Review: Ladies of Magna Carta -by Sharon Bennett Connolly

               Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England

Magna Carta clause 39: No man shall be taken, imprisoned, outlawed, banished or in any way destroyed, nor will we proceed against or prosecute him, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.

This clause in Magna Carta was in response to the appalling imprisonment and starvation of Matilda de Braose, the wife of one of King John’s barons. Matilda was not the only woman who influenced, or was influenced by, the 1215 Charter of Liberties, now known as Magna Carta. Women from many of the great families of England were affected by the far-reaching legacy of Magna Carta, from their experiences in the civil war and as hostages, to calling on its use to protect their property and rights as widows 
Sharon Bennett Connolly.
 Source: historytheinterestingbits.com

This book is highly recommended and the author is a very skilful as a historian. Has the gift to explain the history of the time in a clear and engaging manner.  Have no doubt 'Ladies of Magna Carta' will  achieve a wide readership. Any observations made on my part are not intended to undervalue the book at all but show how 'Ladies of Magna Carta' is currently having an impact on my own research into the 13th century, particularly with reference to the status of women.

Sharon Bennett Connolly has already had two books published about Medieval women- ' Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest'  and '  Heroines of the Medieval World.  It is fair to point out that this book is not a standard 'Women's history', which would have been incredibly difficult to write for the 13th century: There is little emphasis on the economic activity of women,  or how women's religious orders operated, though there is a short section the life of an anchorite.

The ladies featured in this book  largely owed their status on how they stood in relation to men, either through marriage or kinship. For example most of the chapter about Ela of Salisbury  is about her husband William Longspee, an illegitimate son of Henry II, who became an earl due to marrying Ela. Though we learn that Ela managed estates well and established religious foundations  the focus on William of Salisbury seems unavoidable. Another issue is that it is also hard to think of women who dictated or wrote about their own lives until Julian of Norwich and Margery Kemp in the 15th century, historians can only rely on the writings of men, nearly always  connected to the Church.

Yet the strength of the book is to show the whole range of lives of these individual aristocratic women. Some are tragic such as Eleanor of Brittany. Sister to Arthur of Brittany, King John's nephew and rival to the throne. Arthur died in captivity in 1203, possibly a little later,  most probably killed on John's orders.  Eleanor lived out her  life in comfortable captivity in a series of castles for the rest of her life, apart from being taken on John's (unsuccessful)  campaign in France launched in February 1214. Perhaps the intention was to install her as a some sort of puppet ruler in Brittany. John and his successor Henry III refused to release Eleanor and she died in 1241, still a prisoner  The aforementioned Matilda de Braose, who refused to offer her sons, perhaps grandson as hostage to King John, died as a prisoner in either Windsor or Corfe Castle. The author's case is that Matilda's death, most likely from starvation, inspired clause 39 of Magna Carta as above,opposing what we would now call the arbitrary banishment, imprisonment or execution without resource to the legal system  The author cites the  predicament of Loretta de Braose from the same family,  as having inspired clauses 8 and 9 of Magna Carta, which are concerned with the rights of widows.

King John's widow Isabelle of Angouleme is depicted as  being quite ruthless, abandoning the young Henry III when  John died in 1216. Isabelle returned  to Angouleme the following year   Other writers might argue that her departure ensured more of a clean break from John's regime and made the minority rule of Henry III more appealing. Certainly Isabelle's marriage to Hugh de Lusignan , originally betrothed to her own  daughter Joan ( of England) was controversial. Joan had accompanied Isabelle expecting to get married, and then found that she was effectively  being held hostage whilst her mother got married to Hugh and started a second family.

It is helpful to have a chapter on the much neglected.  Isabella of Gloucester, King John's first wife ,  who was never crowned. Seemed to take little administrative role as John's wife, not even counter sealing a charter.  John obtained the Church's  consent to divorce Isabella, around 1200, and a few years later he sold the right to re-marry Isabella - and have access to the land  revenues in her name. Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex  married Isabella in 1214  , but soon got in arrears by paying off the debt that  what was owed for this privilege. De Mandeville  later joined the rebels against John.  Joan of Wales , an illegitimate daughter of King John who was caught having an affair, and her husband Prince Llewelyn had her lover hanged and imprisoned her for a year. The author also notes Joan of Wales skills as a diplomat when her father and husband were at war in 1211, and also during the 1220's when Joan's half brother, Henry III was king.

Nicolaa  de la Haye of Lincoln held Lincoln Castle three times under siege most, notably in 1217, and gets a well deserved section in the book. She was also the first woman to ever being appointed as sheriff. Loyal to King John and the young Henry III,  rescuing her led to William Marshall's march on Lincoln, leading to a defeat of the Rebel Barons and their French allies.  Reminiscent of Lady Mary Banks and Brilliana Harley during the British Civil Wars of the 17th century. Eleanor de Montfort held onto Dover Castle in 1265 for a short time whilst grieving for the loss of her husband Simon de Montfort and their eldest son Henry at Evesham.

The account of the numerous females of William Marshall's family did get quite complicated, and have to admit had to keep re-reading this section .The whole of the  Magna Carta -1215 version-  is reproduced in the book along with the Forest Charter.

 At times I would have liked more analysis . What conclusions can be drawn from studying the lives of the individual women- if at all -apart from having some quite varied and  fascinating lives? Did the status of women change during the 13th century? But overall there is a great deal to recommend 'The Ladies of Magna Carta'. Once read, will become an important reference work.



Afterword 

When Henry III was absent from England in 1254,  Eleanor of Provence , as acting head of state  summoned a parliament. This was  the first time in English history that a woman had done so, and the she presided over the assembly that  lasted from 27th January-11th February 1254. A more detailed account can be found in 'The Two Eleanors of Henry III-The  lives of Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor of de Montfort' by Darren Baker ( published by 'Pen & Sword', 2019)



Sharon Bennett Connolly's website Historytheinterestingbits

Darren Baker's website Simon2014.com



Other websites  by Michael Bully

World War 2 Poetry

A Burnt Ship  17th century war and literature blog