirThomasBoleyn,but,soonafter his death, the earldomwas seized by his cousin,Piers Butler. Thomasappealed for the title to theking and the dispute draggedonforseveralyears.In1522,Cardinal Wolsey brokered asolution, that Piers Butlerwould keep the title and hiseldest son, James Butler,would marry Thomas’s onlyunmarried daughter, Anne

Boleyn.The solution suited the

kingandAnnewasdulysentfor, arriving at the Englishcourt in 1522. Anne quicklymade a stir. According toGeorgeWyatt,‘inbeautyshewastomanieinferior,butforbehaviourmanners,attireandtonge she excelled them all.For she had bene brought upinFrance’.5AnneBoleynwasnevercalledabeautyanddid

not conform to contemporaryideals of beauty. She had adark complexion with darkeyes and dark hair. It is alsopossible that she had arudimentary sixth finger ononehandwhichshedisguisedwith hanging sleeves,something whichmight havebeen taken as a sign ofwitchcraft.6 Her Frenchupbringing had taught Annegrace and an ability tomake

themostofherself.Shestoodout as exotic amongst theEnglishwomen of the court.InMarch 1522, she was oneof the seven ladies chosen totake part in amasque beforethe court.7 The seven ladiesstood inawoodencastleandwere each given a virtue torepresent, the king’s sistertaking ‘Beauty’ and Anne,appropriatelyasitturnedout,playing ‘Perseverance’. The

sevenladiesworewhitesatinand bonnets of gold andjewels and defended theircastlewithrosepetalsagainstacompanyofknights, ledbythe king. Anne must havegreatly enjoyed herself andher place in the masquedemonstrates justhowhighlyshe was held amongst theladiesofthecourt.Anne is little documented

between 1522 and 1526 but

she appears to have quicklyestablished herself as one ofCatherineofAragon’s ladies.Negotiationsforhermarriageto James Butler dragged onbut it soonbecameclear thattheywould come to nothing,perhaps due to her father’sunwillingness to abandon hishopesofatitle.Anneenjoyedcourt life and it is likely thatshe would also have beenunwilling to marry her Irish

cousinandleavecourtforhisestates. Some time after herarrival at court she alsobecame involved withanother,moreeligible,suitor.According to Cavendish’sLife ofWolsey, Henry Percy,whowas heir to the earldomof Northumberland, oftenspent time in the queen’schambersandwouldflirtwithher ladies there.8 It quicklybecame apparent that he

preferredAnneBoleyn to alltheotherladies:

There grew such a secret lovebetween them that at length theywere engaged together, intendingtomarry. This came to the king’sknowledge, who was then muchoffended. Wherefore he could nolongerhidehissecretaffection,butrevealed his secret intention untomy lord Cardinal in that behalf;and consulted with him to breaktheengagement.9

Itisunlikelythatthekinghadany romantic feelings forAnne at that time but heprobably still hoped that theButler marriage would occurandwasangrythatAnneandPercy should have goneagainst his wishes. Henrymaywellhavefelt thatAnnewas too far beneath Percysocially to everbe a crediblewifeforhim.Following the king’s

intervention, Henry Percywas summoned to Wolseyand rebuked by the Cardinalfor attaching himself to awoman who was beneathhim.10PercyweptandtriedtodefendAnne, saying that shewasthewomanhelovedmostand pointing out her nobledescent. This was fruitlessand Wolsey sent for Percy’sfather who took him back toNorthumberland and married

him swiftly to the Earl ofShrewsbury’s daughter. It isunclear whether Annereturned Henry Percy’saffection, but she may havedone. Certainly, she blamedCardinalWolsey for the lossofsuchagrandmarriageandlater became his greatestenemy.Therewascertainlyasecret engagement betweenAnne and Henry Percy,although both attempted to

suppress the knowledge ofthis once she became queen.Anne’s affair with HenryPercy clearly shows herappeal and ability to breachconvention and arrange amarriage for herself. It alsoshows clearly, for the firsttime, the great ambitionwhich the daughter of SirThomas Boleyn couldharbour.Henry Percy was not the

onlypersonwithwhomAnnebecame romanticallyinvolved during her firstyears at court. She alsoattracted theattentionsof themarried poet, Sir ThomasWyatt. The exact nature ofAnne and Wyatt’srelationship is unclear andAnne, who was trying toarrange an advantageousmarriage, may have seen therelationship as merely

harmlessflirtation.WyattwasclearlyinterestedinAnneandinonepoemreferstohislovefor‘Brunet’.11ThisBrunet isobviously Anne Boleyn andWyatt’soriginalfinallineforthis poem refers to ‘Her thatdidsetourcountryinarore’.There is no doubt that thisrefers to Anne. The exactnature of Anne and Wyatt’srelationship is perhapssummed up in another poem

byWyatt:

Whose list to hunt: I knowwhereisanhindButasforme,alasImaynomoreThe vain trevail hath wearied mesosore,I am of them that farthest comebehindYetmayIbynomeansbeweariedmindDraw from the deer, but as shefleethaforeFainting I follow. I leave offtherefore,

Sithens in anet I seek tohold thewindWholistherhunt,Iputhimoutofdoubt,AswellasImayspendhistimeinvain,And graven with diamonds inlettersplainThereiswrittenherfairneckroundabout‘Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s Iam,And wild for to hold, though Iseemtame’.12

From the evidence of thispoem it seems likely thatWyatt pursued Anne, hopingthat she would become hismistress but that this affairwas never consummated andAnne considered him theleast of her suitors. Anneknew the value of marriageand would not have thrownawayherpropectsforamereflirtation. Nevertheless theliaisondidproveusefultoher

since Wyatt’s interest inAnneseemstohavetriggeredtheking’sowninterestinher.The exact date of the

king’s interest in AnneBoleynisunclearbutthereisnodoubtthatshewaspresentatcourtforsometimebeforeshecametohisattention.Hersister,MaryBoleyn,hadbeentheking’smistressduringtheearly 1520s and it is likelythat initially Henry expected

Annetofulfilasimilarroletothatofhersister.Anumberoflove letterswritten byHenrytoAnnesurviveand it seemsthat he first sought to offerherthepositionofhisofficialmistress. Anne, perhapsremembering how her ownsister had been cast aside bythekingoncehehad tiredofher,refusedHenry’sofferandinsteadretreatedtoherfamilyhome of Hever. Henry did

not, however, forget aboutAnne and wrote to herbegging her to return tocourt.13By around 1526, Henry

was apparently completelyconfused about Anne’sconduct towards him. In hisfourth surviving letter toAnnehebegged toknowherfeelingstowardshim:

I beseech you now with all my

heart definitely to let me knowyour whole mind as to the lovebetween us; for necessity compelsme to plague you for a reply,having been for more than a yearnowstruckbythedartoflove,andbeinguncertaineitheroffailureoroffindingaplaceinyourheartandaffection.14

The fact that Anne wasunavailable caused what hadbegun as a flirtation tobecomeanobsession.By the

timeofthisletter,Henrywasdesperate to win Anne andundertones in the lettersuggestthathewouldevenbeprepared to offer hermarriage. On receiving theletter, Anne must haverealised that she was nowbeingofferedsomethingmorethan merely being Henry’smistress. Although her replydoes not survive, Henry’snext letter refers to her

submission to him and apresent that shecommissioned representing amaiden in a storm-tossedship.15 Henry signed thisletter with a drawing of aheart and it is clear that thiswas the moment that theirrelationshipbecameaseriouscommitmentforthemboth.Anne made it clear to

Henryfromthestartthatonlymarriage would suffice. She

may well have based herstance on that taken byElizabeth Woodville andfrom thiswould have knownthe heights a woman whostood out against the kingcould reach.Henry had beenmarried to Catherine ofAragon for almost twentyyears by the time he beganhis relationship with Annebut his passion for Annemeantthathewaseagertobe

rid of Catherine. AlthoughHenry always claimed that itwas his conscience thatcompelled him to leave anungodly marriage withCatherine, who had been thewife of his elder brother,thereisnodoubtthatin1527his instigation of divorceproceedings was due to hisdesire to marry Anne. AnneBoleyn was at first keptseparatefromthedivorcebut

as time went by she wasgiven more prominence atHenry’scourt.In December 1527, she

moved to court permanentlyand kept a queenly state,despite the presence of herrival, Catherine.16 In 1527,Anne must have felttriumphant and she andHenry probably believed thattheirmarriagewas imminent.However, as the divorce

dragged on, both becameincreasingly frustrated andAnne was able to directHenry’s frustration towardsher long-term enemy,Cardinal Wolsey. Anneappears to have been willingto work with Wolsey whilstshe thought that he couldprocure the divorce for her.Whenitbecameapparentthathecouldnotachievethis,shebecame hostile towards him,

perhapsbelievingthathewasdeliberatelyprocrastinating.Wolsey knew of Anne’s

attitude towards him andattempted to gain her favourthrough providing feasts andentertainmentsforherandtheking.17Thisdidnothelphimhowever, and shebuilt up ananti-Wolsey faction at courtwhilst he was absent on adiplomaticmissiontoFrance.She also spoke against

Wolsey to Henry and tookgreat pains to keep the twoapart.OnedaywhenWolseyhad an appointment withHenry in the early morning,he arrived to find Henryready to ride on a huntingexpedition arranged byAnne.18 Anne provided apicnic so that Henry wouldnotneedtoreturnalldayandWolsey spent a fruitless daywaiting for Henry to return

before returning homewithout seeing him. Wolseywas unable to compete withtheinfluenceofAnneBoleynand he was arrested fortreason, primarily due to hisinability to obtain Henry’sdivorce. Wolsey died on 29November1530onhiswaytoprison.19In spite of the delay in

Henry’s divorce, Anne hadgradually takenonmoreofa

queenlyrole.On8December1529,SirThomasBoleynwasmade Earl of Wiltshire andOrmonde. Anne took theplace of the queen at thecelebrations the next day.20On 1 September 1532, Annewas also created Marquis ofPembroke in her own rightand given £1,000 worth ofland.21 On 11 October 1532,Henry and the new LadyMarquissailedtoCalaisfora

meeting with the Frenchking.22Annemusthavebeenglad to return toFranceforavisit and she may havespeculatedjusthowmuchherstatus had changed in thedecade since her return toEngland. Francis I of Francecertainly remembered Anne.On one occasion Anne andFrancis dined together andthen sat and talked privately.The recognition of Anne’s

position by the King ofFrancegaveAnneandHenryconfidence in French supportfortheirmarriage.Theyslepttogether for the first time inCalaisandAnnemust finallyhave been certain that hermarriage would occur soon.Events were, in any event,forced to move quickly afterthe French visit and Annebecame pregnant early in1533.

Byearly1533 itwas clearto everyone that the Popewould never grant Henry hisdivorce.CatherineofAragonwas the aunt of the EmperorCharlesVwhowascurrentlyholding thePope as a virtualprisoner and would neverallow his aunt to bedisgraced. After years offruitless waiting, by 1533both Henry and Anne hadbegun to look around for

alternative solutions but itwas Anne that took theinitiative. At some point inthe early 1530s, Anneacquired a copy of TheObedience of a ChristianMan and How ChristianRulers Ought to Govern,whichhadbeenpublishedbythe religious reformer,WilliamTyndale.23Thisbooksuggested an answer toHenry’s problem and Anne

marked out passages forHenry to read, includingargumentsthattheking’slawwas God’s law and not thelaw of the Pope. Henry wasvery takenwith the idea andwith the death of the elderlyArchbishop of Canterbury,was able to put these ideasinto reality. Henry appointedAnne’s chaplain, ThomasCranmer, to the vacancy andwith his archbishop’s

compliance, declared himselfHead of the Church ofEngland, denying the Pope’sauthorityinEngland.Anne was very interested

in religious reform and musthave approved of Henry’sactions towards the Church.According to her chaplain,William Latymer, Annebelieved thatherelevation tothe queenship was the workof God.24 Whilst Latymer

wishedtoprovideaflatteringpicture of Anne in hisbiographyofheritispossiblethat Anne saw herself asappointed by God to spreadreform. During her time asqueen,shewascertainlyveryinterested in Protestantism.She is known to havepatronised Protestants whohad been persecuted on thecontinent, welcoming aNicholas Borboniuswho had

beenimprisonedinFranceforspeaking against the Pope.25Annealsousedher influencewithHenrytohavereformingchurchmen appointed toprominent Church positionsand tried actively to turnpeople away from the Pope.Whilst Anne was visitingWinchcombe during hermarriage, she sentcommissioners to investigatethe relic of the blood of

Christ that was housed atnearby Hailes Abbey.26 Thebloodwas found to be eitherthatofaduckorredwaxandAnne had Henry remove itfrom the abbey. Anne wasclearly committed to reforminEnglandandshe isknownto have kept a copy of theEnglishBibleinherchambersothatanyonewhowishedtoread it could do so. Itcertainly must have pleased

AnnethathermarriageledtothebreakwithRomeand theEnglishReformation.The date of Anne and

Henry’s marriage was notrecorded and it wasdeliberatelykeptsecretwhilstHenry’s divorce wasfinalised.Theywereprobablymarried around 25 January1533, around the time thatAnne would have begun tosuspect that she was

pregnant.27 Although themarriage remained secret forseveral months, Anne wasjubilant and dropped hints tomembers of the court,claiming that her craving forapples meant that she waspregnant.28 Anne finallyappearedpubliclyasqueenatEaster 1533.29 Henrywantedhissecondmarriagetoappearcompletely legitimate andarranged a grand coronation

for Anne, intending todemonstrate the finality ofwhathehaddoneforher.On20 May 1533, Anne made aceremonialentryintoLondonand was given a gun salutefromtheTowerand thegunsontheshipsintheThames.30Shespentthenightbeforehercoronation in the royalapartments at the Tower andthen, on 31 May set out forWestminsterAbbey in a rich

chariot, covered in cloth ofsilver and followed by anescort of ladies in gowns ofcrimson velvet. Anne musthave been exhausted by hercoronation, but alsotriumphant.Onlythehostilityof the crowds that flocked toseeherprocessionmusthavemarred the day for her andthey reportedly taunted herwith cries of ‘Ha! Ha!’ in amocking salute to the

entwined initials of Henryand Anne that appeared onbannersaroundthecity.Anne Boleyn made many

enemiesduringherrisetothequeenship. She is known tohave become estranged fromher aunt, the Duchess ofNorfolk, early in Henry’scourtshipofher.Theduchesswas one of Catherine ofAragon’s most enthusiasticsupporters.31 Several reports

state how, secure in the holdshe had over the king, Annebecame proud and haughtyandshealienatedmanyofhersupporters. She alsoquarrelled with both herfatherandheruncletheDukeof Norfolk so her relationswithNorfolkduringherreignwere always uneasy.32 It islikely that, in an apparentlyunassailablepositionafterhermarriage, Anne no longer

needed the support of herfamilyas shehadoncedone,believing that Henry wouldprotect her. Anne was alsodisliked by the majority ofpeopleofEngland.Catherineof Aragon and her daughterMary were very popular inEngland and Anne Boleynwas seen as beligerent andHenry’s concubine. Annemust have known of thehostility towardsherbut it is

likelythatshedidnotbelieveitposedherany threat.Anneadopted as her motto, ‘themost happy’, and must havefeltsecureinhernewpositionasqueenin1533.Both Henry and Anne

eagerly anticipated the birthof their child and Anneentered her confinement atGreenwich in early autumn.On 7 September 1533, shegavebirthtoadaughter,who

was named Elizabeth, inhonour of Henry’s mother.33The sex of their child musthave been a huge blow toboth parents and it is clearthat both were confidentlyexpecting a son. The childwas perfect, however,resemblingherfather,andthecoupleappeartohavetriedtomake the best of thesituation.34 After her initialdisappointment evaporated,

Anne probably believed thatshe would quickly bearanother child. She was anattentivemothertoElizabeth.ThechildwasfosteredoutatHertford when she was justthreemonthsold,butshewasbrought to visit court oftenand Anne visited herregularly.35Annetookagreatinterestinherupbringingandwelfare, regularly orderingclothes and presents for her

daughter. She was alsoambitious for Elizabeth andwished her to have theopportunity to learn Latin, alanguage of which Anneherself was ignorant.36 Shealso wished Elizabeth to betaught Hebrew, Greek,Italian, Spanish and French.Despite her fondness forElizabeth, Anne cannot havebelieved that she wouldremainHenry’sheirforlong.

She became pregnant withinfour months of Elizabeth’sbirth and must have hopedthat this would produce theson Henry required.37 Itwould have been a blow tobothherandHenrywhenshemiscarried in July 1534.Thereisnoevidencethatsheconceived again before late1535.Henry had been attracted

byAnne’sconfidenceandher

willingnesstostanduptohimandarguewithhim.38Whilstthese were qualities that headmired in a mistress, heexpectedsubmissionfromhiswife. In summer 1534,Annediscovered that Henry washaving an affair with one ofherladies.39Sheremonstratedwith him as she had manytimes before during theirrelationship but Anne musthave been horrified by

Henry’s reaction this time.Henry toldherbluntly that itwas not her place to criticisehim and that she shouldremember where she camefrom.Healsotoldherthathewould not raise her again ifhe had the chance to. Thisexchangemust have shockedAnne,concernedthatshewaslosing her hold over Henry.Howevertheyappeartohavebeen reconciled and in

December1534itwasHenryhimself who informed hergentlyof thedeathofherpetdog.40 In the summer andautumn of 1535, Anne andHenry went on progresstogether. This was a successandAnnebecamepregnantinOctober1535,soonaftertheirreturn.41 Nonetheless by late1535 Anne must have beenaware thatshehad lostmuchof her influence over Henry

and that she needed a son tosafeguard her position asqueen.Anne must have been

jubilant and hopeful of ahappyfutureinJanuary1536when she heard of CatherineofAragon’sdeaththatmonth.The event meant that Annewas the sole Queen ofEngland and she must havefelt as though a burden hadbeen lifted from her. She is

recordedashavingcelebratedthe death with Henry bywearing yellow.42 She musthave eagerly anticipated thebirth of the child that shebelieved would ensure herown safety. On 24 January,however, Henry suffered abad fall from his horse andwas unconscious for severalhours.43 Anne was informedof the accident and wasterrified.On29January1536,

the day of Catherine ofAragon’s funeral, Annemiscarried a male child.44Anne blamed her terror atHenry’s fall but themiscarriage caused a riftbetweenHenryandAnneandat thatpointHenrymayhavebegun to believe that Anne,like Catherine of Aragonbeforeher,wouldnotbeableto bear him a living malechild.

