Philippa of Hainhault

  Noted events in her life were:

• source. Mary-Ann Cook who writes:
Philippa was betrothed to the future Edward III in 1327, an alliance contracted against the wishes of Edward II by the queen and her lover, Roger Mortimer, to win support for their invasion of England. Nonetheless, the match between Philippa and Edward seems to have been loving and companionate. Philippa accompanied Edward in the 1330s and 1340s on his expeditions to Scotland and on the early campaigns of the Hundred Years War. They had at least twelve sons and daughters, nine of whom survived infancy. Their eldest son, Edward, Prince of Wales, Richard II`s father, later known as the Black Prince, was born in 1330, their youngest, Thomas of Woodstock, in 1355. Their third son, Lionel, was born in Antwerp in 1338 and their fourth, John (of Gaunt), at Ghent in 1340.
Philippa spent her early years at the cultured Hainault court. She seems to have had well developed literary tastes and perhaps a real interest in learning. For New Year 1333 she gave Edward a ewer enamelled with figures from epic and romance poetry. Among manuscripts associated with Philippa is a richly illuminated compilation now in the national library in Paris (MS fr. 571). She was the patron of the chronicler, Jean Froissart, who first arrived in England from Hainault in 1362. He wrote a lament on the queen`s death in 1369. In 1341 one of her chaplains, Robert Eglesfield, founded in Oxford the future Queen`s College, but placed it under the queen`s protection. She used her influence on its behalf, especially after Eglesfield`s death. Some of Philippa`s jewels and plate are almost certainly listed among Richard II`s treasure, but none is known to survive today. Her alabaster tomb in Westminster Abbey is our best witness to her patronage. It stands to the east of Edward III`s monument on the south side of the Confessor`s chapel and was commissioned in 1367, during Philippa`s lifetime.

Philippa married Edward III of Windsor, son of Edward II Plantagenet and Isabella of France, on 24 Jan 1328 in York, North Yorkshire England. (Edward III of Windsor was born on 13 Nov 1312 in Windsor Castle, Windsor England, died on 21 Jun 1377 in Sheen Palace, Richmond England and was buried in Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, Middlesex England.)