Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Infanta Barbara of Portugal was the wife of King Fernando VI of Spain. Born December 4, 1711, at Ribeira Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, Barbara was the eldest of the six children and the only daughter of João V, King of Portugal and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria. Barbara’s parents remained childless for the first three years of their marriage. Her father promised God that he would build a great convent as a sign of gratitude if an heir to the throne was born. King João V fulfilled his promise and built the Palace-Convent of Mafra located in Mafra, Portugal, a short distance from Lisbon.

The facade of the Palace-Convent of Mafra; Credit – By Pedro S Bello – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=124113359

At birth, Barbara was styled Princess of Brazil as the heir presumptive and given the names Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa, honoring several saints and relatives. She was called Barbara, a name that had never been used in the Portuguese royal family, after Saint Barbara whose feast day was on her birthday. Barbara’s paternal grandparents were Pedro II, King of Portugal and his second wife Maria Sophia of Neuburg. Her maternal grandparents were  Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor and his third wife Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg. Barbara’s grandmothers were sisters and so her parents were first cousins.

The two eldest children in the family, Barbara with her brother Pedro who died at the age of two; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara had five younger brothers. Two of her brothers died in childhood and one died in his teens. The surviving two brothers were both Kings of Portugal. After the birth of her brother Pedro, Barbara was no longer the heir presumptive. Pedro died when he was two but by that time Barbara had another brother, the future King José I of Portugal.

Barbara in 1725 Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara received an excellent education. She spoke Portuguese, French, German, and Italian fluently, and would later learn Spanish after her marriage. Like her father she loved music. When Barbara was eight years old, her father hired the great Italian harpsichordist and composer Domenico Scarlatti as her music master and music director of the Royal Chapel. Barbara became a talented keyboard player and when she married in 1729, Scarlatti followed her to Spain and composed hundreds of harpsichord sonatas for her. Scarlatti remained Barbara’s music master until he died in 1757, a year before Barbara died.

Barbara in 1729, the year of her marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1725, Barbara was on a list of 99 princesses who were potential brides for King Louis XV of France. However, because of concerns about her health and her young age, she was removed from the list. To strengthen an alliance with Spain, a double marriage between Portugal and Spain was arranged between Barbara and the future Fernando VI, King of Spain, the son and heir of Felipe V, King of Spain, and Barbara’s brother the future José I, King of Portugal, her father’s heir, and Fernando’s half-sister Mariana Victoria of Spain.

A contemporary engraving depicting the Exchange of the Princesses over the Caia River on the Portugal-Spain border; Credit – Wikipedia

In a complex and protocol-filled arrangement called the Exchange of Princesses, on January 19, 1729, the two sets of princes and princesses were escorted to the Portugal-Spain border by the two royal courts, and the princesses were exchanged in a richly decorated wooden pavilion built on a bridge over the Caia River that linked the towns of Elvas, Portugal and Badajoz, Spain. Then, both couples were married in richly decorated pavilions on the same day on the grooms’ sides of the Caia River. Fernando and Barbara had no children except a stillborn son in 1733.

Barbara’s husband Fernando; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara’s father-in-law King Felipe V suffered from mental instability and as he grew older, his mental issues worsened, and his second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma became the de facto ruler of Spain. Queen Elisabeth never showed affection toward her stepson Fernando. She considered him an obstacle to achieving her main objective: to provide her sons with King Felipe V of Spain with a realm to rule. Fernando and Barbara continually had to deal with the animosity of Queen Elisabeth who wanted to keep her stepson away from court. From 1733 until 1737, they were kept more or less under house arrest in their apartments, prevented from appearing in public, and watched by the spies of Queen Elisabeth, until Barbara’s father King João V of Portugal intervened.

Felipe V, King of Spain died of a stroke at the age of 62 on July 9, 1746, and Fernando succeeded to the Spanish throne. Fernando VI, King of Spain reigned for thirteen years. Benevolent but weak, Fernando VI left the government mostly to others. He allowed his troublesome stepmother Elisabeth to remain in Spain but banned her from court. As Queen Consort of Spain, Barbara did not have as much political ambition as Fernando’s stepmother Elisabeth. Instead, Barbara was focused mainly on a friendly relationship between Spain and Portugal. However, Barbara was the conduit through which the government ministers worked with King Fernando VI. She was presented with all documents of state before they were given to King Fernando VI because only she knew what should be said or hidden from him.

Barbara shortly before her death; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara suffered from severe asthma for most of her life and became obese in the years before her death. On August 27, 1758, at the age of 46, Barbara died at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. She was buried in the Church of Saint Barbara at the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, Spain which she had founded in 1748 as a school and home for young noblewomen. Barbara’s death broke Fernando’s heart. During the last year of his reign, probably at least partially caused by his wife’s death, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity. He lived at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, where he died less than a year after Barbara’s death, on August 10, 1759, as the age of 45. Fernando was buried with his wife Barbara in the Church of Saint Barbara at the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid.

Tomb of Barbara of Portugal; Queen of Spain; Credit – www.findagrave.com

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Bárbara de Braganza (2022) Wikipedia (Portuguese). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1rbara_de_Braganza (Accessed: November 28, 2022).
  • Bárbara de Braganza (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1rbara_de_Braganza (Accessed: November 28, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) João V, King of Portugal, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/joao-v-king-of-portugal/ (Accessed: November 28, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2023) Fernando VI, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/fernando-vi-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 28, 2022).
  • Maria Bárbara de Bragança, Rainha de Espanha (2022) Wikipedia (Portuguese). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_B%C3%A1rbara_de_Bragan%C3%A7a,_Rainha_de_Espanha (Accessed: November 28, 2022).

Margaret of Windsor, Countess of Pembroke

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

The Norman Gate in the Middle Ward at Windsor Castle, built by Margaret’s father King Edward III; Credit – By Itto Ogami, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78104768

Margaret of Windsor, Countess of Pembroke was the tenth of the fourteen children and the youngest of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. She was born on July 20, 1346, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England. King Edward III was also born at Windsor Castle and used it extensively throughout his reign. In 1348, two years after Margaret’s birth, her father established the Order of the Garter, with Windsor Castle being the order’s headquarters. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Margaret was called “of Windsor”. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Margaret’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Margaret had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility, and their descendants later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.

Woodstock Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the favorite residence of Margaret’s mother Philippa and the birthplace of several of her children. Marriage plans began for Margaret the year after her birth. A marriage was being negotiated for her with one of the sons of Albrecht II, Duke of Austria, but the negotiations were canceled due to political situations. Several years later, Margaret was betrothed to Jean of Châtillon, the son of Charles of Blois. The betrothal was canceled because Margaret’s sister Mary was betrothed to John IV, Duke of Brittany, and Charles of Blois was a rival claimant to the throne of the Duchy of Brittany.

Among the children of the nobility who lived in the court of King Edward III was John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1347 – 1375), the only son of Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Agnes Mortimer. John’s father died when he was one year old, and John became a ward of King Edward III. John was brought up with King Edward III’s children and was particularly close to Margaret and her brother Edmund of Langley. Since Margaret was a younger daughter, it was more permissible for her to marry an English noble. On May 19, 1359, at Reading Abbey in Reading, England, 11-year-old Margaret married 12-year-old John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.

