Eleanor the Queen

A queen can have several duties, one of which is to produce heirs that can either succeed their parents or be used to make politically advantageous marriages. Eleanor of Provence was one of four sisters each of whom became a queen. Eleanor was married to King Henry III of England, and exercised a great deal of influence in England, even if she was disliked by the citizens of London.

Her relationship with Henry was very strong, and he did his best to care for his young wife (they were married when she was not yet a teenager, and he was 28). He embarked on a campaign of updating and decorating royal apartments. They had their own rooms, but he made sure they were next to each other. If the queen's apartments were in a separate building or part of the palace, he made sure the distance between them had covered walkways so she could visit his apartments in comfort.

The two usually appeared in public in matching outfits, and Henry made sure her residences had furniture and trappings equal to his. For the wedding of their daughter, Margaret, to King Alexander III of Scotland, they wore matching cloth of gold.

Eleanor also matched her husband in religious devotion. Henry had a special love of King Edward the Confessor, and instilled in Eleanor the same religious fervor. In 1250 she and Henry vowed to go on Crusade, and she vowed that after his death she would enter a nunnery.

She had close relationships with some of the greatest English minds of that era: Adam Marsh, Robert Grosseteste of London (the bishop, not the Oxford scholar), and royal physician and Bishop of Durham Nicholas Farnham.

Part of that religious devotion expressed itself shortly after Henry died in an act of anti-semitism. Henry had created in 1232 the Domus Conversorum ("House of Converts") in the west of London, a place where Jews who converted to Christianity would be housed, fed, given a stipend, and instructed in their new faith and made to pray for the king, his ancestors, and his descendants. Henry died in 1272, succeeded by his eldest son, Edward. In 1275 Eleanor sought, and received, permission from King Edward I to expel Jews from the lands given to her, in Marlborough, Gloucester (told to go to Bristol, but choosing Hereford since Bristol was known to have plenty of anti-semitism), Worcester (told to go to Hereford), and Cambridge (told to flee to Norwich).

Edward was raised by his mother to be hostile to Jews, and used the crime of coin-clipping as an excuse to punish them. This was a prelude to 1290, when Edward expelled all Jews from England.

Eleanor retired after Henry's death to Amesbury Priory, where two of her granddaughters were already nuns. She died in June 1291 and was buried at the Priory in a location that is now unknown—the only English queen whose grave is unmarked (except for her heart, which was buried at the Franciscan priory Greyfriars in London).

Of her children, Edward became king, Margaret became queen of Scotland, Beatrice became Duchess of Brittany, and Edmund became earl of Lancaster. Edmund had a nickname, "Crouchback," which sounds like something worth discussing. See you tomorrow.

Eleanor versus London

The citizens of London may have welcomed their new queen when she and Henry III rode to Westminster for the coronation after the wedding (1236) at Canterbury, but while they got to know her they found plenty of reasons to resent her presence.

For one thing (and this may not have been her fault exactly), she was accompanied by several retainers from the continent (called Savoyards from her mother's background, Beatrice of Savoy). Some of these became influential in Henry's administration. But Eleanor made deliberate moves that angered Londoners.

One was claiming the queen-gold. The Queen of England was allowed one-tenth of all the fines paid to the Crown. That wasn't enough for Eleanor, however: she started levying fines on Londoners for perceived infractions. This was one more straw on the camel's back for the barons to rebel in the Second Barons' War.

Eleanor and Henry seemed devoted, but there were troubles between them. He had gardens planted for her. He had her rooms in the palace painted with flowers. In 1252, however, they quarreled over a dispute between her followers from Savoy and Henry's Lusignan relatives from Poitou. Henry banished her from Court, took control of her properties in England, and stopped her collecting the queen-gold. The disagreement lasted only a fortnight, however, and Henry afterward trusted her even more than before, making her co-Regent (with his brother, Richard of Cornwall) when he traveled out of England.

During the recently discussed Second Barons' War, when the forces of Simon de Montfort invaded and occupied London (aided by the citizens), Eleanor and Henry were trapped in the Tower of London. Eleanor escaped, sailing down the Thames on a barge. The Londoners attacked her with stones and mud and rotten produce.