Despite her miscarriage,Anne’s position was stillfairly strong in early 1536and Henry does not seem tohave been contemplatingremovingher.Howeverinthespring of 1536 Anne’s fierytemper once again got thebetter of her and she fell outwith Thomas Cromwell, theking’s first minister and hergreatest supporter.45 Thisquarrel ultimately proved

fatal to Anne. Cromwell,probably fearing that shewould attempt to bring himdown, transferred hisallegiance to her rival forHenry’s affections, her ownlady-in-waiting, JaneSeymour.Anne probably didnot realise just howdangerous her rift withCromwell was and her fallwasunexpected.On1May1536,Henryand

Anne sat together to watchjousting at Greenwich.46Anne must have beenperturbed when Henry rosesuddenly during the joustingand left without saying aword. The next day Anne’sbrother Viscount Rochfordand a courtier,HenryNorris,bothofwhomhad takenpartin the tournament, werearrested and taken to theTower.47Itisunclearwhether

Anneheardofthisbeforeherown arrest that evening. Shemusthavebeensurprisedandfrightened by her arrest andbeforeenteringtheTowershefell to her knees and beggedGod to help her, saying shewasguiltyofnocrime.48Shewas taken inside the Towerand lodged in the sameapartments in which she hadstayed the night before hercoronation, an irony that did

not fail to escape Anne. Shemust have been horrifiedwhen she heard that shewasaccused of incest with herbrotherandadulterywith thenoblemen Henry Norris,Francis Weston and WilliamBrerton and her musician,Mark Smeaton.49 A womanasintelligentasAnneBoleynwould never have acted insuchafoolhardywayanditisclear that these chargeswere

apretext toallowtheking tobe rid of hiswife.Annewastriedwithin theToweron15May and the result was aforegone conclusion. Anne’suncle,Norfolk,presidedovera court that sentenced her tobe either burnt or beheaded,according to the king’spleasure.Anne and her brother

defended themselveseloquently at their trials but

for Anne her trial may havebeen the moment when sherealised that Henry meant tokill her. She may previouslyhavehopedthatHenrywouldmerely divorce her, but hisproblems with Catherine ofAragonmeantthatHenrydidnot want another ex-wife.Annespentherfinalfewdayspreparing herself for death.On 17 May 1536, Anne’ssupposed lovers were taken

out to Tower Hill andexecuted.50 Anne must haveknown of these deaths andwould have then consideredher death a virtual certainty.She was probably alsoinformed that on that sameafternoon, ArchbishopCranmer held a church courtat Lambeth and annulled hermarriage due to herprecontract with HenryPercy.51 Anne is known to

have had a wry sense ofhumour and it may havetouched her that she wasbeing executed for adulteryagainst a man to whom shehad now officially neveractuallybeenmarried.Anne Boleyn was led out

onto Tower Green early thenext day.As a concession toher,HenryhadsenttoFrancefor a swordsman to cut offher head and it is possible

that Anne herself requestedthis.52 She was probablyconsoled somewhat by theknowledgethatshewastobedispatched by an expert andthat itwouldbequicker thandeath by axe. Anne wasdressed entirely in black andcarried a book of psalms onher way to the scaffold.53 Itwas customary for acondemnedperson tomakeafinal speech on the scaffold.

Anne’s speech appearsremarkably conciliatorytowards a husband who hadcondemned her to death andshe may have feared forElizabeth’s safety. Herspeechwentasfollows:

GoodChristianpeople,Iamcomehether todye, foraccording to thelaweandby the lawe Iam iudgedtodye,andthereforeIwyllspeakenothing against it. I am comehether to accuse no man, nor to

speake any thyngof thatwherof Iamaccusedandcondemnedtodye,but I prayGod save the king andsend him long to reign over you,foragentlernoramoremercyfullprincewas thereneuer: and tomehewas ever a good, a gentle, andsovereign lorde. And if anypersonewillmedleofmycause, Irequirethemtoiudgethebest.AndthusItakemyleaveoftheworldeandofyouall,andIheartelydesireyoualltoprayforme.54

With these words, Anne,

former Queen of England,knelt down and prayed,beforebeingdecapitatedwithonestrokeofthesword.The life and death of AnneBoleyn shocked Europe. Shehad been a controversialfigure even in her ownlifetime. She was anintelligent, ambitious womanandher lifewasoneofgreatextremes.Annewas innocentofthechargesofadulteryand

incest laid against her; mostpeople in England wouldhaveseenthemasapretexttoallow Henry to remarry.However as anEnglishwoman Anne was asvulnerableasherpredecessor,Elizabeth Woodville, hadbeen when the protection ofthe king was withdrawn.Henrywasfreetoexecuteherto rid himself of her,something that had not been

possible in the case of hisforeign-born wives. AnneBoleyn was a proud andaspiring woman and thesefacets of her character, soimportant in securing thethroneforher,ultimatelyalsoled her to her death, as shequickly proved not to be thekind of wife that Henrywanted.ThiswasnotAnne’sfaultandsheneverappearstohave understood that what

Henry admired in a mistresswasnotwhatherequiredinawife.Althoughshecouldnothave known it at the time,AnneBoleynwas the secondwife of England’s mostmarried monarch and herstorywasunnervinglyechoedin that of her first cousin,Catherine Howard, who wasdestined to become Henry’sfifthqueen.

Treachery&Misjudgement

CatherineHoward

Catherine Howard was thesecondofHenryVIII’swives

to be beheaded for adulterybut unlike her cousin AnneBoleyn,Catherinewasguilty.Catherine may have been asyoung as fifteen when shecaughttheeyeofthekingandshe was completely ill-equipped to deal with thedemands of queenship. At atime when queens wereexpected to be chaste andvirginial at marriage,Catherine had already

enjoyed affairs with twolovers. She then preceded tocommitadulterywitha third,possiblywiththeintentionofproducing a son for theageing king. CatherineHoward loved the trappingsof power that queenshipbrought her but she wasunable to see the danger thatalso accompanied theposition. Catherine’s suddenarrest and execution caused

shock across Europe but thepicture of her conduct thatemerged from Henry’sinvestigations meant thatthere was little sympathy forher. There is no doubthowever that CatherineHoward was completelyunsuited for the position ofqueen. Further to this,althoughshewasdisloyal,herrelatives and her husbandmust also bear some of the

blameforherdownfall,sinceit was they who initiallyplaced her in such aninappropriateposition.

Catherine Howard’s date ofbirth is not recorded but shewas probably born between1521 and 1525. SinceCatherine was not listed inher step-grandfather’swill of1524butwasinhiswife’sof1527, it is entirely possible

that she was born around1525.1 She would thereforehavebeenonlyaroundfifteenatthetimeofhermarriage,anunusually early age even fortheTudorperiod.Catherine’smotherJoyceCulpeperwasawidow when she marriedLordEdmundHoward and itis likely her wealth attractedhim to her. Certainly JoyceCulpeper’s stepfather andmother were suspicious of

Edmundandentailed Joyce’sinheritance on her children.2Edmund was also to marrytwo more wealthy widowsfollowingJoyce’sdeathwhenCatherine was still veryyoung.LordEdmundHowardwas

ayoungersonoftheDukeofNorfolk and as such amember of the mostprominent noble family inEngland. However he was

ineffectual, never findingfavour at court or lastingemployment. The onlyevidenceofhischaracteralsosuggests that he washenpeckedbyhiswives. Inaletter toLadyLisle, Edmundwrote:

Madame, so it is I have this nightafter midnight taken yourmedicine, for the which I heartilythank you, for it hath done memuch good and hath caused the

stone to break, so that now I voidmuchgravel.Butforall that,yoursaid medicine hath done me littlehonesty, for it made me piss mybed this night, for the which mywife hath sore beaten me, andsaying it is children’s parts tobepisstheirbed.3

Edmund Howard wasconstantly short of moneyand from August 1537 untiljustbeforehisdeathin1539,he was absent from England

in his capacity as Mayor ofCalais.4 Catherine probablyhad little contact with eitherofherparents.Atsomepointduringherchildhoodshewassent to join the household ofher father’s stepmother, theDowagerDuchessofNorfolkatherhomeinHorsham.It was not unusual for

noblegirls tobeboardedoutin the households ofwealthyrelatives and Catherine’s

parents probably hoped thatshe would receive a goodeducation at hergrandmother’s house.Catherine would have beeneducatedwiththeothernoblegirls in the duchess’shouseholdandshewastaughtto read andwrite although itisunlikely thathereducationextended much beyond this.The duchess, however, alsowanted Catherine to be

musical and appointed aneighbour, Henry Manox, toteachherthevirginials.5SociallyHenryManoxwas

far beneath Catherine.However he and Catherinequickly began a relationship.Manox himself spoke abouthow ‘he fell in lovewithherand she with him, but theduchess found them alonetogether one day and gaveMrs Katharine two or three

blows, and charged themnever to be alone together’.6Catherine must have beenvery young when she andManoxfirstbegantheiraffairand it is likely that heinitiatedit,perhapshopingtomarry a Howard bride.Catherine was probablyflattered by the attentions ofan older man and may havebeenencouragedbytheothergirls in the household to

reciprocate. There was littleprivacy in the duchess’shousehold and Catherinewouldhaveknownabout thelove affairs of the othermembersofthehousehold.Manox always denied that

he and Catherineconsummated theirrelationship and Catherine’sextreme youth andinexperienceprobablyplayedapartinthis.Theydoappear

to have lain naked together,however, and it was laterclaimed thatManox knew ofsecret marks on Catherine’sbody.7Manoxwasdismissedwhen the duchess discoveredhim and Catherine meetingsecretly in the duchess’schapel chamber.8 ForCatherine, this probablymarked the end of the affair;shemayneverhavetakentherelationship very seriously,

instead seeing Manox as anamusement. Manox was notdeterred, however, andfollowed thehouseholdwhenit moved to the duchess’shouse at Lambeth. Catherinewas probably irritated by theappearance of her formerloverbecausebythistimeshehadfoundanewlover.Catherine met Francis

Derehamwhenthehouseholdmoved to Lambeth. He was

of amuch higher status thanHenry Manox. He was alsoyoung, handsome andattractive to women,becoming a favourite ofCatherine’s grandmother, theDuchess of Norfolk.Catherine was one of manyyoung girls in the duchess’shousehold and the linebetween servants andnoblewomen was blurred.Catherine shared a dormitory

with both girls of her ownrankandtheduchess’sfemaleservants and there wouldhavebeenvery littleprivacy.Catherine would have learntfromanearly age that itwaspossible to take a lover withimpunity and she may haveimitated the older girls.Catherine’s youthfulactivities with Henry Manoxwereprobablyalmostagameto her and an attempt at

playing at being grown up.By around 1537, however,Catherine was ready toembark on a more matureaffair. The girls’ dormitorywould be locked at night butthe key was easily stolenfrom the duchess.9 Once thedoorwasunlockedtheyoungmen of the household wouldcome to visit the girls,bringing food for midnightpicnics.10 Catherine probably

enjoyed the danger of thesesecret meetings and thechancetoflirtwiththeyoungmen.Soon,however,sheandDereham were known tofavour each other over anyothers.Catherine Howard and

Francis Dereham certainlyconsummated theirrelationship.11 This wouldhave seemed like a normalpracticetoCatherinegrowing

up in the easy atmosphereofthe girls’ dormitory and shelater admitted that she hadbeen taught aboutcontraception and knew howto stop herself fromconceiving a child.12Catherine always denied thatsheandFrancisDerehamhadentered into any engagementwitheachotherbutDerehamclaimed that he consideredhimselfbetrothedtoher.13As

with Catherine’s affair withManox, it seems likely thatCatherine saw her action asharmlessfunwithamanwhowas her social inferior.Dereham probably hoped tomarry Catherine and so allyhimself with her powerfulfamily and the coupleaddressed each other ashusband andwife and talkedof a marriage.14 They alsoexchanged love tokens,

Dereham giving Catherinevelvet and satin for a gownand also lending her £100when he left for Ireland.Catherine, who would nothave had money for theseluxuriesherself,wasprobablypleased to play the role ofDereham’s wife whilst theywereinLambethtogether.Catherine and Dereham’s

relationship was sooncommon knowledge around

the duchess’s household.Henry Manox had followedthe household to Lambethand quickly became jealousof Catherine’s newrelationship. Hoping to haveDereham sent away, Manoxwroteananonymous letter totheduchess, informingherofthe midnight picnics in thedormitory and of Catherineand Dereham’s affair.15 Hethenlefttheletteronherpew

in the chapel. According toManox, Catherine found theletter and showed it toDereham. Catherine wasprobablyfuriouswithManox,believingherconnectionwithhim to be historic and sheinstructed her new lover towarnManoxoff.Armedwiththeletter,DerehamturnedonManox, abusing him forattempting to betrayCatherine.Itseemslikelythat

the duchess already knewabout her granddaughter’slove affair. The duchessappearstohavebeenhappytoignore the evidence of loveaffairs in her household,providing that they werecarried out discretely.According to the account ofKatherineTylney, one of thegirls in the household, oncetheduchess:

found Dereham embracing MrsKatherineHowardinhisarmsandkissing her, and thereatwasmuchoffended and gave Dereham ablow, and also beat the Queen[CatherineHoward]andgaveJoanBowmar a blow because she waspresent. When Dereham waswanted the duchess would say, ‘Iwarrant you if you seek him inKatherine Howard’s chamber youshallfindhimthere’.16

The duchess probablyreasoned that as long as the

affair did not disturb herpeace, it was harmless. Shedid however ask her son,Catherine’suncle,tospeaktoCatherine about what wasexpectedofherasaHoward.Catherine probably never

seriously considered theprospect of marryingDereham,expectingtheaffairto simply dwindle out whenthey parted in the autumn of1539.17 In late 1539, Henry

VIII’s marriage to his fourthwife, Anne of Cleves, wasannounced and over sixtyladies were appointed toserve the new queen, one ofwhom was CatherineHoward.Catherinemusthavebeen thrilled to hear that shewastovisitcourtforthefirsttime. It seems likely that thisappointment marked the endofheraffairwithDerehaminher eyes and she probably

expectedtofindahigh-statushusband at court. This iscertainly what her uncle, theDuke of Norfolk, andgrandmotherwould have hadin mind when puttingCatherine forward for theappointment. Catherinewould have been providedwith finenewclothes forherpositionatcourtandprobablyfelt proud of her newsituation.

CatherineHowardhasbeencalled the most beautiful ofallHenryVIII’swivesand itis possible that thiswaswhyshe was selected above hercousins and sisters torepresent the Howard familyat court. She was describedby the French ambassador as‘a lady of great beauty’18,although he later qualifiedthis by saying she was moregraceful than beautiful and

very short.19 Even ifCatherine Howard was not abeauty, she certainly stoodout at court, probably due toher liveliness and her youth.It is likely that she gainedmanyadmirersanditquicklybecame apparent that one ofthese admirers was the king.Catherine was a first cousinof Anne Boleyn and herrelatives had first-handexperience of how to attract

and keep Henry’s interest.Catherinewas tutored by herfamilyonhowtobehaveandshe presented an air ofyouthfulpurity.20 ForHenry,Catherine appeared the exactopposite of his hated wife,AnneofClevesand,bymid-1540,itwascleartothecourtthathewishedtofreehimselfofhiscurrentwife so thathecould marry Catherine.Catherine cannot have found

the aged and bloated kingattractive, but she probablyrevelled in the presents andstatus that his affection gaveher.According to the Frenchambassador, ‘the king is soamorousofherthathecannottreat her well enough andcaresseshermorethanhedidthe others’.21 Catherine’syouth made Henry feelyouthfulagainandthecouplewere married quietly on 28

July1540.Catherine was probably

aged only around fifteen orsixteen at the time of hermarriageandappearstohavebeen determined to enjoyherself.Henryadoredherandcaressed her publicly,panderingtohereverydesire.Catherine loved dancing andspent much of her time asqueen enjoying the pursuit,even dancing with her

husband’s ex-wife, Anne ofCleves. Catherine also lovedpresentsandHenryshoweredher with gifts. OverChristmas and New Year1540–1541, Catherinereceived a number of richpresents from Henry,includingasquarecontainingtwenty-seven table diamondsand twenty-six clusters ofpearls.22 Catherine probablyalso loved the ceremony that

wentwithbeingaqueen.Shehad her own private barge, ahugehouseholdandprobablyenjoyed the status that herrole as queen conferred onher. Catherine was probablythrilled when on her firstceremonial entry to Londonshe was saluted by the gunsfromtheTowerasshepassedby barge down the river.23For Catherine, being queenmusthaveseemedbeyondher

wildest dreams and she wasdetermined tomake themostof the opportunities that herroleopenedupforher.Henry’s marriage to

Catherine rejuvenated himand he appeared almostyoung throughout the secondhalf of 1540.24 Henry wasnearlyfifty,however,andthistransformation could not lastforever. In March 1541,Henry’s legulcer,whichhad

givenhim trouble for severalyears, dramatically closedcausing his life to be indanger.Probablynotwishinghis pretty young wife to seehim in such a way, Henrybarred Catherine from hispresence. After his recovery,Henry remained depressedand thiswas the first sign oftrouble in their marriage.Catherine must have beenalarmed at Henry’s moods

and may have soughtconsolation elsewhere. InMay 1541 Catherine alsoseems to have becomesomewhatdepressed.25WhenHenry anxiously asked herwhy, she said that she hadheard a rumour that heintended to take Anne ofCleves back. Henryimmediately sought toconsole her, saying that hewouldnever takeAnneback,

even if he were free.Catherinemaynothavebeenentirely reassured, however,as Henry does not seem tohave ruledout thepossibilityof exchanging her forsomeone else. Despite thesetroubles, Catherine was stillin high favourwhen she andHenry set out on a northernprogress in the summer of1541.Henryhadreignedforover

thirty years in 1541 but hadnevervisitedthenorthernpartof his kingdom.Hehad longplanned, and put off, aprogress to the north butfinally, in the summer of1541 was ready to set out.Henry and Catherine leftLondon on 30 June with agreat companyofpeopleandprovisions.26 Henry haddesignedhisprogress tobeashow of strength to the

rebellious north. Catherinemusthavebeenexcitedattheprospect of travelling asqueen although they werehampered from the start bybad weather and she mayhave rapidly begun to losepatience with the muddy,dilapidated roads.Nonetheless Catherineappears to have performedthe public role of queen toperfection on the progress.