Coat of Arms of Hastings, Earls of Pembroke; Credit – By Rs-nourse – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30837060

After their marriage, Margaret and her husband John remained at the royal court. John’s royal connection meant that he was referred to as the King’s son in official records. In 1359, John and his close friend Edmund of Langley, the son of King Edward III, accompanied King Edward III on a military campaign in France. When the Treaty of Brétigny was ratified in 1360, King Edward III, his son Edmund, and his son-in-law John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke returned to England. Margaret’s unmarried sister Mary was at court along with her fiancé Jean IV, Duke of Brittany, who had been raised at King Edward III’s court.

Margaret’s sister Mary and Jean IV, Duke of Brittany were married at Woodstock Palace around July 3, 1361. Mary and Jean remained at the English court after their marriage. Arrangements were being made for them to leave England and take up residence in Brittany, now in France, as the Duke and Duchess of Brittany. However, within weeks, Mary became quite ill, and she died sometime before September 13, 1361. Sadly, 15-year-old Margaret, Countess of Pembroke died unexpectedly a short while later, after October 1, 1361, the last date there is a record that she was living. Margaret and her sister Mary were buried at Abingdon Abbey in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Abingdon Abbey was dissolved in 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Nothing of Abingdon Abbey remains.

Abingdon Abbey Church, where Margaret and her sister Mary were interred, covered the whole of this park space as far as the Queen Victoria statue to the west. Credit – By Motmit at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4572679

The death of his young wife Margaret greatly upset 14-year-old John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Seven years later, in July 1368, John married Anne Manny, 2nd Baroness Manny and this marriage reinforced his position in the royal circle. Anne Manny was the daughter and heiress of Walter Manny, 1st Baron Manny, one of King Edward III’s bravest military commanders, and Margaret of Norfolk, Duchess of Norfolk in her own right, a first cousin of King Edward III. John and Anne had one child John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, born in 1372, six months after his father’s death.

The 1372 naval Battle of La Rochelle; Credit – Wikipedia

John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke was in royal service for the rest of his short life, mostly as a military commander. King Edward III remained attached to the husband of his deceased daughter Margaret and always referred to John as “my dear son”. John led the English fleet against the Castilian fleet in the 1372 Battle of La Rochelle. The Castilians were the victors and John was captured and imprisoned in the Kingdom of Castile where he was treated very poorly. Ransom for John was finally arranged in 1375 but by that time John was quite ill. He was released from prison in Castile but never returned to England. John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke died, aged 27 on April 16, 1375, in Picardy, France. The news of John’s death was greeted with shock in England because of his youth and high status. King Edward III did not attend the Order of the Garter ceremonies of 1375 due to being in formal mourning for his former son-in-law. John’s remains were returned to England where he was interred at the Blackfriars Friary in Hereford, England, in ruins since the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • John Hastings, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hastings,_2nd_Earl_of_Pembroke (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Margaret, Countess of Pembroke (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret,_Countess_of_Pembroke (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Маргарет Плантагенет (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%82_%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82 (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.

Fernando VI, King of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Fernando VI, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on September 23, 1713, at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid in Madrid, Spain, Fernando VI was not expected to become King of Spain. He was the youngest of the four sons of Felipe V, King of Spain and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy. Fernando’s paternal grandparents were Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were  Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie of Orléans.

Fernando’s father King Felipe V of Spain, born a Prince of France; Credit – Wikipedia

Fernando’s father had been born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, from the House of Habsburg, died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, King Carlos II of Spain, in his will, named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.

Fernando had three older brothers but only his eldest brother Luis I, King of Spain, survived to his teenage years. Luis I died from smallpox at age seventeen.

Fernando’s stepmother Elisabeth Farnese of Parma; Credit – Wikipedia

Five months after his birth, Fernando’s mother Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25 on February 14, 1714. On December 24, 1714, ten months after the death of his mother, Fernando’s father married again to Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg.

Felipe V of Spain with his second wife Elisabeth and some of his children from his first and second marriages – from left to right: the future Fernando VI, King Felipe V, the future Luis I; Felipe, the future Duke of Parma, Queen Elisabeth, a portrait of the Infanta Mariana Victoria, and the future Carlos III: Credit – Wikipedia

Fernando had six half-siblings from his father’s second marriage:

Fernando at the age of ten; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1721, 8-year-old Fernando was given his own household supervised by Agustín Fernández de Velasco y Bracamonte, Count de Salazar, who was given the title of Governor and was responsible for Fernando’s upbringing and education. Felipe V’s second wife Elisabeth Farnese of Parma never showed affection toward her two stepsons. She considered her stepsons to be obstacles to achieving her main objective: to provide her sons with a realm to rule. Fernando had a lonely childhood, far from court, accompanied only by his older brother Luis.

Fernando’s brother King Luis I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 14, 1724, Fernando’s father King Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of his eldest son Luis for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe V suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. However, the reign of Luis I, King of Spain lasted only until August 31, 1724, when Luis died from smallpox. Fernando’s father Felipe V was forced to once again ascend to the Spanish throne because 10-year-old Fernando was not yet of legal age. Fernando’s stepmother Elisabeth kept him away from inner court circles even after the death of his brother Luis. Although Fernando was heir to the throne and held the heir’s title Prince of Asturias, he was not allowed to participate in the Spanish Council of State and was not able to gain any experience in government work that would have prepared him for taking the throne.

Fernando’s wife Barbara of Portugal in 1729, the year of their marriage; Credit – Wikipedia

To strengthen an alliance with Portugal, a double marriage between Spain and Portugal was arranged between Fernando and Barbara of Portugal, daughter of João V, King of Portugal, and Fernando’s half-sister Mariana Victoria and the future José I, King of Portugal, King João V’s heir. In a complex and protocol-filled arrangement called the Exchange of Princesses, on January 19, 1729, the two sets of princes and princesses were escorted to the Portugal-Spain border by the two royal courts, and the princesses were exchanged in a richly decorated wooden pavilion built on a bridge over the Caia River that linked the towns of Elvas, Portugal and Badajoz, Spain. Then, both couples were married in richly decorated pavilions on the same day on the grooms’ sides of the Caia River. Fernando and Barbara had no children except a stillborn son in 1733.

A contemporary engraving depicting the Exchange of the Princesses over the Caia River on the Portugal-Spain border; Credit – Wikipedia

As Fernando’s father King Felipe V grew older, his mental issues worsened and his second wife Queen Elisabeth became the de facto ruler of Spain. Fernando and Barbara continually had to deal with Elisabeth’s animosity who wanted to keep her stepson away from court. From 1733 until 1737, they were kept more or less under house arrest in their apartments, prevented from appearing in public, and watched by the spies of Queen Elisabeth, until Barbara’s father King João V of Portugal intervened.

