Eleanor of Provence

Eleanor of Provence

Eleonore of Provence (French Aliénor de Provence or Éléonore de Provence ; English Eleanor of Provence ; * around 1223 probably in Aix-en-Provence ; † June 24/25 , 1291 in Amesbury ) was due to her marriage to Henry III. Queen of England from 1236 to 1272. In this position she was very unpopular with her subjects, partly because her Savoy relatives gained great political influence in England through her support. In the conflict of Henry III. along with the English barons, Eleanor emphatically supported the interests of her husband. During the reign of her son Edward I , she became a nun.

Life

Childhood and youth

Eleanor was the second of four daughters of Count Raimund Berengar V of Provence (1198-1245) and his wife Beatrix of Savoy (1206-1266), described in the sources as extremely beautiful . The year of Eleanor's birth can only be estimated at around 1223 because it is not given in any extant source. Since her father's court did not have a permanent residence, the indication of her presumed birthplace in Aix-en-Provence is not entirely certain. Two elder brothers Eleonores died early. Her older sister Margaret of Provence married the French King Louis IX in 1234 . , her younger sister, Sancha von der Provence , married Richard of Cornwall , later Roman-German king and brother of Henry III. of England . Her third and youngest sister, Beatrix von der Provence , finally inherited Provence and in 1246 married Karl von Anjou , later King of Sicily and brother of Louis IX.

From the 12th century, Provence was known for its love courts and troubadours. Eleonore thus learned to appreciate art and music in her youth, but grew up in relative poverty. Her father was a talented troubadour and her mother was probably a poet too. According to Nostradamus, Eleanor himself is said to have written the heroic poem Blandin de Cornouailles and sent Richard the Lionheart , which is impossible since this English king died before Eleanor was born. The thesis that Eleanor rather sent the poem mentioned to her future brother-in-law Richard of Cornwall is hardly correct. Her teacher was perhaps Romée de Villeneuve , who played a leading political role in Provence in the first half of the 13th century , and whom Dante transported to paradise in the sixth cant of his Divina Commedia .

Marriage to Heinrich III.

After the English King Henry III. had already undertaken several unsuccessful marriage arrangements, including with Johanna von Dammartin , later Countess von Ponthieu, negotiations regarding his marriage to Eleonore began around June 1235. Henry III. hoped from this marriage, among other things, the creation of a counterweight to the marriage of Louis IX. with Eleonore's sister Margarete. Eleonore's parents, however, could not afford dowry for their daughters, and so the English King Henry III. Contented with the promise that this dowry would be returned later. However, there is no evidence of such later payment.

Queen of England

In January 1236, Eleanor, then about 13, arrived in Dover accompanied by the English ambassadors, Hugh , Bishop of Ely, and Ralph , Bishop of Hereford . In Canterbury , on January 14, 1236, their wedding, celebrated by the local Archbishop Edmund Rich , took place with their bridegroom, the 28-year-old Henry III. Six days later, Eleanor was crowned to great jubilation in Westminster Abbey , which the chronicler Matthew Paris described in great detail. The large retinue that Eleanor had brought to England was led by Henry III. not sent home again, but left in the country and given numerous honors and gifts. This fact made Eleonore less popular in her new home.

Promoting relatives; unpopularity

As a young English queen, Eleanor Nicholas Farnham was her doctor and confessor. His appointment as Bishop of Durham in 1241 was due to Eleanor's intercession. She was on friendly terms with Robert Grosseteste , Bishop of Lincoln, Richard Wyche , Bishop of Chichester, and the learned Franciscan Adam Marsh .

