Philippa of England

Philippa of England
Philippa as imagined and painted by Swedish artist Reinhold Callmander in the 1890s on a window above her grave at Vadstena
Queen consort of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
Tenure	1406–1430
Born	(1394-06-04)4 June 1394 Peterborough Castle, Northamptonshire
Died
Burial	Cloister Church at Vadstena, Linköping
Spouse	Eric, King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway
House	House of Lancaster (by birth) House of Griffins (by marriage)
Father	Henry IV, King of England
Mother	Mary de Bohun

Philippa's grave at Vadstena Abbey

Philippa of England (4 June 1394 – 5 January 1430), also known as Philippa of Lancaster, was Queen of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway from 1406 to 1430. She was the consort to Eric of Pomerania, who ruled the three kingdoms. Queen Philippa served as de facto regent of Sweden in 1420 and regent of Denmark and Norway from 1423 to 1425.

She was the daughter of King Henry IV of England by his first wife Mary de Bohun and the younger sister of King Henry V.

Early life and marriage

Philippa was born to Henry Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV of England) and his wife Mary de Bohun, at Peterborough Castle, Peterborough. In 1401, King Henry suggested to Queen Margaret I of Denmark that an alliance be formed between England and the Kalmar Union, with a marriage between the heir to the English throne and Catherine, sister to the heir of the Nordic thrones. Margaret could not agree to the English conditions for this marriage; instead, Philippa was engaged to Eric, and formally proclaimed queen in 1405.

She was married on 26 October 1406 to Eric of Pomerania in Lund Cathedral. Philippa was actually the first documented princess in history to wear a white wedding dress during a royal wedding ceremony: she wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with grey squirrel and ermine. Philippa was given large parts of Sweden as her dower. During the first years of their marriage the couple lived in Kalmar in Sweden, and Philippa was to spend much of her queenhood living in Sweden. It had been decided that she would be granted personal fiefs in only one of the three kingdoms, and that was to be Sweden. Her head lady-in-waiting was the Swedish noblewoman Lady Katarina Knutsdotter, granddaughter of Saint Bridget through Märta Ulfsdotter, former lady-in-waiting of Queen Margaret I of Denmark herself. She was a benefactor of Vadstena Abbey, where she was a frequent guest.

Regencies

During King Eric's periods of absence abroad, Philippa was effectively Regent. In Sweden, where she spent a lot of her time, she appears to have been de facto ruler even when the King was in residence. Eric evidently had great trust in Philippa. Both ancient and modern authors give a favourable account of her rule. It is even said that in certain matters she was more efficient than her husband. However, scholars have largely accepted this judgment of the Queen without going into detail.

In 1422, Philippa presided over the Swedish council in order to solve a dispute between Swedish noble factions. During her husband's stay abroad from 1423 to 1425, she was Regent of the three Kalmar Union kingdoms. Among other acts, she made a treaty with some members of the Hansa states within the North-German Confederation concerning the validity of the coin-system. In 1426, she gathered support in Sweden for the war against Holstein; in the same year, she acquired Swedish support for the protection of Copenhagen against the Hanseatic League. In 1428, Philippa successfully organized the defence of Copenhagen against the Hanseatic League, a heroic feat later recounted by Hans Christian Andersen in Godfather's Picture Book (1868). At the time of her death in 1430, she was in Sweden on a diplomatic mission. She is described as one of few royals of the Kalmar Union who was actually popular outside Denmark. She was loved by the people of Copenhagen for rallying the citizens to fight the Hanseatic fleet in Copenhagen Harbor. She also did many other deeds for the citizens of Copenhagen by helping the poor and providing for widows and orphans.

Death

The queen bore a stillborn boy in 1429. She died on 5 January 1430 and was buried in the Cloister Church at Vadstena, close to Linköping in Östergötland, Sweden. After her death Eric replaced her with Cecilia.

Ancestry

Family of Philippa of England

16. Edward II of England               8. Edward III of England                       17. Isabella of France               4. John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster                             18. William I, Count of Hainaut               9. Philippa of Hainault                       19. Joan of Valois               2. Henry IV of England                                   20. Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster               10. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster                       21. Maud Chaworth               5. Blanche of Lancaster                             22. Henry de Beaumont               11. Isabel de Beaumont                       23. Alice Comyn, Countess of Buchan               1. Philippa of England                                         24. Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford               12. William de Bohun, 1st Earl of Northampton                       25. Elizabeth of Rhuddlan               6. Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford                             26. Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere               13. Elizabeth de Badlesmere                       27. Margaret de Clare               3. Mary de Bohun                                   28. Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel               14. Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel                       29. Alice de Warenne               7. Joan Fitzalan                             30. Henry Plantagenet, 3rd Earl of Lancaster (= 20)               15. Eleanor of Lancaster                       31. Maud Chaworth (= 21)

Other sources

• Lars-Olof Larsson (2003), Kalmarunionens tid (2006)Swedish
• Åke Ohlmarks: Alla Sveriges drottningar (AWE/Geber; 1976) Swedish
• Herman Lindvist: Kungar och drottningar, oden och aventyr i Sveriges forflutna (1996) Swedish
• Anne J. Duggan: Queens and queenship in medieval Europe (2008)

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

Philippa of England House of Lancaster Born: 4 June 1394 Died: 7 January 1430
Vacant Title last held by Helvig of Schleswig	Queen consort of Denmark 1406–1430	Vacant Title next held by Dorothea of Brandenburg
Vacant Title last held by Margaret I of Denmark	Queen consort of Norway 1406–1430
Vacant Title last held by Richardis of Schwerin	Queen consort of Sweden 1406–1430