Yuletide history post
Oct. 14th, 2023 05:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
categrangerWhen writing my Yuletide letter, I ended up cutting a historical section and writing a shorter tl;dr because it got too long. But here it is in case you wanted the longer version and followed the link!
Blanche and Katherine
Blanche of Lancaster was the younger of the Duke of Lancaster’s two daughters. The Duke of Lancaster was the wealthiest and most powerful peer in the realm, but had no sons, so Blanche was a great heiress (she ended up inheriting everything, as her sister died shortly after Blanche’s marriage). She was brought up in the court of Edward III and his wife Philippa, who were second cousins of Blanche’s father and had twelve children of their own. Edward and Philippa, who had seven sons (five surviving to adulthood), were intent on marrying their younger sons to heiresses, and when Blanche was 17, she married the 19-year-old John of Gaunt, the royal couple’s third-oldest surviving son. The couple had grown up together at court and the marriage seems to have been a happy one. (After her untimely death, Chaucer wrote The Book of the Duchess in her honor, about a knight who is in deep mourning. Also, John of Gaunt had a beautiful & magnificent double tomb made for them, on which their hands are joined, together forever even in death.) They were married for nine years and had seven children (only three surviving past early childhood). Blanche died, probably of the plague, while John was abroad.
Katherine de Roet was the daughter of a knight who was in the service of Philippa of Hainault, who married Edward III. When her father died when she was young, the Queen kept his young daughters at court (Katherine and her sister Philippa, who later married Geoffrey Chaucer). The girls were brought up at court along with the youngest princesses Mary and Margaret and other noble girls, and Katherine became close to Blanche, who was 8 years older and was Katherine’s tutor. After Blanche married John, Katherine entered her service around age 10 and helped with Blanche’s children, and ended up marrying one of John’s knights, Hugh Swynford, in her early teenage years. Although Hugh was often away on military service, Katherine had three or four children with him, including her oldest daughter, who she named Blanche after her friend. Katherine’s children were raised along with Blanche’s children, and they were often pregnant together while their husbands were on military expeditions. After Blanche’s untimely death, the younger Blanche continued to live in the ducal household as a lady-in-waiting for John’s daughters Philippa and Elizabeth, while Katherine probably lived at her own estate. However, three years after Blanche’s death, two things happened: Hugh Swynford died abroad, and John remarried to Constance of Castile, who was the daughter of a deposed Castilian king (and therefore represented an opportunity for John to claim a crown of his own). When John brought Constance back to England, he asked Katherine to join their household again.
Shortly after this, with Katherine a widow and John no longer in a loving marriage with Blanche, Katherine and John fell in love. Katherine and John had four children together, all of whom survived to become the influential Beaufort clan. Katherine became the governess for John & Blanche’s daughters Philippa and Elizabeth, and possibly for his son Henry as well for a time. Constance appears to have known about the affair, but does not seem to have cared, and later unofficially separated from John. Katherine kept a low profile and split her time between the ducal household and her own estate (through her late husband), although he was constantly making sure she and their family were financially provided for. It appears that all the children – John and Katherine’s children from their first marriages, along with their children together – saw each other as brothers and sisters.
When Edward III (John’s father) died in 1377, John and Katherine stopped being as secretive about their relationship, and it became generally known. This met with indignation and scandal, and people warned John about the impact this relationship would have on his reputation, but he didn’t care. (He was an immensely powerful duke, and the king was no longer his magisterial father but John’s 10-year-old nephew.) However, after the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, he felt that his widely-condemned relationship with Katherine may have been one of the causes, and they publicly announced an end to the relationship. (This was only public. In private, the relationship continued, although John was often overseas on military campaigns, and the families continued to be intertwined. For example, she was close with John’s son Henry and his wife Mary, and her son Thomas Swynford was in Henry’s household, later joined by Katherine herself, who helped raise Henry & Mary’s children. The boy-king Richard II, John’s nephew, gave her high honors – making her a Lady of the Order of the Garter – and plenty of patronage.)
In 1394, Constance died. She had not been living with John since at least 1386 if not before. While the court might have expected (and turned a blind eye) to John and Katherine living together after his wife’s death, what they did not expect was John and Katherine to actually marry, which they did in 1396. They did not even wait for official papal approval, which arrived later that year and also retroactively legitimized their Beaufort children. Katherine took a prominent place at court, and became a close companion of the king’s seven-year-old child bride, Isabella. After John died three years later, she lived a quiet life and became quite a wealthy woman when her beloved stepson Henry invaded England and deposed John’s nephew Richard (supported by all of his blended family - siblings & stepsiblings & half-siblings alike). Henry (who became Henry IV) officially called her “the Mother of the King” (he had only been a year old when Blanche died, and Katherine appears to have played the primary maternal role in his life) and made sure she lived in comfort for the rest of her life. The Beauforts (John & Katherine’s children) played a crucial role in the Wars of the Roses, and through them Katherine is the direct ancestor of all future Kings & Queens of England.