She wore crimson velvetwhensheandHenryrodeintoLincolnwhere theyretired totheir tent outside the city tochange their clothes.27 Theroyal couple then emerged,Henry dressed in cloth ofgoldandCatherineinclothofsilver,andwereceremoniallywelcomed to Lincoln.Catherine must have beenbored by the speeches andpageants that accompanied

thesevisits,buttherewerenocomplaints made about herconduct. After Lincoln, theprogress moved on, reachingPontefract on 23 August andYorkon16September.28Catherine’s public conduct

asqueenwasimmaculatebuther private conduct left agreat deal to be desired. Sheprobably became acquaintedwith Thomas Culpeper soonafterarrivingatcourt towait

onAnneofCleves.Culpeperwas a distant cousin ofCatherine’s mother andpresented a very differentproposition to either HenryManox or Francis Dereham.When he and Catherine methe was already a member ofHenry’s privy chamber, inhighfavourwiththeking.Hewas also young andhandsome, no doubtattracting Catherine’s

attention early on. He musthave been an enormouscontrast toCatherine’s sicklyand elderly husband.Catherine and Culpeperprobablybecame loversearlyin her marriage andCatherine’s maids certainlynoticed the queen’ssuspicious conduct, givingCulpeperlovingglancesfromthe window and barring hermaids from entry to her

bedchamberunless theyweresummoned.29 Catherine wasso much in Henry’s favour,however,thatnoonedaredtogo to the king with theirsuspicions. Catherine wasinfatuatedwithCulpeper andgave him a velvet capdecorated with a jewelledbrooch, warning him to hideit so no one would guesswherehehadgot sucha richitem.30

Catherine knew that heraffair with Culpeper waswrong but showed an almostchildlike naivety in herconduct.Sheappears tohaveconsideredherhusband tobeanalmostGod-likefigureandwarned Culpeper not tomention their relationship intheconfessionalasHenry, asHead of the Church, wouldsurely hear what he said.31Catherine also committed

detailsofheraffairtowriting,a dangerous practice inHenry’ssuspiciouscourt,andher only surviving letter is alove letter to Culpeper.Catherine wrote this letteraroundApril1541,beforetheprogress:

Master Culpeper, I heartilyrecommend me unto you, prayingyoutosendmewordhowthatyoudo.Itwasshowedmethatyouwassick, the which thing troubledme

verymuchtillsuchtimethatIhearfrom you praying you to sendmewordhowthatyoudo, for Ineverlonged somuch for [a] thing as Ido to see you and to speak withyou, the which I trust shall beshortly now. The which dothcomfortly me very much when Ithinkofit,andwhenIthinkagainthatyoushalldepartfrommeagainit makes my heart to die to thinkwhatfortuneIhavethatIcannotbealways in your company. It mytrustisalwaysinyouthatyouwillbe as you have promisedme, andin that hope I trust upon still,

praying that you will come whenmyLadyRochfordishereforthenI shall be best at leisure to be atyour commandment, thanking youfor that you have promisedme tobe so good unto that poor fellowmymanwhichisoneofthegriefsthat I do feel to depart from himfor then I do know no one that Idare trust to send to you, andthereforeIprayyoutakehimtobewithyouthatImaysometimehearfromyouone thing. I prayyou togiveme a horse formyman for Ihad much ado to get one andtherefore I pray send me one by

himandinsodoingIamasIsaidafor, and thus I take my leave ofyou, trusting to see you shortlyagain and I would you was withme now that you might see whatpainItakeinwritingtoyou.Yoursaslongaslifeendures,Katheryn.32

Catherine’s letterdemonstratestheloveshefeltfor Culpeper and the painsshe took in writing to him.Shewasunwisetorecordherfeelingsanditispossiblethat

Culpeper kept this letter asevidence against her shouldher ever need it. Throughouther brief time as queen,Catherineshowedadisregardfor personal safety. Sheunderestimated the potentialdangers incurred by heractions. She also showednaivety in August 1541 byappointing Francis Derehamas her private secretary.33Catherine simply does not

seem to have realised that asqueen she was constantlywatched, her activitiesscrutinised.Shecontinuedheraffair with Culpeper duringthenorthernprogress.Catherine confided her

affair to her kinswoman,LadyRochford,whowasalsoone of her ladies. LadyRochford was the widow ofGeorge Boleyn, ViscountRochford, and had given

evidenceagainstherhusbandin the allegations of incestagainst him and his sister,Anne Boleyn. She wastherefore well used to courtintrigues and perfectly suitedto organising meetingsbetween Catherine andCulpeper. Catherine kept herother ladies barred from herbedchamberand,accordingtoHall’s Chronicle she hadCulpeper:

brought to her chamber atLyncolne, in August laste, in theProgresse tyme, by the lady ofRocheforde, and were theretogetheralone,fromalevenoftheclocke at nighte, till foure of theclockeinthemorning,andtohymshe gave a chayne, and a richecap.34

Throughout the progress,Catherine would wait untilher household were in bedandthensendLadyRochford

to let Culpeper into herchamber by the most privateentrances. They would thenspend part of the nighttogether with only LadyRochfordthereasanytypeofchaperone. Catherine metCulpeper like this throughoutthe journey and her servantscame to suspect thatsomething was amiss. Amedieval queen had to beabove suspicion of sexual

impropriety to ensure thelegitimacy of her children,and Catherine was playing adangerousgame.Shehadnotbecome pregnant in over ayear of marriage and it ispossible that she reasonedthatHenrycouldnotgiveherachild.Itiscertainlypossiblethat Catherine and Culpeperwished to conceive a royalheirthemselvesandsosecureboth of their positions at

court.35Catherine remained

oblivioustoanydangerwhenthe progress returned toWindsor on 26 October1541.36 She was probablylooking forward to returningto her life of pleasure inLondon and it is likely thatshe intended her affair withCulpeper to continue. As aCatholic queen, however,Catherinehadmanyenemies.

Soon after Henry andCatherine’s return from theirprogress, ArchbishopCranmer was approached byJohn Lassells, a religiousreformer. Lassells’ sister,Mary Hall, had been raisedwith Catherine in theduchess’s household andreported to her brother thatthe queen had been ‘light ofliving’ and had had sexualrelationships with both

Francis Dereham and HenryManox.37 Cranmer wasshockedatwhatheheardand,on 2 November, handed aletter containing Lassells’srevelations to Henry. Henryreacted with disbelief as hehad no reason to doubtCatherine’s honesty andordered an investigation toprotect her reputation. Hesaid nothing of thematter toCatherine, believing it to be

entirely false, and he andCatherine continued for aweek in the high spiritswithwhichtheyhadreturnedfromtheirprogress.Henry’speaceof mind was shattered,however, when both JohnLassellsandMaryHallstoodby their stories. Underpressure, Henry Manox alsoconfessed to having caressedCatherine and Dereham tohaving known her carnally.

Faced with this evidence,Henry was devastated, andburst into a fit of weeping,demanding a sword to slayher himself.38 He wascompletelydisillusionedwithhis seemingly pure youngwife.On 4 November 1541,

guards burst into Catherine’sroomatHamptonCourtwhenshe was practising her dancesteps. Catherine would have

been shocked and confusedby this unexpectedoccurrence and her firstthough must have been thatHenry had discovered aboutCulpeper. According to theFrenchambassador, ‘shewastaken no kind of pastimebutkeptinherchamber,whereas,before, she did nothing butdance and rejoice, and nowwhen the musicians cometheyaretoldthatitisnomore

timetodance’.39Foragirlasjoyous and active asCatherine, the change fromqueen to prisoner must havebeen hard to bear and herthoughts probably turnedquickly to her cousin, AnneBoleyn. There is a legend atHampton Court thatCatherine slipped her guardand ran down the corridorfromher rooms to thepalacechapel where Henry was

hearing mass.40 As shereached the door, she wasgrabbed by her guards anddragged screaming back toher rooms, ignored by herhusband. If this everoccurred, it must have beenon6NovemberasHenryleftthe palace quietly thatevening,nevertobenearheragain. Catherine’s escape ispart of the tragic legend thatsurrounds Catherine Howard

and her ghost reputedly re-enacts her escape in thehauntedgallery.On 7 November Cranmer

and Norfolk, Catherine’suncle,cametointerrogateherin her rooms.41 They foundher hysterical and wereunable tomake any progresswith her. The next day,Cranmer returned to heralone, later describing herstate as pitiable.42 Cranmer

explained to her that Henryknew of her relationshipswith Manox and DerehamandCatherinemusthavebeengreatly relieved thatCulpeper’s name was notmentioned. In tears, sheconfessed to Cranmer of herrelationships with Derehamand Manox although shedenied anymarriage contractwithDereham.Henryappearsto have been planning

nothing worse than divorceforCatherineatthistimeandCatherine’s grandmother, theduchess, also stated that shewas not worried about her,pointing out that she couldnot be executed for herconduct before hermarriage.43 The duchesspredicted that Catherine’smarriage would be annulledand her granddaughter sentback to her in disgrace. At

thattimetheworstthatcouldbe proved against Catherinewas that she had not been avirgin at the time of herwedding. Only Catherine,Culpepper and LadyRochfordknewthatCatherinehad committed a far worsecrimeagainsttheking.On 11 November, it was

decided thatCatherinewouldbe taken to Syon Housewhere she would be lodged

modestly without any of thestate of a queen.44 On 13November, Catherine’shousehold was officiallydischarged and the next dayCatherine was taken to Syonwith only four gentlewomenand two chamberers to serveher and keep her company.45The change in status musthave been dramatic forCatherine and she alwaysrefusedtoadmit thatshewas

no longer queen. Her jewelswerealsoconfiscatedandshewas allowed only a modestwardrobe, including sixFrenchhoodswithgold trim,butnojewels.46Sheprobablythoughtthatthiswouldbetheworst that would happen toher and envisaged her futureas one of long and dullretirement.Howeverby11November,

ThomasCulpeper’snamehad

beguntobementionedintheinvestigations surroundingCatherine. A charge ofadultery was a much moreserious offence than that ofpremarital unchastity andCatherine must have beenconcerned that the kingwould find out aboutCulpeper in hisinvestigations. Catherine wasquestioned regardingCulpeper and under pressure

admitted that they had metand that she had given himpresents but denied that theyhad consummated theirrelationship.47Sheplaced theblame on Lady Rochford forencouraginghertomeetwithCulpeper. Lady Rochford,however, claimed thatCatherine and Culpeper hadcommitted adultery andblamedCatherine for forcingher to become involved.

Culpeper also denied hisguilt,claimingthat‘itwasthequeen who, through LadyRochford, solicited him tomeet her in private inLincolnshire, when sheherself toldhim that shewasdying for his love’.48Catherine, Lady Rochfordand Culpeper each blamedthe others, hoping to savethemselves and this suggeststhatCatherineandCulpeper’s

relationship was notgenuinelyromantic.Culpeper and Lady

Rochford were quicklyarrested and Lady Rochfordreputedly went mad inprison.49 Dereham andCulpeper were tried togetherin early December and,despite both denying theirguilt, were condemned todeath. The two men wereexecuted at Tyburn on 10

December 1541. Culpeper’ssentence was commuted tobeheading by a king whoprobably retained somevestige of affection for him.Dereham, however, sufferedthe full traitor’s death ofbeing hanged drawn andquartered.50 It seems likelythat Henry retained anespecial hatred for Dereham,seeinghimasthecorrupterofhis pretty young bride.51

Catherine’s feelings at theseexecutions are not recorded.Shemay have been horrifiedat the deaths of these twomen that she had loved.Equally, however, she mayhave blamed them as thecauseofherownmisfortunes.Soon after the executions,Catherine’s grandmother anduncle,LordWilliamHoward,were taken to the Tower fortheir complicity in

Catherine’s youthfulconduct.52Despite thedeathsof Dereham and Culpeper,Catherine probably stillhoped that she would escapewith her life. By early 1542,it was rumoured that HenryintendedtodivorceCatherineand condemn her to lifeimprisonment.53Catherine’s hope was

misplaced, however. On 16January 1542, parliament

opened in London and theycondemned Catherine andLady Rochford to deathwithout trial.54 On 10February1542,Catherinewastaken fromSyonbywater tothe Tower.55 Catherine’sbarge would have passedunder the heads of Derehamand Culpeper on LondonBridge and she must haveshudderedat thissightofherlovers.56 Catherine was

terrified. Once inside theTower,shegaveherselfuptoweeping and tormentingherself.57 On the evening of12February,shewastoldthatshewoulddiethenextday.58Catherine calmed herselfsomewhat when she heardthis news and asked for theblock tobebrought tohersothatshecouldpracticeforthenext morning.59 Early on 13February,CatherineandLady

Rochfordwere ledoutof theTower together. Catherinewas to be executed first. Shewas so weak that she couldhardly speak and had to behelped up to the scaffold.60She does not appear to havemade a long speech due toher extreme terror butconfessed that she deservedto die before kneeling andplacingherheadontheblock.Catherinewas then beheaded

with an axe, being followedby her accomplice, LadyRochford, a few minuteslater.

CatherineHowardwasalmostcertainly under twenty whenshe died andmay have beenas young as sixteen orseventeen.Her lifewas shortand extreme, just like that ofher cousin and predecessor,Anne Boleyn. Catherine

Howard was plucked out ofobscurity by her marriage tothe king andwas completelyunsuitable for her role asqueen. Although she wascertainly guilty of adulteryand pre-marital misconduct,blame for her conduct lay atleast in part with her familyand the king for placing herin a situation for which shewas quite unsuitable.CatherineHoward lived only

a short life and left littlelegacy, her only lastingcontribution being a law thatmade it illegal for a non-virgin to marry the king.HowevershewasnottheonlyTudor queen to die as ateenageron theexecutioner’sblock and her husband’sgreat-niece, Lady Jane Grey,also suffered the same fateprimarily due to theambitionsofherfamily.

AspiringtotheCrown

LadyJaneGrey

Lady Jane Grey is oftenportrayed as an innocent

victim and martyr to herfamily’sambition.Toa largeextent this is true and Janefailed to fully assert herindependence during hershort reign of nine days.However, there was more toLady JaneGrey than passiveacceptance.Janecertainlydidnot see herself as a merepassive figure in the eventssurroundingherusurpationofthe throne.When faced with

the temptation of the crown,Jane was unable to stopherself from accepting it andquickly became accustomedto ruling, even sending outtroops against the rightfulheir,Mary Tudor. Lady JaneGreycertainlyrecognisedthatshewasguiltyof treasonandthis was also the viewpointtaken by her contemporaries.Jane was very young andplaced in a difficult, if not

impossible situation.However, she was notwithoutfreewillandthewayin which she exercised thisled her down a treasonousand ultimately fatal path.Nevertheless she should beconsidered more tragic thanevil – itwas her royal bloodtogether with the actions ofothersthatledtoherdownfallattheexecutioner’sblock.