The Mayor of London, Thomas Fitzthomas, rescued her and took her to the home of the bishop of London, Richard of Gravesend. She eventually made it to France and raised a fleet to go back, but the fleet was wrecked off Flanders in a storm.

Despite her reciprocated antipathy with London, she was successful at the other functions of a queen. We'll talk about the duties of a medieval queen through Eleanor's example next time.

Eleanor of Provence

Ramon Berenguer V, Count of Provence (1198 - 1245), and Beatrice of Savoy (c.1198 - c.1267) had four daughters, all of whom married kings. Their second daughter, Eleanor (c.1223 - 1291), however, was not well-liked by her subjects.

She loved reading, and was well-educated. Like her mother and sisters she was considered very attractive. One contemporary English chronicler, the Augustinian canon Peter Langtoft (died c.1305), described her as "the fairest May of life."

Her older sister Margaret married the King of France, and Eleanor's uncle, Bishop William of Savoy, persuaded Henry to consider Eleanor. Such a marriage would tie him politically to France.

Matthew Paris says she was already 12 years old when she arrived in England to marry King Henry III. He had looked at several different potential brides, but she was politically the most appropriate for the 28-year-old king.

The reason for the country's dislike was the number of foreigners—called Savoyards because Beatrice's mother was from Savoy—that accompanied her. These included William of Savoy, who was made an advisor to Henry. Henry tried to make William the Bishop of Winchester to keep him close as an advisor, but there was resistance. (The chapter elected Ralph Neville instead.) Henry seemed to prefer to promote folk from the continent, and several of Eleanor's followers were given important positions in Henry's administration. This angered the English, who did not appreciate the foreign influence over Henry's policies.

The wedding took place on 14 January 1236 at Canterbury Cathedral (illustration is from a Matthew Paris manuscript), which was also the first time Eleanor had seen the groom. She wore a golden dress with sleeves lined with ermine. Immediately afterward the pair rode to London where she was crowned at Westminster Abbey, becoming Queen of England, Lady of Ireland, and Duchess of Aquitaine.

The couple seemed to truly love and trust each other. When Henry went to Gascony in 1253 to handle a rebellion, he left Eleanor as regent. She even acted as Lord Chancellor. This was the first and only time a woman was given the duties of Chancellor until 2016.

London's dislike of her might have had sound reasons, which we will explore tomorrow.

Illiteratus

Things seemed to be going well for Ralph Neville, the Bishop of Chichester and Lord Chancellor for life. He had a nice new manor on New Street, appointments that brought him revenues, he was reforming the way Chancery and records-keeping were managed, and the monks of Canterbury Cathedral elected him Archbishop of Canterbury on 24 September 1231. There was opposition to this, from an important roadblock: Pope Gregory IX. Gregory declared Neville illiteratus.

Now, the term wasn't used the same way as it is today. At the time it did not mean he couldn't read and write, just that he was "unlearned." Many important positions were appointed from the clergy, and clergy were often university trained. Neville was not. In fact, there's no reason to believe he ever intended to be educated or a priest: he started a royal clerk under King John and was ordained to legitimize his lucrative appointment as Bishop of Chichester (arms shown to the left). Stephen Langton, the Archdeacon of Canterbury, described Neville as a courtier instead of a true priest.

With Canterbury denied him*, he was still secure in his positions at Chichester and as Chancellor. Or was he? He had been granted, by the king, the right of exemption from seizure of his possessions if he fell out of favor. King Henry also agreed not to interfere with Neville's will (yeah, the king could say "Hey! You cannot bequeath that property to someone else; I gave it to you and I'll decide where it goes once you're dead!").

Henry decided, however, to take away the Chancellor position in 1236. We're not sure why, but perhaps the courtier did not appear to support the king in all things. When Hubert de Burgh (mentioned here and an even more significant supportive figure in Henry's life) fell out with the king and sought sanctuary, Henry wanted him dragged physically out of the church to face punishment. Neville opposed the king on this. Neville also was elected, by the cathedral chapter of Winchester, as Bishop of Winchester. Henry had wanted them to elect William of Savoy, the Bishop of Valence, who happened to be the uncle of Eleanor of Provence, Henry's queen. There may have been other arguments.

