The Daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine

298 Pages·2011·12.5 MB·English

by  Colette Bowie

Bowie, Colette Marie (2011) The daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of
Aquitaine: a comparative study of twelfth-century royal women. PhD
thesis.

http://theses.gla.ac.uk/3177/

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The Daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: A
Comparative Study of Twelfth-Century Royal Women.

Colette Marie Bowie
M.A. (Hist), Mphil. (Hist)

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy

University of Glasgow
School of History

April 2011
i
Abstract

This thesis compares and contrasts the experiences of the three
daughters of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Matilda, Leonor and
Joanna all undertook exogamous marriages which cemented dynastic
alliances and furthered the political and diplomatic ambitions of their
parents. Their later choices with regards religious patronage, as well as the
way they and their immediate families were buried, seem to have been
influenced by their natal family, suggesting a coherent sense of family
consciousness. To discern why this might be the case, an examination of
the childhoods of these women has been undertaken, to establish what
emotional ties to their natal family may have been formed at this time.
The political motivations for their marriages have been analysed,
demonstrating the importance of these dynastic alliances, as well as
highlighting cultural differences and similarities between the courts of
Saxony, Castile, Sicily and the Angevin realm. Dowry and dower portions
are important indicators of the power and strength of both their natal and
marital families, and give an idea of their access to economic resources
which could provide financial means for patronage. The thesis then
examines the patronage and dynastic commemorations of Matilda, Leonor
and Joanna, in order to discern patterns or parallels. Their possible
involvement in the burgeoning cult of Thomas Becket, their patronage of
Fontevrault Abbey, the names they gave to their children, and finally
where and how they and their immediate families were buried, suggests
that all three women were, to varying degrees, able to transplant Angevin
family customs to their marital lands. The resulting study, the first of its
kind to consider these women in an intergenerational context, advances
the hypothesis that there may have been stronger emotional ties within the
Angevin family than has previously been allowed for.
ii
Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………….………………….. i
Contents………………………………………………….…………… ii-iv
List of Maps, Tables and Illustrations…………………………………... v
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….. vi
Abbreviations………………………………………………...……… vii-ix
Introduction…………………………………………………………... 1-25
Queenship: Historiographical Trends and Conceptual Themes……... 2-4
Methodology and Sources…………………………………………….5-8
Ideology and Representation……………………………...………... 8-14
Roles and Functions……………………………………….……… 14-19
Ritual……………………………………………………………… 19-23
Themes and Approaches………………………………………….. 23-25
Chapter 1: Carissima filia nostra: Birth, Childhood and Formative
Education………………………………………………………….… 26-61
Birth of an Angevin Princess………………………………….….. 27-30
Childhood Experiences and Emotional Ties: The Childhood Journeys of
Matilda, Leonor and Joanna…………………………………….... 30-37
Emotional History and the History of Emotions…….……...….…. 37-44
Eleanor of Aquitaine as Mother………………………….……….. 44-47
Medieval Childhood………………………………………………. 48-50
An Angevin Education…………………...……………………….. 51-61
Chapter 2: Satisfied as to her beauty: Marriage Negotiations and Political
Motivations………………………………………………………. 58-101
The Political Motivations for Matilda’s Marriage………………...63-65
The Political Motivations for Leonor’s Marriage………………… 66-69
Continuation of Angevin Marriage Policy: Berengaria of Navarre. 70-73
Joanna’s Marriage to William II of Sicily…………….…….…..... 74-77
The Political Motivations for Joanna’s Marriage………………… 78-82
Re-Opening of Negotiations……………………………………… 83-87
The Journeys to Saxony, Castile and Sicily………………..……... 87-93
The Sicilian Ambassadors………………………………………… 93-97
Love and Marriage in the Twelfth Century……………………. 97-101
iii