In October 1537, the onlyremaining male descendantsof Henry VII were HenryVIII and his nephew, JamesV of Scotland. This wassignificant for FrancesBrandon and her husband,Henry Grey, Marquis ofDorset.Thatmonththeywerepreparingforthebirthoftheireldest child and would havebeen aware that should thechild prove to be a boy, he

would have high hopes ofinheriting the crown ofEngland. Frances Brandonwas the eldest daughter ofMaryTudor,QueenofFranceand thus the niece of HenryVIIIandshewasalreadyhighin the line of succession. Itmust have been adisappointment, therefore,when,earlyinthemonth,theMarchioness gave birth to agirlatherestateatBradgate.1

The baby’s birthwould havebeen further overshadowedwhen in that samemonth thequeen, Jane Seymour, finallyprovidedHenryVIIIwithhislonged for son, Edward. TheDorsets’ daughter wasquickly baptised Jane, afterthe queen, before her fatherhurried to London to attendthe prince’s more significantchristening. Left with herdaughteratBradgate,Frances

Brandon must have beendisappointed and this feelingwould have increased withthe births of two furtherdaughters.Lady Jane Grey spent her

earliestyearswithherparentsat Bradgate. As the niece ofthe king, Frances Brandonexpectedtoliveinsomestyleand she raised her daughterslike princesses.2 To satisfyher mother’s ambitions, Jane

was subjected to a rigorousformal education from theage of three or four withtutors engaged to teach herGreek, Latin, modernlanguages, music and Biblestudies, as well as the moretraditional female pursuit ofneedlework.3 By the mid-sixteenth century theeducation of women hadbecome fashionable and Janethrived on her studies. She

appears to have beensomethingofachildprodigy,asthescholar,RogerAschamfoundwhenhe visited her in1551. Ascham found Janereading Plato in Greek and,whenhequestionedheras towhy shewasnotouthuntingwith the rest of thehousehold, she informed himthat:

One of the greatest benefits that

everGod gaveme, is that he sentme so sharp and severe parents,and so gentle a schoolmaster, forwhenIaminthepresenceeitheroffatherandmother,whetherIspeak,keep silence, sit, stand, or go, eat,drink,bemerry,orsad,besewing,playing, dancing, or doinganything else, I must do it as itwere in such weight, measure, ornumber, even so perfectly asGodmade the world; or else I am sosharply taunted, yea, presentlysometimes with pinches, nips,bobs, andotherwayswhich Iwillnot name for the honour I bear

them; so without measuredisordered, that I think myself inhell till the time come that Imustgo toMrElmer,who teachethmesogently, sopleasantly,withsuchfair allurements to learning, that Ithinkall the timenothing,whilst Iamwithhim;andwhenIamcalledfromhimIfallonweepingbecausewhatsoever I do else but learningin full of great trouble, fear, andwholemislikinguntome.4

Jane Grey had an unhappychildhood with her parents

andusedlearningasarefuge.Jane’s conversation withAscham, who was a near-stranger to her, also showsthat she had no time for thefaults that she perceived inherparentsandinothers.Jane did not have an easy

relationship with her parentsand she may have been gladof any excuse to leave theirhousehold. It was commonforyounggirls tobeboarded

out in the households ofladies of higher status andsinceJanewasthegreat-nieceof the king, the only suitablehousehold was that of thequeen. By late March 1547,Janeisrecordedasamemberof the Queen Dowager,CatherineParr’shouseholdatChelsea.5 She was probablysent there soon after HenryVIII’s death and must havewelcomed the chance to be

away from her bullyingparents for the first time.Catherine Parr was fond ofJaneandsheflourishedinthequeen’s household. It wasprobably in Catherine Parr’shousehold that Jane becameexposed to the radicalProtestantism that wouldshape her later life and leadeventuallyhertoherdeath.Soon after Jane joined

Catherine Parr’s household,

the queen married ThomasSeymour, the uncle of thenew king, Edward VI.Seymour was anunscrupulous figure andquickly saw theadvantage tohiswife’spossessionofJane,approaching the Dorsets andofferingtoarrangeamarriagefor Jane to the king.6 Inreality, Edward’s marriagewas never in Seymour’shands and the king himself

hadalreadymadeitclearthathewished tomarrya foreignprincess. However, theDorsets, unaware of theemptiness of Seymour’swords and excited at theprospect of their daughtermarrying the king, agreed tosell Jane’s wardship andmarriagetoThomasSeymourformoney.Janewasprobablyalso interested in thepossibility of becoming a

queen and certainly relishedintheflatterythatrumoursofher engagement to the kingbrought. She engaged in acorrespondence with theEuropean religious reformerHenry Bullinger, who wroteto her as though she were afuture queen.7 Jane wasprobably flattered by thesudden interest in her and itmust have been adisappointment to her when

these schemes came tonothing. Jane remained inSeymour’s householdfollowing the death of thequeeninSeptember1548andwas still there when, on 17January 1549, Seymour wasarrested for treason.8 WhentheDorsetsheardofthistheywhisked Jane back toBradgate away from thescandal. It is unlikely thatJanewasgladtobebackwith

herparents.As she grew older, Jane

wasexpectedtoplaymoreofapublicrole.BythetermsofHenry VIII’s will, Jane wasfourth in line to the throne,afterEdwardVI’stwosistersandherownmother, andherfamily was in high favour atcourt.9 On 4 October 1551Jane’s father was createdDuke of Suffolk and sheaccompanied her parents to

court later that month for avisitfromtheScottishqueen,Mary of Guise.10 FrancesBrandon was also veryfriendly with her cousin,Mary Tudor, and Jane isknowntohavegonewithhermothertovisittheheirtothethrone on at least twooccasions.By the early 1550s, Jane

had become a radicalProtestant andwasextremely

critical of Catholic Mary’sway of life. On a visit toMary’s house at Newhall insummer 1552, Jane offendedMary by openly criticisingone of Mary’s ladies forfollowing the Catholic habitof curtseying to the altar inchurch.11 On anotheroccasion,Marywhowasfondof children gave Jane sometinsel cloth of gold and Janerefusedtowearit,sayingshe

preferredthesombreblackofProtestantism.12 Theseincidents show Jane’sprecocityandintelligencebutthey also highlight a lesscongenial side to hercharacter, showing religiousbigotry and a completedisregardforthefeelingsofawomanwhohadbeenkindtoher.LadyJaneGreyseemstohave become a religiousfanatic incapable of seeing

suchmatters from alternativepointsofview.However Mary’s

Catholicism was not only acauseofconcerntoLadyJaneGrey and by 1552 it hadbecome an important matterof state. In March 1552,Edward VI fell ill andalthoughheseemedtomakeagood recovery, he fell illagainthatsummer.LikeJane,Edwardhadbeenraisedtobe

a radical Protestant and wasdeeply troubled by thethoughtthathisCatholichalf-sister would succeed him.Early in 1553 he wrote,apparently of his owninitiative and in his ownhand, his device for thesuccession,disinheritingbothhis half-sisters due to theirsupposed illegitimacy.13Edward’s will for thesuccession left the throne to

anysonsofFrancesBrandonandfailingthat,thesonsfirstof Lady Jane Grey and thenthe sons of her youngersisters. It is probable that, inearly 1553, Jane wascompletely unaware of herincreasing politicalimportance.Edward’s protector, the

DukeofNorthumberlandwasalso concerned about theprospectofMarysucceeding.

He had publicly attacked herreligion and knew that shewouldnotlookkindlyonhimafter her accession.Northumberland, therefore,alsocastaroundlookingforaway to debar her from thethrone. In late April or earlyMay he wrote to Suffolkaskingthathepersuadeeitherhiswife,FrancesBrandon,orhis daughter, Jane, to acceptthecrown.14Itisunlikelythat

Northumberland evercontemplatedmakingFrancesBrandonqueen.Accordingtothe Vita Mariae AngliaeReginae, Northumberlandsecretly manipulated EdwardVIsothatheleftthecrowntoLadyJaneGrey.15EdwardVIwas probably easy topersuade and he altered hiswill with his own hand,leavingthecrowntoJaneandherheirsmale.

Northumberland’spriceforsupporting Jane was that shemarry his youngest and onlyunmarried son GuildfordDudley. The Suffolkswillinglyacceptedthismatch,seeingitasJane’sbestchanceof a crown and her betrothalwas announced in late Aprilor earlyMay.16 Jane tried torejectGuildford,showingthatsame independence of spiritwhichsheshowedthroughout

herlife.Nonetheless,shewasforced to comply with bothphysical and verbal abusefrom her parents.17 It ispossible that Jane had apersonaldislikefor thespoiltGuildford Dudley and shenever seems to have beenvery well disposed towardshim. Jane’s feelings were ofno consequence, however,and they were married in amagnificent ceremony at

Northumberland’s Londonresidenceon25May1553.18The French ambassador andmost of the English nobilitywere present, although theking was too ill to attend.Jane’s hair was decoratedwith pearls and she worefinery borrowed from theroyal stores. Despite theglamour of the ceremony,Jane must have beenthoroughly miserable at

having to marry a man shedetested.JanedislikedGuildfordand

appears to have beenfrightened of his family.Despiteherobviousdislikeofherownparents,Janebeggedtobe allowed to remainwiththem after the wedding butwas forced to stay with herhusband’s family.She stayedonly a few days inNorthumberland’s house,

however, before falling illand was sent to Chelsea torest.19 Jane apparentlybelievedthatNorthumberlandwas trying to poison her, asurprising belief given howimportant she was to him.Jane probably enjoyed thequiet of Chelsea and thechance to be alone with herbooks. She was there on 9JulywhenGuildford’s sister,MarySidneycametotakeher

toSyonHouseinLondon.20Edward VI died on the

eveningof6July.21Thenextday,Northumberlandkepthisdeath secret but begansecretly to fortify theTower.On8 July, he summoned theLord Mayor of London andsix aldermen and informedthemthatEdwardVIhaddiedand had named Jane as hissuccessor. On 9 July, theCouncil joined

Northumberland and theSuffolks at Syon House andbowed lowbeforeJanewhenshe was brought into theroom. Jane must have beenterrifiedwhensheenteredtheroomtofindtheroyalcounciltogether with her parents,husband and parents-in-lawbowing toherandshe fell tothe ground weeping.22Accordingtoonereport,Janethentriedtorefusethecrown:

Thatthelawsofthekingdom,andnatural right, standing for theking’ssister, shewouldbewareofburdening her weak consciencewith a yoke, which did belong tothem; that she understood theinfamy of those, who hadpermitted the violation of right togainasceptre,thatitweretomockGod,andderide justice, to scrupleatthestealingofashilling,andnotattheusurpationofacrown.23

LadyJaneGreyclearlyknewthat to accept the crownwas

to do wrong. However, fromwhere she lay, weeping onthe floor, she was alsotempted. According to herown account, Jane ‘humblyprayedandbesoughtHimthathewouldmakeitsothatwhathadjustbeengiventomewasrightfully and legitimatelymine’.24 Jane apparentlyexpected a sign from God ifhewasdispleasedbyherandreceiving none took it as a

sign of God’s wish that sheshould accept the crown.Fromthatmoment,LadyJaneGrey agreed willingly tousurpthecrownofEngland.Intheafternoonof10July,

Jane was conveyed by waterto theTower,where shewasreceived as Queen.25 Janemay have felt a certainsatisfaction that it was hermother who had to hold hertrain in the procession to the

Towerandsheworeplatformshoesinordertoappeartallerto the watching crowd.26AccordingtoJaneherselfinalettertoMaryshe:

wasbrought to theTower and theMarquis of Winchester, the greattreasurer, gave me the jewels andtogetherwiththem,healsobroughtthe crown. It so happened that,without my asking him or othersaskinghiminmyname,hewantedmetoputthecrownonmyhead,toseeifitfittedornot.Irefusedtodo

it, resorting to a number ofexcuses,butheaddedthatIshouldbebraveand take it, andalso thathe would make another to crownmy husband. I listened to thesewords with a discomforted andreluctant spirit; and an infinitelydispleasedheart.27

Jane was overwhelmed andfrightened by her suddenelevation but even thenshowed an independent spiritthat suggests she was no

passive victim. On hearingthat another crownwould beprepared for Guildford, Janerefused point blank to crownhim, saying that she wouldmakehimadukeandnothingmore.28 Guildford, who waspresent,rushedtocomplaintohis mother. The Duchess ofNorthumberland camestormingintoJane’spresenceshouting that her son wouldnot stay another night with

such an ungrateful wife. Sheand Guildford then tried toleavetheTowerbutJanesentthe Earls of Arundel andPembroke to stop them fromleaving, anxious to preventthe public slight thatGuildford’s leavingwouldbetoher.Thisincident,althoughalmost farcical, indicates thatJanemightnothaveprovedtobequitethecompliantpuppetqueen that Northumberland

hadhoped.Shewascertainlyprepared to stand up to thebullying of her husband andhis mother once she wasqueen.Jane must have felt in a

morestablepositiononceshewasestablished in theTowerand it is likely that shebelieved the council whenthey said her accession wassecure. It was therefore ablow to everyone in the

Tower when, on 12 July, aletter was delivered fromMary, in which she claimedthe crown. Northumberlandhad attempted to captureMary before Edward VI’sdeath but she had escapedhim, travelling to her manorat Kenninghall where shequickly began to attractsupporters. Mary’s lettercaused consternation in theTower and Jane must also

have been concerned for herposition. When it wassuggestedthatSuffolkshouldleadaforceagainstMary,hewas ‘cleane dissolved by thespeciall meanes of the ladyJane his daughter, who,taking the matter heavily,with weeping teares maderequest tothewholecouncellthat her fathermight tarry athomeinhercompany’.29Janemust have been gratified to

see that, once again, theassembled lords were forcedto obey her and it wasdecided that Northumberlandwouldbesentinstead.The next morning,

Northumberland began torecruitanarmy.Afterdinner,hewenttoJaneandshegavehim his commission to leadherarmyandleavetodepart.He set out the next morningwith600menbutwasclearly

uncomfortable with thereception he received fromthehostilepopulace,pointingout to one of his men that,‘thepeopleprecetoseus,butnot one sayeth God spedeus’.30Mary had always beenpopular with the people inEngland whereas Jane wasunfamiliar and simply couldnot commandpublic support.By the time Northumberlandleft, word had already been

broughttoJanethatMaryhadbeen proclaimed inBuckinghamshire andNorwich. A further blowcamewhenwordreached theTower that six royal shipsthat had been sent toYarmouth to capture Maryhad deserted Jane for Mary,the crews mutinying andthreatening to throw theircaptains in the sea if theywouldnotagree.31

Jane must have been gladto see Northumberland leavethe Tower, as it is clear thatshehatedhim.Shemusthavebeenworriedby the threatofMary, however, especiallywhenitwasrealisedthatwithNorthumberland gone, manyof the council were activelytryingtoleavetheTower.On16 July, the treasurer, theMarquis of Winchester, wasfound to have left theTower

secretly.32 Jane acteddecisively when she heardthisand,at7pm,orderedthatthe gates of the Tower belocked and the keys broughtup to her. It was officiallyannounced that a seal hadbeen stolen but everyone intheTowerknewthetruth.Atmidnight thatsamenight, theTreasurer was found in hisLondonhouseandtakenbackto the Tower by Jane’s

guards.By18July,however,most

ofthecouncilhadmanagedtoescapeandon theeveningof19 July, they proclaimedMary at Cheapside.33 By 18JulyNorthumberlandhadalsocometorealisethathiscausewas lost. Knowing thatreinforcements would nevercome, he left Bury StEdmunds to return toCambridge.34 During the

nightof19JulyheheardthatMaryhadbeenproclaimedinLondon.Thenextmorningheproclaimed her himself atCambridge before beingarrested. Jane probably firstrealised that her cause waslostwhen her father came toher on the 19th as she waseating dinner and tore downthe cloth of estate above herheadwithhisownhands.Hethen went out onto Tower

Hill and proclaimed Maryhimself before fleeing to hisLondon house.35 The loss ofher crown cannot have beenentirely unexpected for Janeand the soundof rejoicing atMary’s accession could beheard from the Tower.36When Lady Throckmortonreturned to the royalapartments that evening fromstanding proxy for Jane at achristening, she found them

deserted and was told thatJane was now a prisoner inthe Deputy Lieutenant’shouseintheTower.37Jane must have been

frightened to find herselfdeserted by everyone and aprisoner in the Tower. Herfatherhadbeenarrestedsoonafter Mary’s accession butwas quickly released afterFrances Brandon intercededfor him with Mary.38 She

does not seem to haveinterceded for her daughter,however. Mary had alwaysbeenfondofJaneanddidnotbelieve that she wasresponsible forheractions. ItappearsthatsheprivatelytoldJane she would be releasedonce events surrounding herattempted coup had calmeddown. Jane must have beenrelieved to hear this andquicklysettledintolifeatthe

Tower.Shemayhavegainedsome satisfaction whenNorthumberland was alsobrought to the Tower as aprisoner and was disgustedwhen he converted toCatholicism in an attempt tosave himself from execution.Jane is reported to havewatched Northumberlandgoing to church before hisexecution from her windowand it is likely that she felt a

certain satisfaction that themanwhobroughther so lowwas going to die. Hisconversion did not save himand he was beheaded at theToweron21August1553.39Jane kept in good spirits

during her imprisonment andtheauthoroftheChronicleofQueenJanedinedwithheron29August 1553 at the houseofPartrige, theLieutenant ofthe Tower. According to his

account, shewas anxious fornewsofLondon:

‘TheQuenesmajestyisamercyfullprinces; I beseech God she maylong contynue, and sende hisbonntefull grace upon her’. Afterthat,wefell inmattersofreligion,and she axed what he was thatpreached at Polles on Sondaybefore;andsoitwastoldehirtobeone [blank in original]. ‘I praieyou,’ quod she, ‘have they masseinLondon?’‘Yayforsuthe’,quodI,‘insomeplaces’.‘Ytmaysobe,’

quod she, ‘yt is not so strange asthe sodden convertyon of the lateduke [Northumberland]; for whowoldehavethought’saideshe,‘hewould have so don?’ Yt wasanswered her, ‘Perchance hethereby hoped to have had hispardon’. ‘Pardon?’ quod she, ‘weworthe him! He hath brought meand our stocke in most miserablecallamyty and mysery by hisexceedingambicion.’40

Jane had not forgivenNorthumberland and ranted

for some time over the mealabouthiswickedness.Despite her anger at

Northumberland, Jane wasprobably comfortably housedin the Tower and may evenhave been relieved to besparedherparents’company.Although she had anassurancefromMarythatshewould be spared, it wasnecessary that she and theother conspirators be put to

trial and on 13 November1553 Jane, Guildford, hisbrothersHenryandAmbrose,and Thomas Cranmer theArchbishop of Canterburywere ledoutof theTower totheGuildhallfortheirtrials.41They walked in processionbehind a headsman carryingan axe turned away fromthem and Jane must havelooked striking dressed inblack with a black velvet

book hanging from her dressandanother inherhand.Theverdict of the trial waspredictable. All of theaccused were sentenced todeath, being returned to theTower with the headsman’saxe facing towards them.Despitetheverdict,Janemusthave felt certain that shewould be released and on 28December she was given theliberty of the Tower and the

freedom to walk in itsgardens.No doubt Mary meant to

release Janeoncememoryofthecouphadfaded.However,on 25 January, the councilheard that a rebellion, led byThomasWyatt,hadflaredupin Kent.42 That same day itwas also discovered that theDuke of Suffolk hadmysteriously vanished fromhis London residence. The

rebellions were aimed atMary’s proposedmarriage toPhilip of Spain and quicklygainedpublic support.By30January, Wyatt’s army wascamped at Blackheath andGreenwich.43 Mary’s ownquick thinking saved thesituation and shewas able torallythepeopleofLondontoher cause, crushing therebellion. With the defeat ofWyatt, attention then turned

to Suffolk who had riddennorth trying to stir up thepeople against the Spanishmarriage.44 He gained littlesupportandeventuallyfledtohismanoratAstleywherehewasfoundhidinginahollowtree. Suffolk was quicklyarrested and brought to theTower. Although she playednopart in these activities hisactions signed Jane’s deathwarrant. Janeunderstood this

and wrote to him soon afterhis arrest, writing ‘Father,although it hath pleasedGodtohastenmydeathbyyou,bywhom my life should ratherhave been lengthened, yet Icansopatientlytakeit, thatIyieldGodmoreheartythanksfor shortening my woefuldays.45Suffolk’s actions and

Wyatt’s rebellion illustratedto Mary and her council the

danger of allowing Jane tolive. On 12 February,GuildfordDudleywasledoutto a scaffold on Tower Hilland beheaded.46 Despiteorderingherdeath,Marystillappears to have rememberedJanefondlyandsenttheDeanof St Paul’s to her in anattempt to save her soulthrough conversion toCatholicism.47 Jane receivedhim politely and the pair

debated for some time,probablykeepingJane’smindoff her approaching death.Nevertheless she remainedstaunch in her evangelicalProtestantismuntiltheend.On 12 February 1554, the

sixteen-year-old Lady JaneGreywasledouttoascaffoldonTowerGreen.48 Sheworethe same dress that she hadworntohertrialandcarriedabook, praying all the way to

the scaffold. Jane thenmounted the scaffold andgave a dignified speech,admitting that she had actedunlawfully but denying thatthe guilt was hers. She thenrecited a psalm and it wasonly then thathernervesandheryouthbegantoshow:

Forthwith she untied her gown.The hangman went to her to helpher of therewith; then she desiredhim to let her alone, turning

towards her two gentlewomen,who helped her off therwith, andalso with her frose past andneckerchief, giving to her a fayrehandkercher to knytte about hereyes.

