April 03, 2016

21 - Anne of Bohemia: A Tiny Scrap of Humanity

April 03, 2016/ James Boulton

Married for her connections to the Holy Roman Empire, Anne of Bohemia was bought for a high price and some may argue they didn't get their money's worth...

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Joan of Kent (wikipedia)

The Western Schism (Christianity Today)

Peaked-horn headdress (The Baldwin Project)

The Lords Appellant (wikipedia)

Anne of Bohemia interceding for Shrewsbury (Archive Zone)

Robert de Vere (wikipedia)

March 20, 2016

Supplemental - Alice Perrers: The Lady of the Sun

March 20, 2016/ James Boulton

After the death of Philippa of Hainault, Edward III began to rely on a new woman. But not a queen, and certainly not someone as squeaky clean as his former wife.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Thomas Walsingham (wikipedia)

Piers Plowman (Piers Plowman Electronic Archive)

Wife of Bath (luminarium)

The Good Parliament (wikipedia)

March 13, 2016

20 - Philippa of Hainault: The Almost Perfect Queen

March 13, 2016/ James Boulton

Coming off the heels of England's most controversial queen, Philippa of Hainault had a lot to do to rehabilitate the role in the eyes of the English nobility. That she did, thanks to how perfectly matched she and her husband were.

Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Children of Philippa of Hainault and Edward III (wikipedia)

Jean Froissart (The Online Froissart)

Second Scottish War of Independence (wikipedia)

Hundred Years War (Lectures in Medieval History)

The Black Death (History Today)

Siege of Calais - 1346 (wikipedia)

Queen's College, Oxford (wikipedia)

February 28, 2016

19 - Isabella of France (3): The First She-Wolf

February 28, 2016/ James Boulton

Isabella was now holding the hot potato that was the reigns of power, but England was to find out that her saviour could be corrupted just as easily as her predecessors

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

"All of this has happened before, and all will happen again" from Battlestar Galactica (youtube)

Edward II's emo poetry - 'The Song of Edward that he himself made'

The First Scottish War of Independence (BBC History)

Treaty of Northampton, also known as the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton (wikipedia)

Henry, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (wikipedia)

Edmund of Woodstock, Earl of Kent (Executed Today)

The Bard, A Pindaric Ode (ThomasGrey.org)

February 14, 2016

18 - Isabella of France (2): Crossing the Rubicon

February 14, 2016/ James Boulton

After Edward's victory in the Despenser War, he was at the high point of his entire reign. Everything was going swimmingly - but these good times would not last forever. His regime had defeated every source of opposition bar one: his wife Isabella.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Charles IV of France (wikipedia)

Roger Mortimer (wikipedia)

County of Hainaut (wikipedia)

I sabella and Mortimer's invasion (wikipedia)

January 31, 2016

17 - Isabella of France (1): The Noblest and Fairest of Them All

January 31, 2016/ James Boulton

Isabella of France was the highest-born queen that England had ever had, but her King was hardly the success that her pedigree deserved.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Christopher Marlowe's Edward II (wikipedia)

Braveheart (wikipedia)

Ending of Love Actually (youtube)

The Ordinances of 1311 (englandscalling.wordpress.com)

Execution of Piers Gaveston (History Today)

Vita Edwardi Secundi (wikipedia)

The Tour de Nesle Scandal (History of Royal Women)

Battle of Bannockburn (wikipedia)

Treaty of Leake (wikipedia)

Battle of Boroughbridge (wikipedia)

January 17, 2016

Supplemental - Guinevere: The Queen of Camelot

January 17, 2016/ James Boulton

Stories of King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table have proliferated for centuries, and so too have tales of his beautiful wife Guinevere. Portrayed as a damsel in distress and adulterous harpie, her portrayal tells us a lot about what medieval writers thought about contemporary queens.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Geoffrey of Monmouth (wikipedia)

Chretien de Troyes (wikipedia)

Sir Thomas Malory (wikipedia)

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (kingarthurknights.com)

January 03, 2016

Supplemental - Empress Matilda: Daughter, Wife and Mother of Henry

January 03, 2016/ James Boulton

A remarkable woman of Medieval Englandwho was in order a princess, an empress, a countess, a king, a rebel and a Queen Mother. Although she was never crowned, she was the only female king in the history of Medieval England.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Episode 5: Matilda of Scotland

