Conflict: The First Barons' War, 1215-1217

The English are proud of the fact that the Isle of Britain hasn't been invaded since 1066, though such powerful enemies as Napoleon and Hitler almost tried it.  However, they forget one little detail.  England was invaded, more properly infiltrated for several months, by a French occupation force.  This wasn't one of the more shining episodes in Plantagenet history, but it must be told nonetheless.

The Magna Carta finally received the Great Seal on June 15, 1215.  The barons, or England's largest landowners whether they were technically barons or not, renewed their fealty to King John.  John, for his part had no intention of keeping any of the provisions of the Charter and he soon made this apparent.  Part of the Charter was Clause 61, which allowed a force or 25 or more barons to oppose the King, by force of arms if necessary, if he violated their feudal rights.  This was known as right of distraint, similar to overriding a Presidential veto today.  By 1215, there were enough barons angry at John that they were willing to use their weapons to enforce the terms of Magna Carta.

But the barons needed allies and turned to a Plantagenet family enemy, Phillip II and his heir Louis.  Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter of Eleanor of Castile, daughter of Henry II and Eleanor.  So it was basically turning part of the Plantagenet family in on itself.  Though Phillip II didn't approve of the idea, he allowed his son to cross the channel with a party of knights as a sort of peace-keeping force.  The peacekeeping force rapidly turned into an invasion fleet that landed on the coast of Kent.  John fled to Winchester and Louis lost no time in taking London, where he quickly found the support of the townspeople and most of the warring barons.  Then, King Alexander II of Scotland got into the act, throwing his support behind Louis and doing homage to him for lands Alexander claimed in England. 

Louis besieged Dover, but had to call a truce and return to London.  Windsor also held out against the French.  John's forces besieged and took Rochester by force.  Then, in 1216, John died of dysentery.  There were three options, his 9-year-old son, Henry, his adult niece, Eleanor of Brittany, and Louis of France, still very much in London.  Pierre des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, hurried to have Henry crowned in Gloucester Abbey with a makeshift crown fashioned from a necklace.  William Marshal, yes that William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was appointed Regent of the Kingdom.  He affirmed the royal assent to Magna Carta with some of the provisions revoked, including the nuclear option in Clause 61.  Marshal appealed to the barons to rally around young Henry and resist a takeover by the French.  The Pope got into the act by excommunicating Louis. 

Though Louis gained some victories, he eventually had to return to France for reinforcements.  The English weren't about to let him back in.  Working town by town and castle by castle, Marshal's forces slowly made gains against the French.  Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth on September 11, 1217, accepting a sum of money to go away and stay away. 

What Is It: Gisant

One of the perks of being royal, noble or just plain wealthy was the ability to have an elaborate tomb carved in one's honor.  The grandest of these had recumbent effigies representing the person, usually dressed in their best and laid out as though recently dead, much like a bier.  These splendid carved effigies were known as gisants (JEEZ-ahnts) from an old French term meaning recumbent or reclining.  There were several reasons for them, conspicuous consumption and wealth being only one of them.

From our vantage point, life in the Middle Ages seemed to be death obsessed.  Art depicting death in its various forms, from recently-deceased corpses, to cadavers, skeletons, souls in heaven or hell or being resurrected was present in many media, from carvings to stained glass, manuscripts and tapestries.  This preoccupation with death and the afterlife had a very basic reason.  Death was everywhere.  Wars, plagues, diseases or childbirth were just some of the many ways a person could die.  In the centuries before modern medicine, death could come suddenly and without warning, striking down old and young, frail or seemingly healthy.  And, life in the afterworld wasn't always a pleasant prospect.  While most people aspired to life in heaven, they were only too aware that a penitential limbo known as purgatory awaited most souls.  That is, those that weren't too wicked or unrepentant enough to be arbitrarily cast to hell.  A person could live as religious a life as possible but only God had the say of who ended up where.  There was one piece of insurance, and that was for the living to see to it that when they died, their survivors would pray for their souls or have masses said, or do other charitable works such as donating to churches or religious foundations in an effort to speed the soul out of purgatory as soon as possible.  The most obvious way to ensure this was to leave a visible reminder in the form of a tomb. 