Felipe V, King of Spain died of a stroke at the age of 62 on July 9, 1746, and Fernando succeeded to the Spanish throne. Fernando VI, King of Spain reigned for thirteen years. Benevolent but weak, Fernando VI left the government mostly to others. After Fernando became king, he allowed his stepmother Elisabeth to stay in Spain. However, she had to move out of the Royal Palace of Buen Retiro in Madrid and into the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja. Those responsible for the government under Fernando VI set out to restore state finances and reform the country. Fernando VI, in contrast to his father and stepmother, pursued no personal or family interests in foreign policy. His reign was peaceful because he avoided involving Spain in any European conflicts.

Allegory of Fernando VI as a peaceful king by Antonio González Ruiz, 1754; Credit – Wikipedia

Fernando VI’s wife Barbara suffered from severe asthma for most of her life and became obese in the years before her death. On August 27, 1758, at the age of 46, Barbara died at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. She was buried in the Church of Saint Barbara at the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, Spain which she had founded in 1748 as a school and home for young noblewomen.

Barbara of Portugal, Queen of Spain shortly before her death; Credit – Wikipedia

Barbara’s death broke Fernando’s heart. During the last year of his reign, probably at least partially caused by his wife’s death, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity and was held at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, where he died less than a year after Barbara’s death, on August 10, 1759, as the age of 45. He was buried with his wife Barbara in the Church of Saint Barbara at the Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid.

Tomb of King Fernando VI of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Fernando VI’s marriage to Barbara of Portugal was childless and when he died, the elder surviving son of father King Felipe V of Spain and his stepmother Elisabeth Farnese of Parma succeeded his half-brother as King Carlos III of Spain. Elisabeth’s younger son Felipe had become sovereign Duke of Parma and founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma, and so Elisabeth achieved her goal of providing her sons with a realm to rule. All subsequent monarchs of Spain from the House of Bourbon are descendants of King Carlos III of Spain. Therefore, Elisabeth is the ancestor of the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain. Although the House of Bourbon-Parma no longer reigns, the pretender to the throne of the Duchy of Parma is Elisabeth’s descendant.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Bárbara de Braganza (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1rbara_de_Braganza (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
  • Fernando VI de España (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_VI_de_Espa%C3%B1a (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
  • Ferdinand VI of Spain (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_VI_of_Spain (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, Queen of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/elisabeth-farnese-of-parma-queen-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 26, 2022).
  • Maria Bárbara de Bragança, Rainha de Espanha (2022) Wikipedia (Portuguese). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_B%C3%A1rbara_de_Bragan%C3%A7a,_Rainha_de_Espanha (Accessed: November 26, 2022).

Mary of Waltham, Duchess of Brittany

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Mary of Waltham, Duchess of Brittany from King Edward III’s tomb in Westminster Abbey; Credit – Wikipedia

Mary of Waltham, Duchess of Brittany was born on October 10, 1344, at Bishop’s Waltham Palace in Bishop’s Waltham, Hampshire, England. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Mary was called “of Waltham”. Mary was the ninth of the fourteen children and the fourth of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Joan’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Mary had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses.

Woodstock Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the favorite residence of Mary’s mother Philippa and the birthplace of several of her children. In her early years, Mary was raised in the household of Sir William de St. Omer, Lord of Brundale, and his wife Elizabeth. It was common for royal and noble children to be raised for a period of time in another household.

John IV, Duke of Brittany (right) jousting with Mary’s brother Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (left); Credit – Wikipedia

Mary was well-acquainted with her future husband John IV, Duke of Brittany because he had been raised in King Edward III’s household. During a succession dispute in the Duchy of Brittany, now in France, King Edward III supported John of Monfort, John IV’s father. During the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, a close alliance with Brittany would give the English troops access to ports in Brittany. When John of Montfort was captured at the Siege of Rennes, during the War of the Breton Succession, his wife Joanna of Flanders, received military support from King Edward III. In return, Joanna promised her son John would marry one of Edward III’s daughters. In 1342, Joanna of Flanders brought her three-year-old son to England and left him with King Edward III for safety, and so the future John IV, Duke of Brittany was raised in the royal nursery. When Mary was born in 1344, she was regarded as the future bride of John. Her sisters were older than John and already betrothed. When John’s father died in 1345, he inherited the Duchy of Brittany and King Edward III became his guardian. Mary and John spent their childhood together

16-year-old Mary and 22-year-old John were married at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England around July 3, 1361. There is no account of the wedding but it is known that tailor John Avery created a wedding dress, a gift from King Edward III, consisting of a tunic and a mantle made from two types of cloth of gold. The mantle was trimmed with 600 minivers and 40 ermines, gifts from King Jean II of France.

Mary and John remained at the English court after their marriage. Arrangements were being made for them to leave England and reside in Brittany as the Duke and Duchess of Brittany. However, within weeks, Mary became quite ill, and she died sometime before September 13, 1361, because on that date a clerk of the royal court paid 200 pounds “for the expenses of the burial of Madame Mary, daughter of the King, Duchess of Brittany”. Sadly, Mary’s 15-year-old younger sister Margaret, Countess of Pembroke died unexpectedly a few weeks later, after October 1, 1361, the last date there is a record that she was living. Mary and her sister Margaret were buried at Abingdon Abbey in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. Abingdon Abbey was dissolved in 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Nothing of Abingdon Abbey remains.

Drawing of the effigy on John’s tomb: Credit – Wikipedia

Mary’s widower John IV, Duke of Brittany married two more times and both wives had an English connection. In 1366, John married Lady Joan Holland (1350 – 1384), daughter of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan of Kent, 4th Countess of Kent, a granddaughter of King Edward I of England and the mother of King Richard II of England from her third marriage to Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King Edward III of England. John and Joan Holland had no children. In 1386, John married Joan of Navarre (1370 – 1437), daughter of King Charles II of Navarre and Joan of Valois. John and Joan of Navarre had nine children.  John IV, Duke of Brittany died on November 1, 1399, aged 60, in Nantes, Duchy of Brittany, now in France. He was buried at Nantes Cathedral. After John’s death, his widow Joan of Navarre became the second wife of King Henry IV of England.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
  • John IV, Duke of Brittany (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_IV,_Duke_of_Brittany (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Mary of Waltham (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_of_Waltham (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Мария Плантагенет (2022) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F_%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%82 (Accessed: November 27, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British Royalty: A Phrase and Fable Dictionary. London: Cassell.

Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of the short-reigning King Luis I of Spain, Princess Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans was born on December 9, 1709, at the Palace of Versailles in France. She was the sixth of the eight children and the fifth of the seven daughters of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, the legitimized daughter of King Louis XIV of France and his mistress Françoise-Athénaïs de Rochechouart, Marquise de Montespan, who were Louise-Élisabeth’s maternal grandparents. Her paternal grandparents were Philippe I, Duke of Orléans (the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France) and his second wife Elizabeth Charlotte (Liselotte) of the Palatinate, a great-granddaughter of King James I of England/James VI, King of Scots.

Louise Élisabeth had seven siblings:

Because she was one of six surviving daughters, there was no real hope for a good marriage for Louise Élisabeth. Therefore, she was politically irrelevant, little attention was paid to her, and her upbringing and education were neglected. In her letters, her paternal grandmother Liselotte often wrote about Louise Élisabeth’s cheekiness and bad manners. There were vague plans to marry her to an obscure German or Italian prince.

