In-Law: Eleanor Cobham, c 1400-1452

Marriage into the Plantagenet family could be a dangerous proposition.  Family connections, particularly wives and children, can often be seen as weak links to exploit during family frictions.  Eleanor Cobham, c 1400-1452, 2nd wife of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, found herself in the middle of a family squabble for power during the Wars of the Roses and ended up with a witchcraft conviction and a life sentence.

Eleanor was born around 1400 in Sterborough Castle, Kent.  Though some novels portray her as coming from an obscure background, she was the daughter of Reginald Cobham, 3rd Baron Sterborough and Cobham and had gentry connections through her mother's side.  Although common, in the sense of not being royal, her family was still minor aristocracy and good enough that Eleanor became a lady in waiting to Jacqueline of Hainault, first wife of Humphrey Plantagenet, Duke of Gloucester, an uncle of King Henry VI.  Humphrey was the guardian of his minor nephew, Henry VI and leader of the royal council.  At some point, he departed to France to secure control of Jacqueline's estates in what is now Belgium and, on returning to England, he caught sight of Eleanor.  Eleanor was described as beautiful, intelligent and ambitious.  Just the type to appeal to Humphrey, who was an intelligent, ambitious and powerful man in his own right.  He and Eleanor began an affair, but it wasn't enough for Humphrey.  In 1428, he had his marriage to Jacqueline annulled and married Eleanor, causing a great deal of scandal and diminishing his own prestige at court.

Humphrey and Eleanor worked their way back into society by becoming an it couple, holding a flamboyant court at Humphrey's palace of La Pleasaunce, later Greenwich Palace.  By 1436, Eleanor was granted the title Duchess of Gloucester and allowed precedence at court in time for that year's Garter ceremony.  Humphrey placed his estate in jointure with her, allowing her to keep his entire property at his death.  Then, Humphrey's brother John, Duke of Bedford died and Humphrey was heir presumptive to the throne after his young nephew.  He claimed the right to be Regent of the Kingdom, but the council opposed his plans.  Whispers began that Humphrey had treasonous ambitious to take the crown for himself.  It was noted that Eleanor was quite popular with the young king.

Though witchcraft and magic of any sort were strictly forbidden in England, astrology and other forms of magic are as old as the hills.  Eleanor, like many wealthy people, kept the services of an astrologer, Roger Bolingbroke, who with a colleague Thomas Southwell, predicted the death of the King in 1441 from a sudden illness.  In those days, even talking about the possible death of the king, let alone predicting it, was considered a lesser form of treason and punishable by death.  The two men were arrested and Bolingbroke implicated Eleanor, suggesting that she had contacted him to discern her and Humphrey's future.  Eleanor was arrested and denied everything, but stated that she had sought the services of one Margery Jourdemayne, the so-called Witch of Eye, to buy potions for help in conception.  This was a common occurrence among women with disposable income.  The pressure for multiple male heirs was high and Eleanor had only had one son by Humphrey, Arthur, who died young.  This admission was enough to accuse both Eleanor and through her Humphrey of having treasonous designs on the King's life.  Southwell and Bolingbroke were hanged, drawn and quartered.  Jourdemayne was burnt at the stake.  Eleanor was forced to divorce Humphrey and renounce all royal title and position, as well as claim to his property.  She performed public penance in London and was imprisoned in a succession of castles further and further away from London, Chester, then Kenilworth, the Isle of Man, and finally Beaumaris Castle, where she died in 1452.

Queen: Joanna of Navarre, Queen of England, 1370-1437

Navarre is the region along the border of France and Spain facing the western coast, along the Bay of Biscay.  It is composed largely of the Pyrenees Mountains that cut the Iberian Peninsula off from the rest of Europe.  It's home to the Basque people and a tourist haven for both France and Spain.  One of the most famous cities in the Navarre region is Pamplona, where the Feast of San Fermin is celebrated each year with the running of the bulls.  Centuries before that dangerous tradition got started, Navarre was its own independent kingdom and Navarrese princesses married into the royal houses of both England and France. 

