Tea at Trianon: Philippa of Lancaster

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Philippa of Lancaster

An English Queen of Portugal, the mother of the great Prince Henry the Navigator. To quote:

Philippa said goodbye to her family on November 10, 1386. She had to wait until papal dispensation arrived which it did on February 2, 1387. The marriage ceremony took place at Oporto on February 14th. The marriage was to be successful and although Joao had a mistress before the marriage, there is no evidence he ever had another. He left to fight in Castile and Philippa proceeded to organize her court. She had an impact immediately. She was described as discreet, pious and modest, walking with her eyes lowered and her neck covered. She had a profound sense of duty. Many writers admired her behavior, if not her beauty. She was praised for her fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes.

As far as possible, Philippa and Joao went everywhere together. They put forth the image of a loving and happy family. They agreed to name their first born child a Portuguese name if it were a boy and an English name if it was a girl and then alternate names, irrespective of sex. Their first child, born in 1388 was named Blanche after Philippa’s mother. They are recorded as having a total of nine children of which six survived childhood. These were the “illustrious generation”. (Read entire post.)