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Queen Anne (1217 – 1254) The Great
1231 to 1240:
The many victories of Queen Anne could not compare to the great losses that she received during these last years. The death of her firstborn at such a young age then to be followed by her beloved husband? She was forty six in age with six children born to her, five of them still very much alive and the eldest boys Prince Ælfstan and Prince John were in many ways her rock. As has been mentioned, Prince Ælfstan was named Lord Chancellor after the King’s death and he very much took on the role of his late father both at court and at his mother’s side. The rest of her boys, it must be said, were very close to each other and Prince John was a mainstay by Prince Ælfstan’s side. John had been named the Earl of Cumberland and now served as his brother’s own chancellor during these years. Between them and the rest of the privy council, they allowed the Queen a time for idleness and reflection which she spent to Gainsborough in early 1231. She was not without tasking during this period as she and the Prince moved to work on claims anywhere and everywhere to France, but she was happy to spend her days at the stables that she helped build up. Queen Anne was quite the equestrian and was well respected for her knowledge of species and breeding. Her palfreys and lithe coursers were some of the finest in the land and it was with these great beasts that brought her the most comfort.
Yet she had not lost sight of her ultimate duty and as this year ended she made progress to the castle at Melun near Paris to hold her Christmas court. She was very pleased at the finished construction and the latest improvements and showed more than joy when there she hosted the wedding of her only daughter Princess Mary to the Count Georg of Boulogne. She also made certain to use the occasion for further purpose. Many great Lords and other nobles made the travel as well to see the Princess married and both Queen and Prince Ælfstan bent each ear in the ongoing challenge to prove absolute authority over the realm. To many, she granted favors. To others, gold. To her kin and considered uncle Lord Humphrey of Deheubarth, she named Master of the Hunt. Even to the sad Lord Berold II of Normandy did she free from incarceration only slightly so that he might witness her daughter’s nuptials. It would prove to be a great success and not only did it lift her spirits, in February of 1232 she would find her long requested goal. Queen Anne was in every way the absolute monarch of England and now certainly the most powerful woman in the world.
Absolute Crown Authority 1232
The acceptance of her prerogative seemed to buoy her spirits even further. The travel from Bath to Melun did not apparently suit Lord Berold II and he would soon pass at her court after nearly forty five years of imprisonment, yet the Queen made certain to invite his daughter Lady Umfreda and now Duchess of Normandy to become one of her ladies at court. They were close enough in age and Queen Anne delighted in the Duchesses’ two daughters. Lady Umfreda herself had lost a husband not long prior and the two had much in common. Like other powerful female rulers, Queen Anne was always happy to find a kinship.
The Queen would also spend the rest of her year to the court at Melun as her son Prince Ælfstan made his rounds within France. In the summer of 1232, she would host the Princess Fenella of Scotland and there she did find a fine match for her fourth son Geoffrey who was soon to come of age. And she would direct more building to be done around Melun taking direct interest in the planning of it. There were hardships still, to be certain. Her son Prince John had returned to England alongside her considered uncle Lord Humphrey earlier in the year and it was a great sadness when the old man died at sixty and six. Many letters passed between them and it was the Queen’s desired goal to lift the young Duke Richard of Wessex in every way for he was naught but eight in age. She was also to hear of the unfortunate passing of her mother’s second husband Lord Guy of St. Davids. He too was not young and they two never particularly close, but he was given fine words at his death. Yet even with these, Queen Anne seemed at a peace. She even decided to call off the plot over Maine begun some years prior. For nearly two years, she seemed at peace until the year 1234. She had spent time reading and improving her learning. She was even given a tattered tome written by the sainted Augustine of Hippo once gifted to the Bold King himself. Yet the paradise was to be lost when her favored Duchess Hextilda of Hereford and Lancaster found need to revoke the county of Hereford from her Earl Reginald.
War Over Hereford 1234
The Lady Hextilda was always welcomed to this Queen’s court and Anne always showed her great deference due to her age and condition. Yet by this date, the Lady Hextilda was seventy and two and many marveled at her longevity. Some more than others. The Duchess had proved so many wrong over her years and even showed a great reverence for her forbears when she wished Hereford her primary title over that of Lancaster, but this did rub wrong to her Earl in these parts. In March of 1234, this Earl chafed at an attempt to revoke his title and caused England great strife in the process. Earl Reginald had attempted to find claim upon the Duchy of Hereford itself and though even more in her dotage, the Lady Hextilda was never so foolish. Thus it was war and it would last for some long time.