On September 1, 1715, King Louis XIV died. Because both his son Louis, Le Grand Dauphin and his grandson Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin predeceased him, King Louis XIV was succeeded by his five-year-old great-grandson King Louis XV, the son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petite Dauphin. King Louis XIV had stipulated in his will that a Regency Council be established until his great-grandson reached his majority. The Regency Council was led by King Louis XIV’s nephew, Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the father of Louise Élisabeth, who served as Regent of France.

In 1718, the War of the Quadruple Alliance broke out between France and Spain. Two years later, in 1720, King Felipe V of Spain wanted to make a peace agreement. King Felipe V of Spain was born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, from the House of Habsburg, died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain was the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, King Carlos II of Spain, in his will, named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.

King Felipe V of Spain and Louise Élisabeth’s father Philippe II, Duke of Orléans were first cousins once removed. In the 1720 peace agreement between France and Spain, King Felipe V proposed double marriages: his two-year-old daughter Infanta Mariana Victoria of Spain was betrothed to marry ten-year-old King Louis XV of France. King Felipe V’s thirteen-year-old son and heir Luis, Prince of Asturias would marry one of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans’ daughters.

Louise Élisabeth’s husband King Luis I of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Louise Élisabeth of Orléans was chosen as the bride for the future King Luis I of Spain who was her second cousin once removed. In November 1721, fourteen-year-old Luis and eleven-year-old Louise Élisabeth were married by proxy, in Paris, France. On January 9, 1722, on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa River, on the border of France and Spain, the French Louise Élisabeth was exchanged for the Spanish Mariana Victoria. On January 20, 1722, Luis and Louise Élisabeth were married in person at the Ducal Palace of Lerma in Lerma, Burgos, Spain.

The marriage was unsuccessful and resulted in no children due to Louise Élisabeth’s young age and her increasingly erratic and impulsive behavior. She appeared in public dirty and unkempt, refused to use undergarments, and tried to provoke courtiers by showing her intimate parts in public. At meals, Louise Élisabeth would not eat but would hide the food and compulsively eat it later. She would suddenly undress in public to clean the windows and tiles with her clothes. Modern mental health professionals think she had borderline personality disorder. Her husband Luis wrote to his father, “I see no other solution but to lock her down as soon as possible, for her troubles keep increasing.” Luis had his wife confined to a convent. Louise Élisabeth cried and sent her husband letters asking for forgiveness. He later felt sorry for her and released her.

On January 14, 1724, Luis’s father King Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of his son Luis for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. The problems with his wife Louise Élisabeth dominated Luis’s short reign.

Louise Élisabeth d’Orléans, Queen of Spain in 1724; Credit – Wikipedia

Luis became ill with smallpox in July 1724. Louise Élisabeth was his only company because his parents, fearful of the illness, left the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. Luis’s smallpox was complicated by pneumonia. Fourteen-year-old Louise Élisabeth cared for and remained with her seventeen-year-old husband until his death, on August 31, 1724. She also contracted smallpox but recovered from the illness. Luis’s father Felipe V was again forced to ascend to the Spanish throne because his younger son, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age. Louise Élisabeth, a widow at the age of fourteen, now of no use to the Spanish court and royal family, lost all support and became totally isolated.

In 1725, seven-year-old Mariana Victoria of Spain, the intended bride of King Louis XV of France,  was sent back to Spain. French Prime Minister Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon wanted his sister to be King Louis XV’s bride so he would have more influence. Because the marriage of King Luis I of Spain and Louise Élisabeth had not been consummated, Louise Élisabeth was sent back to France. Mariana Victoria left Versailles on April 5, 1725, and traveled to the Spanish border where she and Louise Élisabeth were once again exchanged. Five months later, 15-year-old Louis XV, King of France married but his bride was 22-year-old Marie Leszczyńska, daughter of Stanislaus I, the deposed King of Poland, not the sister of Louis Henri, Duke of Bourbon.

The Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris where Louise-Élisabeth was buried; Credit – By Zairon – File:Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 4.jpgFile:Paris Saint-Sulpice Fassade 5.jpg, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95975368

Sixteen-year-old Louise-Élisabeth discreetly returned to Paris, arriving on May 23, 1725. She lived at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, away from the court of King Louis XV, her first cousin once removed. Lonely and forgotten, Louise Élisabeth died seventeen years later, on June 16, 1742. She was buried in the Church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris but her tomb was desecrated and destroyed during the French Revolution.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2022) Luis I, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/luis-i-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
  • Louise Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
  • Louise-Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia (French). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise-%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).
  • Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_II,_Duke_of_Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 24, 2022).

Joan of England

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2023

Joan of England, sculpted on the tomb of her father King Edward III, from The Monumental Effigies of Great Britain drawn and etched by Thomas Hollis and George Hollis; Credit – Wikipedia

One of the early English victims of the bubonic plague, dying from it on her way to her wedding, Joan was the third of the fourteen children and the second of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Joan’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois. The date and place of her birth have been cited differently. The years of her birth have been cited as 1333, 1334, or 1335. The Tower of London or Woodstock Palace has been cited as her place of birth. Alison Weir in her 1989 Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy says, Joan “was probably born in February (certainly before 30 May), 1335 at Woodstock Palace in Oxford, not in the Tower of London as is sometimes stated.”

Joan had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so some of Joan’s siblings were called “of <their birthplace>.

Woodstock Palace; Credit – Wikipedia

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was the favorite residence of Joan’s mother Philippa and the birthplace of several of her children. Joan, her sister Isabella, her brother Edward, and their first cousin once removed Joan of Kent (who married Joan’s eldest brother and is the mother of King Richard II) were sent to live in the household of Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and his second wife Marie de St Pol, Countess of Pembroke. It was common for royal and noble children to be raised for a period of time in another household.

In 1338, three-year-old Joan accompanied her father to Koblenz, a seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, now in Germany, where King Edward III was a special guest of Ludwig IV, Holy Roman Emperor, at a meeting of the Imperial Diet, the deliberative body of the Holy Roman Empire. King Edward III and Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV formally allied against King Philippe VI of France. Because Joan stayed at Ludwig’s court to be educated, she possibly was betrothed to one of the sons of Ludwig and his second wife Margaret of Hainault, the older sister of Joan’s mother. However, Ludwig broke his alliance with Edward III, and in 1340, Joan was returned to England.

In 1345, Joan was betrothed to the future King Pedro of Castile and León, the son of King Alfonso XI of Castile and León and Maria of Portugal. In the summer of 1348, thirteen-year-old Joan left England for Bayonne, Duchy of Gascony, now in France, where her wedding was to take place on November 1, 1348. Joan was accompanied by a heavily armed retinue and it was said that her trousseau alone required an entire ship.

The fleet of four English ships arrived in the port of Bordeaux, Duchy of Gascony, now in France. The mayor of Bordeaux warned the officials accompanying Joan of the Black Death, the bubonic plague. The plague had not yet reached England, and it is unlikely that the officials realized the danger. Joan’s retinue settled in a family castle in Bordeaux to take a planned break in their travels. Despite a serious outbreak of the plague in Bordeaux, it did not occur to Joan and the officials to leave the city. However, they soon watched in horror as members of Joan’s retinue fell ill and began to die. Robert Bauchier, the leader of Joan’s retinue, died on August 20, 1338. After the death of Robert Bauchier, Joan feared for her life and was moved to a small village called Loremo. However, Joan did not escape the plague and died on September 2, 1348.