Eleonore's maternal uncles gained considerable political influence in England and shaped the Queen's early political role. Wilhelm von Savoyen , Bishop of Valence, who had accompanied his niece to England in 1236, enriched himself here and developed into one of the most important advisers to Henry III. Thomas , Count of Flanders and Hainaut, and Boniface of Savoy used Eleonore's influence on the king. Boniface was nominated for the office of Archbishop of Canterbury in 1241, largely on Eleonore's initiative, a decision that Innocent IV confirmed in September 1243. Peter of Savoy , who was appointed Earl of Richmond in 1241 , played the role of a close advisor to Eleanor. He encouraged her to strengthen her position at court as the mother of the heir to the throne, Edward , and to secure high offices for her Savoyard relatives. Rivalries ensued between the latter and the sons from the marriage of Henry III's mother, Isabella von Angoulême , with Hugo X. von Lusignan , who arrived in England in 1247.

Several contemporary authors, mostly ecclesiastical and generally against women in positions of power, judged Eleonore's role as Queen of England to be very unfavorable. Yet she was a gifted diplomat who performed her duties devotedly and always acted in the best interests of her husband. She also had a very close relationship with her children and stayed in contact with them even after they got married. She often fell ill when one of her offspring was in trouble, for example when her eldest daughter Margarete during her early years of marriage with Alexander III. was in fact held in custody by Scotland.

Own court; Sources of income

Henry III. made sure that his wife could enjoy every conceivable comfort and in this sense had the royal residences renovated especially for her benefit. He also suspended a considerable amount of Wittum for Eleanor and was the first English monarch to grant his wife her own court and her own cloakroom, which was looked after by servants belonging to her household and files and invoices were made for their management.

The aurum reginae ("Queen's gold") was a tax source of income for the often indebted Eleanor , which was made up of an additional ten percent levy to be paid to the queen on voluntary fines paid to the king, as well as papal tithe and customs duties of the queen Assembled docks . Eleanor drew further financial resources from numerous guardianships that she exercised over the underage children of deceased vassals of the king. As a feudal lord, the latter could freely dispose of the income of such minors from their inherited estates and earn additional money by marrying female wards to the highest bidder. Heinrich III transferred many such guardianships to which he was entitled and the associated income. his wife. Eleanor exercised a fairly repressive tax collection and also received considerable funds extorted from the Jews. In 1250 she was accused of collecting an enormous sum of money from Aaron the Jew. Despite her significant financial resources, she had to take out large loans from Italian bankers, among others, to pay off her debts and those of her son Eduard.

Trips abroad; Regent for Henry III.

Eleonore accompanied her husband 1242-1243 on his failed campaign to regain the county of Poitou, which was conquered by the French . After the death of Eleonore's father Raimund Berengar V († August 19, 1245), his youngest daughter Beatrix became his universal heir and therefore Charles of Anjou after his marriage to Beatrix Count of Provence on January 31, 1246. But neither Eleonore nor Margaret of Provence agreed that their youngest sister Beatrix should be the sole heir of her father, which resulted in a lifelong rivalry between the two older sisters and their brother-in-law Karl von Anjou.

When Heinrich III. Translated to France in August 1253 to suppress a threatening Gascognischen uprising, Eleanor stayed behind as regent, with Henry's brother Richard of Cornwall being placed as an advisor. She took her related duties very seriously. During this time, their third daughter, Katherine, was born, who was born in November 1253, but was deaf and died when she was four years old. Twice during her reign, Eleanor convened parliament to request fresh funds to be drawn up to support her husband. The lower nobility and clergy took part in the parliamentary session held on April 26, 1254 for the first time. However, Eleanor did not get through with her wish for financial support from her husband.

On May 29, 1254 Eleanor left England, although Henry III. she had forbidden this, and embarked with her sons Eduard and Edmund and the Archbishop Boniface of Canterbury for Bordeaux , where she arrived on June 11th. She stayed with her husband in Bordeaux until October and then went on a pilgrimage with him in November to Pontigny to the shrine of Archbishop Edmund Rich of Canterbury, who was canonized there only six years after his death . In Chartres met Henry III. and his wife the French King Louis IX, whose guests they stayed in Paris for a week in December 1254 for a family reunion . On this occasion Eleanor saw her mother and sisters again. The English royal couple returned to the British Isles at the end of December 1254. The visit to Ludwig IX. represented a step in the direction of the Anglo-French peace sealed by the Treaty of Paris in 1259 .

