*Philippa of Hainault was born on this date in 1310. She was the first Black Queen of England.
Philippa was of Black Moorish ancestry, born in Valenciennes in the County of Hainaut in the Low Countries of northern France. Her parents were William I, Count of Hainaut, and Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainaut, granddaughter of Philip III of France. Philippa was one of eight children and the second of five daughters and becamethe wife of King Edward III. Her eldest sister Margaret married the German King Louis IV in 1324; and in 1345, she succeeded their brother William II, Count of Hainaut, upon his death in battle.
Philippa married Edward at York Minster, on January 24, 1328, eleven months after his accession to the English throne. Unlike many of her predecessors, Philippa did not alienate the English people by retaining her foreign entourage upon her marriage or by bringing large numbers of foreigners to the English court. As Isabella did not wish to relinquish her own status, Philippa’s coronation was postponed for two years. She eventually was crowned queen on March 4, 1330 at Westminster Abbey when she was almost six months pregnant and she gave birth to her first son, Edward, the following June.
In October 1330, King Edward commenced his personal rule when he staged a coup and ordered the arrest of his mother and Mortimer. Shortly afterward, the latter was executed for treason, and Queen Dowager Isabella was sent to Castle Rising in Norfolk, where she spent a number of years under house arrest but with her privileges and freedom of movement later restored to her by her son. Of her children, Phillipa outlived nine of them. Three of her children died of the Black Death in 1348. The eldest of her fourteen children was Edward, the Black Prince, who became a renowned military leader.
Joshua Barnes, a medieval writer, said “Queen Philippa was a very good and charming person who exceeded most ladies for sweetness of nature and virtuous disposition.” Chronicler Jean Froissart described her as “The most gentle Queen, most liberal, and most courteous that ever was Queen in her days.” Philippa accompanied Edward on his expeditions to Scotland, and the European continent in his early campaigns of the Hundred Years War where she won acclaim for her gentle nature and compassion. She served as regent of England during the absence of her spouse in 1346. Facing a Scottish invasion, she gathered the English army and met the Scots in a successful battle near Neville’s Cross: she rallied the English soldiers on horse before them prior to the battle, which resulted in an English victory and the Scottish king being taken prisoner. She influenced the king to take an interest in the nation’s commercial expansion.
She is best remembered as the kind woman who, in 1347, persuaded her husband to spare the lives of the Burghers of Calais, whom he had planned to execute as an example to the townspeople following his successful siege of that city. This popularity helped maintain peace in England throughout Edward’s long reign.Philippa was a patron of the chronicler Jean Froissart, and she owned several illuminated manuscripts, one is currently being housed in the national library in Paris. William’s counties of Zealand and Holland as well as of the seigniory of Frieze were devolved to Margaret after agreement between Philippa and her sister Margaret. Edward III of England, in the name of his wife Philippa, demanded the return of Hainaut and other inheritances which had been given over to the Dukes of Bavaria–Straubing, in 1364–65; he was not successful.
Philippa died of an illness similar to edema on August 15, 1369 in Windsor Castle. She was given a state funeral on January 9, 1370 and was interred at Westminster Abbey. Her tomb is on the northeast side of the Chapel of Edward the Confessor and on the opposite side of Edward I and Eleanor of Castile and great grandfather Henry III. Her alabaster effigyexecuted by sculptor Jean de Liège. Eight years later Edward III died and was buried next to her. The Queen’s College, Oxford was founded in her honor.