Thenthehangmankneeleddowne,andaskedher forgevenesswhomeshe forgave most willingly. Thenhe willed her to stand upon thestrawe;whichdoing, shesawe theblock.Then she sayd, ‘I pray youdispatch me quickly’. Then shekneeled down, saying, ‘Will youtakeitofbeforeI laymedowne?’

and the hangman answered her,‘No, madame’. She tyed thekercher about her eyes; thenfeelingfortheblocke,saide,‘WhatshallIdo?Whereisit?’Oneofthestanders-byguydingher thereunto,shelaydeherheadedownupontheblock,andstretchedforthherbodyand said; ‘Lorde, into thy hands Icommendemyspirite!’Andsosheended.49

No one in England saw theexecution ofLady JaneGreyas anything other than

judicialmurderandherdeathclouded Mary’s reputation.However, in spite of thepopular disapproval whichJane’s execution generated,she was never popular inEngland and her deathincurred no outpouring ofpublic grief. Lady JaneGreywas used as a pawn by herrelativesandeventhoughsheallowed herself to be usedand appears to have relished

thechancetowearthecrownshe was still an innocentvictim of the actions ofothers. Lady Jane Grey wasnotborntobeaqueenbutherroyal blood placed her closeenoughtobeindanger,afactthat was entirely out of hercontrol. Opinionated andbigoted,Janeoftenappearsinan unattractive light but itwas she who won theposthumous popularity battle

with Mary Tudor and she isrememberedasatragicvictimof the Catholic queen.However, during theirlifetimes when the two werepitted against each other, itwas Mary who provedoverwhelmingly the moreloved. It was only later,during her own disastrousreign thatMaryTudor’sownreputationbecamenotorious.

BloodyMary

MaryIwasthefirsteffectivequeenregnantofEnglandandsheswepttopoweronawave

of popular support. She diedjust five years lateruniversally hated, withbonfires lit in the street tocelebrate her death. Todayshe is remembered as‘Bloody Mary’, a bigotedCatholic so secure in herconvictionsthatsheburntherownsubjectsinanattempttopurge England ofProtestantism. Mary Tudorhad a difficult life and

although personally kind andlikeable, she was used as amodelofanevilqueenbyherhalf-sister, Elizabeth I.Mary’s ideas were stillessentiallymedieval and it isappropriate thathermedievalattitude caused much of herunpopularity. Mary Tudorwas never able to see thatEngland had changeddramaticallyfromthetimeofherchildhood.Inheressential

attitude she was the lastmedievalQueenofEngland.

Mary Tudor was the onlysurvivingchildofHenryVIIIand his first wife, CatherineofAragon, being born on 18February1516.1Astheironlychild, Mary was adored byboth her parents during herchildhood and her fatherloved to display her tovisitors to his court.2 Mary

was a pretty child and grewup to resemble her father.Accordingtoadescriptionofher given by the Frenchambassador in 1541, Marywas‘ofmiddlestature,andisin face like her father,especially about the mouth,buthasavoicemoremanlike,forawoman, thanhehas fora man’.3 For Henry, Marywas a useful diplomatic tooland her earliest childhood

was dominated by variousbetrothals to Europeanroyalty. Henry also sawMary’sbirthasapromisethatheandCatherinewouldsoonhave living sons. AlthoughMary’s sexwas, of course, adisappointment to her father,thefactthathereatlastwasahealthychild,outweighedanyotherdisadvantage.Mary would have known

from her earliest childhood

thatherdestinywastomarryaforeignprince.However,asshegrewoldershemusthavebecomeincreasinglyawareofher position as her father’sheiress. Catherine ofAragon’s last pregnancyoccurred in 1518 and by theearly1520sitmusthavebeenclear to both Henry andCatherine that they wouldhave no further childrentogether. Catherine of

Aragon, herself the daughterof a female monarch,accepted this early andarrangedforMarytohaveaneducationsuitableforafutureruler. Inheradulthood,Marycould read and write inEnglish and Latin, speakFrench and understandSpanish.4 She was alsomusical, being able to sing,dance and ride. Henryconsidered Mary his heir. In

1525shewassent toLudlowto govern as Princess ofWales, the only female everto hold this title in her ownright.5 Mary stayed inLudlow for eighteenmonths,returningtoLondonin1527.6Mary returned to a court

very different to the one shehad left in 1525. By 1527,Henry hadmetAnneBoleynandhadinstigatedhisdivorceproceedingsagainstCatherine

of Aragon. Mary probablyfirst heard of her parents’divorce from gossip in herhousehold. She must havebeen shocked and probablydid not believe it at first.Mary always supportedCatherineandremained loyalto her mother until her owndeath. She was with hermother at Windsor whenHenry rode away fromCatherine for the final time,

to never see her again.7 Theclose relationship betweenMary and Catherinefrightened Henry. In May1533 he forbade them tocommunicatewitheachother.Their correspondencecontinued secretly, but theywere never to see each otheragain and Mary felt theseparation from her motherkeenly. In April 1533 Marywas informed of Henry’s

secondmarriageandherownillegitimacy. The loss of herstatusand titlehitMaryhardand worse was to followwhen she was sent to serveher infant half-sister,Elizabeth,inDecember1533.Mary had been stripped of

her status as Henry’s heiresswhenhedivorcedhermother.The birth of Elizabeth inSeptember 1533 gave Henrya new heiress. Elizabethwas

given her own household atHatfieldHouseandMarywasforced to join her. Mary didnot prove as malleable asHenry and Anne Boleynhoped and she refused tocooperateonce inElizabeth’shousehold. In March 1534Mary had to be carriedstrugglingintoherlitterwhenshe refused to move withElizabeth’s household fromHatfield.8Thatprovedtobea

humiliating experience forMary and the next time thehousehold moved, sheentered her litter withoutforce. However once inside,Mary had her litter bearersrun so that shearrivedatherdestination an hour beforeElizabeth and thereforeoccupied the chief place onarrival.ThismusthavegivenMary a measure of personalsatisfaction but in reality she

was powerless to alter hersituation. In spring 1534,Marywaslockedinherroomwithaguardatthedoorwhensherefusedtotaketheoathofsuccession that bastardisedher and denied her parents’marriage.9 Mary apparentlyfelt desperate and secretlypetitioned her cousinEmperor Charles V tosmuggle her out ofEngland.10 Nonetheless she

was closely guarded and anychanceofescapewasmissed.Thedeathofhermotherin

January 1536 was a furtherblow forMary and shemusthave felt totally isolated.Shestill held out against AnneBoleyn’s efforts to befriendher and after Anne’s deathMary wrote to her father’sfirst minister, ThomasCromwell,toaskforhishelpin reconciling her with her

father.11 Mary believed thatAnne Boleyn was the solecauseofhermistreatmentandshe must have hoped thatwith Anne gone, Henrywould welcome her again ashis legitimate daughter.Mary’s illusions about herfather were shattered when,following her approach toCromwell,acommissionwassent to her at Hunsdon toextracttheoathofsuccession

from her. Mary once againstood out against Henry’sagentsbuteventuallywithouther mother’s influence shegave in, signing a documentthat acknowledged that herparents had never beenmarried and her ownillegitimacy.12 Mary neverforgave herself for betrayinghermotherandthissingleactcontributed to much of theunhappiness she experienced

in her later life. Her father’sharsh treatment of her in thesummer of 1536 alsoshattered any illusions shehad about him. In her laterlife, Mary spoke of Henrywith respect, but never withany trace of admiration oraffection.13 Rumours lateraccreditedMary with havingHenry’s body exhumed andhisheartburnt.14Itisunlikelythat this ever occurred but,

certainly,MarysawHenryasthe man who had destroyedbothherhappinessandthatofherbelovedmother.Mary’s capitulation

pleased Henry and she wasinvited back to court andgiven her own householdagain. However she was notlegitimisedandlostanystatusshehadasheirapparentwiththe birth of her halfbrotherEdward in October 1537.

Maryremainedinherfather’sfavour for the rest of his lifeandactedashiscourthostessfrom the death of CatherineHoward until hismarriage toCatherine Parr in 1543.15 In1544, Mary was restored tothe succession by an act ofparliament but even thistriumphmusthaverankled,asshe remained illegitimate.16Despite her illegitimacy,Mary remained of interest to

the European powers andreceived several offers ofmarriage. It is probable thatshewishedtomarryandhavechildren,butherfatherwouldnever allow her to leave thecountry. The report of aFrench ambassador relateshowMary greatly desired tohavechildren.17ThedeathofHenry VIII in January 1547left Mary as a wealthyindependent landowner and

heir presumptive to Englandbut changed little in herpersonalsituation.Mary had always been a

devout Catholic and thisorthodoxy brought her intoconflict with Edward VI’scouncil.EdwardVI’scouncilwas made up of religiousreformers and England wasquickly moved in a moreProtestant direction. Maryalwaysmade it clear that she

disapproved of this religiouschange and as the heirapparent, this was a majorthreat to the council. During1549 Mary was visited bytwo members of Edward’scouncilwhocametoexamineheroverheradherencetothenew religious laws. Marymust have presented aformidable figure to thecouncillors and replied that‘she would have the old

serviceuntilthekingcameofage, andwould not obey theProtector’s laws because hewas no king’.18 This attitudedispleased Edward’sprotector, the Duke ofSomerset, and pressure wasput onMary to conform. Asthe cousin of the emperor,however, Mary had apowerful supporter and sheappealed to Charles V forhelp. Charles V immediately

sent his ambassadors to theDuke of Somerset. HedemandedthatMarybegivenan assurance that she coulduse her own servicesregardless of what the lawsaidinEngland.19Facedwiththreats from the emperor,Somerset capitulated andgaveMaryaverbalassurancethat she could follow theRoman Catholic faith in herown household. Mary must

havebeengladofthisvictoryand she made a point ofallowing anyonewhowishedtohearhermass.Whilst Mary had an

assurancefromSomerset,shesoon found that this wasworthless. In 1549, JohnDudley, Earl of Warwickengineered a coup againstSomerset, appointing himselfProtectorandcreatinghimselfDuke of Northumberland.

Northumberland was notpreparedtoturnablindeyetoMary’s Catholicism and sentcommissioners to Mary atKenninghall.20 Mary was nolongeragirlofseventeenandshe stood up to thecommissioners imperiouslyanswering them that shewasnotsubjecttothecouncilandsodidnothavetofollowtheirreligion. The pressure on herwas not relieved, however,

and members of Mary’shousehold were arrested forattendingherchurchservices.ByMay 1550Mary had hadenough of the council’sharassment and asked theSpanish ambassador for theemperor’shelpinescapingtothe continent.21 Edward VIwas twelve years old and ingoodhealth;Marymusthaveforeseen years of pressurefromthekingandhiscouncil.

In June 1550 two imperialships landed at Harwich.They then moved on toWoodhamWaternearoneofMary’smanors,pretendingtosellcorn.Whenthecaptainofone of the ships landed andwent to Mary, he found herstillunpackedandrefusingtoleave. This was Mary’s lastchance of escape to herfamilyinSpainanditmarkedaturningpointforher,finally

committing herself to life inEngland.Soonafter theshipshad left, the council heardoftheescapeplanandMarywasforcedtomoveinland.In spite of her decision to

remain in England, Mary’stroubles were not over. Latein 1550, Mary wassummonedbeforethecouncilto account for her religion.22Mary, perhaps with newresolution following her

decision to remain inEngland, remained stubbornin her religion in spite ofbeing berated byNorthumberland. She musthavebeenrelievedduringherstayatcourtwhenamessagearrived from Charles Vthreatening war if Mary wasnot permitted to hear mass.The council were forced torelentinthefaceofthreatsofwarandMarywasallowedto

return to her house atNewhall. Northumberlandand the council were stillconcernedwithMary’sstatusas heir to the throne,however,andit is likelythat,in spite of her victory,Maryknewthat theywereworkingagainst her. In late 1552 shemust have heard reports thatEdward VI was ill andprobably followed themclosely.On4July1553,both

Mary and Elizabeth receivedsummonsestovisitEdwardatcourt at Greenwich. Marywasunsureofwhat action totake and began to movehesitantly towards London.She was at Hoddesdon on 6July 1553when she receivedwordthatEdwardhadalreadydied and that her summonswas a trap. Mary acteddecisively and she and eightfollowers fled during the

night to her house atKenninghall.23Maryhadalwaysbeenvery

popular in England andrumours of her rebellionagainst NorthumberlandspreadthroughEastAnglia.24In Mary’s absence,Northumberland proclaimedLadyJaneGreyasqueenandMary immediately wrote tothe council in Londonclaiming the throne for

herself.Bytakingthisaction,Mary realised thatNorthumberland would sendan army against her.RecognisingthatKenninghallcouldnotwithstandanattack,she moved her forces to hercastle at Framlingham, thestrongest fortification inSuffolk.Withoutevenhavingto muster troops, peopleflocked to Mary to fight forher and she must have been

glad of this show of loyaltytowards her. It is likely thatMary gradually grew inconfidence as she receivedreports that towns acrossEngland were declaring forher rather than Jane. On 20July,Marywas finally readyto meet Northumberland andshe mustered and inspectedher army at Framlingham.Mary was completelyunaccustomed to war and

rodeherusualhorsetoreviewhertroops:

While her majesty wasapproaching, the white horsewhich she was riding becamerather more frisky at theunaccustomed sight of such anarmy drawn up in formation thanher womanly hesitancy waspreparedtorisk,sosheorderedherfoot-soldiers, active and dutifulmen,toliftuptheirhandsandhelptheirsovereignuntilshewasreadytogetdown.25

Mary’s review of the troopsshows just how unusual asituation this unmarriedwoman of 37 found herselfin.Sheacquittedherselfwell,however, surveying thetroops on foot, speaking andapproachinghermen,gaininghersoldiers’love.Marymusthavebeenpleasedatwhatshesaw of her troops althoughshe was probablyapprehensive at her coming

military campaign againstNorthumberland.WhenMaryreturned to the castle laterthat day she was informedthat Northumberland’s armyhaddesertedandthatshehadbeen proclaimed queenthroughout England.26 Marywas jubilant and alwaysconsidered her victory overNorthumberland to be amiraclefromGod.Mary spent the next few

days discharging her armybefore setting out in triumphtoLondonwhereshewasmetby celebrations.27 One ofMary’sfirstactsasqueenwastorepealherparent’sdivorceand to declare herselflegitimate, something whichprobablygaveheragreatdealofpersonalsatisfaction.28Shethen turned her attentiontowards religion. Mary, whowas so staunch in her own

beliefs, never realised theextenttowhichProtestantismhadbeenadopted inEnglandandsheneverunderstoodthatProtestants could be asconvinced of their ownjustification as she was ofhers. Before the end of July1553,MaryhadwrittentothePope to request that Englandreturn to his authority.29Mary did not envisage toomany problems with the

implementationof thispolicybut as her reign progressed,she became increasinglyvicious in her attempts tostamp out Protestantism inEngland.Mary was the first queen

regnant of England to becrowned and she arranged amagnificentceremony.On30September 1553, Mary rodein an open carriagemagnificently dressed.30

Mary’s headdress alone wasso decked in precious stonesthattheweightrequiredMaryto hold her head upwith herhands.31Marymusthavefelttriumphant and probably stillbelievedthathertriumphwasGod’s work and that hefavoured her and her work.On1October,Mary,dressedin a long scarlet robe, wasescorted by the samecompany to Westminster

Abbey.IntheAbbeyshewascrowned and anointed asEngland’s firstqueenregnantto assert a lasting authorityover England. At thatmoment,Marymusthavefeltthat the unhappiness of herearlier lifewaswashed awayand she was even content togive a prominent position toher much younger sister,Elizabeth,thedaughterofhergreatestenemy,AnneBoleyn.