Chapter 3: Bodas muy grandes: Marriage, Dowry and Dower
Settlements…………………………………………………….. 102-158
Matilda’s marriage to Henry the Lion and Role as Duchess of
Saxony. ……………...…105-110
Leonor’s Marriage and Dower Settlement…...………………..111-114
Queen of Castile……..……………………………………….. 114-126
Leonor as Mother……………………………………………. 126-129
Leonor’s Dowry………………………………………...…… 129-134
The Dower of Berengaria of Navarre: Competing Queens and
Conflicting Claims………………………………………… 134-139
The Dower of Margaret of France…...…..…………………… 139-145
Joanna’s Marriage and Coronation…………………………… 145-148
Joanna’s Dower Settlement…………………………….…….. 148-153
The Crisis of 1189 and the Problem of Joanna’s Dower……... 153-156
The Role of the Queen in Sicily……………………………… 156-158
Chapter 4: The Sins of the Father: Endowment, Benefaction, and the Cult
of Thomas Becket……………………………………………….. 159-199
Henry’s Reaction: From Denial to Appropriation…………… 160-162
Royal Appropriation of Saints’ Cults…………………...…… 163-166
The Role of Henry’s Daughters……………………………… 166-168
Joanna and Sicily…………………………………………….. 168-176
Matilda and Saxony………………………………………….. 177-188
Leonor and Castile……………………………………...……. 188-190
A Different Persepective: Margaret and Hungary…………… 191-193
Royal Women and Saints’ Cults……………...……………… 193-199
Chapter 5: For the Health of Our Soul: Dynastic Connections,
Nomenclature and Commemoration….…………………... 200-244
Dynastic Nomenclature………………………………………. 200-211
Fontevrault, Patronage and Family Ties……………………... 212-221
Burial Patterns and Dynastic Mausolea……………...………. 221-222
Eleanor and Leonor, Fontevrault and Las Huelgas……...…… 223-231
The Tombs at Fontevrault……………………………………. 232-237
iv
The Tombs at Las Huelgas…………………………………… 237-242
The Joint Tomb of Alfonso and Leonor………………...……. 242-244

Conclusion………………….…………………………..………… 245-250
Bibliography………………………………………………….….. 251-282
Appendices……………………………………………………….. 283-287
1 Genealogical Table………………….…………………………… 283
2 Table of Matilda, Leonor and Joanna’s Childhood Journeys.... 284-5
3 Seals of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Leonor and Joanna………....… 286-7
v
List of Maps, Tables and Illustrations

Map of Leonor’s Dowerlands………………………………………… 115
Map of Joanna’s Dowerlands…………………………………………. 151
Joanna’s Tomb Effigy……………………………...…………………. 236
Joint Tomb of Leonor and Alfonso VIII of Castile…...………………. 239
Joint Tomb of Leonor and Alfonso with Arms of England and Castile 241
Geneaological Table………………………...………………………… 283
Table of Matilda, Leonor and Joanna’s Childhood Journeys………. 284-5
Seals of Eleanor of Aquitaine…………………………...……………. 286
Seal of Leonor, Queen of Castile…………………………………...….286
Seal of Joanna, Countess of Toulouse………………………..……….287
vi
Acknowledgements

This thesis could not have been written without the help and support of
many people, to whom I owe my thanks. Firstly, my supervisor, Professor
Matthew Strickland, whose support and advice has been invaluable. He
has gone above and beyond the call of duty on several occasions, and I am
honoured to call him both mentor and friend. The staff in the department
of Medieval History at the University of Glasgow have also variously
given me their time and support, and I am very grateful to them.
Professor Anne Duggan and Professor Graham Loud were very kind in
allowing me to see their pre-publication work; and I would also like to
thank Jitske Jasperse for sharing with me some of her German source
material on Matilda, and for providing me with a translation of her article
on Matilda’s patronage.
My friends and colleagues who have come through this with me,
especially Daniel Gerrard, Laura Crombie, James Thomson and Katy
Dutton – you have all helped me in numerous ways, both in terms of
offering support and advice on academic matters, and in taking me away
from them when it was needed.
Finally, I could not have completed this thesis without the emotional and
material support I have received from my family: many thanks, and much
love. Most importantly, I want to thank my daughter Molly, whose love
and patience whilst I’ve been living in the twelfth century are proof that
we can teach the Angevins a thing or two about intergenerational
relationships.
vii
Abbreviations