---back to Yuletide letter---
Wars of the Roses
Elizabeth of York’s life was full of such wild reversals and changes in fortune, and I’d really like to see a fictional take on how she handled the tumult. Until she was 17, she was a beloved eldest daughter, the acclaimed Princess of a secure dynasty (well, after the restoration of her father when she was 5!), safe and protected within a large, close family. (And engaged to the Dauphin of France for most of her life, from age 9 to age 16.) Then her father’s sudden and unexpected death brought her 12-year-old brother to the throne, and sent her mother, herself, and her sisters fleeing into sanctuary out of fear of her uncle’s power. (But her uncle and her father had always been close – was Elizabeth as afraid of Richard as her mother was? What did she think when he had her maternal uncle executed?) Then Richard ‘discovered’ the precontract between her father and another woman, and declared Elizabeth and all her siblings bastards, and crowned himself King. Then Elizabeth’s brothers in the Tower disappeared, never to reappear. Then Elizabeth’s mother and Margaret Beaufort negotiated her marriage with Henry Tudor, who swore an oath to marry her and promptly invaded England (he failed the first time). Then Elizabeth lived at Richard’s court as the niece of the King for two years, and became close to her dying aunt Anne. Then there was a rumor that Richard intended to marry her once Anne died, and he sent her away and started negotiating her marriage to the Portuguese heir. Then Henry invaded again, killed Richard, crowned himself King, repealed the act that made Elizabeth a bastard, got Elizabeth pregnant, and married her. (It’s interesting to me that Elizabeth was pregnant before her wedding – Arthur was an eight-month baby. Did she and Henry actually really like each other and get carried away? Did they agree that their marriage was a necessity to settle England, and wanted to present the pope with a fait accompli in order to make sure their dispensation came through? Or that their fertility was necessary to establish a new dynasty and secure peace, and that they should make sure of it before committing to each other?) [Please note, however, that while I am completely fine with Henry and Elizabeth being awkward and unsure around each other at first, I would definitely not want Elizabeth dubconned or nonconned into marriage.]
All of the above happened in less than three years. Edward IV died in April 1483 and Elizabeth and Henry were married in January 1486, a month before her twentieth birthday. Talk about a rollercoaster three years!
---back to Yuletide letter---
Blanche and Katherine
Blanche of Lancaster was the younger of the Duke of Lancaster’s two daughters. The Duke of Lancaster was the wealthiest and most powerful peer in the realm, but had no sons, so Blanche was a great heiress (she ended up inheriting everything, as her sister died shortly after Blanche’s marriage). She was brought up in the court of Edward III and his wife Philippa, who were second cousins of Blanche’s father and had twelve children of their own. Edward and Philippa, who had seven sons (five surviving to adulthood), were intent on marrying their younger sons to heiresses, and when Blanche was 17, she married the 19-year-old John of Gaunt, the royal couple’s third-oldest surviving son. The couple had grown up together at court and the marriage seems to have been a happy one. (After her untimely death, Chaucer wrote The Book of the Duchess in her honor, about a knight who is in deep mourning. Also, John of Gaunt had a beautiful & magnificent double tomb made for them, on which their hands are joined, together forever even in death.) They were married for nine years and had seven children (only three surviving past early childhood). Blanche died, probably of the plague, while John was abroad.
Katherine de Roet was the daughter of a knight who was in the service of Philippa of Hainault, who married Edward III. When her father died when she was young, the Queen kept his young daughters at court (Katherine and her sister Philippa, who later married Geoffrey Chaucer). The girls were brought up at court along with the youngest princesses Mary and Margaret and other noble girls, and Katherine became close to Blanche, who was 8 years older and was Katherine’s tutor. After Blanche married John, Katherine entered her service around age 10 and helped with Blanche’s children, and ended up marrying one of John’s knights, Hugh Swynford, in her early teenage years. Although Hugh was often away on military service, Katherine had three or four children with him, including her oldest daughter, who she named Blanche after her friend. Katherine’s children were raised along with Blanche’s children, and they were often pregnant together while their husbands were on military expeditions. After Blanche’s untimely death, the younger Blanche continued to live in the ducal household as a lady-in-waiting for John’s daughters Philippa and Elizabeth, while Katherine probably lived at her own estate. However, three years after Blanche’s death, two things happened: Hugh Swynford died abroad, and John remarried to Constance of Castile, who was the daughter of a deposed Castilian king (and therefore represented an opportunity for John to claim a crown of his own). When John brought Constance back to England, he asked Katherine to join their household again.