Mary probably felt secure inher position and did not yetseeElizabethasarival.Maryalso probably saw hercoronationasasingle femaleas an oddity and it wasexpected by all, includingMary,thatshewouldquicklymarry and provide Englandwithaking.Maryhadalwaysreliedon

her cousin Charles V foradvice and, soon after her

accession, she declared toSimon Renard, the Imperialambassador that she wouldfollow Charles’s advice overher choice of a husband.32This was an opportunityCharles had beenwaiting forand he offered his son andheir, Philip of Spain. Philipwas twenty-sixandalreadyawidowerwithason.33Hewasalso renowned acrossEuropefor being sombre, dull and

dedicated to his work. Maryfirst protested at this offer,arguing that, at thirty-seven,she was too old for Philip.There is no doubt, however,that Philip was thebridegroom that Marywanted. Despite herprotestations she quicklyconsented. Mary had alwaysfelt a closeness with hermother’s Spanish family andit probably pleased her to

strengthen her ties withCharles V. Despite Mary’shappiness with her choice itwaswidelydisapprovedofinEngland. News of theproposed Spanish marriagespread fear amongst thexenophobicEnglishandtherewaswidespreadoppositiontoMary’schoice.SoonafterMary’smarriage

treatywasconcludedinearly1554, she receivedword that

a rebellionhadbrokenout inKent, led by Sir ThomasWyatt.34MarywasinLondonwhensheheardthenewsandimmediatelyshowedthesamespirit that had won her thethroneofEngland.Accordingto the Vita Mariae AngliaeReginae:

The Queen left the palace andcame to theCityGuildhall, ridingthroughthestreetsprecededbyhercouncil and followed by a

company of ladies, addressing thepeopleasshewentwithwonderfulgood nature and uncommoncourtesy, and all the timeexhibiting a cheerful countenance,worthy of such a princess.Dismounting, she entered theGuildhall anddelivereda splendidspeech to her citizens; the goodprincess, an incomparable oratrix,could command such eloquencethat with her gentle and pleasantspeech she completely calmed theLondoners, who were in suchtumult over the Spanish

marriage.35

Mary’s speech saved thesituation. The following dayon 5 February, when Wyattand his rebels arrived atSouthwark, they found theBridge closed and theLondoners refused to open itfor them. On 6 February,Wyatt attempted to seizeKingston Bridge but againfound it defended and was

forced to camp at Brentfordwhilst he formulated a newplan. The next day hemanagedtocrosstheThamesinto London butwas quicklyarrestedwhilsthismeneitherfled or were killed. Marymust have been relieved thatthe rebellion was over, butshehadbeenbadlyfrightenedand her reaction, whichwould have been considerednormal in a king, was

consideredsavageinaqueen.Wyattwastriedfortreason

on 15 March 1554 andimplicatedMary’shalf-sister,Elizabeth, claiming that hewrote to her declaring hisplans to rebel.36 Mary hadalreadybegun to suspect thather sister was involved andon 18 March Elizabeth wastaken as a prisoner to theTower. Wyatt was executedon 11 April and died

proclaiming that Elizabethwasinnocentofcomplicityinhis rebellion.Mary remainedunconvinced. AlthoughElizabeth was released fromthe Tower, she was placedunder house arrest atWoodstock where sheremained for severalmonths.37 Mary was unableto prove that Elizabeth hadbeeninvolvedintherebellionbut she never trusted her

sister again. Mary had beenfond of Elizabeth whilst shewas a child but as Elizabethgrewolder,Marycametoseein her an unnervingresemblancetoAnneBoleyn.Mary was fond of declaringthat Elizabeth was not hersister at all and looked likeMark Smeaton, one of AnneBoleyn’s supposed lovers.38The thought of Elizabethsucceeding her filled Mary

with dread and she wasdesperate to marry quicklyandbearachild.Despite Wyatt’s rebellion,

plans for Mary’s weddingcontinued unaffected. On 19July 1554 Philip landed atSouthampton.39 Marytravelled to Winchester tomeet him and she and Philiptalked privately for over anhour on their firstmeeting.40Mary,whohadalreadyfallen

half in love with Philip’sportrait, was very impressedwith her bridegroom. Philipwas less impressed and theSpaniards in his traindeclared privately that Marylooked older than had beenexpected and was badlydressed. Philip knew wherehis duty lay, however, andwasnothingbut courteous toMary during their earlymeetings. On 25 July 1554,

MaryandPhilipweremarriedin Winchester Cathedral bythe Bishop of Winchester.Beforetheservice,theBishopdeclared that Charles V hadabdicated the thrones ofNaples and Jerusalem to hisson so that Mary would nothave to marry a mereprince.41 This probablyappealed to the romantic inMary who had been waitingforahusbandtocomeforher

allheradultlife.Maryclearlyhad a romanticised idea ofmarriage and wanted theceremonytofitwithherownromantic ideas.According toone report, ‘the queensmarriage ring was a plainhoope of gold without anystoneinit:forthatwasasitissaid her pleasure, becausemaydens were so married inolde tymes’.42 Mary alwaysexpected Philip to become

King of England and on 5May1554hewasgrantedthecrown matrimonial for thedurationofherlifetime.43Mary believed that her

accession to thecrownwasamiracle and that God wouldalso give her a child tocontinue her work when shewas gone.44 She wastherefore pleased to be toldby her doctors in September1554thatshewasexpectinga

child.45 Mary confidentlyexpected that shewouldgivebirth to a healthy prince andshe showed all the signs ofpregnancy. At Easter 1555,Mary went into confinementatHamptonCourt forachildthatwasexpectedinMay.On30 April 1555, the newsbroke throughout EnglandthatMaryhadgivenbirthtoahealthy prince and bonfireswere lit and church bells

rung.46 By 2May, this newshadalsoreachedtheimperialcourtatAntwerpandCharlesV ordered immediaterejoicing for the birth of hisgrandson.47 Mary must havebeen embarrassed by thiscelebration since it quicklybecamecleartoeveryonethatthe newswas nothing but anunfounded rumour and nochildhadyetbeenborn.Mary waited through the

wholeofMayforabirththatdidnotoccurandherdoctorshurriedly began torecalculate, first saying Juneand then July. By late May,however, Mary’s stomachhadbeguntodecreaseinsizeanditbegantodawnonthosearound her that there wouldbe no child.48 Only Maryrefused to believe that shehad been mistaken and shespent her time weeping and

praying whilst she continuedtowait. Philipwas impatientto leave for the continent,having stayed in Englandonly to await thebirth of hischild.FinallyinearlyAugust,the court abruptly moved toOatlands, signalling to theworld that Mary’sconfinement had ended.49Mary must have beendevastated by the failure ofher‘pregnancy’andhergrief

was confounded on 29AugustwhenPhilip sailed toFlanders.Marywrote to himfondlyeverydaybutPhilip’srepliesquicklybecame fewerand fewer andMary realisedthathehaddesertedher.With the failure of her

marriageanddashedhopesofa child, Mary threw herselfintoherreligion.Shecametobelieve that she had earnedGod’s displeasure with her

failure to punish ProtestantsenoughandthatthiswaswhyHehadnotgivenherachild.Mary had begun to burnProtestants in February 1555but these dramaticallyincreased following Philip’sdeparture, in Mary’s bid toplease God and so earn Hisfavour again. Thousands ofProtestants were burnedduring Mary’s reign and sheearnedthenickname,‘Bloody

Mary’ for this policy. Maryburned a number of highprofile Protestants as well asmany ordinary men andwomen. Bishops Ridley andLatimer were burned atOxford on 16 October1555.50 Mary probably alsogained some personalsatisfaction from the burningof Thomas Cranmer,Archbishop of Canterbury.Mary refused to pardon

Cranmer even after herecanted of his heresy andreturned to the RomanCatholic Church and it islikelythatthiswasatleastinpartduetotheoldgrudgeshebore against him for thedivorce of her mother.51 Itwas Cranmer who hadpronounced Henry VIII’sheadship of the Church ofEngland and the divorce ofCatherine of Aragon and

Mary probably always heldhim to be one of themen toblame for her mother’sunhappiness. Heretics wereburnt during the reigns ofMary’sbrotherandherfatherbut it is Mary who isremembered as the mostcruel.Thisistoalargeextentdue to the fact thatProtestantism ultimatelytriumphed. It is John Foxe’sviewofMary thatendures to

thisday:

Before her was never read inhistory of any king or queen ofEnglandsincethebeginningofthekingdom, underwhom, in time ofpeace, by hanging, heading,burning, and prisoning, so manyEnglishmen’s lives, were spilledwithin this realm, asQueenMary,forthespaceoffouryears.52

Mary’s burnings damagedboth her reputation andwhatremained of her popularity

withinEngland.Charles V abdicated in

early 1556 and Philip wroteto Mary informing her thatshe was now Queen ofSpain.53 As King of Spain,Philip found himself quicklyembroiled in a war withFranceandhewantedEnglishsupport. Mary refused tocooperate without seeingPhilipinpersonandsoPhilip,realising reconciliation was

necessary, sailed to England,landingatDoveron18March1557.54 Mary was overjoyedthatherhusbandhadreturnedto her and quickly forgavehim his neglect of her. Sheagreed to Philip’s demandsthat England declare war onFrance and was devastatedwhenhelefttofighthiswarson 6 July 1557. Marytravelled with him to Doverand saw him onto his ship.

Sheneversawhimagain.Thewar proved a disaster toEngland and, once again,Mary’sSpanishmarriagewasblamed for English troubles.On7January1558Calais,thelast English possession inFrance fell to the French.Mary is remembered as themonarch who lost the lastvestige of the great Angevinempire. Mary fullyunderstoodthesignificanceof

this loss, reportedly saying‘whenIamdeadandopened,youshall findCalais lying inmyheart’.55Itwasalmostthelastfailureofherreign.Soon after Philip left

England for the last time,Marycametobelievethatshewas pregnant once again.56Mary, remembering herprevioushumiliation,delayedannouncing her pregnancyuntil she was certain,

although Philip and most ofthe people of Englandremainedsceptical.Marywasas convinced by thispregnancy as shewas by thelast.InMarch1558shemadea will leaving everything tothe child she would bear.Once again, she wasdisappointedandbylateMay,well over nine months sincePhilip’sdeparture,evenMaryhad to admit that she was

mistaken. It is probable thatMary’s second ‘pregnancy’was in fact a symptom ofcancer. After the failure ofhersecond‘pregnancy’,Maryretreated into her ill healthand disappointment. InNovember 1558 Philip’sambassador, the Count ofFeriafoundMarydyingwhenhe arrived in England.According to his dispatch toPhilip,‘shewashappytosee

me, since Ibroughthernewsof your majesty, and toreceive the letter, althoughshe was unable to read it’.57Even to the last, Marydeluded herself that herhusband loved her and FeriareportedtoPhilipthatshehadkeptall the letters thatPhiliphadsenther.58Maryhadbeenreluctant to name her hatedsister Elizabeth as hersuccessor but under pressure

from both Philip and hercouncilsherelented,agreeingtoacceptherasherheir.59Asshe lay dying, members ofMary’s court flocked to hersuccessor at Hatfield. Marydied on 17 November 1558aged forty-two. She died adisappointed and unhappywoman and bonfires were litand church bells rung inLondontocelebrateherdeathand the accession of

Elizabeth.60

Mary Tudor’s reign isremembered as an dark timefor England and her reign isovershadowedbythegloryofElizabeth’s.Althoughagoodwoman,Marywasafailureasa queen and she lost herreputation and popularity inher misguided policies andmarriage. As the firsteffective queen regnant of

England, Mary Tudor was anovelty and shedidnothavethe imagination to invent anew role for herself, insteadrelying on medieval ideas ofwhat a queen should be. Itwas only with the reign ofElizabeth that queenshipwasable to move in a differentdirection, something whichMary had failed to achieve.Mary Tudor will always berememberedasBloodyMary.

Although personally sheappears to have been kindlyand humane, she was alsofanatical in her beliefs andshe allowed great cruelty tobe carried out in order tofurther these policies. ThereisnodoubtthatMarythoughtshe was fulfilling God’s willandthattheburningswereforthe country’s own good, butthisviewpointwasnotsharedwith most of her

contemporaries or posterity.Mary’s accession to thethrone was one of the mostpopular in English historyand the English wanted toloveher.Neverthelessby theend she was universallydespised. Even Mary’sbeloved husband, Philip,professedhimselfonlymildlyregretful at his wife’s deathandMary Tudor died as shehad lived, unloved and

ultimatelyafailure.

Conclusion

Medieval andTudorEnglandhad many queens, whosenumbers far exceeded thatofkings. The fact that there

wereoverfiftyinallmakesitunsurprising that many areremembered in stereotypicalways. Some are rememberedasgoodqueens,someremainin obscurity and others arenotorious. As the stories oftheir lives show, the badqueens were numerous anddiverse but they all failed toliveuptotherequirementsofwhatagoodqueenshouldbewhich damned them to

failure. As these examplesdemonstrate,higherstandardswere often expected ofqueens simply because theywerewomen andmanywerecensured for acts that wouldnotevenhavebeencriticisedin kings. As women, theywere also often seen as athreat to themale elite.Malechroniclers and churchmenrecorded events but oftendrew negative conclusions.

Women were simply notexpected to lead politicallives during the medievalperiod and, even today,political queens, such asMargaret of Anjou or Emmaof Normandy, areremembered unfavourablycompared to their politicalmale contemporaries. In themedievalperiod,amancouldcarry out damning acts andstill not be damned for it.

However for a woman eveninsignificant acts could beseenasblameworthy.Onceamedieval queen lost herreputation, it was goneforever.Although the women

described here all fall intoone category of notoriousqueens, the actual factsbehind their notoriety werevery varied and, throughoutthe period, a number of

patterns can be seen. Thisdemonstrates clearly thestereotypical way in whichmany of the women areremembered; the idea of anotorious queen, for all itsapparent diversity, is asstereotypedas thatof agoodqueen.Eadburh’s life is

remembered as a cautionarytale about just what made atrulybadqueen.Accordingto

the stories, Eadburh actedpoliticallyforherownbenefitand was also unfaithful andgreedy. Worst of all, she isrememberedasawomanwhomurdered her husband. FewqueensinthemedievalperiodevencameclosetoEadburh’salleged wickedness, althoughAelfthryth and Isabella ofFrance are arguably asnotorious. These threewomen represent the very

worst category of medievalqueens and few chronicleshave a good word to sayabout them.According to thesources, all three wereapparently happy to resort tomurderfortheirownpoliticalbenefit and are stillremembered as She-Wolvestoday.Eachwomanisreputedto have murdered herhusband, a major sin inanyone’s eyes.Whether they

wereguiltyofthesecrimesornot (and the evidence isparticularly dubious in thecase of Eadburh) all threewomen are recorded asmurderers and adulterers.Thisrecordsurvivedtomakethemnotorious to thepresentday. It is not taken intoaccount that none of thesewomen had a voice to telltheir own story and that allthatsurvivesisthejudgement

of men plainly hostile tothem. Once criticised in thisway itwasnearly impossiblefor the women to redeemthemselves.The next category of

notorious queens that can beidentifiedarethewomenwhotookonaman’sroleandwhocan be said to have beenpolitically active for theirown benefit. This categoryincludesEmmaofNormandy,

Aelfgifu of Northampton,EmpressMatilda,MargaretofAnjou and Mary I. Some ofthesewomennominallyactedfor their sons andothermalekinsmen and queens such asEmma of Normandy andAelfgifu of Northamptonupheld thepretenceofactingon behalf of their sons. Notall of these women had amale kinsman behind whichto hide their actions. The