Neville argued with Henry that, since the chancellorship had been given to him by the Great Council during Henry's minority, only the Great Council had the authority to take it away. Henry was able to deprive Neville of possession of the Great Seal, but Neville retained the title Chancellor. In May 1242, however, Henry went to France, and the Great Seal needed a responsible holder for official documents, so it went back to Neville temporarily. Although Henry returned from France in September 1243, the Great Seal along with Neville's signature is found on some documents after that date.

Neville died in the first week of February 1244 in his palace on New Street and was buried in Chichester Cathedral. 

Kings giveth, and kings taketh away. The falling out with Hubert de Burgh would have shocked many, considering how much Henry owed him, including (possibly) his life! I'll dig into that relationship tomorrow.

*...and by the way, the next two appointments were also squashed by Gregory, preventing a true Archbishop of Canterbury until 1240

Alexander's First Marriage

The marriage of King Alexander III of Scotland and Margaret of England did not start out as a happy one.  As the daughter of King Henry III of England, being married to the king of Scotland meant their offspring would be a significant potential link between the two countries.

The reality was that the groom was 10 years old and the bride was 11. He was managed by a regency council and she was taken to live in Edinburgh where she rarely saw him. Her letters home told of a lonely girl who did not like the gloomy climate and had no friends. Her requests to visit her family in England were refused by the Scottish authorities because they were afraid she would not want to return.

Margaret's mother, Eleanor of Provence, sent her personal physician to Scotland to investigate the situation. This was followed by Henry sending a delegation and demanding that she be treated better. At this point the couple had reached 14 years of age, and it was agreed that they could consummate their marriage and spend more time together as a couple. Henry declared that Alexander needed to reclaim authority from the regency council when he turned 21. He also stipulated that Alexander needed to show Margaret affection and allow Margaret to visit her family. This was in 1255, and in September of that year Henry and family were staying in Wark in Northumberland, where the young couple visited with them. Margaret was allowed to stay longer while Alexander returned to his duties.

Two years later, the king and queen of Scotland were captured by the family of Walter Comyn, Earl of Menteith, who had objected to Alexander's coronation and tried to take power early on before being defeated by loyalists. The demand of the captors was that all foreigners be expelled from Scotland. The regency council and Henry resolved that quickly.

The couple apparently developed a real bond, as some political marriages do, and Alexander enjoyed his time with his wife. They had three children; their daughter, Margaret, married King Eric II of Norway. Margaret died 26 February 1275.

I said in yesterday's post that marriage was the death of Alexander. He survived another 11 years after Margaret's death. It was his affection for his second wife that was his undoing. You will finally get that story next time.

Saluzzo and England and Griselda

Saluzzo, a town and principality in northern Italy, had some interesting connections to England. It was a simple tribal city-state in Roman times, but during the time of the Carolingians it became the hereditary property of the Marquesses of Saluzzo, who extended their control over a wider region in the north. It was frequently in conflict with its powerful neighbor, the Duchy of Savoy, which eventually assumed much of Saluzzo's territory. The Savoys were so powerful that the kings of England and France treated them very well.

Griselda's daughter is carried away [source]

One of the first strategic marriages between English and Italian noble families, however, was with Saluzzo. Alice of Saluzzo (d.1292) married Richard Fitzalan, the 8th Earl of Arundel. The marriage had been arranged by Eleanor of Provence, Queen to Henry III. Alice's father, Thomas I of Saluzzo, was an exemplary ruler under whom Saluzzo flourished like never before. This probably had a lot to do with choosing to form an alliance with Saluzzo by marriage.

Not all Marquesses of Saluzzo came off so well in history—or literature.

In Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, The Clerk's Tale tells of Griselda, whose hand in marriage is sought by Marquess Walter of Saluzzo. He marries her on the condition that she will always obey him, no matter what. She agrees. When she gives birth to a daughter, Walter decides to test her obedience: he has a soldier remove her daughter. Although Griselda has every reason to believe her daughter is being killed (actually, the girl is sent to be raised by Walter's sister), she remains obedient and kind to her husband.