One of these princesses was Joanna, daughter of Charles II of Navarre and his wife, Jeanne of Valois (one of the many French princesses with that name and designation).  Joanna was born in Pamplona in 1370 and had the traditional upbringing of a princess of that era, learning how to preside over a royal court once she'd been married.  In 1386, when she was about 15-16, she was married to John IV, Duke of Brittany.  She was his third wife and the only one of his wives to bear him children.  They had 9 in all.  At least 2 daughters died in infancy, but the rest of the brood lived to adulthood and most had children of her own.  Tragedy struck in 1399 when John IV died and was succeeded by his young son John V.  Joanna became Regent of Brittany for her son and continued to bring up her children. 

Enter Henry of Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV of England, who was in exile at the Breton court during the reign of his cousin, Richard II in the opening stages of the Wars of the Roses.  Henry was also a widower.  His first wife, Mary de Bohun, had died, leaving him with 6 children.  Henry needed a wife who would bring him better connections on the Continent and Joanna knew that, sooner or later, in a man's world, her rule over her son's duchy would be challenged.  But there was more to it between Henry and Joanna.  At some point during his stay at the Breton court he fell in love with the widowed Duchess and the feeling was mutual.  In 1400, after he claimed the English throne as King of England, Henry formally proposed to Joanna and she accepted.  Joanna arranged for the Duke of Burgundy, an English ally, to become guardian of her children and Regent of Brittany and departed for England with her daughters, marrying Henry at Winchester Cathedral in 1403.

Her reception among her new subjects was mixed.  She was described as beautiful and personally charming, but also greedy and stingy.  She preferred the companionship of her Breton courtiers over the English.  Eventually, Parliament ordered the Bretons to leave the country, an order which even Henry IV felt he could not oppose.  Joanna got along with her stepchildren, particularly her eldest stepson, the future Henry V.  She became attached to Henry's children, which was a good thing since, 3 years after her arrival in England, her son in Brittany ordered his sisters back home to begin the marriage proposal process that all princesses endured back in those days. 

Then, tragedy struck again in 1413, when Henry IV died.  Henry V trusted Joanna enough that, in 1415, he made her Regent of England while he was away at Agincourt, but it wasn't a popular move among his barons.  Upon his return, Henry brought back young Arthur of Brittany, Joanna's younger son by her first marriage, as a prisoner.  Joanna tried to have him released, but this caused friction between her and Henry V.  In 1419, their relationship was eroded so much that when she was accused of witchcraft in an attempt to poison or kill the King, he believed it.  He ordered her estate stripped and Joanna herself confined to Pevensey Castle.  She was released only on Henry V's deathbed in France in 1422.  Her property was returned and she had enough to live a comfortable life in retirement.  She held her own court at Nottingham Castle and survived into the reign of young Henry VI.  She died at Havering-atte-Bower in Essex and was buried next to Henry IV in Canterbury Cathedral.

Treaty of Jaffa, 1192

Richard the Lionheart may not have been a stellar King of England, but he was one of the best military commanders of his time.  His arrival before the walls of Acre in the Holy Land in 1191 turned the tide for the Third Crusade and it would take all of Saladin's men and resources to avoid outright defeat.  In Richard, Saladin had met his match.  Both men knew it and, after the Battle of Jaffa in 1192, Saladin realized that it would be better to negotiate with Richard than keep fighting him.

Richard will get a full post in due course but a word about An-Nasir Salah ad-Din Yusuf Ibn Ayyub, 1137-1193, the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid Dynasty.  A Sunni of Kurdish extraction, his domain would include Syria, Egypt, Palestine, the Hejaz or Red Sea Coast of what is now Saudi Arabia and Yemen, as well as portions of Northern Africa.  Saladin, as he was known to his opponents then and to history ever since, was a devout man who sincerely believed that his God was guiding him and that it was his mission to conquer as much territory for his dynasty and his faith as possible.  In particular, it was imperative that his forces guard Jerusalem, considered one of the holiest sites in Islam after Mecca and Medina.  Saladin was not only a learned and intelligent man, he was the leader of a core of competent commanders, many of them his own relatives.  They wielded an army of several different tribes and ethnicities into a lethal fighting force.  Saladin is still revered in the Arabic world to this day.