EmpressMatilda andMary Iboth encountered difficultiesin ruling as a queen regnantinmedievalEngland.All thepolitical queens mentionedabove are remembered in anegative light. Their actionsare seen as unwomanly andvery far from what a goodqueen should be. Howevermost of them had littlechoice.Onceagain,thisisanexample of the negativeway

that female political powerwasperceived,evenwhen,inactual fact, the women’sactions were entirelyjustified.The next category of

notorious queens must bethose who committedadultery. Queens wereexpected to be fertile andprovide their husbands withan heir. Consequentlyfaithlessness in a queen was

heavily punished, in spite ofthe double standard whichallowedkingstoopenlykeepmistresses. Queens accusedof this crime include thehighly notorious queens,Eadburh, Aelfthryth, Isabellaof France and Margaret ofAnjou. However others suchas Eleanor of Aquitaine,IsabellaofAngouleme,AnneBoleyn and CatherineHowardaremorespecifically

remembered as adulteressesand it is this act of betrayal(or, in the case of some,supposedbetrayal)whichhasseen thequeensremembered,over the centuries, asnotorious. Not all of thesewomen were guilty ofadultery – Anne Boleyn andMargaret of Anjou certainlywerenot.However, infidelitywas a much more seriouscrime for a woman than a

man and the suggestion of itcould destroy a reputation.EvenCatherineHoward,whowas certainly guilty ofcuckoldry does not appearentirely blameworthy butrather as a woman entirelyunsuited for the position inwhich she found herself. Toaccuse a queen of adulterywas to ruin her and the caseof Anne Boleyn shows justhow clearly the enemies of

particular queens realisedthis.Incest in queens was seen

ina similarway,being takenas a manifestation of thesexualimmoralityofmanyofEngland’s wicked queens.Judith of France,Aelfgifu oftheHouseofWessex,Eleanorof Aquitaine and AnneBoleyn were all accused ofthiscrime.Theiractionswerealso strongly associated with

ambition and greed, majorsins for queens to commit –Edith Godwine, Eleanor ofProvence,Eleanor ofCastile,Joan of Navarre and LadyJane Grey all experiencedmisfortune as a result ofallegations of avariciousness.Again, however, ambitionwas something that wasentirely acceptable in aman.Inawomanhoweveritwasavice and something to be

criticised. This wasparticularlythecasewhenthequeensoaccusedalsohadthemisfortune to be of foreignbirth. Foreign queensreceived extra criticism, inspite of the fact that theirmarriages were generallyarrangedforthem.By breaking down the

notorious queens intocategories, it is possible todemonstrate some of the

vices which were taken todenote a delinquent queenand then used as ameans ofattack. A bad queen was awoman willing to commitmurder or was at leastassociated with rumours ofmurder. A bad queen wasalsoonewhoactedpoliticallyfor her own benefit, often atthe cost of the best interestsofherownhusbandorson.Abad queen might also be an

adulteress, or commit incesttofurtherherambitionsandabad queen was also greedyand ambitious. These vicesmakeupthedefinitionofjustwhat was considered anunpricipledqueenandcanbeopposed to ideas of a goodqueen. A good queen waschaste,passiveanddevotedtoher family, with no politicalwillsavethatofherhusband.These ideals had developed

evenbythereignofEadburhinthelateeighthcentury.The queens discussed here

were all, for a variety ofreasons, portrayed as She-Wolves. Itwouldbenaïve toassertthatallthequeenswereinnocent of the crimes ofwhich they are accused.There is no doubt that somewere, indeed, guilty ascharged.JudithofFrance,forexample, did marry her

stepson. Aelfthryth murderedher stepson. The EmpressMatilda was the leader of afaction in a civil war andsought power in her ownright. Eleanor of Aquitanerebelled against her husband.Isabella of France deposedand murdered her husband.CatherineHowardcommittedadultery and Mary I burnedheretics at the stake.That allof these women carried out

these actions is not in doubt.However, when the facts oftheir lives are discussed it isdifficult to see how they canalwaysbeconsideredentirelyblameworthy. EmpressMatilda,forexample,wastheleader of a civil war factionbecause her crown wasusurped.The action she tookwould be expected of a kingbut, as she found, it was avery different position for a

queen.EleanorofAquitaine’shusband was repeatedlyunfaithful and a king wouldcertainly be expected toimprison, or even kill anunfaithfulwife,asHenryVIIIdid to Catherine Howard.Again, why should it be sodifferent for a woman?Finally, Isabella of Franceendured years of harshtreatmentfromherindifferentand, ultimately, cruel

husband.Againshecannotbeblamed for wanting toimproveherlife.Untilveryrecently,history

has almost exclusively beenwritten by men with theirown male point of view.Generally the womendescribed here were notpassive or retiring and, as aresult of this, theywere seenas a threat to the establishedmale order and targets ripe

for attack. Women weresimply not expected to havepolitical power and, as aresult,manyqueensfoundaninherentcontradictionintheirrole which was, after all, apolitical and public one.Some queens managed tonegotiate this successfullyand others less so, howeverforwomenundertheconstantscrutinyofchroniclers itwaseasy to be considered a

failure.Theroleofqueenwasdeveloping throughout themedieval period and thewomen described here wereoften the most proactiveagents in this process. Theircircumstances and actionspushed them into the publiceye and this was consideredunacceptable to their moreconservative contemporaries.To many people in themedieval period, the role of

queenwasreallyonly thatofking’s wife and for womenwho sought to be queenstherewasoftenatightropetowalk to secure thepreservation of theirreputations. The womendescribed here failed towalkthe tightrope for one reasonoranotherandasaresulttheywere attacked. To be a She-Wolf is tobe rememberedasnotorious, whatever the facts

of the individual queen’s lifeand, once the chronicles hadbeenwritten,thetruefactsoftheliveswereoftenforgotten.

Endnotes

Chapter2:Pre-ConquestQueens

1Asser,chapter13(inKeynesandLapidge2004:72)

2Stafford1997:563Stafford1983:24CharterLVI(inPierquin

1912:417)5Asser,chapter2(inKeynesand

Lapidge2004:68)6Asser,chapter23(inKeynesand

Lapidge2004:75)7WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Preest2002:124)8WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Preest2002:127)10Asser,chapter2(inKeynesand

Lapidge2004:68)11FlorenceofWorcester(in

Stevenson1987:214and234)12EncomiumEmmaeReginae(in

Campbell1998:33)13RegularisConcordia(in

Symons1953:2)14Aelfric’sLifeofStAethelwold

(inWhitelock1979:905)15LifeofKingEdwardwhoRests

atWestminster(inBarlow1962:41)

16LifeofKingEdwardwhoRestsatWestminster(inBarlow1962:41)

17Cnutpractisedpolygamy,maintainingbothEmmaofNormandyandAelfgifuofNorthamptonashisqueens

Chapter3:IncestuousQueens

1Nelson1992:1362WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:88)3SimeonofDurham(inStevenson

1987:53)4FlorenceofWorcester(in

Stevenson1853:209)5Asserchapter13(inKeynesand

Lapidge2004:72)6AnnalsofStBertin’s(in

Whitelock1979:343)7AnnalsofStBertin’s(in

Whitelock1979:343)8Kirby2000:1659Stafford1990a:14610WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:94)11Asserchapter12(inKeynes

andLapidge2004:70)12WilliamofMalmesbury(in

andLapidge2004:71)14Anglo-SaxonChronicleAfor

855(inSwanton2000:66)15WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:95)16BedeII.5(inShirley-Price

1990:112)17Asserchapter17(inKeynes

andLapidge2004:73)18WilliamofMalmesbury(in

andLapidge2004:70)20Kirby2000:16721AgrantbyAethelbaldoflandat

Teffont(Charter3inKelly1996:16-17)

22SimeonofDurham(inStevenson1987:54)

23Nelson1992:20324Stafford1998:8725Nelson1992:20326ChronicleofAethelweard(in

Campbell1962:55)27LifeofStDunstan(in

Whitelock1979:901)

28LifeofStDunstan(inWhitelock1979:90)

29Stafford1990b:6130Stafford1990b:6131WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:128)33Stafford1989:4834Yorke1997:7735S1292(inSawyer1968:373)36Yorke1997:7837FlorenceofWorcester(in

Stevenson1853:944)andSimeonofDurham(inStevenson1987:91)forexample

38Anglo-SaxonChronicleDfor958(inSwanton2000:113)

40WilliamofMalmesbury(inPreest2002:17)

41WilliamofMalmesbury(inStephenson1989:129)

Chapter4:Murder&AdulteryintheAnglo-SaxonCourt

1SimeonofDurhamfor802(inStevenson1987:50)

2SimeonofDurhamfor802(in

Stevenson1987:50)3Anglo-SaxonChronicleAfor

787(actually789)(inSwanton2000:54)

4Anglo-SaxonChronicleAfor836(actually839)(inSwanton2000:62)

5Asserchapter13(inKeynesandLapidge2004:72)

9Asserchapter13(inKeynesand

Lapidge2004:71)10Stafford2001:25911Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor

12WilliamofMalmesbury(inStephenson1989:185-6)

14FlorenceofWorcester(inDouglasandGreenaway1981:221)

15FlorenceofWorcester(inDouglasandGreenaway1981:221)

16LifeofKingEdwardwhoRests

19Stafford2001:27120WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:191)21LifeofKingEdwardwhoRests

22Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor1075(inSwanton2000:212)

23Gaimarline3601(inHardyand

Martin1888,discussedinWright1939:148)

25Gaimarline3731(inHardyandMartin1888,discussedinWright1939)

29HistoriaEliensis,quotedandtranslatedinWright1939:158-9

30HistoriaEliensis,quotedand

translatedinWright1939:15931HistoriaEliensis,quotedand

translatedinWright1939:16032WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:141)33IntheNewMinsterCharterof

966,EdmundwitnessaboveEdwardandheisdescribedastheking’slegitimateson,asopposedtoEdward,whoissimplytheking’sson(inMiller2001:103)

35Anglo-SaxonChronicleDfor975(inSwanton2000:121)

36LifeofStOswaldbyByrhtferthofRamsey(inWhitelock1979:912)

41FlorenceofWorcester(inStephenson1853:87)

42WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:140)43WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Stephenson1989:144)

Chapter5:FemalePowerStruggles

1LetterofPopeJohnXVtoallthefaithful,concerningthereconciliationofEthelred,KingofEngland,andRichard,DukeofNormandy(inWhitelock1979:894-5)

4Anglo-SaxonChronicleFfor1003(inSwanton2000:134)

16EncomiumEmmaeReginaeBookIIchapter16(inCampbell1998:33)

17EncomiumEmmaeReginaeBookIIchapter16(inCampbell

1998:33)18Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor

1017(inSwanton2000:155)19EncomiumEmmaeReginae

BookIIchapter16(inCampbell1998:35)

20Campbell1971:6921Campbell1971:6922Stafford1997:22623Stafford1997:22924Forexample,sheisdescribedas

aqueeninagrantbyCnutoflandsatLandrakeandTinnelin1018(inWhitelock1979:597-599)andasCnut’sconsortinacharterrecordingtherestoration

oflandstotheNewMinsteratWinchesterin1019(inWhitelock1979:599-601)

25Stafford1997:23326OldEnglishLetterofWulfstan,

ArchbishopofYork,informingKingCnutandQueenAelfgifuthathehasconsecratedtheArchbishopofCanterbury(inWhitelock1979:601-2)

27Strachan2004:10628Stenton1971:40529Campbell1971:7430Campbell1971:7431StOlaf’sSaga(inHollander

2002:525)

32StOlaf’sSaga(inHollander2002:525)

33Campbell1971:7434StOlaf’sSaga(inHollander

2002:528)35StOlaf’sSaga(inHollander

2002:528-30)36Campbell1971:7537Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor

38EncomiumEmmaeReginae,BookIIIchapter1(inCampbell1998:41)

39Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor1036(actually1035)(in

Swanton2000:159)40FlorenceofWorcester(in

Whitelock1979:315)41FlorenceofWorcester(in

Whitelock1979:315)42EncomiumEmmaeReginae

BookIIIchapter1(inCampbell1998:41)

43Stafford1997:23944EncomiumEmmaeReginae

45EncomiumEmmaeReginaeBookIIIchapter3(inCampbell1998:43)

46SimeonofDurham(in

Stevenson1987:115)47Anglo-SaxonChronicleAfor

1037(inSwanton2000:160)48EncomiumEmmaeReginae

49Campbell1971:7850EncomiumEmmaeReginae

51Anglo-SaxonChronicleCfor1043(inSwanton2000:162)

52Anglo-SaxonChronicleDfor1052(Swanton2000:176)

Chapter6:Post-ConquestQueens

1MatildawastheonlychildofCountEustaceofBoulogneand,onhermarriage,herfatherabdicatedinfavourofStephen(intheGestaStephani,chapter2inPotter1976:5).EleanorofAquitainewastheeldestofthetwodaughtersofWilliamX,DukeofAquitaine.

2Mitchell1986:303Patterson1973:54Warren1997:665OrdericVitalis(inChibnall

1968:211)6OrdericVitalis(inChibnall

1968:223)7Honeycutt2003:918WilliamofMalmesbury(in

Mynors1998:757)9Honeycutt2002:12210Forexample,Matildaof

BoulogneledanarmytobesiegeDoverinthenameofherhusband(Tanner2002:140)

Chapter7:Arrogance&Pride

1Chibnall1991:9

2HenryofHuntingdon,iii.27(inGreenaway2002:52)

4HenryofHuntingdon,iii.27(inGreenaway2002:52)

5JohnofWorcester(inMcGurk1998:135)

6Pain1978:157HenryofHuntingdon,iii.36(in

Greenaway2002:58)8Pain1978:179WilliamofMalmesbury(inKing

andPotter1998:7)10WilliamofMalmesbury(in

KingandPotter1998:7)

11WilliamofMalmesbury(inKingandPotter1998:7)

13Pain1978:2614Pain1978:2615Chibnall1991:6016Chibnall1994:27717HenryofHuntingdon,iii.41(in

Greenway2002:63)18Pain1978:2819Chibnall1991:7020HenryofHuntingdon,iii.43(in

Greenway2002:63)21HenryofHuntingdon,iii.43(in

Greenway2002:64)

24GestaStephani,chapter2(inPotter1976:5)

25Chibnall1991:19826JohnofWorcester(inMcGurk

1998:253)27JohnofWorcester(inMcGurk

1998:293)31WilliamofMalmesbury(in

KingandPotter1998:87)32GestaStephani,chapter58(in

Potter1976:119)33GestaStephani,chapter58(in

Potter1976:123)36GestaStephani(inPotter

1976:121)37GestaStephani(inPotter

1976:121)39GestaStephani,chapter60(in

Potter1976:123)41GestaStephani(inPotter

1976:127)45HenryofHuntingdon(in

Greenway2002:81)46GestaStephani(inPotter

1976:133)48Anglo-SaxonChronicleEfor

1141(inSwanton2000:266)49JohnofWorcester(inMcGurk

1998:305)50Pain1978:12651GestaStephani(inPotter

1976:143)52Pain1978:12653Chibnall1991:15154Chibnall1991:16055HenryofHuntingdon(in

DouglasandGreenaway1981:334)

Chapter8:Rebellion&Infidelity

1Meade1977:192Meade1977:193Meade1977:324Meade1977:375Boyd2004:156Boyd2004:137Meade1977:478Weir1999:189Meade1977:5110Meade1977:5111Meade1977:6312Boyd2004:5513Boyd2004:5614Weir1999:42

15Weir1999:4216Weir1999:4317Boyd2004:4518Weir1999:45-619OdoofDeuil,BookI(inBerry

1948:9)20Weir1999:5121WilliamofNewburgh,chapter

20(1)(inWalshandKennedy1988:93)

22WilliamofNewburgh,chapter31(1)(inWalshandKennedy1988:129)

24OdoofDeuil,BookIV(inBerry1948:67)

25Meade1977:11626OdoofDeuil,BookVI(in

Berry1948:117)27OdoofDeuil,BookVI(in

Berry1948:119)28Strickland1851:24729OdoofDeuil,BookVII(in

Berry1948:131)30Meade1977:12431Meade1977:12432JohnofSalisbury,XXIII(in

Chibnall1986:53)33JohnofSalisbury,XXIII(in

Chibnall1986:53)

34Meade1977:14435Meade1977:15336Meade1977:15637GeraldofWales(inDouglas

andGreenaway1987:415)38WilliamofNewburgh,chapter

31(2)(inWalshandKennedy1988:129)

40GeraldofWales(inDouglasandGreenaway1987:411)

41Capgrave(inHingeston1858:140)

42Meade1977:180

43Meade1977:18144Weir1999:9945Weir1999:9446Meade1977:19747Meade1977:19848Meade1977:20749Meade1977:21950Boyd2004:15451Kelly1950:10952Meade1977:22253Boyd2004:15454WilliamofNewburgh(in

DouglasandGreenaway1981:363)

55Weir1999:17356Meade1977:288

57Boyd2004:20558Meade1977:33659Kelly1950:19060Kelly1950:22661Meade1977:36662Weir1999:25563MatthewParis(inRichard

1874:347)64Martindale2003:14365Boyd2004:24166RichardofDevizes(inAppleby

1963:14)67RichardofDevizes(inAppleby

1963:14)68RichardofDevizes(inAppleby

1963:49)

69RichardofDevizes(inAppleby1963:61)

70Kelly1950:30371Boyd2004:27372Meade1977:39273Crawford2002:3674Crawford2002:4075Boyd2004:28076Boyd2004:29877Kelly1950:36078Warren1997:7779Warren1997:7980Warren1997:8381Meade1977:434

Chapter9:‘MoreJezebelthanIsabel’

1Vincent2003:1742Vincent2003:1753Warren1997:674CazelandPainter1948:825CazelandPainter1948:826Weir1999:3367Boyd2004:3138Strickland1851:3329Boyd2004:31210Boyd2004:31311Weir1999:33612Weir1999:33713Strickland1851:332

14Boyd2004:31415Richardson1946:29616Warren1997:7517Warren1997:8418Strickland1851:33519Warren1997:8620Warren1997:9321Warren1997:9522Vincent2003:18323Warren1997:16924Vincent2003:19325Strickland1851:34426Vincent2003:19327MatthewParis(inRichardson

1874:563)28Vincent2003:203

29Strickland1851:34030Vincent2003:19831Vincent2003:19832Snellgrove1950:1333Vincent2003:19534Vincent2003:19535MatthewParis(inRichardson

1874:64736MatthewParis(inRichardson

1874:653-633)37MatthewParis(inRichardson

1874:668)38Strickland1851:34739Warren1997:23640ApapalletterofFebruary1215

instructstheBishopsof

Chichester,BathandExetertorestrainthoseinterferingwithIsabella’sproperty(inSnellgrove1950:11)

41Vincent1950:20642Crawford2002:5343Snellgrove1950:1444Snellgrove1950:1545Vincent2003:20946Vincent2003:20947Vincent2003:21048Snellgrove1950:1749Vincent2003:21150Snellgrove1950:1751Strickland1851:35452Snellgrove1950:20

53Strickland1851:55454MatthewParis(inVaughan

1984:109)55AccordingtoMathewParis,

threehalf-brothersandahalf-sisterofHenryIIIarrivedinEnglandin1247,forexample(inVaughan1984:109)

Chapter10:Nepotism&Greed

1Biles1983:1132Strickland1844:223Biles1983:1134Biles1983:114

5Howell1998:236Biles1983:1147Strickland1844:808Howell1998:279Howell1998:2710LetterCCCCXCVIIHenryIII

toAlexanderIIIofScots,2July1253(inShirley1866:99)

11Howell1998:10112Howell1998:10213Howell1998:13014Howell1998:13215Ridgeway1989:59116Ridgeway1989:59217Ridgeway1989:59218Howell1998:33

19Howell1998:5420MatthewParis(inRothwell

1975:127)21Biles1983:11422Howell1998:11623Prestwich1997:924Parsons1998:1225Capgrave(inHingeston