Political role in the fight of Henry III. against the barons

Just like her husband, Eleanor endorsed the appointment of her second son Edmund as King of Sicily, proposed by Innocent IV in 1254, which crown, however, could only be won against Manfred of Sicily . Henry III. was to pay enormous subsidies and send auxiliary troops for this purpose, and in the end the whole enterprise, the so-called Sicilian adventure , remained hapless. The great influence of the Roman Curia in England, the unsuccessful foreign policy of the king, his awarding of high offices to "foreigners" mostly from France and his oppressive tax burden were decisive reasons for the rise of violent rebellion by local barons. In June 1258 the King had to make great concessions to this in the Provisions of Oxford , which resulted in a significant restriction of his power, which Eleanor regretted very much. At least she could be happy that the hated Lusignan brothers had left England.

Over the next few years, Eleanor fought the efforts of the rebellious barons, whose leader Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, had risen to become. In 1262 Urban IV released the English king from his oath to heed the Provisions of Oxford. On May 26, 1263, Eleanor had to seek refuge in the Tower of London . The following June their opponents devastated their lands. The unpopular Queen was intercepted on the London Bridge by an angry crowd of Londoners, pelted with stones and abused on 13 July 1263 while trying to get from the Tower in a boat on the Thames to her son Edward in Windsor Castle . She went to France with her younger son Edmund in September 1263. When the arbitrator in the dispute between Heinrich III. and the rebellious aristocrat called French king, probably also strongly influenced by Eleanor, pronounced in January 1264 in the Mise of Amiens essentially in favor of the English monarch, the barons were dissatisfied. The conflict now expanded into the open Second War of the Barons .

After Montfort's victory in the Battle of Lewes (May 14, 1264), the captured king had to reconfirm the Provisions of Oxford and hold the heir to the throne, Edward, hostage. Eleanor then used her continental family connections to raise funds and recruit mercenaries in order to be able to liberate her husband. She also received from Louis IX. a sizeable loan in exchange for the three Heinrich III. as a feudal lord of the French king subordinate dioceses of Limoges , Périgueux and Cahors . In the autumn of 1264, a sizeable army of mercenaries assembled them in the Flemish port of Sluis . However, bad weather prevented the fleet from leaving, and because of their dwindling financial resources, Eleonore's army dispersed again. So their plan to invade England failed. Now they relentlessly launched a diplomatic offensive against Simon de Montfort. Through her actions and connections she contributed to the victory of the royal troops led by Lord Eduard, who escaped his guards, in the Battle of Evesham (August 4, 1265), in which Montfort fell. At the end of October 1265, Eleanor returned to England with Edmund.

Widowhood and death

After the death of Henry III. (November 16, 1272) Eleanor sent messengers to inform Eduard , who was on a crusade, about the death of his father. During the reign of her eldest son, who now ascended the throne as Edward I, Eleanor had less political influence. But she was one of the richest landowners in England. In addition to her Wittum , which sheds around 4000 pounds a year , she also received income from the estate of her uncle Peter of Savoy, who died in 1268. In 1275, with the approval of her royal son, she expelled all Jews who lived in places belonging to her Wittum. In the role of queen widow, Eleanor had to take less criticism from the chroniclers than in the previous time as king consort; rather, it was now frequently praised by them. On extensive trips in England and on the European continent, she visited her children and grandchildren. Numerous letters that she wrote during her widowhood have survived.

In 1276 Eleanor entered Amesbury Abbey in Wiltshire . There she became a nun of the Order of Fontevrault in July 1286 , after two of her granddaughters, Mary of Woodstock (daughter of Edward I) and Eleonore von der Bretagne (daughter of John II of Brittany), entered the same place of worship at her instigation were. The Queen's Dowager made generous donations for the poor, gave land to the Saint Katherine women's hospital near the Tower of London in 1273, and ordered the annual distribution of alms on the anniversary of Henry III's death. She spent the last years of her life in relative seclusion, but still took part in two important family meetings in October 1289 and April 1290, where important political decisions were also discussed.