Queen Anne held back when at first it bubbled over as she was looking to her own family, yet she did take ship back to England. She made progress north to see her son Prince Geoffrey married to the Scots Princess Fenella and then moved to Norfolk when her son Prince Ælfstan and Lady Adela found issue with their first son named after his father and her late husband. The Queen was only back to Bath when she heard the news that the Lady Hextilda had finally passed at the age of seventy and two. The new Duke Osweald at forty seven traveled to Bath so he might bend the knee and he too marveled over his recent grandchild. He then begged the Queen’s assistance.
Duke Osweald of Hereford 1234
Anne was comforting to this Duke, but she was loathe to come between personal family matters. Both she and the Prince Ælfstan promised much to Lord Osweald including a hefty gift of gold to assist in his efforts, but at that time they could not intervene as she did not wish to show her other Lords that she played favorites. And then the Duke’s younger brother Prince-Bishop Ecgberht of Worcester disputed the succession. What was once a revocation war now turned into full scale conflict that would last for years. Earl Reginald himself would die before the year was out leaving behind a sickly seven year old boy named Michael. When he soon passed as well, the Earldom passed to the Countess named Elizabeth who was even younger. In 1235, Lord Osweald himself was captured at the Battle of Warwick and forced to concede his defeat. In the peace demanded, Osweald Henry was caused to give over his title as Duke to his daughter Adela who was Lady wife to the Prince Ælfstan. At twenty four, Adela held her new babe and found herself Duchess of Hereford and Lancaster and Prince Ælfstan stood by her as much as he did his mother the Queen.
Duchess Adela of Hereford February 1235
Yet the conflict did not end as the Prince-Bishop of Worcester remained unhappy and convinced that he should be rightful Duke of Hereford and Lancaster. Like both her grandmother and mother by law the Queen, the now Duchess Adela pushed her claim with strength. Not only was she now able to call in her husband Prince Ælfstan to aid her, but she was also able to convince Pope Felix IV to excommunicate this wayward Bishop. Queen Anne herself was still unable to join sides as this was a dispute between Duchess and her vassal, but Anne did provide powerful moral support in any way that she could.
The Queen also spent to rest of 1235 placating and reassuring her other great Lords. To Duke Reginald II of York and Bedford, she named cupbearer. A fine gift was sent to the young Duke Richard of Deheubarth upon his birth date. To her son Prince Ælfstan, she added the title of Seneschal of the realm and to his wife Duchess Adela did she give the title Keeper of the Swans. Further to this, she was able to make a master stroke of diplomacy with the Duchess Varela of Cornwall when she matched the youngest Prince Henry with the daughter of Varela named Ermmengarde. The girl was naught but five and Henry was soon to age by the end of the year and was a bit of a rogue it is said, but to bring peace finally with the Duchy of Cornwall was a thing not down for many, many years. Lastly, she was most proud in November of 1235 to elevate her son Prince Geoffrey to the ecclesiastical post of Bishop of Lincoln. It is true that he was already married, which was frowned upon in the clergy, yet Fenella of Scotland did remain in his household and they did live as common law husband and wife after this. More to that, as soon as the now Bishop Geoffrey gained his robes and miter, he quickly entered into the conflict over Hereford alongside his brother and sister by law.
Prince Geoffrey is Bishop of Lincoln 1235
As the year 1236 arrived, Queen Anne was now fifty years old and had reigned for nearly twenty years. All of her children were now grown and well on their way to being established in all ways. She still mourned her first born son Ralph and her husband King Ælfstan, but if any person thought that this Queen was ready to sit and rest after her already lengthy reign, they were to be mistaken. In truth, this year of 1236 might very well be the apex of her reign. If not the peak, then it was surely the year in which Queen Anne was seen as most powerful.