Episode 6: Adeliza of Louvain

Episode 7: Matilda of Boulogne

Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (wikipedia)

William of Malmesbury (wikipedia)

Gesta Stephani (wikipedia)

Geoffrey of Anjou (wikipedia)

Battle of Lincoln (wikipedia)

Rout of Winchester (wikipedia)

December 20, 2015

16 - Margaret of France: The Not So Evil Step-Mother

December 20, 2015/ James Boulton

Marrying a man 40 years your senior is not often a portent of domestic harmony, but somehow it seemed to work for Margaret of France.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Philip the Bold of France (wikipedia)

Margaret of Provence (wikipedia)

Philip the Fair (wikipedia)

Thomas of Brotherton (wikipedia)

Blanche, Duchess of Austria (wikipedia)

Piers Gaveston (wikipedia)

December 06, 2015

15 - Eleanor of Castile (2): The Stony Crossed Property Magnate

December 06, 2015/ James Boulton

After returning from crusade and being crowned queen, Eleanor of Castile rejected the usual life of a queen to become a hard-nosed woman of business. This did not endear her to her tenants, but does make her a very unusual and fascinating queen.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Walter of Guisborough (wikipedia)

Edward I's wars in Wales (History Net)

Counties of England (Put Learning First)

Dominican Order (wikipedia)

Alfonso X of Castile (wikipedia)

Sancho IV of Castile (wikipedia)

Margaret Maid of Norway (wikipedia)

Eleanor Cross (Historic UK)

November 22, 2015

14 - Eleanor of Castile (1): The Last of the Crusading Queens

November 22, 2015/ James Boulton

Another queen from Southern Europe, Eleanor of Castile's had quite a time before she became queen, including some birthing a bunch of kids and helping her husband through war, war and more war.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

The Reconquista (wikipedia)

The Emirate of Granada

Ferdinand III of Castile (wikipedia)

Abbey of Las Huelgas (wikipedia)

8th Crusade (wikipedia)

Mamluk Sultanate (wikipedia)

Sultan Barbaris (wikipedia)

Dante's Divine Comedy (wikipedia)

November 08, 2015

13 - Eleanor of Provence: The Spendthrift Savoyard

November 08, 2015/ James Boulton

Eleanor of Provence was yet another foreign queen parachuted into England at a very young age, but she would end up wielding more power and being more controversial than the previous two queens combined.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

List of monarchs in Britain by length of reign (wikipedia)

Ramon IV of Provence (wikipedia)

Joan of Ponthieu (wikipedia)

Simon de Montfort (wikipedia)

Provisions of Oxford (wikipedia)

Mise of Amiens (wikipedia)

Battle of Lewes (wikipedia)

Battle of Evesham (wikipedia)

Amesbury Abbey (wikipedia)

October 25, 2015

12 - Isabelle of Angoulême: Isabelle or Jezebel?

October 25, 2015/ James Boulton

Isabelle was yet another French queen to marry an Angevin, and John wasn't about to treat his wife any better than his forebears had.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

Norman Invasion of Ireland (wikipedia)

Robert of Gloucester (wikipedia)

Aymer of Angoulême (wikipedia)

Hugh IX of Luisgnan (wikipedia)

Battle of Bouvines (wikipedia)

First Barons' War (wikipedia)

Battle of Taillebourg (wikipedia)

October 11, 2015

11 - Berengaria of Navarre: The Lionheart's Absent Queen

October 11, 2015/ James Boulton

The wife of Richard the Lionheart, Berengaria is barely known today, and barely noticed while she was alive.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

The Kingdom of Navarre (wikipedia)

Tancred of Sicily (wikipedia)

Emperor Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus (wikipedia)

Sodom and Gomorrah (wikipedia)

Blondel (wikipedia)

September 27, 2015

10 - Eleanor of Aquitaine (3): The Captive Mother of a Captive Son

September 27, 2015/ James Boulton

After years in captivity where her husband and sons warred for control of the kingdom, Eleanor of Aquitaine was finally released from prison on the death of her husband. Her new task: bail out her sons when they got into trouble. And boy did they!