Map showing the spread of the Black Death; Credit – By Flappiefh – Own work from:Natural Earth ;The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy: first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy) maps by O.J. Benedictow., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=66468361

Andrew Ulford, a member of Joan’s retinue who did not get the plague, traveled to England in October 1348 to inform King Edward III of the shocking news of his daughter’s death. On October 15, 1348, King Edward III sent a letter to King Alfonso XI of Castile annulling the marriage arrangement and describing the grief he and his family experienced after Joan’s sudden death. He described her as a martyred angel looking down on them from heaven to protect the royal family. On October 25, 1348, King Edward III sent men to Bordeaux to bring Joan’s body back to London for burial. It is unknown what happened. There is no record of the return of Joan’s remains to England and no reports of her burial.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Joan of England (died 1348) (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_England_(died_1348) (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Иоанна Английская (1335-1348) (2021) Wikipedia (Russian). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%90%D0%BD%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B9%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_(1335%E2%80%941348) (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British royalty: A Phrase and Fable dictionary. London: Cassell.

Luis I, King of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Luis I, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

After the abdication of his father, Luis I, King of Spain had a very short reign, from January 14, 1724 to August 31, 1724. Luis Felipe was born on August 25, 1707, at the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. He was the eldest of the four sons of Felipe V, King of Spain and his first wife Maria Luisa of Savoy. Luis’s paternal grandparents were Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the heir apparent to the throne of France, and Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. His maternal grandparents were  Vittorio Amedeo II, King of Sardinia and Anne Marie of Orléans.

Luis’s father King Felipe V of Spain;  Credit – Wikipedia

Luis’ father had been born a French prince, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV of France. In 1700, King Carlos II of Spain, from the House of Habsburg, died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the Spanish throne because his mother Maria Theresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II. However, neither Louis, Le Grand Dauphin nor his elder son Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Le Petit Dauphin could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, King Carlos II of Spain, in his will, named the second son of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, 16-year-old Philippe, Duke of Anjou, as his successor. He reigned as Felipe V, King of Spain, the first Bourbon monarch of Spain.

Luis had three younger brothers but only one survived childhood:

Luis at age ten; Credit – Wikipedia

Luis was the heir apparent to the Spanish throne at birth but was not given the traditional title of Prince of Asturias until April 1709. When Luis was six-years-old, his mother Maria Luisa died from tuberculosis at the age of 25 on February 14, 1714. On December 24, 1714, ten months after the death of his mother, Luis’s father married again to Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the only surviving child of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg.

Felipe V of Spain with his second wife Elisabeth and some of his children from his first and second marriages – from left to right: the future Fernando VI, King Felipe V, the future Luis I; Felipe, the future Duke of Parma, Queen Elisabeth, a portrait of the Infanta Mariana Victoria, and the future Carlos III: Credit – Wikipedia

Luis had six half-siblings from his father’s second marriage but only the eldest three were born before Luis died.

Luis was educated and prepared to be King of Spain by Baltasar Hurtado de Amézaga y Unzaga, Marqués del Riscal de Alegre, an intelligent and capable Spanish general. Because Luis was the heir to a new Spanish dynasty, the House of Bourbon, it was decided that he should marry as soon as possible.

In 1718, the War of the Quadruple Alliance broke out between France and Spain. Two years later, in 1720, King Felipe V wanted to make a peace agreement with his first cousin once removed Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the Regent for the child King of France, Louis XV. In the 1720 peace agreement between France and Spain, King Felipe V proposed double marriages: his two-year-old daughter Infanta Mariana Victoria would marry ten-year-old King Louis XV of France. King Felipe V’s thirteen-year-old son and heir Luis, Prince of Asturias would marry one of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans’ daughters.

Luis’s wife Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Louise Élisabeth of Orléans, daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Françoise Marie de Bourbon, was chosen as his bride. Louise Élisabeth and Luis were second cousins once removed. She was a granddaughter of King Louis XIV of France through one of his illegitimate children and also a granddaughter of Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the only sibling of King Louis XIV of France. In November 1721, fourteen-year-old Luis and eleven-year-old Louise Élisabeth were married by proxy, in Paris, France. On January 9, 1722, on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidassoa River, on the border of France and Spain, the French Louise Élisabeth was exchanged for the Spanish Mariana Victoria. On January 20, 1722, Luis and Louise Élisabeth were married in person at the Ducal Palace of Lerma in Lerma, Burgos, Spain.

The marriage was unsuccessful and resulted in no children due to the young age of Louise Élisabeth, known for her erratic and impulsive behavior. She appeared in public dirty and unkempt, refused to use undergarments, and tried to provoke courtiers by showing her intimate parts in public. At meals, Louise Élisabeth would not eat but would hide the food and compulsively eat it later. She would suddenly undress in public to clean the windows and tiles with her clothes. Modern mental health professionals think she had borderline personality disorder. Her husband Luis wrote to his father, “I see no other solution but to lock her down as soon as possible, for her troubles keep increasing.” Luis had his wife confined to a convent. Louise Élisabeth cried and sent her husband letters asking for forgiveness. He later felt sorry for her and released her.

On January 14, 1724, Luis’s father King Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne in favor of Luis for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. The problems with his wife dominated Luis’s short reign. His father kept tabs on him but to counter his father’s influence, Luis surrounded himself with advisers who had not served his father. Luis planned to focus more on the Spanish colonies in the New World rather than the lost Italian territories.

Luis’s tomb at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial; Credit – Wikipedia

King Luis I contracted smallpox in July 1724. His wife Louise Élisabeth was his only company because his parents, fearful of the illness, left the Palacio del Buen Retiro in Madrid, Spain. Luis’s smallpox was complicated by pneumonia. Fourteen-year-old Louise Élisabeth cared for and remained with her seventeen-year-old husband until his death, on August 31, 1724. She also contracted smallpox but recovered from the illness. Luis I, King of Spain was interred in the Pantheon of Kings at the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.

Luis’s father Felipe V was forced to once again ascend to the Spanish throne because his younger son, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age. Louise Élisabeth, a widow at the age of fourteen, now of no use to the Spanish court and royal family, lost all support and became totally isolated. In 1725, when France decided to send seven-year-old Mariana Victoria back to Spain so King Louis XV could marry someone else, it was also decided to send Louise Élisabeth back to France. She lived at the Palais du Luxembourg in Paris, away from the court of King Louis XV, her first cousin once removed. Louise Élisabeth died seventeen years later, lonely and forgotten.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Lluís i d’espanya (2022) Wikipedia (Catalan). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llu%C3%ADs_I_d%27Espanya (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Louis I of Spain (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_I_of_Spain (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Louise Elisabeth d’Orléans (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_%C3%89lisabeth_d%27Orl%C3%A9ans (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Luis I de España (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_I_de_Espa%C3%B1a (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Isabella of England, Countess of Bedford

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Philippa of Hainault, Queen of England & one of her daughters, probably Isabella, wall painting at St Stephen’s Chapel, Palace of Westminster; Credit – Wikipedia

Born on June 16, 1332, at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, Isabella of England, Countess of Bedford, was the second of the fourteen children and the eldest of the five daughters of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Her paternal grandparents were King Edward II of England and Isabella of France, for whom she was named. Isabella’s paternal grandparents were Willem I, Count of Hainault (also Count of Holland, Count of Avesnes, and Count of Zeeland) and Joan of Valois.