Tombs with statuary or effigies had been known since ancient times, but it became an art form again in Europe about the 12th century, as the Plantagenet family began their spectacular rise.  While some tomb effigies were generic, not meant as exact portraiture of the person, others were more specific.  Kings and Queens were shown with crowns, often robed as for their coronations.  Knights were displayed in armor.  Clergy were carved in their vestments.  Some gisants, such as those of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, Richard I and others at Fontevrault were quite colorful, though the colors have faded over time.  While some tombs were carved with the deceased holding items such as books, swords or staves of office, the most common form was of the deceased with hands folded, either on the brink of death or possible resurrection.  Most of these tombs were cenotaphs.  That is, the deceased wasn't buried under the effigy.  Either they or a portion of their corpse, normally innards or heart, would be buried in the church crypts. 

The effigy was a symbol of many things.  An elaborate effigy such as that of Eleanor of Castile was a testament to her husband Edward I's deep love and terrible grief at her death.  Usually, a church, cathedral or abbey picked to house a tomb would also receive a generous donation from the deceased's family.  The tomb thus functioned as acknowledgment of that donation.  In return, the chapter of clergy associated with the church would promise to provide masses or prayers in perpetuity for the deceased's soul.  Some families paid for chantries, small chapels for these prayers and masses to take place.  The tomb would be placed in or near the designated chantry.  Other tombs contained carved epitaphs, some specifically asking the passerby to pray for the deceased's soul, or reminding that death was nearby for all. 

Over time, these tombs became more elaborate, often with roofed cupolas over the recumbent body.  Some tombs took the form of transi or cadaver tombs, with the deceased depicted as a half-rotten corpse complete with worms, tattered shrouding and exposed bones.  Other tombs were double-decker, with the cadaver below and the recumbent image above.  The message was clear that for even the very royal or seriously wealthy, death and decay awaited them all and the only hope remaining was to pray their souls to heaven as quickly as possible.   

In-Law: Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster

She's been the subject of numerous novels, romantic paintings and even popular biographies.  Royal mistress, wife and ancestress of Kings, Katherine Swynford (1350-1403) was a nasty woman long before the term was coined.  Intelligent, educated, and willing to fight for the affections of the man she loved and children they brought into the world together.

She was born the daughter of Paon de Roet, a royal herald who later became a knight.  The family had connections.  Katherine's sister Isabel became Canoness of the convent of St. Waudru's in Mons, in an age where a girl had to have a dowry and family references even to join a convent, let alone hold a leadership position.  Katherine's other sister Philippa was a lady in the household of Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III.  Philippa married Geoffrey Chaucer, himself a bureaucrat and royal servant of both Edward III and Richard II.  Katherine herself may have been born in Philippa's home country of Hainault, now part of Belgium, and named for St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was tortured on the wheel for her faith.  The wheel later became Katherine's personal arms, referencing the saint and the fact that Roet meant a small wheel in the French dialect of the age.

Around 1366, Katherine married Hugh Swynford, a knight who had a manor in Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire.  She and Hugh had three children, one of whom also became a nun and the other two made good marriages.  Katherine was employed as a governess in the household of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, responsible for his daughters, Philippa and Elizabeth.  The Gaunts and Swynfords were close enough that John and Blanche were godparents to Katherine and Hugh's daughter Blanche, who was allowed to grow up with the two Lancaster princesses.  Blanche died in 1368 and John and Katherine became involved in a relationship.  It would produce four children.  Their official relationship lasted from about 1372, the year before their first son was born, and ended in 1381, when the affair was brought to light and ruined Katherine's reputation.  John had remarried, Constance of Castile and Hugh Swynford were very much alive.  It wouldn't be until 1396, two years after Constance's death and sometime after Hugh passed on, that John and Katherine could marry, which they did in Lincoln cathedral. 

Not all was sweetness and light.  Though she was allowed to enjoy the dignity of being John's acknowledged wife and Duchess of Lancaster, her children were barred from any succession to the throne.  Their children were given the name Beaufort, after one of John's properties in France.  This was another common practice for out-of-wedlock offspring in that era, a little less of a giveaway of irregular birth than the more common Fitz.  The children were John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, Henry, Cardinal Beaufort and Joan Beaufort, Countess of Westmoreland.  John of Gaunt died in 1399, and Katherine lived on until 1403.  It was through their son John, whose granddaughter Lady Margaret Beaufort, whose son became Henry VII Tudor of England, and John's daughter Joan, who married James I of Scotland, that the Tudors and Stuarts, and thus the present monarchs of England, descended.  Because his great-grandfather had been barred from inheriting any claim to the throne, Henry VII Tudor always made clear that his claim on the throne was by right of conquest, and not right of birth.  A small distinction but very important.  