But in Richard, Saladin had met his match.  In battle after battle, the King of England held off his enemy or defeated him entirely.  Richard dominated not only by rank, he was the only king who remained in Palestine, but also force of personality.  Even when other noble Crusaders refused to cooperate or join the fight, even when he was ill for weeks and his crusade seem to be on the verge of collapse.  Even when he advanced on Jerusalem and inexplicably turned back at the last moment, within site of the Holy City, Richard snatched victory and survival from the jaws of defeat and disaster time and again.  The two leaders had conducted sporadic negotiations with each other over the course of the Crusade, but after Richard's victory at Jaffa, negotiations began in earnest.

The Treaty of Jaffa specified a truce of 3 years from any further crusading efforts.  Jerusalem remained in Muslim hands.  The Crusader States were restored to their various rulers and their existence recognized by both sides.  Last but not least, the security of unarmed pilgrims traveling to Holy Sites in the Levant was guaranteed.  The military orders of the Templars and Hospitalers were allowed to continue their work.  With that, Richard prepared to return to England and Saladin turned to other conquests.  One of the more spectacular of the many Crusades was over.

Rival: Leopold V of Austria, 1157-1194

The Third Crusade wasn't called the Kings' Crusade for nothing.  The roster of commanders included not only many kings and lesser, but also some of the foremost military men of the time.  Among them was Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, King Richard I the Lionheart of England, Phillip II of France, Guy of Lusignan and Conrad of Montferrat, among others.  Naturally, with this collection of egos, there was bound to be drama and beef.  And, also as naturally, it would involve Richard and Phillip and a B-list commander named Leopold of Austria. 

Germany sent a large contingent to the Crusades, led by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, the Red Beard.  He was a mountain of a man who inspired as much by personal example as by rank.  Early in the Crusade, Frederick drowned while crossing a river.  While legend has it that he was weighed down by his armor, he may also have had a heart attack in the process.  His men promptly pickled his body in a cask of vinegar and shipped him home.  His son, Frederick VI of Swabia and Prince Geza of Hungary took shared command of the German contingent.  The entire Crusader army became embroiled in the siege of Acre, 1189-1191, which was going nowhere until Phillip II and Richard arrived with more money, men and better siege equipment.  Meanwhile, in January, 1191, Frederick of Swabia was also killed, leaving the German contingent in disarray under its various commanders.

Enter Leopold.  He was born the son of Henry II of Austria, of the House of Babenburg.  His mother was a Byzantine princess.  Leopold was an experienced commander who'd also undertaken a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  Europe at that time was a collection of various kingdoms, principalities, duchies and the like, all of which were at war with each other at any given time.  Leopold succeeded his father as Duke of Austria in 1177 and like most German princes, had his eye on the Crown of Charlemagne someday.  When the Crusade began in 1189, Leopold was embroiled in a border dispute with Bela III of Hungary.  When word reached Leopold of Frederick Barbarossa's death in the Holy Land, Leopold put his dispute with Hungary on hold and went to Palestine, arriving just as Frederick of Swabia had died.  He quickly took charge of the German contingent.  During one encounter with Saladin's forces, Leopold's tunic became soaked with blood.  When he removed his belt, a white strip was visible.  He later on took the colors of red and white as his personal banner, which later became part of the flag of Austria.