1858:157)26Parsons1977:727Parsons1998:1828Prestwich1997:2229Biles1983:12130Biles1983:12331TheAnnalsofDunstable(in

Rothwell1975:201)

32AnnalsofDunstable(inRothwell1975:201)

39Parsons1998:2440AnnalesLondonienses(in

Stubbs1858:64)41AnnalsofDunstable(in

Rothwell1975:207)42AnnalsofDunstable(in

Rothwell1975:207)43Biles1983:12744AnnalesLondonienses(in

Stubbs1882:68)45Biles1983:12846AnnalesLondoniensis(in

Stubbs1882:71)47Parsons1998:2548Strickland1844:15549Forexample,Capgravesays

JoanofAcrewasbornduringthecrusade(inHingeston

1858:168)50Capgrave(inHingeston

1858:162)51Camden(inPiggott1971:321)52Prestwich1997:7853Powrie1990:954Powrie1990:955Prestwich1997:12656Prestwich1997:12657Parsons1977:758Prestwich1997:12659Crawford2002:6060Parsons1998:3761Biles1983:12962Crawford2002:7363Prestwich1997:124

64Prestwich1997:12565Prestwich1997:10466Parsons1998:7867Parsons1998:12468Prestwich1997:12469Parsons1998:11370Prestwich1997:4371Parsons1998:4472Parsons1998:4473Camden(inPiggott1971:285)74Camden(inPiggott1971:321)75Parsons1991:2376Howell1998:309

Chapter11:TheShe-Wolfof

France

1TheChronicleofLanercost(inMaxwell1913:180)

2Weir2005:63Froissart(inJohnes1901:2)4Doherty2003:435ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:186)6AnnalesPaulini(inStubbs

1882:258)7Weir2005:198Weir2005:209Strickland1844:21410AnnalesPaulini(inStubbs

1882:262)

11Capgrave(inHingeston1858:74)

12Weir2005:3613Weir2005:3114TheChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:186)15TheChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:187)16Weir2005:4917Strickland1844:21818TheChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:196)19Strickland1844:22320TheChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:198)21Menache1984:108

22Weir2005:7123Capgrave(inHingeston

1858:179)24Menache1984:10825Menache1984:10826ConwayDavies1967:10527ConwayDavies1967:10628Weir2005:9229Weir2005:9630Weir2005:10031AnnalesPaulini(inStubbs

1882:279and291)32Doherty2003:6233Doherty2003:6634Weir2005:13135Capgrave(inHingeston

1858:188)37Fryde1979:1838AnnalesPaulini(inStubbs

1882:307)39Weir2005:16040ChronicleofLanercost(in

1882:308)42ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:249)43Froissart(inJohnes1901:3)44ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:249)

45ChronicleofLanercost(inMaxwell1913:250)

47Mortimer2003:14748ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:251)49Crawford2002:8850Menache1984:11151Crawford2002:8952AnnalesPaulini(inStubbs

1882:316)53ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:251)54Weir2005:23655ChronicleofLanercost(in

1882:319)57PipewellChronicle(in

Rothwell1975:287)58ChronicleofLanercost(in

Maxwell1913:287)59Weir2005:25560Capgrave(inHingeston

1858:198)

65ChroniconGalfridileBakerdeSwynbroke(inMyers1969:50)

66ChroniconGalfridileBakerdeSwynbroke(inMyers1969:50)

67GeoffreyLeBaker,Chronicle(inMyers1969:52)

68GeoffreyLeBaker,Chronicle(inMyers1969:53)

70Bond1853:45471Bond1853:45572Bond1853:46273Doherty2003:179

74ThomasGrey(inStarrandHendrickson1966:20)

Chapter12:LaterMedieval&TudorQueens

1Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,etal,1809:477)

3Foxe1965:5594Foxe1965:5595CatherineofAragonwas

appointedasregentin1513whenHenryVIIIinvaded

France(Hall’sChronicleinJohnson,etal,1809:548)andCatherineParrwhenHenryVIIIinvadedFrancein1544(Fraser1992:372)

6MostpeopleinEnglandapparentlyacceptedthatElizabeth’sclaimtothethrone,astheeldestdaughterofEdwardIV,wasstrongerthanthatofherhusband,HenryVII(FrancisBaconinLumby1885:8)

7FrancisBaconinLumby1885:8

Chapter13:Witchcraft

1Howittp1582Jones2000:23Strickland1844:464Strickland1844:475Jones2000:46Howittp1617Jones2000:68Strickland1844:1629Jones2000:810Strohm1998:15511JohnHayward(inManning

1991:180)12Kirby1970:13513Jones2000:11

14JohnHayward(inManning1991:180)

15Strohm1998:15716Strohm1998:15717Jones2000:1418Strickland1844:8519Strickland1844:8920Strickland1844:8321Strickland1844:8422Howittp16723Strohm1998:16524EulogiumHistoriarum(in

Myers1969:205)25JohnHayward(inManning

1991:197)26EulogiumHistoriarum(in

Myers1969:205)27Howittp16628Howittp16629Myers1985:9430Myers1985:9431Myers1985:10132Hole1990:11933TheCondemnationofEleanor

CobhamforWitchcraft,1441(inMyers1969:870)

34TheTrialofEleanorCobham(inWilkinson1964:59)

35TheCondemnationofEleanorCobhamforWitchcraft,1441(inMyers1969:870)

36Hole1990:121

37HenryVIpartII(ActIIScene3)(Shakespeare,inWellsandTaylor1994:68)

38Myers1985:9639Myers1985:9740Myers1985:9841Myers1985:9842Myers1985:102

Chapter14:Shakespeare’sShe-Wolf

1Erlanger1970:352Erlanger1970:503Erlanger1970:52

4Haswell1975:195Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,etal,

1809:203)6Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,etal,

1809:204)7Strickland1844:1868Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,etal.

1809:205)9Haswell1975:4010Erlanger1970:6611Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:205)12Erlanger1970:7313Maurer2003:2014Haswell1975:5315MilaneseStatePapers:Report

toBiancaMariaVisconti,DuchessofMilan,24October1458(inDockray2000:15)

16Bagleyp4517BrutChronicle(inDockray

2000:13)18Erlanger1970:8819Griffiths1998:24920Bagleyp4921Bagleyp4922Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:219)23Haswell1975:5724Bagleyp6725Erlanger1970:11626Maurer2003:41

27Erlanger1970:14528Erlanger1970:14529Whethamsted’sRegister(in

Dockray2000:6)30PastonLetter195(inGairdner

1896:263)31Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:230)32PastonLetter195(inGairdner

1896:263)33PastonLetter195(inGairdner

1896:263-264)34PastonLetter195(inGairdner

1896:265)35Maurer2003:10736PastonLetter226(inGairdner

1896:315)37Maurer2003:11938Maurer2003:12139Maurer2003:15140Maurer2003:16541Maurer2003:18042Erlanger1970:16743Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:245)44Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:251)47Maurer2003:197

48Maurer2003:20149Pastonletter385(inGairdner

1896:5)50Erlanger1970:19651Haswell1975:16052Erlanger1970:20453Dockray2000:1354Bagleyp19955Bagleyp20056Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

1896:4)58PolydoreVergil(inDockray

2000:14)59Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

al,1809:300)60Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

1896:33)62Erlanger1970:23563Erlanger1970:246

Chapter15:TheSeductress

1Baldwin2002:12ThomasMoore2005:593Baldwin2002:54Okerlund2005:145Baldwin2002:8

6ThomasMoore2005:597DominicMancini(inArmstrong

1984:61)8ThomasMoore2005:599Warkworth’sChronicle(in

Halliwell1990:3)10Warkworth’sChronicle(in

Halliwell1990:3)11ThomasMoore2005:6212DominicMancini(in

Armstrong1984:61)13DominicMancini(in

Armstrong1984:63)14Laynesmith2004:8815Baldwin2002:1716Baldwin2002:21

17Laynesmith2004:19718Baldwin2002:2519Okerlund2005:7020Baldwin2002:3821Okerlund2005:11322Baldwin2002:4223PastonLetter654for12

October1470(inGairdner1896:412)

24Baldwin2002:4325Baldwin2002:4526Baldwin2002:5427CrowlandContinuations(in

PronayandCox1986:151)28CrowlandContinuations(in

PronayandCox1986:153)

29CrowlandContinuations(inPronayandCox1986:155)

30ThomasMoore2005:1731CrowlandContinuations(in

PronayandCox1986:157)32ThomasMoore2005:1833ThomasMoore2005:1834ThomasMoore2005:1935DominicMancini(in

Armstrong1984:79)36ThomasMoore2005:2037ThomasMoore2005:2638ThomasMoore2005:3939ThomasMoore2005:3940ThomasMoore2005:6641CrowlandContinuations(in

PronayandCox1986:163)42ThomasMoore2005:4343Baldwin2002:10244Baldwin2002:10645Bacon’sHistoryoftheReignof

HenryVII(inLumby1885:24)46Bacon’sHistoryoftheReignof

HenryVII(inLumby1885:29)47Okerlund2005:256

Chapter16:AnneBoleyn

1Ives2005:32Ives2005:143Ives2005:19

4Ives2005:265GeorgeWyatt(inLoades

1968:143)6Ives2005:407Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,etal,

1809:631)8Cavendish’sLifeofWolsey

(Lockyer1962:59)9Cavendish’sLifeofWolsey

(Lockyer1962:59)10Cavendish’sLifeofWolsey

(Lockyer1962:59)11Poem97(inDaalder1975:15)12Poem7(inDaalder1975:7)13Letters1and2(inSavage

1949:28-30)

14Letter4(inSavage1949:33)15Letter5(inSavage1949:35-6)16Ives2005:9717Cavendish’sLifeofWolsey(in

Lockyer1962:66)18Cavendish’sLifeofWolsey(in

Lockyer1962:132)19Ives2005:13120Ives2005:12721Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:790)23Ives2005:13224WilliamLatymer(inDowling

1990:48)

25WilliamLatymer(inDowling1990:56)

27Ives2005:16328Ives2005:16329Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

al,1809:795)30Wriothesley’sChronicle(in

Hamilton1875:18)31Ives2005:14132Ives2005:14333Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

al,1809:803)34Ives2005:18435Ives2005:256

37Ives2005:19238Ives2005:14539Ives2005:19440LisleLetter127,ThomasBroke

toLadyLisle18December1534(inStClaireByrne1983:201)

41Ives2005:29142Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

Hamilton1875:33)44Wriothesley’sChronicle(in

Hamilton1875:33)

45Ives2005:31646Hall’sChronicle(inJohnson,et

Hamilton1875:35)48Wriothesley’sChronicle(in

Hamilton1875:36)49LisleLetter141:JohnHuseeto

LordLisle,19May1536(inStClairByrne1983:217)

50Wriothesley’sChronicle(inHamilton1875:39)

51Wriothesley’sChronicle(inHamilton1875:41)

53Dixon1873:33954Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:819)

Chapter17:Treachery&Misjudgement

1Denny2005:82BaldwinSmith1961:393Letter49:LordEdmundHoward

toLadyLisle(inStClareByrne1983:107)

4BaldwinSmith1961:365ExaminationofHenryManox,5

November1541(Paper1321)

(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:608)

6ExaminationofHenryManox,5November1541(Paper1321)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:608)

7TheCounciltoPaget,AmbassadorinFrance,12November1541(Paper1334)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:616)

8BaldwinSmith1961:509BaldwinSmith1961:5210ExaminationofHenryManox,

5November1541(Paper1321)(inGairdnerandBrodie

1898:609)11TheCounciltoPaget,

AmbassadorinFrance,12November1541(Paper1334)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:616)

12BaldwinSmith1961:5413ChapuystoCharlesV,3

December1541(Paper1401)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:652)

14BaldwinSmith1961:5715ExaminationofHenryManox,

5November1541(Paper1321)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:609)

16KatherineTylney,30November1541(Paper1385)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:633)

17BaldwinSmith1961:5818MarillactoFrancisI,21July

1540(Paper901)(inGairdnerandBrodie1896:446)

19MarillactoMontmorency,3September1540(Paper12)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:5)

20Denny2005:15321MarillactoMontmorency,3

September1540(Paper12)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:5)

22BaldwinSmith1961:136

23ChapuystoCharlesV,27March1541(Paper662)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:319)

24BaldwinSmith1961:13525ChapuystotheQueenof

Hungary,26May1541(Papers864)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:410)

26MarillactoFrancisI,18July1541(Paper1011)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:482)

27ReportofHenryVIII’svisittoLincoln,12August1541(Paper1088)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:518)

28BaldwinSmith1961:163

29ConfessionofMargytMortontoSirAnthonyBrowne(Paper1338)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:617)

30BaldwinSmith1961:15531BaldwinSmith1961:13032Crawford2002:21033BaldwinSmith1961:14334Hall’sChronicle(Johnson,et

al,1809:842)35Denny2005:19836Denny2005:20637TheCounciltoPaget,

AmbassadorinFrance,12November1541(Paper1334)(inGairdnerandBrodie

1898:615)38BaldwinSmith1961:16839MarillactoFrancisI,11

November1541(Paper1332)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:614)

40BaldwinSmith1961:16741BaldwinSmith1961:16942CranmertoHenryVIII,

November1541(Paper1325)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:610)

43BaldwinSmith1961:17144ThePrivyCounciltoCranmer

andOthers,11November1541(Paper1331)(inGairdnerand

Brodie1898:613)45ThePrivyCounciltoCranmer

andOthers,11November1541(Paper1331)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:613)

46Fraser1992:35047BaldwinSmith1961:17448ChapuystoCharlesV,3

49ChapuystoCharlesV,3December1541(Paper1401)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:652)

50ChapuystoCharlesV,11

51Fraser1992:34952ChapuystoCharlesV,11

53GiovanniStanchini,SecretaryofMons.CapodiFerro,toCardinalFarnese,11January1542(Paper19)(inGairdnerandBrodie1900:10)

55Wriothesley’sChronicle

(Hamilton1875:133)56BaldwinSmith1961:18857MarillactoFrancisI,13

February1542(Paper100)(inGairdnerandBrodie1900:44)

58ChapuystoCharlesV,25February1542(Paper124)(inGairdnerandBrodie1900:50)

59ChapuystoCharlesV,25February1542(Paper124)(inGairdnerandBrodie1900:50)

60MarillactoFrancisI,13February1542(Paper100)(inGairdnerandBrodie1900:44)

Chapter18:AspiringtotheCrown

1Taylor2004:72Chapman1962:293Chapman1962:294Taylor2004:85Plowden1986:546Plowden2003:457Chapman1962:398Plowden2003:589Davey1910:11510Plowden1986:7711Plowden1986:8212Plowden2003:7913Plowden2003:101

14LetterfromNorthumberlandtoSuffolk(inTaylor2004:17)

15VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae(inMacCulloch1984:245)

16Plowden1986:8517Plowden1986:8718VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:245)19Plowden1986:9120Plowden1986:9121TheChronicleofQueenJane

andTwoYearsofQueenMary(inNichols1996:1)

22Plowden2003:10723PeterHeyling’s1661Historyof

theReformationoftheChurch

ofEngland(inTaylor2004:54)24LadyJaneGreytoMaryI(early

August1553)(inTaylor2004:95)

25TheChronicleofQueenJaneandTwoYearsofQueenMary(inNichols1996:3)

26Plowden2003:vii27AletterfromLadyJaneGreyto

QueenMary,earlyAugust1553(inTaylor2004:95)

28Taylor2004:9529TheChronicleofQueenJane

30TheChronicleofQueenJane

andTwoYearsofQueenMary(inNichols1996:8

33Plowden2003:12334TheChronicleofQueenJane

37Plowden2003:12438VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:271)39TheChronicleofQueenJane

43Plowden1986:119

44Plowden1986:12145LetterfromLadyJaneGreyto

theDukeofSuffolk,lateJanuaryorearlyFebruary1554(inTaylor2004:123)

Chapter19:BloodyMary

2Mattingley1944:1453MarillactoFrancisI,12October

1541(Paper1253)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:586)

4Loades1989:325Prescott2003:356Erickson1978:617Prescott2003:468Prescott2003:679Prescott2003:6710Prescott2003:8211Prescott2003:95

12Prescott2003:10013Loades1989:13614Loades1989:13615Erickson1978:21616Prescott2003:12217MarillactoFrancisI,12

October1541(Paper1253)(inGairdnerandBrodie1898:586)

18RobertBrokeandRichardGoodrichtotheDukeofSomerset,15August1549(Paper339)(inKnighton1992:130)

19Prescott2003:15220Prescott2003:15321Prescott2003:166

22Prescott2003:19123VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:251)24VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:269)28StatutesoftheRealm,4,i,1

Mary(inLoades2002:22)29Loades1989:19630VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:273)

31TheChronicleofQueenJaneandtwoyearsofQueenMary(inNichols1996:28)

32Erickson1978:33033Erickson1978:32934VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:281)36TheChronicleofQueenJane

38Erickson1978:346

40Loades1989:22441ExtractfromaletterbyJohn

Elder(inLoades2002:42-44)42ExtractfromaletterbyJohn

Elder(inLoades2002:43)43VitaMariaeAngliaeReginae

(inMacCulloch1984:291)44Prescott2003:25845Erickson1978:38546Erickson1978:41147JohnFoxe’sActesand

Monuments(inLoades2002:61)

48Erickson1989:41549Erickson1989:42250Foxe(undated)p28751Foxe(undated)p37452Foxe(undated)p39553Erickson1978:43854Erickson1978:46055Foxe(undated)p39456Erickson1978:47057CountofFeria’sdispatchto

PhilipIIof14November1558(inRodriguez-SalgadoandAdams1984:328)

58CountofFeria’sdispatchtoPhilipIIof14November1558(inRodriguez-Salgadoand

Adams1984:337)59CountofFeria’sdispatchto

PhilipIIof14November1558(inRodriguez-SalgadoandAdams1984:336)

60Erickson1978:482

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