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I love this description of Arthur so much ❤️

translation: “he was so light-hearted in his youthfulness and somewhat boyish; life pleased him when it was light and he did not like to sit still for long, his young blood and restless brain stirred him so much.”

#arthuriana #medieval literature #king arthur

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Book of St Chad, Lichfield Cathedral, circa AD 730

#book of st chad #8th century

scarletbibliofeline

#medieval #medieval cat #cat #cute #manuscript

ofskfe

Dragon motif from the Rothschild Mahzor, similar to those found in many manuscripts associated with Joel ben Simeon. Florence, 1490.

#rothschild mahzor #15th century #medieval #biblical

pearls-and-petticoats

From Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and Henry VII, Henry VII’s emissary to Pope Innocent VIII in 1485;

“The beauty and chastity of this lady are indeed so great neither Lucretia nor Diana herself were ever more beautiful or more chaste. So great is her virtue, and her character so fine, that she certainly seems to have been preserved by divine will from the time of her birth right up until today to be consort and queen. “

#elizabeth of york #richard iii #henry vii #medieval women #15th century

edwardslovelyelizabeth

On Sunday 24 January 1328 Edward met Philippa of Hainault, his bride, at the gates of York. It had been more than a year since he had last seen her, at Valenciennes, but the kind and pretty Philippa was a most welcome sight. She was practically the same age as Edward, probably eighteen months his junior. She was of the same blood, being his second cousin on his mother’s side. Most important of all, she was temperamentally his ideal companion. She had a sense of humour, loved romances, and displayed a sympathetic understanding of people. Her wedding present for her husband was an illuminated collection of texts for aspiring rulers, including the ‘Book of Julius Caesar’ and the 'Government of Kings’, and a book of statutes and music, with an illuminated picture of Edward in his favourite pose, holding a falcon: altogether a well-considered gift. Side by side they rode into the city, with the crowd celebrating in widespread and heartfelt joy at their union.

Ian Mortimer in his biography “The Perfect King. The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation” (via edwardslovelyelizabeth)

#philippa of hainault #edward iii #14th century #medieval women #academia

edwardslovelyelizabeth

On this day in history, 3d of May 1415, birth of Cecily Neville in Raby Castle,Durham. The location of her arrival, and the family into which she was born, immediately marked her above the majority of her fifteenth-century contemporaries. The impressive towers and setting of Raby, its very size and scale, were a suitable location for the birth of a woman who would come to consider herself ‘queen by rights’, whose family would come to conquer and rule the land. It was a bloodline that derived from Norman France, where significant years of Cecily’s life would be passed, as the duchess of the realm’s lieutenant.

Cecily was the youngest child of a very significant dynasty. Her ancestors had been based at Neuville-sur-Touques, just over 100 miles to the immediate west of Paris -;while other sources cite a village named Calle de Neu Ville as their home. They derived their surname from the place of their birth as far back as the ninth century.Nevilles were among those thousands of men who crossed the Channel to England in 1066. Occupying a heavily wooded site, with marshland surrounding them, they fought from morning until dusk until the English King Harold was killed. William the Conqueror rewarded his men; many received lands and titles, so they settled and married into local families. Cecily’s ancestors came from one such eleventh-century success story, starting with a Richard de Novavilla,whose mother was a cousin of the Conqueror and whose uncle, Foulk d’Anjou, provided forty ships for the fleet of 1066. Cecily’s maternal grandparents were John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster and Katherine Swynford. John of Gaunt was the thrid survivng son of Edward III of England and queen Philippa of Hainault. By her mother, Cecily was the niece of king Henry IV of England

When Cecily was born on 3 May 1415, her mother, Joan, was thirty-six. Married for the first time at the age of twelve, she had borne her first child two years later and gone on to deliver fifteen more over the next twenty-two years.The baby girl arrived into a sprawling family, a network of children multiplied by second marriages. She had ten half-brothers and sisters and nine surviving full siblings.

Cecily would marry Richard Plantagenet, 3d Duke of York, a great-grandson of King Edward III. She was mother to most notable Margaret Duchess of Burgundy, Edmund Earl of Rutland, George Duke of Clarence, Elizabeth Duchess of Suffolk, Anne Duchess of Exeter and the Kings Edward IV and Richard III.