Acre finally capitulated in June, 1191 and the banners of the victorious leaders were hung above the city walls.  As the de facto leader of the German contingent, Leopold demanded that his banner have equal status with that of Richard of England and Phillip of France.  Richard objected and, when Leopold nevertheless persisted, Richard had Leopold's banner taken down.  Richard didn't think Leopold's anger at this slight worth his while.  Leopold returned home to Austria, followed by Phillip returning to France.  Richard pressed on to Jerusalem, but stopped short, making a peace with Saladin instead that gave the Muslims charge of the Holy City with the rights of Christians living within it and Christian pilgrims protected.  Richard then departed the Holy land, heading for the lands of his brother-in-law Henry IV, Duke of Saxony.  Henry had been dispossessed of his duchy by Barbarossa before he died and Richard was of a mind to help his sister Matilda's husband take back his own.

But, before Richard left, there was more drama in the Crusader ranks.  In April, 1192, Conrad of Montferrat, a cousin to Leopold and to the new Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who had personally raised Leopold's standard over Acre and dared to get in Richard's face about removing it, was killed by Assassins after being elected King of Jerusalem.  Likely, the Assassins were acting on orders of their own superiors, but Leopold and Henry blamed Richard.  Phillip II Augustus also had his own gripes with Richard over Richard's lands in France and the status of Phillip's sister Alys, who had been betrothed to Richard but that's another story entirely.  Phillip, Henry and Leopold assumed Richard would be returning to England and would have to cross hostile territory at some point to get to Normandy and across to England.  Capturing him would net someone a great deal of money and time for Phillip to make his move on the Plantagenet territories in France.  Never mind that these were all sworn crusaders violating the obligatory Peace of God by warring against another crusader.

Richard found all French ports closed and landed in Italy.  He would have to cross Austria to reach Saxony.  He planned to travel incognito but, in reality, Phillip, Henry and Leopold had spies tracking his every move.  Richard was captured in an inn near Vienna and brought to Henry VI Trifels Castle, accused of Conrad's murder.  One ruler didn't have authority to try and convict another ruler, so Henry instead demanded a ransom and turned Richard over to Leopold.  Leopold imprisoned Richard in Durnstein Castle, knowing that England would turn itself inside out to raise 150,000 marks, over 100,000 lbs of silver, a literal king's ransom.  Richard's mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, knew that her youngest son John was colluding with Phillip of France to take over the throne of England.  Along with barons loyal to Richard, Eleanor traveled throughout England and in her own domains, raising most of the money.  Hostages from among the noble families in England were also sent to Austria as living promissory notes for the remainder.  Many of these youngsters never saw home again. 

Leopold was unwilling to accept anything less than payment in full, but excommunication promptly changed his mind.  He put his share of the loot to good use, beginning the royal mint in Austria and improving the city walls of Vienna.  Leopold had also become Duke of Styria in 1192 and founded the towns of Weiner Neustadt and Friedburg.  But, he had to work off his excommunication and began planning another crusade. But in 1194, while in Graz, karma caught up to Leopold in a different way.  He was participating in a tournament when his horse fell under him, crushing his foot.  His surgeons recommended amputation and finally resorted to an ax as the quickest way.  It took three strokes.  Gangrene set in anyway and Leopold died.  Gangrene is a slow, pitiful and painful way to go.  Leopold was buried in Hellingenkrauz Abbey in the Vienna Woods.

Royal: Isabella of England, Holy Roman Empress, 1214-1241

It was rare that a member of the Plantagenet family found their match in the larger-than-life category.  Isabella, 1214-1241, great-granddaughter of Matilda, a Holy Roman Empress, granddaughter of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, niece of Richard the Lionheart and daughter of John and Isabella of Angouleme, who had a family history of her own, found the wonder of the world-literally. 

Isabella was the fourth child and second daughter of John and Isabella of Angouleme.  Unlike many women of her era and class, she was rather late to the altar at the ripe old age of 21.  She was reported to be very beautiful, but the man she was about to marry had seen more than his fair share of beautiful women.  Frederick II, 1194-1250 of the Hohenstaufen dynasty was Holy Roman Emperor, and King of Germany and Sicily.  A veteran of two crusades, a man who took his own navy to Arabia and almost sacked Mecca and Medina, he was the scourge of Muslims.  A learned man in his own right who patronized the arts and sciences and manage to balance his crusading with wars against various popes as well as French kings, Frederick was known in Latin as Stupor Mundi, the Wonder of the World.  And he knew how wonderful he was and made sure everyone else knew it, too.  He was a free-thinker who dabbled in Islam, Greek Philosophy and Paganism as well as mystic Christianity, leading at least one Pope to suggest Frederick was the Biblical Anti-Christ.