(Dates adjusted from 1472-81 to 1372-81 thanks to a tip from a reader.) 

Rival Dynasty: the Capets of France

The Plantagenets weren't the only ruling family who struggled to keep their legends flourishing and their empire growing.  Their rivals on the Continent were the Capets, who would rule France for centuries, and continue under their cadet branches the Valois and Bourbons, until the French Revolution and through until 1848. 

The founder of the dynasty was named Hugh (941-996), the first Capetian to be King of the Franks, succeeding the last king of Charlemagne's line.  Various etymologies exist for the name Capet, which was likely a sobriquet or a nickname and not a surname.  Whether it came from cape, a Latin derivative of head, or meant someone who was a headman or ruler will never be known for certain.  Capet soon became a common name for the rulers of the dynasty, not just one man.  And, it would remain a name, sometimes insulting, for French kings and queens, e.g, the Widow Capet.  The Capetians traced their origins to Robert the Strong, who originated in what is now Belgium in the 9th century.  Upon the death of the last member of Charlemagne's descendants, the Carolingians, Hugh Capet was elected King of the Franks in 987.  And they lost no time in acquiring more territory to rule.  The early Plantagenets dealt with Capetian rulers from Louis VII (1137-1180) to Phillip IV (1285-1314).  Phillip IV died without heirs, so power transferred to the cadet branch of the Valois, beginning with Louis X (1314-1316) and continuing until Charles VIII (1483-1498). 

The two dynasties would be rivals in power, the main issue being land and who owed who homage for what piece of real estate.  Sometimes allies, but most of the time enemies, the ultimate winners in the power game on the Continent would be the Capets and Valois, who would slowly but surely wrest all of Continental France away from the Plantagenet kings with the exception of the Calais and the Pale, which would remain under English control until the time of the Tudors (1558). 

Royal: Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany 1158-1186

Family in-fighting can be some of the most intricate and stressful situations imaginable.  Throw in titles, land, money and power and the problems only grow.  For the children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, there could be no peace in the family as long as one brother was left with more of the above than the others.

In the Medieval era, inheritance laws weren't always so cut and dried.  Even if one son inherited the title and the lion's share of land, the others had to have something.  Their survival depended on it and the peace of the various family realms depended on it, because they would fight if they didn't get it.  And, they often brought allies and in-laws into the mix.  Henry and Eleanor had four sons who survived to adulthood.  It was understood that Henry, the oldest, would inherit England and Normandy.  Richard would inherit most of his mother's dominions, including Aquitaine and Poitou.  That would leave Geoffrey and John out if somebody didn't do something.  To that end, Henry II turned his attention to Brittany, where he had been at war on and off with the Duke, Conan IV.  If the name sounds Celtic, that's because Brittany did have Celtic origins.  Henry ultimate prevailed, forcing Conan to abdicate in favor of his own daughter, Constance, who was destined to marry Geoffrey.  Constance was turned over to Henry to be raised until she was old enough to be Geoffrey's wife.  They were married in July, 1181.  They would have three children, Arthur, Eleanor (whom we've met in a previous post) and Matilda.

However, none of the boys were satisfied with their lot of the family land.  Henry the Young King chafed at his father's heavy-handed control as he grew older.  He was insecure about Richard's ambitions.  Richard made no secret that he wouldn't be satisfied with just Aquitaine, he also wanted England, Normandy and Anjou.  Geoffrey wanted more than just Brittany and John felt left out altogether.  And, they had allies who could play on these fears and ambitions.  Namely, Louis VII of France and later his son, Phillip II Augustus.  As long as the Plantagenet boys were fighting their father or each other, they wouldn't be coming into French domains, or so the logic ran.  Geoffrey and Phillip were also tournament buddies and good friends, leading some to suppose that there was a physical side to their relationship.  Whether that was the case or not, we will never know.  However, rumors of their plotting and something more led to an even greater mystery.  How actually did Geoffrey die in 1186 at the age of 27?