Four years later, she gives birth to a son. Walter chooses a further test: he tells her son has to go as well, that he has permission from the pope to divorce her, and that she is to return to her father taking nothing but the smock she wears under her fine dress. She returns home, showing no signs of distress.

Years later, Walter summons Griselda to him. He tells her he is marrying again, a young wife this time, and wants Griselda to help prepare the house for a new young bride. Unbeknownst to Griselda, the new young bride is actually her now-grown daughter. Griselda patiently asks Walter to be kind to his new bride, who might not be able to endure his tests the way a woman raised in poverty could. Walter, much moved by her patience and faithfulness, confesses that they are still married, that her children are alive, and promises never to test her again. They live happily ever after.

Chaucer did not invent this story. He probably got it from Boccaccio's Decameron, and the folktale of patient Griselda was around for a long time. Why the "villain" is a Marquess of Saluzzo is the mystery. But then, not all Marquesses were as beloved as Thomas I.  In Boccaccio's lifetime, Saluzzo experienced some civil strife. Manfred V of Saluzzo was forced to give up a claim to the throne in 1334 after being caught in a sex scandal with his own mother, then usurped the throne in 1341, but was forced to give it up a year later. 

London Bridge is Falling Down!

[For earlier history, see here.]

Finding the origin of nursery rhymes can be unreliable, since one never knows how long a rhyme was circulating orally until it got recorded. See my comments on "Ring Around the Rosie" here. Also, what we think of as the nursery rhyme may be just the latest version; earlier versions may lead to entirely different interpretations. The full current version of "London Bridge Is Falling Down" can be read here. It has references that make it very unlikely to be a medieval poem.

Viking boat pulling down London Bridge

The earliest reference to something that might be related to the Bridge rhyme is found in the Norse Heimskringla, written in Iceland by Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241). In it, Sturluson collected stories of Norwegian kings. In one story, King Olaf II attacked London and the Bridge in the company of the Saxon King Æthelred the Unready. They pulled it down with chains, dividing the Danish forces who had no other easy way to cross the Thames. The 1844 English edition included a poem by another poet, Ottar Svarti ("Ottar the Black"), which begins with the line "London Bridge is broken down." It was discovered later, however, that the translator decided to prefix Ottar's poem with a made-up line. Ottar never referred to London Bridge.

In the 1890s, another theory as to the origin came from a British folklorist. Drawing on an old theme of blood sacrifice to make foundations strong, she suggested that children were buried—perhaps alive—under the Bridge. Actually, there was a burial "under" the Bridge. Peter de Colechurch, who was heavily involved in the construction of the 12th century version, was a chaplain of the church in which St. Thomas Becket was baptized. He had a chapel on the Bridge dedicated to Becket. de Colechurch died in 1205 and was buried in the crypt, at the river level of the chapel. At the dismantling of the Bridge in 1832, when his bones were found, they were unceremoniously tossed into the Thames.

Wedding of Henry III & Eleanor of Provence

Then there's the story that Eleanor of Provence (c.1223-1291), who was given the tolls and rents from the Bridge as a present from her husband, Henry III, spent them on herself rather than the upkeep of the Bridge. The Bridge fell into disrepair, and a derisive verse was formed with the telling, sarcastic phrase "my fair lady."

Control of the Bridge was returned to the City of London in 1281. Ironically, the heavy river ice that winter built up against the bridge and five of the arches collapsed.

The Bridge has become iconic. A few remaining stones of the medieval version can be seen in the churchyard of St. Magnus Martyr, which used to be at one end of the span. In the early 1960s, when he learned London wanted to replace the Bridge and offered to sell the Victorian version, American chainsaw magnate Robert McCulloch offered the winning bid of $2,460,000. McCulloch transported the stones (carefully coded) to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, where he had them painstakingly re-assembled over a steel structure. "London Bridge" now exists on both sides of the Atlantic!