Isabella had thirteen siblings. Her brothers married into the English nobility, and it was their descendants who later battled for the throne in the Wars of the Roses. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so some of Isabella’s siblings were called “of <their birthplace>.

The family’s main home was Woodstock Palace in Oxfordshire, England. It was Isabella’s mother’s favorite residence and the birthplace of Isabella and three of her siblings. Isabella and her siblings had their own household, with many servants. As a child, Isabella, her brother Edward, and her sister Joan, the three eldest children, were sent to live in the household of Sir William de St. Omer, Lord of Brundale. It was common for royal and noble children to be raised for a period of time in another household.

When Isabella was three years old, her father unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate a marriage for her with Pedro I, the future King of Castile and León. In 1345, Isabella’s sister Joan was betrothed to the same Pedro but in 1348, as fourteen-year-old Joan traveled from England to Castile, she became ill with the plague and died. Over the years, Isabella had several other possible betrothals but none came to fruition. In 1351, a marriage had been arranged with Bernard d’Albret, son of Bernard Ezi II, Lord of Albret who held land in Gascony, now in France. As the ship was about to depart for France, Isabella changed her mind, and the marriage was called off. The unmarried Isabella was actively involved in court life and enjoyed watching tournaments and taking part in hunts. King Edward III granted his unmarried daughter English land including, in 1355, the control of Burstall Priory in Yorkshire. In 1358, Eleanor was granted an annual income of a thousand marks.

At the age of thirty-three, in 1365, Isabella married for love. The French nobleman Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy was one of the forty hostages from the French high nobility sent to England in 1360 during the Hundred Years’ War in exchange for the release of King Jean II of France. Seven years younger than Isabella, he was the son and heir of Enguerrand VI, Lord of Coucy and Catherine of Austria. In London, Enguerrand became acquainted with King Edward III and his unmarried daughter Isabella. The couple fell in love. Edward III agreed to the marriage and granted him the titles Earl of Albemarle and Earl of Bedford.

On July 27, 1365, Isabella and Enguerrand were married at Windsor Castle amid festivity and magnificence. Isabella wore the jewels her father, mother, and brothers gave her as a wedding present. King Edward III’s wedding present to his new son-in-law Enguerrand was his release as a hostage without paying a ransom.

Ruins of the Château de Coucy; Credit – By CJ DUB – Own work, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2699065

Four months after the wedding, Isabella and Enguerrand traveled to Enguerrand’s home, the Château de Coucy in Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, Lordship of Coucy, now in France. In April 1366, Isabella gave birth to her first daughter in Coucy. Throughout her married life, Isabella never felt quite at home in Coucy. Whenever Enguerrand had to be away for extended periods, she would return to England. The couple’s second daughter was born in Eltham Palace in London, England in 1367.

Isabella and Enguerrand had two daughters:

Three months after the birth of their second daughter, Isabella and her husband returned to Coucy. When the Hundred Years’ War between England and France resumed in 1368, Enguerrand VII faced a dilemma as he was a vassal of the King of France and the son-in-law of the King of England. He decided not to participate in any battles of the Hundred Years’ War. However, Enguerrand continued to serve the King of France as a military commander and was often away from home.

In 1376, Isabella was created the second Lady of the Garter. Her mother Queen Philippa had been created the first Lady of the Garter in 1369. The Order of the Garter was founded in 1348 by Isabella’s father King Edward III and is the oldest and most senior order in the United Kingdom.

In April 1377, Isabella was summoned to England because of the ill health of her father King Edward III. She was at his deathbed when he died on June 21, 1377. Because Isabella’s elder brother Edward, Prince of Wales, the Black Prince had died in 1376, his ten-year-old son succeeded as King Richard II. After the coronation of Richard II, Enguerrand decided to cut all ties to England and only serve the French king, effectively ending his marriage with Isabella. Enguerrand returned to France, never to see Isabella again. Isabella remained in England with her younger daughter Philippa while her older daughter Marie continued living in France.

Isabella died either in April 1379 or sometime between June 17 and October 5, 1382, aged 47 or 50. She was buried in Christ Church Greyfriars in London, England. Several other female family members were also buried there: her paternal aunt Joan of The Tower, Queen of Scots; her paternal grandmother Isabella of France, Queen of England; the second wife of her great grandfather King Edward I, Margaret of France, Queen of England; and her great-great-aunt, the daughter of King Henry III, Beatrice of England. The graves and the tombs at Christ Church Greyfriars have been lost or destroyed. The monastery associated with Christ Church Greyfriars was dissolved in 1538 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The buildings, including the church, suffered heavy damage. Tombs disappeared, sold for their marble and other valuable materials, and monuments were defaced. The original Christ Church Greyfriars was destroyed during the 1666 Great Fire of London. The church was rebuilt but was mostly destroyed by bombing during World War II. It was decided not to rebuild the church and the ruins are now a public garden.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Flantzer, Susan. (2015) King Edward III of England, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/king-edward-iii-of-england/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Mortimer, Ian. (2006) The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation. London: Vintage Books.
  • Weir, Alison. (1989) Britain’s Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. London: Vintage Books.
  • Williamson, David. (1996) Brewer’s British royalty: A Phrase and Fable dictionary. London: Cassell.

Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, Queen of Spain

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Elisabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth Farnese of Parma, the second wife of Felipe V, King of Spain, was born on October 25, 1692, at the Palazzo della Pilotta in Duchy of Parma, now in Parma, Italy. She was the second but the only surviving of the two children and the only daughter of Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma and Dorothea Sophie of Neuburg. Elisabeth’s paternal grandparents were Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Isabella d’Este. Her maternal grandparents were Philipp Wilhelm of Neuburg, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Elisabeth had one older brother who died in early childhood:

  • Alessandro Ignazio Farnese (1691- 1693)

Elisabeth’s father died in 1693, only a month after the death of her brother. In 1696, Elisabeth’s mother Dorothea married her father’s half-brother, Francesco Farnese, who had become Duke of Parma when his father died in 1694. Francesco married his half-brother’s widow because he did not want to give up Dorothea’s dowry should she marry someone else. Their marriage was childless. Because of the lack of male heirs of Elisabeth’s father, her uncle-stepfather, and her youngest uncle, both succeeded one another as Duke of Parma. Changes were legally made for the succession of the Duchy of Parma in the female line through Elisabeth. Eventually, her second son Felipe, Infant of Spain became the Duke of Parma and founded the House of Bourbon-Parma.

Elisabeth as a teenager, circa 1706; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth had a good relationship with her uncle and stepfather Francesco Farnese, Duke of Parma. After her marriage, Elisabeth maintained a correspondence with Francesco until he died in 1727. However, Elisabeth had a distant relationship with her mother who treated her very severely. Although Elisabeth had a mediocre intelligence and was not interested in intellectual pursuits, she spoke German, French, Latin, and Spanish in addition to her native Italian, and studied history, geography, philosophy, and religion.