The Queen had the good fortune, if one could call it that, to see her Duke Reginald II of York and Bedford pass from the great pox in June of that year. The Duke and his wife had seen six children of their own and the eldest, Maurice de Normandie would inherit his father’s vast estates at the age of sixteen. And in August of that year, her son the Prince would come to her with fine news. Another claim to lands in France had found its way to her. This time it would be over Orleans. In September, for the first time in anyone’s memory there were finally no factions at all within England or Wales nor plots with which to fight. And in this same month, Queen Anne was to show her considerable strength when the previous Pope passed away and a new man Innocent II was raised to the Holy chair. With the death of Pope Felix IV, the excommunication lapsed from the Prince-Bishop Ecgberht of Worcester. To show her care for her daughter by law and distaste of this most unholy of prelates, Queen Anne petitioned the new Pope Innocent II to follow suit as had been done before and this was granted almost immediately.
Ask Pope to Excommunicate Prince-Bishop Ecgberht 1236
Even as this war between Duchess Adela and her uncle waged, Queen Anne kept her eye to France. She was not about to let up in her goal and with a claim for Orleans readied for her, she waited for just the right moment to pounce. King Hugues III of France was fifty nine years old at this time and was known as ‘The Wise’ for some reason. Perhaps it was because he was wise not to fight too harshly when either the Emperor or the English Queen came calling for his lands. For whatever the reason, this King had but one son to his three daughters (one of which had died early.) He was ailing and some said that his son Prince Payen was ready for his father to depart this world. By January of 1238, so too was Queen Anne.
War was declared and the levies of Anjou and Paris were immediately called up as was that of Normandy. The levies in Somerset and Middlesex also followed and began their travel to meet in Rouen. However, if some thought this wise King Hugues was also foolish, they were incorrect. He was married to the Duchess of Aragon and she was called into the war on his side. He also paid a fair price for mercenaries and by March held over 11,000 men at his service. The Barony of Janville was within Orleans even though it was a vassal to the Queen through Anjou, and within a fortnight, this French King had sent forth his large army and surrounded it. Taken easily, the Queen and her men were forced for once to consider an alternate tactic.
King Hugues III of France 1238
The levy of York was immediately called up with the new Duke Maurice in charge and they were to sail for Normandy poste haste. By May of 1238, the English force at Rouen was nearly 14,000 strong and they marched towards Paris and then on to Orleans. The two armies would meet at the Battle of Fleury in June. The result was a victory of such magnitude that it overshadowed every previous meeting in the history of these two realms. The English Lords and commanders were simply far superior to their French counterparts and the advance of the longbow was able to cut the French knights in half by number. Over 7,000 of the French died that day to only 1,200 of the English and the Mayor of Beaujeu was captured in the melee to die some months later in a Paris prison. In was, in short, a battle for the ages and one still taught to young English school children to this day.
Battle of Fleury June 1238
Janville would quickly fall back into English hands and the army was split into two forces. One would put Orleans to siege and the other would chase what was left of the French. In quick succession, the rest of this enemy force was put low. In July, the Battle of Beaugency brought victory and a prisoner in the form of Bishop Hamelin of Tournus. In August, another victory was seen in the Battle of Chateauroux. By October, Orleans, Dijon and Bourges were all under siege and Orleans would fall by May of 1239. In this, more prisoners were taken. This time it was the young daughters of the French Duke Manasses of Orleans who was also the Lord Chancellor of France. By this date, Queen Anne had moved her court to the castle at Melun so that she might get her news quickly.
She was not without a heart and it was not as if the entire campaign had been a bloodless affair for the English. The Earl Ralph of Auverge had been killed in the Battle of Chateauroux leaving a young son by the same name as his heir. And when these two young and pretty ladies of Orleans were brought before her, the Queen felt a motherly caring for them. She directed her son Prince Ælfstan to meet with his counterpart in France and arrange a ransom for these girls and did say to him to make it the least amount possible for she wished them home at their father’s side. This the Prince did and the two young ladies were freed within a month’s time having enjoyed all the pleasures of the English court that other prisoners could never even dream of.
The Duke of Orleans himself was most grateful for her leniency and great care of his daughters and it was he that would come to her and kneel so that he might give her news of the death of King Hugues III ‘The Wise’ in August of 1239. It was said that the old King died of severe stress and for the only time in her life, Queen Anne showed a spitefulness in her response. Court records and some few chroniclers suggest that she said at this hearing, “If this wise King was half as wise as mine own mother, then he now knows how it is that she passed on to God.” It is said that she crossed herself, bid the Duke of Orleans rise and suggested that she would see him once more likely in the turning of one moon. In truth, she was wrong on that front. It would take three. Dijon and Gien would finally fall in October and in November, Queen Anne once again received the Lord Chancellor and Duke of Orleans to set her terms. The new French King named Payen II and known as ‘The Fat’ already by age forty two would cede Orleans to her in all of its worth and this war would be done. It was accepted by this Duke without him ever leaving the Queen’s presence.