AHR – American Historical Review
Ambroise – L’Estoire de la Guerre Sainte, ed. Gaston Paris (Paris, 1897)
ANS – Anglo-Norman Studies
Coggeshall – Ralph of, Chronicon Anglicanum, ed. Josephus Stevenson
(Rolls Series, 66, London, 1875)
Crónica Latina – Crónica Latina de los Reyes de Castilla, ed. Luis Charlo
Brea (Madrid, 1999)
Devizes, Gestis Ricardi –De Rebus Gestis Ricardi Primi: The Chronicle
of Richard of Devizes, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II,
and Richard I, ed. Richard Howlett, 4 vols. (Rolls Series, 82.3, London,
1886)
Diceto I - Ymagines Historiarum, in Radulfi Diceto Decani Lundoniensis
Opera Historica: The Historical Works of Master Ralph de Diceto, Dean
of London, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols. (Rolls Series, 68.1, London, 1876)
Diceto II – Decani Lundoniensis Opuscula, in Radulfi Diceto Decani
Lundoniensis Opera Historica: The Historical Works of Master Ralph de
Diceto, Dean of London, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols. (Rolls Series, 68.2,
London, 1876)
DNB – Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Online Resource)
EHR – English Historical Review
EME – Early Medieval Europe
Eyton, Itinerary - Eyton, R.W., Court, Household, and Itinerary of King
Henry II, Instancing also the Chief Agents and Adversaries of the King in
his Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy (James Foster, Cornhill,
Dorchester, 1878)
Falcandus – Hugo Falcandus, The History of the Tyrants of Sicily, ed. and
trans. G.A. Loud and T. Wiedemann (Manchester University Press, 1998)
Gervase I – The Chronicle of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and
Richard I, by Gervase, the Monk of Canterbury, in Opera Historica – The
Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols.
(Rolls Series, 73.1, London, 1879)
viii
Gervase II – Gesta Regum, in Opera Historica – The Historical Works of
Gervase of Canterbury, ed. William Stubbs, 2 vols. (Rolls Series, 73.2,
London, 1880)
GND – The Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic
Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, ed. and trans. Elisabeth M.C. Van Houts
(Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1992)
Howden, Chronica – Chronica Magistri Rogeri de Houedene, ed. William
Stubbs, 4 vols. (Rolls Series, 51, London, 1868-71)
Howden, Gesta – Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis. The
Chronicle of the Reigns of Henry II & Richard I AD 1169-1192; Known
Commonly Under the Name of Benedict of Peterborough, ed. William
Stubbs, 2 vols. (Rolls Series, 49, London, 1867)
HSJ – Haskins Society Journal
JMH – Journal of Medieval History
MGH – Monumenta Germaniae Historica
MTB – Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, archbishop of
Canterbury, ed. J.C. Robertson & J.B. Sheppard, 7 vols. (Rolls Series, 67,
London, 1875-85).
Newburgh – William of, Historia Rerum Anglicanum, in Chronicles of the
Reigns of Stephen, Henry II, and Richard I, ed. Richard Howlett, 2 vols.
(Rolls Series, 82.1; 82.2, London, 1884-5)
PCG – Primera Crónica de España, ed. Ramón Menéndez Pidal (Nueva
Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, vol. 5, Madrid, 1906)
PL – Patrologia Latina
PR Hen II – Pipe Rolls of Henry II (38 Vols., Pipe Roll Society, 1884-
1925)
PR Hen III - Patent Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, I, 1216-1225 (Public
Record Office, London, 1901)
RHII - Recueil des Actes de Henri II, Roi d’Angleterre et Duc de
Normandie, in Chartes et Diplômes relatifs à l’Histoire de France, IV, 4
vols., ed. Léopold Delisle (Paris, 1916-27)
RHGF - Receuil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, 24 vols., ed.
Martin Bouquet (Paris, 1869-1904)