In 1714, Maria Luisa of Savoy, the wife of Felipe V, King of Spain, died from tuberculosis at the age of twenty-five. Thirty-one-year-old Felipe V almost immediately sought a new wife and there was no shortage of possibilities. At this time, the key powerbroker at the Spanish court was Marie-Anne de la Trémoille, Princesse des Ursins, a French courtier and royal favorite known for her political influence. She had dominated Felipe V and his first wife Maria Luisa. The Princesse des Ursins worked with Cardinal Giulio Alberoni, the chief adviser of Felipe V, and they arranged for Felipe V to marry Elisabeth.

Elisabeth’s husband Felipe V, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Felipe V, King of Spain had been born Philippe of France, Duke of Anjou. He was the second of the three sons of Louis, Le Grand Dauphin, the only surviving child of King Louis XIV of France, and the heir apparent to the throne of France. In 1700, Carlos II, King of Spain died childless with no immediate Habsburg heir. Philippe’s father Louis, Le Grand Dauphin had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne of Spain because his mother Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain had been the half-sister of Carlos II, King of Spain. However, neither Philippe’s father nor his elder brother, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, could be displaced from their place in the succession to the French throne. Therefore, Carlos II, King of Spain named 16-year-old Philippe of Anjou, Duke of Anjou as his successor. Felipe V was the first Spanish monarch from the House of Bourbon, which is still the ruling house of Spain.

On September 16, 1714, Elisabeth and Felipe V were married by proxy in the Duchy of Parma. Elisabeth left Parma in September and traveled to Spain by land. On her way to Spain, she was the guest of Antonio I, Prince of Monaco, and she visited her maternal aunt Maria Anna of Neuburg, Dowager Queen of Spain who had settled in Bayonne, France after King Felipe V had exiled her from Spain. On December 24, 1714, ten months after the death of Felipe V’s first wife, Elisabeth and Felipe V were married in Guadalajara, Spain. Felipe V was enthusiastic about his new wife, and Elisabeth soon dominated her weak-willed and indecisive husband. She spent a great deal of time with him, often accompanying him on hunts, where she displayed her excellent riding and shooting skills.

Felipe V of Spain with his wife Elisabeth and some of his children from his first and second marriages – from left to right: the future Fernando VI, King Felipe V, the future Luis I; Felipe, the future Duke of Parma, Queen Elisabeth, a portrait of the Infanta Mariana Victoria, and the future Carlos III: Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth and Felipe V had six children:

Upon her marriage, Elisabeth became the stepmother of Felipe V’s children from his first marriage. By 1719, only two of the four children had survived. Elisabeth never showed affection toward her stepsons. She considered her stepsons to be obstacles to achieving her main objective: to provide her sons with a realm to rule.

Elisabeth’s stepsons:

King Felipe V of Spain experienced episodes of manic depression. During several periods (1717, 1722, 1728, 1731, 1732–33, and 1737), Felipe V was unable to handle government affairs and Elisabeth became the de facto ruler. Elisabeth was not interested in domestic policy and preferred foreign policy, where her goal was to enforce the Spanish presence in the Italian states, combined with her ambition for her own sons, who were initially not expected to succeed in Spain because her stepsons were ahead of them in the line of succession.

On January 14, 1724, Felipe V abdicated the Spanish throne to Luis, his seventeen-year-old eldest son from his first marriage, for reasons that are still unclear. Perhaps it was because Felipe suffered from mental instability and did not wish to reign due to his increasing mental decline. Another theory is that Felipe was concerned about the succession to the French throne due to several deaths. Although the treaty that ended the War of the Spanish Succession forbade a union of the French and Spanish crowns, perhaps Felipe hoped that by abdicating the Spanish throne, he could succeed to the French throne if necessary. However, seven months later, Felipe was forced to once again become King of Spain because King Luis I died of smallpox and Felipe’s younger son from his first marriage, the future King Fernando VI, was not yet of legal age.

Felipe V and Elisabeth in 1739; Credit – Wikipedia

As he grew older, Felipe V’s mental issues worsened and Elisabeth became the permanent de facto ruler of Spain. Only the singing of the Italian castrato opera singer Farinelli (born Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi) brought any peace to Felipe. Farinelli would sing eight or nine arias for Felipe and Elisabeth every night, usually with a trio of musicians.

On July 9, 1746, 62-year-old Felipe V had a stroke and died a few hours later in Elisabeth’s arms. Just thirteen days later, Elisabeth’s 20-year-old daughter Maria Theresa Rafaela died three days after giving birth to a daughter who died two years later. Elisabeth had long feared that when her husband died, she would lose power, especially since the heir to the throne, the future King Fernando VI, was not her own son, but Felipe V’s last surviving son from his first marriage. Elisabeth was unpopular with the Spanish people, had ill-treated Fernando, and excluded him from government affairs. After Fernando became king, he allowed Elisabeth to stay in Spain. However, she had to move out of the Royal Palace in Buen Retiro and into the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja.

Elisabeth’s stepson Fernando VI, King of Spain reigned for thirteen years. During the last year of his reign, Fernando VI rapidly lost his mental capacity and was held at the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón, near Madrid, until his death on August 10, 1759. Fernando VI’s marriage to Barbara of Portugal was childless and so upon his death, Elisabeth’s elder surviving son succeeded his half-brother as King Carlos III of Spain.

All subsequent monarchs of Spain from the House of Bourbon are descendants of King Carlos III of Spain. Therefore, Elisabeth is the ancestor of the House of Bourbon that still reigns in Spain. And so Elisabeth achieved the goal she set so long ago. Her elder son became King of Spain and her younger son Felipe became sovereign Duke of Parma and founder of the House of Bourbon-Parma. Although the House of Bourbon-Parma no longer reigns, the pretender to the throne of the Duchy of Parma is Elisabeth’s descendant.

Tomb of Elisabeth and Felipe V, King of Spain; Credit – Wikipedia

Elisabeth spent the last years of her life at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez and the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso. On July 11, 1766, aged 73, Elisabeth died at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Spain. When Elisabeth’s husband King Felipe V of Spain, born a Prince of France, died, he requested not to be buried at the traditional burial site, the Pantheon of Kings in the Royal Crypt of the Royal Basilica of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain. Instead, Felipe V requested to be buried in the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, known as La Granja, in the province of Segovia in central Spain. The architecture of La Granja reminded him of the longed-for French court of his childhood. Elisabeth was buried at his side.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

  • Elisabeth Farnese (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Farnese (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Isabel Farnesio (2022) Wikipedia (Spanish). Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Farnesio (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Flantzer, Susan. (2019) Felipe V, King of Spain, Unofficial Royalty. Available at: https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/felipe-v-first-bourbon-king-of-spain/ (Accessed: November 23, 2022).
  • Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odoardo_Farnese,_Hereditary_Prince_of_Parma (Accessed: November 23, 2022).