At the age of about 68, Eleanor died on June 24 or 25, 1291 in Amesbury Abbey and was buried there in the presence of numerous nobles and prelates. However, her funeral did not take place until September 9, 1291, as Edward I was in Scotland at the time of her death and wanted to personally attend the funeral of his mother. At the beginning of December 1291 the separate burial of their hearts took place in the Franciscan Church of London . Both burial sites no longer exist. There are also no contemporary portraits or statues of Eleanor.

ancestors

Alfonso II of Aragon

Sancha of Castile

Raymond I. de Sabran

Gersende I. of Forcalquier

Humbert III. of Savoy

Gertrude of Flanders

William I of Geneva

Beatrix of Faucigny

Alfons II of Provence

Gersende II by Forcalquier

Thomas I of Savoy

Beatrix of Geneva

Raimund Berengar V. of Provence

Beatrix of Savoy

Eleanor of Provence

progeny

King Henry III and Eleanor remained loyal to each other and lived a happy married life for more than 36 years. The following five children were certainly born from their connection:

• Edward I (June 17, 1239 - July 7, 1307), English king from 1272
• Margaret (September 29, 1240 - February 26, 1275) ⚭ 1251 King Alexander III. of Scotland
• Beatrice (* June 25, 1242; † March 24, 1275) Herz 1260 Duke John II of Brittany
• Edmund Crouchback, 1st Earl of Lancaster (born January 16, 1245 - † June 5, 1296)
• Katherine (November 25, 1253 - May 3, 1257)

Four other children were attributed to Eleanor, but their existence is doubtful as there is no contemporary evidence of them:

• Richard (* 1247; † 1256)
• John (* 1250; † 1256)
• William (* 1251; † 1256)
• Henry (* 1256; † 1257)

literature

• Thomas Andrew Archer: Eleanor of Provence . In: Dictionary of National Biography (DNB). Vol. 17 (1889), pp. 179f. ( online ).
• Margaret Howell: Eleanor of Provence . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB). Vol. 18 (2004), pp. 24f.
• E.-G. Ledos: Aliénor de Provence . In: Dictionnaire de biographie française (DBF). Vol. 2 (1936), Col. 7-9.
• Margaret E. Lynch: Eleanor of Provence . In: Anne Commire (Ed.): Women in World History . Vol. 5 (2000), ISBN 0-7876-4064-6 , pp. 108-114.

Web links

Commons : Eleonore von der Provence  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Eleanor of Provence on thepeerage.com , accessed July 26, 2015.

Remarks

1. ^ Alison Weir: Britain's Royal Families; The complete Genealogy , ISBN 978-0-09-953973-5 , p. 74.
2. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 24; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, p. 109.
3. ↑ So E.-G. Ledos, DBF, Vol. 2, Col. 7.
4. ↑ The tradition that Romée de Villeneuve was Eleonore's teacher is followed by Thomas Andrew Archer (DNB, vol. 17, p. 179) and Margaret E. Lynch ( Women in World History , vol. 5, p. 110); E.-G. rejects this thesis. Ledos (DBF, Vol. 2, Col. 7).
5. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 24; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, p. 110.
6. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 24; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, p. 111; E.-G. Ledos, DBF, Vol. 2, Col. 8.
7. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 25; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, pp. 111–11.
8. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, pp. 24f .; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, p. 112.
9. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 25; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, pp. 112–11.
10. ↑ Margaret Howell, ODNB, Vol. 18, p. 25; Margaret E. Lynch, Women in World History , Vol. 5, p. 113.

predecessor	Office	Successor
Isabella of Angoulême	Queen Consort of England 1236–1272	Eleanor of Castile