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

The Lion in Winter (wikipedia)

Roger of Howden (wikipedia)

Philip II (wikipedia)

William Longchamps (wikipedia)

The Third Crusade (wikipedia)

The Capture and Imprisonment of Richard I (www.angus-donald.com)

The Letters of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Pope Celestine III (Medieval Women's Latin Letters)

Abbey of Fontevrault (wikipedia)

September 17, 2015

9 - Eleanor of Aquitaine (2): A Queen in Revolt

September 17, 2015/ James Boulton

After getting her annulment from Louis, Eleanor waited about two seconds before becoming Henry II's wife and Queen of England. At first she was content to squeeze out babies, but not for long...

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

Map of the Angevin Empire (Fordham University, Intenet History Sourcebook Project)

Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Court of Love (abouteducation)

De Amore or About Love (wikipedia)

Rosamund Clifford (Hubpages)

The Children of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (wikipedia)

The Great Revolt of 1173-4. It was too long and complex without much Eleanor so I didn't talk much about it in the show. If you want to find out more, check it out here (wikipedia)

August 23, 2015

8 - Eleanor of Aquitaine (1): The Crusader Queen of the French

August 23, 2015/ James Boulton

When her father died, Eleanor of Aquitaine became the richest heiress in Europe, and was quickly married to the French king. The king was quiet, pious and meek. Eleanor was... none of those things. Cue chaos.

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Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

The Lion in Winter (wikipedia)

President Bartlet's endorsement of The Lion in Winter in The West Wing (youtube)

History of Aquitaine (wikipedia)

Troubador Poems by William IX of Aquitaine (go to www.queensofenglandpodcast.com for the audio links)

Map of France in 1154 - The Aquitaine of Eleanor's birth comprised of the the Duchies of Aquitaine, Gascony and County of Poitou (also known as Poitiers)

The Occitan language (wikipedia)

Adela of Blois, also known as Adela of Normandy (wikipedia)

History of the Crusades Podcast (iTunes)

The First Crusade (wikipedia)

Map of the Crusader States (wikipedia)

Battle of Mount Cadmus (wikipedia)

Raymond, Prince of Antioch (wikipedia)

August 09, 2015

7 - Matilda of Boulogne: The All Action, Badass, Sweet-Talking, Soldier Leading, Warrior-Diplomat

August 09, 2015/ James Boulton

Henry I was dead and anarchy ensues when Stephen of Blois and the Empress Matilda fight for the throne. Yet Stephen's cause would have collapsed into nothing without the efforts of his remarkable wife Matilda of Boulogne - a woman who was peerless in the art of diplomacy and not to be messed with.

Sponsor

Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

Bibliography

White Ship Disaster (wikipedia)

Empress Matilda (History in an Hour)

County of Boulogne (wikipedia)

Eustace of Boulogne - Matilda's father (wikipedia)

Robert of Gloucester - (englishmonarchs.co.uk)

Battle of the Standard, also known as the Battle of Northallerton (UK Battlefields Trust)

Battle of Lincoln (wikipedia)

I AM NO MAN! (youtube)

Gesta Stephani (wikipedia)

The Rout of Winchester (wikipedia)

July 26, 2015

6 - Adeliza of Louvain: The Fair Maid of Brabant

July 26, 2015/ James Boulton

After the White Ship sank taking the cream of England's nobility with it, Henry needed to find a new wife so that he could replace his dead son. He chose a woman nearly half his age, but surely that meant she'd be fertile... right?

Sponsor

Shownotes

For more information on the topics discussed in the show, click on these links!

William Adelin - only legitimate son of Henry I (wikipedia)

Matilda of Anjou (wikipedia)

The Mora (wikipedia)

The White Ship (wikipedia)

Titanic (wikipedia)

Godfrey I of Louvain (wikipedia)

Emperor Henry V (wikipedia)

V oyage of St Brendan (wikipedia)

D eath of Henry I (wikipedia)

Reading Abbey (official website)

July 12, 2015

5 - Matilda of Scotland: England's Queen Godiva

July 12, 2015/ James Boulton

In 1100, Henry I became King of England after the suspicious death of William Rufus, but his accession was contested. To help placate his Anglo-Saxon subjects, he chose as his queen one of their own, the Scottish princess Matilda. She would prove to be far more than just dynastic window-dressing, becoming one of the most powerful queens in English mediaeval history.