France November 1239
It is said that after the agreement, the Duke of Orleans (who was caused to move his seat to Blois as an effect of this peace) did kneel with the Queen after this peace and took prayer with her led by her son Bishop Geoffrey of Lincoln. Her youngest son too was with her at Melun and here he was presented with the letters patent to be named Earl of Orleans. Queen Anne was then to take ship back to England where she landed with great fanfare in London and made progress first to Westminster for a fortnight and then on to Bath. The Prince Ælfstan was not to join her as he was sent to Nantes in Brittany. Yet another claim would surely be found.
When she returned, Queen Anne took stock of what had transpired in her absence and her son Prince John was quick to fill her in on the ins and outs of the war over Hereford. The excommunicate Prince-Bishop still seemed to have the upper hand but some great gains had transpired of late. The Lady Adela was a fighter, he promised, and would find her victory. Queen Anne is said to have been happy for this news and then took to some leisure time with her court chaplain the Lord Bishop Maurice of St. Pauls. One day when walking through the Cleeve Wood, the Queen spied what appeared to be an age old settlement and hill fort long since grown over with brush and trees. There it is said that she told her Bishop that she planned to build a fine castle to rival any yet seen within England. She would promise a fine church and a healthy village to surround it and there she would leave her everlasting mark.
By 1240, construction had begun on what would become Cleeve Castle and more, the Queen would place forward funds to build a new shipyard at Bath in the same year. Queen Anne was now fifty five years old. She was showing the signs of aging as her dark locks had now turned white and her cheeks had begun to shrink. Wrinkles had formed on her neck and forehead and while always slim in figure, she was beginning to look too thin. Yet her gait was strong and her mind never sharper. She continued to ride her horses and was known very much as a gardener at Bath with its fine, old gardens and ponds. Her now eldest son Prince Ælfstan was showing his worth in every way both for her and his wife the Lady Adela and at this date they now had three children of their own. The eldest boy named Ælfstan after his father was now near to five and showing a remarkable trait to his tutors. They would tell both the Prince and the Queen that he was sure to be a genius when he came to age.
Ælfstan of Wessex April 1239
The Prince and Lady Adela had also seen a daughter Maud born in 1237 and another son born in 1238 given the name of Randolph. The couple would prove to be very much in love just as Queen Anne had found with her King before he passed. If the Duchess could win her seat in full, there would be titles aplenty to reward their children. Lady Adela was Duchess of Hereford and Lancaster and he was Duke of Norfolk and Somerset as well as heir to the Kingdom. In all, the Queen felt her family to be blessed even with the tragedies of King Ælfstan and Prince Ralph. The rest of her children were all healthy with Prince John named Earl of Cumberland, Princess Mary living as the Countess of Boulogne, Prince Geoffrey elevated to the Bishop of Lincoln and now her youngest Prince Henry listed as Earl of Orleans. Even her sister Princess Adelaide was happy as she was the Duchess of Poitou for her husband Duke Adalbert III.
If there is any wonder why the moniker applies so correctly to this great English Lady and Queen it is this. Though the House of Wessex had been plagued for so many years with rumors and lies about scandalous deeds and treacherous murders, there remained a strong tie with the current founders in this Queen. Old King Eadgar and his Queen Hextilda had been long in telling their children the importance of family. His children were said to have stood by this charge in nearly every way. The same cannot be said about King Æthelric nor his daughter and this Queen’s mother Queen Mary. Yet an age old adage is that the first generation may build it for the second to spend and allow it to prosper. It is the third generation that wastes it when all does fall fallow. In this, Queen Anne may perhaps be a different type of trend setter. Where her grandfather King Æthelric was and is not remembered well for obvious reasons and her mother took it even further in her forty year reign, it was this Queen that re-established that link to the beginning and laid waste to all the bad that had come before. Nearly all knew after just a few short years after her birth that she would be remarkable. In her so far fifty five years, Queen Anne had done nothing but prove them right in every single way.
England April 1240
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To be continued...