He was in Paris for either one of two reasons.  Either he and Phillip were plotting against Henry II or Richard or both.  Or, he was there to compete in a tournament.  According to one story, Geoffrey was trampled to death in a tournament melee.  According to another story, Geoffrey and Phillip began quarreling about Normandy and Geoffrey threatened to lay waste to the province, including that part of it nominally under French control.  He began having chest pains and died soon after.  Some sources discount option B as a possible French invention, that God struck Geoffrey for insulting French honor, believing the tournament scenario more likely.  He was buried in the Cathedral at Notre Dame de Paris, where his half-sister Marie of Champagne established a chantry for prayers for his soul.  Sources discount the story that Phillip Augustus was so torn up he tried to throw himself into the burial vault.  Geoffrey's death with, at the time, no male heir was one less Plantagenet anyone had to worry about.  He left behind his wife Constance, who was pregnant with their son Arthur at the time.  More on this first of many young princes in the tower later.  During the French Revolution, in 1797, Geoffrey's skeleton was unearthed, revealing that he would've been about 5'6" tall.  So much for the tall, blonde Plantagenet myth.  

Places: The Eleanor Crosses

Kings and emperors have throughout history erected monuments to the women they loved, whether it be the hanging gardens of Babylon or the Taj Mahal.  A Plantagenet king commemorated the love and loss of his queen in a far more simple and eloquent fashion, the Eleanor Crosses.

Eleanor (1241-1290) was a Spanish princess, the daughter of Ferdinand III of Castile.  She had Plantagenet blood in her veins, being a great-granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.  In 1254, she married Prince Edward, heir to Henry III in Burgos.  She would give birth at the age of 13 to their first child, a daughter who died young, and eventually bear Edward sixteen children, though only a few of them would survive to adulthood.  Through these tragedies, through wars, rebellions, a crusade and back and forth from the Plantagenet holdings on the Continent and throughout his realm, Eleanor followed her husband as prince and later king in 1272.  Love was no expected or required in a royal marriage, but Edward and Eleanor appear to have been blessed with a good death of love for each other.

Then, tragedy struck.  In 1287 Eleanor was struck by what was then known as a double quartian fever, most likely malaria.   She may also have had heart and live problems.  In 1290, knowing that her health was failing fast, Eleanor and Edward set off on one last progress.  Such was the state of the queen's health that parliament was convened in Clipstone, rather than London, so that Edward could stay close to her.  She finally died in Harby, Nottinghamshire on November 28, 1290, aged 49 years old.  Edward was heartbroken.  For three days all royal business stopped.  Edward accompanied her body from Lincoln to Westminster in a grand funeral process.  He also commanded that elaborate stone crosses be erected to her memory at each of the stops between the two points.  They stood at Lincoln, Grantham, Stamford, Geddington, Hardingstone, Stony Stratford, Woburn, Dunstable, St. Albans, Waltham, Westcheap/Cheapside and Charing, each a testament to a king's love and loss.  Of the original twelve monuments, only three crosses survive, those at Geddington, Hardingstone and Waltham survive, Geddington being the best example.  The elaborate cupola at Charing Cross is a replica from the Victorian era. 

Edward went on to marry again, but would never forget his beloved Eleanor.  When he remarried again, he and his new wife named their only child Eleanor. 

Descendants: Queen Elizabeth II and the Plantagenets

On February 6, 1952, Elizabeth Windsor became Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.  Today, she celebrates the Sapphire Jubilee, or 65 years as Britain's Queen.  So how is she related to the Plantagenets?  She crosses back to Edward III through the alliances of some of the more fascinating women in British in European history.  Here's the rundown.

Edward III (1312-1377) had two sons, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, aka the Red Rose (1340-1399) and Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, aka the White Rose (1341-1402).  John's great-granddaughter was Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509), whose son, the future King Henry VII Tudor, married the great-granddaughter of Edmund, one Elizabeth of York (1466-1503).  Elizabeth and Henry VII Tudor had an elder daughter, Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland as the wife of James IV (1489-1541).  Margaret's granddaughter by her marriage to James IV was Mary of Scotland (1542-1587).  Her grandson by a subsequent marriage was Henry, Lord Darnley (1545-1567).  Mary and Henry had a son who became James VI and I (1566-1625).

James married a Danish princess and together they had a daughter, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia (1596-1662).  Elizabeth had a daughter Sophia, who married the Elector of Hanover (1630-1714).  Her son became George I of Great Britain (1660-1727).  His great-great-granddaughter was Victoria (1819-1901).  Her great-great-granddaughter is Elizabeth II (1926-current).  Thus, Queen Elizabeth is the Red Rose and the White by descent. 

 

Lady Margaret Beaufort

 

Elizabeth of York, Queen of England

 

Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland

 

Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia

 

Sophia, Electress of Hanover

 

Victoria, Queen of Great Britain

 

The Sapphire Queen