He was 40 years old when Pope Gregory IX, one of the few men of that era who could take him on intellectually, suggest that the twice-widowed Frederick marry as his third wife Isabella.  Gregory reasoned that a match with Henry III of England would counterbalance French influence on the Continent, which would give Frederick an advantage in his wars with France, and perhaps give Gregory a break from Frederick.  Frederick took the suggestion, but demanded 30,000 marks as Isabella's dowry.  Henry had to impose an unpopular tax of 2 silver marks per person in England to raise the sum.  While the English were more than happy to see Isabella gone, the women of Cologne, Germany thought her very beautiful.  She and Frederick were married in July 1235 at Worms Cathedral, where she was also crowned Holy Roman Empress, a title her great-grandmother Matilda had, as well as Queen Consort of Germany and Sicily.

However, if she thought she would be the only woman in her husband's life, she was sadly mistaken.  Kings of the day did take mistresses but Frederick had brought back from his travels several Arab and African women, who were guarded by black eunuchs in the manner of a harem.  Frederick also sent most of her English attendants back home.  Isabella retired to her estates at Noventa Padovana, where Frederick visited her and they had at least four children.  Only one, Margaret, survived to adulthood and became Landgravine of Thuringia.  Isabella's brother, Richard of Cornwall, who attempted to succeed Frederick as Holy Roman Emperor years later, visited her on one occasion, but in the harem tradition, Isabella was not allowed to participate in any official welcome ceremony for him.  In 1241, while Federick and Isabella were at Foggia, she died from the effects of childbirth and was buried in Andria Cathedral, near Frederick's second wife, another Isabella, Queen of Jerusalem. 

Medieval Life: the Fourteen Holy Helpers

Medieval spiritual life centered around a bewildering array of saints who were patrons of various ailments, predicaments or life situations.  There were officially approved saints and local saints.  What to do when in a pinch, perhaps taken with a serious illness.  Medieval practice boiled down the army of saints into a hand compendium of 14 who were known to be especially beneficial in certain common times of need.  They were:

Agathius (headaches), Barbara (fever or sudden death), Blaise (sore throats or illness of domestic animals), Catherine of Alexandria (sudden death), Christopher (plague and dangers of traveling), Cyriacus (deathbed temptation), Denis (headache), Erasmus (intestinal ailments), Eustace (family problems), George (protection for domestic animals), Giles (plague, good confessions, cripples, beggars and blacksmiths), Margaret of Antioch (childbirth and protection from devils), Pantaleon (protector of physicians, against cancer and tuberculosis), and Vitus (for protection of domestic animals and against lightening and epilepsy).  This list is particularly revealing concerning things that Medieval people feared most, sudden death, death-dealing diseases, headaches, accidents and protection for domestic animals.  Not surprisingly, veneration of the fourteen holy helpers began during the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century and spread throughout Europe, receiving official Church sanction in the 15th century.  Often, the 14 saints or subgroups of them are depicted together in religious paintings.

What Is: Chemise Binding

When looking at the picture of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor's mother, she has a book open on the stand in front of her.  It appears to be lying on a kind of cloth and fastened with some kind of clasps.  In fact, that's just what it was.  Books were valuable in Medieval times.  They were treated as treasured keepsakes.  An elaborate leather binding protected hand-printed and hand-illuminated pages of vellum (calf skin) or parchment (untanned animal skins).  The book could then be clasped or even locked and the whole thing wrapped in a rich cloth covering, rather like a modern dust jacket in a library.  Books bound this way were exceptionally rare and expensive so few of them have survived to this day.  They can now be found in museum collections.