Pictured: Joan Beaufort Neville with her daughters, from the illumination in the Neville Book of Hours (Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris, Paris: MS Latin 1158, f. 34v, c. 1425-1432

#medieval women #cecily neville #wars of the roses #15th century #the neville book of hours #neville book of hours #ms latin 1158 #religious literature #biblical #richard duke of york #incredible women #women in history

katiemcgrath

Philippa of Hainault Queen consort of England 24 January 1328 – 15 August 1369 The lady whom we saw has not uncomely hair, betwixt blue-black and brown. Her head is clean-shaped; her forehead high and broad, and standing somewhat forward. Her face narrows between the eyes, and the lower part of her face is still more narrow and slender than her forehead. Her eyes are blackish-brown and deep. Her nose is fairly smooth and even, save that it is somewhat broad at the tip and also flattened, and yet it is no snub-nose. Her nostrils are also broad, her mouth fairly wide. Her lips somewhat full, and especially the lower lip. Her ears and chin are comely enough. Her neck, shoulders, and all her body are well set and unmaimed; and nought is amiss so far as a man may see. Moreover, she is brown of skin all over, and much like her father; and in all things she is pleasant enough, as it seems to us. And the damsel will be of the age of nine years on St. John’s day next to come, as her mother saith. She is neither too tall nor too short for such an age; she is of fair carriage, and well taught in all that becometh her rank, and highly esteemed and well beloved of her father and mother and of all her meinie, in so far as we could inquire and learn the truth.

#perfect fancast #philippa of hainault #14th century #medieval women

costumereference

Philippa of Hainault being coronated in a 15th century manuscript.

#philippa of hainault #medieval women #queen consort #english consort #english queen #medieval queen #medieval manuscript #15th century

avvoltoio

THE VOICE OF MAGDALENE || [8TRACKS] [PLAYMOSS] [SPOTIFY]

A newly re-edited playlist of mine featuring music composed and performed by women in the medieval era. The mix contains both religious and secular music from Western Europe, Armenia, Byzantium, and Al-Andalus. All pieces date between the 8th and 15th centuries.

Zarmani e Ints | Khosrovidukht (8th Century) Avgoustou Monarchisantos | Kassia (810-865) O Vis Aeternitatis | Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) Mout M'abelist Quant le Voi | Maroie de Dregnau de Lille (13th Century) Kharjas: Non Me Mordas Ya Habibi | Andalusian Anon. (13th Century) Sol Oritur Occasus Nescius | Herrad of Landsberg (1130-1198) A Chantar M’er de So Qu'eu no Volria | Comtessa de Dia (1140-1212) Saltarello: “La Regina” | Italian Anon. (14th Century) Amours, ou Trop Tart me Sui Pris | Attributed to Blanche of Castile (1188-1252) Na Maria | Bieiris de Romans (early 13th Century) Conductus: Ave Maris Stella | From the “Las Huelgas Codex” (13th Century) Kharjas: Adir la-na Akwab | Andalusian Anon. (13th Century) Si'us Qu'er Conselh Bela Amia Alamanda | Giraut de Bornelh (1138-1215) and Alamanda de Castelnau (1160?-1223) Mout Avetz Fach | Castelloza (early 13th Century) Deuil Angoisseus | Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) and Giles Binchois (1400-1460) Antiphon: Caritas Habundant in Omnia | Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) Mon Chevalier, mon Gracieux Servant | Christine de Pizan (1364-1430)

Image: Sculpture of Mary Magdalene by Gregor Ernhart (c.1502), The Louvre.

#medieval music #medieval women

cesareeborgia

history meme (plantagenet edition) → 5 women (1/5), Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 – 1 April 1204) was a Queen consort of France and England. As a member of the Ramnulfids (“House of Poitiers”) rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the most powerful and wealthiest women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137 and, by successive marriages, became Queen of France (1137–1152) and then of England (1154–1189).

Eleanor sought an annulment to her marriage to Louis VII, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment, as fifteen years of marriage had not produced a son. The marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 and their daughters were declared legitimate with custody awarded to Louis, while Eleanor’s lands were restored to her. As soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to the Duke of Normandy, who became King Henry II of England in 1154, and were married eight weeks later in 1152.

Over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children: five sons, three of whom would become kings; and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting their son Henry’s revolt against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their second son, Richard the Lionheart, ascended the throne. Now Queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade; on his return Richard was captured and held prisoner. Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. She outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor.

#12th century #eleanor of aquitaine #medieval women #medieval queens #medieval consorts

Details from Harley MS 2788, 9th century.

#Harley MS 2788 #9th century #biblical #religious manuscript #religious literature #detail #insular art

Details from Richard III’s Book of Hours.

#15th century #biblical #religious literature #richard iii #richard duke of gloucester

Royal 14 E III f. 3, 14th century.

Grotesques battling. Detail of a marginal miniature of a grotesque with wings engaged in a swordfight with an armoured man on a horse.

#14th century #grotesques #secular literature #gothic hand #french

Royal 16 F II f. 12.

Originating in the Netherlands, this codex was originally intended for Edward IV but he died in 1483 before it’s completion. The text is written in French and shows a Gothic cursive hand.

#15th century #royal 6 f ii #british library #wars of the roses #french #secular literature #gothic cursive

archaicwonder

Viking Gold & Rock Crystal Pendant, 9th-12th Century AD

#viking #object #9th century #10th century #11th century #12th century #danelaw

discardingimages

cock snatcher

‘The Maastricht Hours’, Liège 14th century

BL, Stowe 17, fol. 65r

#marginalia #manuscript #14th century #the maastricht hours #british library

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