Eleanor of Woodstock, Duchess of Guelders

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Eleanor of Woodstock, Duchess of Guelders; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor of Woodstock, the second wife of Reinald II, Duke of Guelders, was born on June 18, 1318, at Woodstock Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. Eleanor was named after her paternal grandmother, Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England. During the reign of the House of Plantagenet, their children were often identified by their place of birth, and so Eleanor was called “of Woodstock”. She was the third of the four children and the elder of the two daughters of King Edward II of England and Isabella of France. Eleanor’s paternal grandparents were King Edward I of England and his first wife, Eleanor of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were King Philippe IV of France and Joan I, Queen of Navarre in her own right.

Eleanor had three siblings:

Eleanor and her siblings had a difficult childhood. Their father Edward II was a weak king, and his relationship with his favorites Piers Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger, whether they were friends, lovers, or sworn brothers, was problematic and caused discontent among the nobles and the royal family. Opposition to the regime grew, and when Edward II’s wife Isabella was sent to France to negotiate a peace treaty in 1325, she turned against Edward II and refused to return. Isabella allied herself with the exiled Roger Mortimer, 3rd Baron Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, and invaded England with a small army in 1326. Edward II’s regime collapsed, and he fled to Wales, where he was captured in November 1326. Edward II was forced to give up his crown in January 1327 in favor of his 14-year-old son King Edward III, with Isabella and Mortimer acting as regents. King Edward II died in Berkeley Castle on September 21, 1327, probably murdered on the orders of Isabella and Mortimer.

In 1324, because of a war with France, Hugh le Despenser, the favorite of Eleanor’s father King Edward II, took custody of six-year-old Eleanor and her sister three-year-old Joan from their mother, Queen Isabella. He claimed that Isabella, who had been born in France, could incite her children to betray their father. Eleanor and Joan were placed in the care of Hugh le Despenser’s sister Isabel le Despenser and her husband, Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer. For the next two years, Eleanor lived at Pleshey Castle and Marlborough Castle, de Monthermer’s estates. When King Edward II was deposed in 1326, Eleanor and Joan were returned to the custody of their mother.

In 1328, things changed for Eleanor, her brother King Edward III, and her sister Joan. In January 1328, Edward III married Philippa of Hainault. Soon after, Eleanor was moved to the household of her new sister-in-law, who became her guardian. England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in the spring of 1328, formally ending the First War of Scottish Independence. One of the treaty’s terms was that seven-year-old Joan of England would marry four-year-old David, the son and heir of Robert I the Bruce, King of Scots. Eleanor and her mother accompanied Joan to Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England, 2 ½ miles from the border with Scotland, where the young couple was married in July 1328. Less than a year after the wedding, Robert the Bruce died, and Joan’s five-year-old husband became King David II of Scots, and eight-year-old Joan became Queen of Scots.

There had been some negotiations for a marriage for Eleanor. In 1325, there were negotiations between England and Castile for Eleanor to be betrothed to King Alfonso XI of Castile, but the betrothal never occurred due to disagreements over the dowry. The future King Jean II of France was a prospective groom for Eleanor in 1329, and in 1330, there were negotiations for Eleanor to marry the future King Pedro IV of Aragon. Neither negotiation resulted in a marriage. Since marriages to a king or future king had failed, Eleanor had to settle for a count who was twenty-three years older than her.

Reinald II, Count of Guelders, later Duke of Guelders; Credit – Wikipedia

Eleanor’s brother King Edward III had negotiated an alliance with Reinald II, then Count of Guelders and later Duke of Guelders, in connection with the English-French conflicts, but marriage to his sister had not been one of the goals. Exactly how the marriage came about is not known. Eleanor did not have a dowry and so the initiative for the marriage may have come from Reinald. It is also possible that Willem II, Count of Hainault and/or his wife Joan of Valois, the parents of Edward III’s wife Philippa, played a role in arranging the marriage. Willem was interested in an English-Guelders alliance, and Joan had a reputation as a talented mediator.

There appears to have been a proxy marriage on October 20, 1331, in England. In May 1332, 14-year-old Eleanor and 37-year-old Reinald II, Count of Guelders were married in person in Nijmegen, County of Guelders, now in the Netherlands. The County of Guelders, later the Duchy of Guelders, was located in parts of the present-day Netherlands and the present-day German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1339, during Reinald II’s reign, the County of Guelders was elevated to a Duchy.

Reinald had previously been married to Sophia Berthout, Lady of Mechelen, who died in 1329. Reinald had four daughters from this marriage who were not much younger than their stepmother Eleanor. After Eleanor and Reinald’s two sons had no children, two of the four daughters became Duchess of Guelders in their own right.

Eleanor’s step-children, the children of Reinald and his first wife:

Eleanor and Reinald had two sons.

Eleanor and Reinald had problems in their marriage, and Reinald began to depend more upon Jan Moliart, his chaplain and chief adviser. Moliart was accused of isolating Reinald from Eleanor and spreading rumors that Eleanor was suffering from leprosy. Because of the leprosy rumors, Eleanor was banished from court. She lived in Rosendael Castle, near Arnhem, County of Guelders, now in the Netherlands, probably with her youngest son. When Reinald attempted to annul the marriage, an angry Eleanor walked from Rosendael Castle to the Valkhof, a royal palace in Nijmegen, to contest the annulment. In front of the court, Eleanor threw off her cloak and bared her arms to prove she did not have leprosy, forcing Reinald to take her back.

On October 12, 1343, 48-year-old Reinald II, Duke of Guelders died after a riding accident. The Council of State elected two guardians and regents for nine-year-old son Reinald III, Duke of Guelders, his mother Eleanor and Dirk van Valkenburg. Dirk’s brother Jan van Valkenburg was elected stadtholder. The van Valkenburgs made the situation so difficult for Eleanor that she was forced to resign her post of regent, and in 1344, her son Reinald III, Duke of Guelders was formally declared to have reached his majority, and therefore, there was no need for a regency.

Broederenkerk, where Eleanor is buried; Credit – By Dguendel – Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=68105428

In 1350, with encouragement from his mother, Eleanor’s younger son Edward began a civil war against his brother Reinald III for control of the Duchy of Guelders. When Eleanor attempted to reconcile with her son Reinald, he rejected her reconciliation attempts and confiscated her property. Eleanor was then forced to retire to the Cistercian convent in Deventer, a city that was part of the Hanseatic League, now in the Netherlands. Eleanor did not want to ask her brother King Edward III of England for help. She died in poverty at the convent on April 22, 1355, aged 36. Eleanor was buried at the Broederenkerk (link in Dutch), officially the Roman Catholic St. Lebuinus Church in Deventer which had been built on the order of Eleanor.

Eleanor was buried somewhere in front of the high altar of Broederenkerk; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Eleanor did not live long enough to see the results of the civil war between her two sons. In 1361, Edward gained power and became Duke of Guelders, and Reinald III was captured and imprisoned. Edward reigned until August 24, 1371, when he was killed in a battle caused by a disagreement between his brother-in-law Wilhelm II, Duke of Jülich and Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg. Upon Edward’s death, his brother Reinald III regained the Duchy of Guelders but he died shortly afterward, on December 4, 1371. As neither Edward nor Reinald had children, another war of succession for Guelders began.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

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