Shortly after this, with Katherine a widow and John no longer in a loving marriage with Blanche, Katherine and John fell in love. Katherine and John had four children together, all of whom survived to become the influential Beaufort clan. Katherine became the governess for John & Blanche’s daughters Philippa and Elizabeth, and possibly for his son Henry as well for a time. Constance appears to have known about the affair, but does not seem to have cared, and later unofficially separated from John. Katherine kept a low profile and split her time between the ducal household and her own estate (through her late husband), although he was constantly making sure she and their family were financially provided for. It appears that all the children – John and Katherine’s children from their first marriages, along with their children together – saw each other as brothers and sisters.
When Edward III (John’s father) died in 1377, John and Katherine stopped being as secretive about their relationship, and it became generally known. This met with indignation and scandal, and people warned John about the impact this relationship would have on his reputation, but he didn’t care. (He was an immensely powerful duke, and the king was no longer his magisterial father but John’s 10-year-old nephew.) However, after the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, he felt that his widely-condemned relationship with Katherine may have been one of the causes, and they publicly announced an end to the relationship. (This was only public. In private, the relationship continued, although John was often overseas on military campaigns, and the families continued to be intertwined. For example, she was close with John’s son Henry and his wife Mary, and her son Thomas Swynford was in Henry’s household, later joined by Katherine herself, who helped raise Henry & Mary’s children. The boy-king Richard II, John’s nephew, gave her high honors – making her a Lady of the Order of the Garter – and plenty of patronage.)
In 1394, Constance died. She had not been living with John since at least 1386 if not before. While the court might have expected (and turned a blind eye) to John and Katherine living together after his wife’s death, what they did not expect was John and Katherine to actually marry, which they did in 1396. They did not even wait for official papal approval, which arrived later that year and also retroactively legitimized their Beaufort children. Katherine took a prominent place at court, and became a close companion of the king’s seven-year-old child bride, Isabella. After John died three years later, she lived a quiet life and became quite a wealthy woman when her beloved stepson Henry invaded England and deposed John’s nephew Richard (supported by all of his blended family - siblings & stepsiblings & half-siblings alike). Henry (who became Henry IV) officially called her “the Mother of the King” (he had only been a year old when Blanche died, and Katherine appears to have played the primary maternal role in his life) and made sure she lived in comfort for the rest of her life. The Beauforts (John & Katherine’s children) played a crucial role in the Wars of the Roses, and through them Katherine is the direct ancestor of all future Kings & Queens of England.
Wars of the Roses
Elizabeth of York’s life was full of such wild reversals and changes in fortune, and I’d really like to see a fictional take on how she handled the tumult. Until she was 17, she was a beloved eldest daughter, the acclaimed Princess of a secure dynasty (well, after the restoration of her father when she was 5!), safe and protected within a large, close family. (And engaged to the Dauphin of France for most of her life, from age 9 to age 16.) Then her father’s sudden and unexpected death brought her 12-year-old brother to the throne, and sent her mother, herself, and her sisters fleeing into sanctuary out of fear of her uncle’s power. (But her uncle and her father had always been close – was Elizabeth as afraid of Richard as her mother was? What did she think when he had her maternal uncle executed?) Then Richard ‘discovered’ the precontract between her father and another woman, and declared Elizabeth and all her siblings bastards, and crowned himself King. Then Elizabeth’s brothers in the Tower disappeared, never to reappear. Then Elizabeth’s mother and Margaret Beaufort negotiated her marriage with Henry Tudor, who swore an oath to marry her and promptly invaded England (he failed the first time). Then Elizabeth lived at Richard’s court as the niece of the King for two years, and became close to her dying aunt Anne. Then there was a rumor that Richard intended to marry her once Anne died, and he sent her away and started negotiating her marriage to the Portuguese heir. Then Henry invaded again, killed Richard, crowned himself King, repealed the act that made Elizabeth a bastard, got Elizabeth pregnant, and married her. (It’s interesting to me that Elizabeth was pregnant before her wedding – Arthur was an eight-month baby. Did she and Henry actually really like each other and get carried away? Did they agree that their marriage was a necessity to settle England, and wanted to present the pope with a fait accompli in order to make sure their dispensation came through? Or that their fertility was necessary to establish a new dynasty and secure peace, and that they should make sure of it before committing to each other?) [Please note, however, that while I am completely fine with Henry and Elizabeth being awkward and unsure around each other at first, I would definitely not want Elizabeth dubconned or nonconned into marriage.]
All of the above happened in less than three years. Edward IV died in April 1483 and Elizabeth and Henry were married in January 1486, a month before her twentieth birthday. Talk about a rollercoaster three years!
