Philippa, England's upwardly mobile royal

There aren't that many Pippas in the annals of British royal history and today marks the anniversary of the death, in 1369, of the first and possibly still the most famous.  Philippa of Hainault was queen of England for over 40 years and without her, the Wars of the Roses might never have happened.  Never mind The White Queen and The Red Queen, Philippa was the Mother of all Queens.

 

Philippa of Hainault is crowned.  She married Edward III in 1328.

 



That's mostly because Philippa had enough sons to start a war, quite literally. From her are descended all the main players of the Wars of the Roses and the ultimate winners, Henry Tudor and Elizabeth of York.  And that means that all the monarchs of England since 1485 are also descendants of Philippa.  She is responsible for dozens of monarchs, princes and princesses.  A real queen mother.

 

 

Philippa of Hainault and her army - her legacy was a thriving group of sons whose descendants all felt they had a right to rule England and went to war to prove their points

 

And that means that they all had, thanks to Philippa, a good strong dose or royal blood from all around Europe.  Victoria might have been the grandmother of modern European monarchies from marrying her children into as many of them as she could manage, but thanks to Philippa she had a good dose of continental royal blood herself.  Philippa was descended from the royal houses of France, Hungary, Naples and Italy as well as the ruling families of Hainault, Flanders, Holland, Luxembourg, Provence and the central Asian dynasty of the Cumans.

 

 

A later, romantic portrayal of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England 1328 - 1369

 

But while Philippa died in August 1369, she wasn't buried until 1370.  Her funeral took place in January that year and she was laid to rest at Westminster Abbey.