Queens prior to 1485

Hello, everyone! Here's a thread for pics and info on all the queens of England prior to the Tudors. I'll begin with a list.

1. Matilda of Flanders, queen of William I (1031-1083)
2. Matilda of Scotland (real name Edith), first queen of Henry I (1080-1118)
3. Adela of Louvain (sometimes called Adele, Adeline etc), second queen of Henry I (1003-1051)
4. Matilda of Boulogne, queen of Stephen (1103-1152)
5. Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of Henry II (1122-1204). Eleanor, la reine magnifique! She was also Queen of France at one point.
6. Berengaria of Navarrie, queen of Richard I (1165-1230)
7. Isabella of Angouleme, queen of John (1186-1246)
8. Eleanor of Provence, queen of Henry III (1222-1291)
9. Eleanor of Castile, queen of Edward I (1244-1290)
10. Marguerite of France, second queen of Edward I (1282-1317)
11. Isabella of France, queen of Edward II (1292-1358)
12. Philippa of Hainault, queen of Edward III (1314-1369)
13. Anne of Bohemia, first queen of Richard II (1366-1394)
14. Isabelle of France, second queen of Richard II (1387-1410)
15. Mary de Bohun, first wife of Henry IV (1369-1394). Never a queen, but deserves a place here.
16. Joan/Jeanne of Navarre, second wife of Henry IV (1370-1437)
17. Catherine de Valois, queen of Henry V (1401-1437)
18. Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI (1430-1482)
19. Elizabeth Woodville, queen of Edward IV (1437-1492)
20. Anne Neville, queen of Richard III (1456-1485)

Feel free to contribute, everyone!  

To get things going, here are some fun facts:

#Matilda of Flanders refused to marry Duke William of Normandy when he asked her. So what did he do? Why. he beat her up a bit, of course! that soon changed her mind. In spite of this, it seemed to be a happy union.

#Matilda of Scotland, wife of Henry I, was descended from Alfred the Great so she united the ancient Saxon line with the Norman one.

#Eleanor of Aquitaine is the only woman to have ever been queen of France and England.

#Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, had a sister, Margaret, who became Queen of France.

#Eleanor of Castile was the queen for whom the famous Eleanor Crosses were built - It think she has her own thread.

#Isabella, wife of Edward II, is famously known as the 'She-wolf of France'.

#Richard II was so distressed when his wife Anne of Bohemia died in Sheen Palace, he had the place demolished!

#Isabelle de Valois, wife of Richard II, and Catherine de Valois, wife of Henry V, were sisters.

#Anne Neville, wife of Richard III, was the daughter of Warwick, the 'Kingmaker'. Her sister Isabel married Richard's brother George, Duke of Clarence.

Anne Neville:



Margaret d'Anjou:



Philippa of Hainault:

Anne Neville was previously married to Edward Lancaster, Prince of Wales.

Berengaria,Queen of Richard Ist never actually set foot in England.

Thanks for those facts, Kim!

The queens who had been previously married or later married again were:
1. Eleanor of Aquitaine (previously married to Louis VII of France)
2. Isabella of Angouleme, remarried Hugh X, Count de la Marche.
3. Isabelle of France, remarried Charles, Duc d'Orleans.
4. Joan Navarre was previously married to Jean IV, duke of Britanny.
5. Catherine de Valois possibly remarried Owen Tudor.
6. Elizabeth Woodville had been married to sir John Grey.
7. Anne Neville had, as Kim says, been married to Edward of Lancaster, Prince of Wales.

Isabelle d'Angouleme was twelve when John married her. She was originally betrothed to Hugh de Lusignan (Hugh IX), and after John's death, she married Hugh's son, Hugh X. As Hugh X was older than her, she would have had at least one step-child older than her.

Also, Isabelle was referred to as the 'medieval Helen of Troy' for her beauty. Matilda of Scotland and Henry I, however, were lauded as the most unattractive royal couple in history. Hey, I'd rather have those kind of brains and personalities than beauty, too...

Marguerite of France, Edward I's second wife, was forty years younger than her husband, if I recall correctly, and their daughter Eleanor was born forty-something years after Edward and Eleanora of Castile's Eleanor. not much original name choice back then...

Anne Neville's marriage to Edward of Lancaster was most likely never consummated. That 'happy' event was destined to take place when Warwick had reclaimed England for Lancaster, which never happened. At that point, getting Anne pregnant was the WORST thing Edward could do, and wouldn't have chanced it.

Matilda of Flanders, proud daughter of a Princess of France, got that beating from William the Conqueror because she said she wouldn't marry a bastard, however royal or powerful. William did NOT brook comments about his birth from ANYONE, royalty or not. You're right about it being a happy match, though, eventually...:-/

Years regarding Matilda of Boulogne, Stephen's wife - 1103-1152. Just off by a century. Stephen was also documented as having several children with his long-term mistress, and it's STILL rumour that he was the Empress Maud/Matilda's lover and father of Henry II. I recently read a work of historical fiction that made a REALLY good case for it, and when Stephen found out Henry was his son, that's why he disinherited Eustace.

Speaking of the Empress, I think she and Stephen deserve their own thread...

Regards,
Arianwen

Oops! Well, a century is not that much.   I will modify. About Edward I, his youngest daughter was born when his eldest was 43 (but she was dead) so that is why she was called Eleanor, I would think - it was quite usual back then. Kudos to Edward for being virile enough to father 3 more children in his 60s.  

Oops! Well, a century is not that much.   I will modify. About Edward I, his youngest daughter was born when his eldest was 43 (but she was dead) so that is why she was called Eleanor, I would think - it was quite usual back then. Kudos to Edward for being virile enough to father 3 more children in his 60s.  

lolol Kudos to Edward for SURVIVING into his sixties, let alone still being virile. I always thought the second Eleanor was named for his first wife, who he very deeply loved...I know the first was named for her mother, but I read somewhere that the second was so named for the same woman...

Regards,
Arianwen

Too many Eleanors!!!!  

Regarding his mother, Eleanor of Provence, she was apprently very extravagant and hated during her husband's reign, but after his death she became a nun and changed her ways, I read somewhere.

Very possible, it was very common in those times, people even named two of their living children with the same name !!! In Spain it wasn't so uncommon putting to a new child the name of one that have died before (my garndparents first daughter died and they put the same name to second one!).


Then this Eleanor could be named after both Eleanor of Castile and Eleanor of Provence, Edward's mother!

For example, it was rumoured when Elizabeth I was born that Henry VIII wanted to call her Mary. This appalled Mary, since it was only done when an elder child of the same name had died - she felt she was being rubbed out of the family tree! Of course, this didn't happen . . .

Berengaria,Queen of Richard Ist never actually set foot in England.

Really?? Where was she, then?

She spent most of her life in Cyprus, I beleive . . .

Yep, quite right. I understand that Richard Ist "batted for the other side" if you catch my drift....well it is sunday