Great Scot!

The past few days have been spent touring around Scotland and getting myself out of the depressing rut. Money is not unlimited unfortunately and my traveling comes with a very strict budget.

I went first to Inverness which is far north of Scotland. A rather pretty town, but there is not much to do apart from the drink and walking around. However, the bus trip from Edinburgh to Inverness is spectacular. The Highlands are incredibly beautiful, serene and yet rugged in the same breath. The roads seem to flow with the landscape rather than against it.

The next day I went to Stirling, which is where I am currently. The town is rather pretty as well, and it is where William Wallace is from and his monument is.

I am currently sitting in the hostel with Iron Man in the background and a man who always wears a kilt.

Today we talk about one of the other Provençal sisters. In alphabetical order, we are on to Eleanor of England.

Eleanor of Provence, Queen of England 
(1223-1291) 

Eleanor was the second daughter of Beatrice of Savoy and Raymond Berenguer of Provence. When she was growing up, she was very close to her sister, Marguerite of Provence. She was considered very pretty by contemporary standards and was a leader of fashion. She was regarded as fairly learned, and skilled at poetry and writing.

She married Henry III of England at the age of about 12, and intially was greeted fairly well by the kingdom. However, due to her nepotism and favour towards her Savoyard family she grew to be very unpopular, especially amongst Londoners. One incident had the Londoners attack her barge on Thames as she was traveling. In return, Eleanor punished the Londoners by levying higher taxes. Another time she was pelted with stones, mud and rotten food and was rescued by the Mayor of London.

While an apparently very loving father and brother, Henry III was seen as a very weak ruler. Often, he appeased his unruly relatives rather than punishing them as their due. His French half-brothers de Lusignans were a constant thorn in the side of the English crown as they were constantly grasping and begging for privileges but had no talent for politics. Henry had also angered his subjects by sending back gifts that his citizens had sent at the birth of his son, Edward I. Due to this and his favouritism of foreigners, he became unpopular. Once he was challenged for his crown by his brother-in-law, Simon de Montfort and Eleanor stoutly defended her crown and her husbands rights.

While Eleanor's nepotism was seen as something of a weakness, her uncles were men of considerable intellect and talent, her uncle Tomasso became the Archbishop of Canterbury (the highest church position in England). However, Tomasso proved to be very beneficial as he got Henry III and his son to come to a peace.

When Henry III died in 1272, Eleanor remained in England and took care of her grandchildren. Eventually she retired to a convent, and died in 1291.She was survived by her two sons, her two daughters both dying in 1275.

Oh! How Provençal!

I woke up this morning with a tad more spring in my step. It is a beautiful day in the neighbourhood and all. But then I received the rejection letter. I immediately retreated back into my hole and sobbed for awhile, admittedly a bit pathetic. I mean it's just a job?

Lately, I have gone days without talking to people, unless it called for it.

Some of my nights are fraught with nightmares of failure and poverty. Add a dash of some paranoia of losing my laptop and passport. With a sprinkle of obnoxious roommates that should not stay in hostels. Results: You have a depressed Dutchess.

I have solace in the fact that it will be better soon.

I recently read a book about the life and times of Four Provençal Sisters who became Queen

The Four Queens by Nancy Goldstone.

QUEEN BEATRICE OF SICILY (1234-1267)
QUEEN ELEANOR OF ENGLAND  (1223-1291)    
QUEEN MARGUERITE OF FRANCE (1221-1295)
QUEEN SANCHIA OF THE ROMANS  (1228-1261)

I am not going to review said work, but it was my inspiration for writing about them this week. Though, in short, I found the book to be well-organized, thoughtful, and very captivating. Books of these kind are often hard to write and research, and sometimes require some guesswork of which I think she did a good job and made sure we knew sometimes hypotheses were part of the game. I highly recommend this work.

Can you imagine being a count of Provence and having four daughters having all become queen? Provence at the time was not a kingdom, but a very strategic and wealthy county in the south of France. The count of Provence, Raymond Berenguer IV was a very capable ruler, and his wife, Beatrice of Savoy was a very capable administrator as well. Provence at the time was also a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, and he paid homage to the Holy Roman Emperor.

This made his daughters very sought after in the marriage market. Originally, the only 2 sisters who were ever expected to be queen were Eleanor, who married Henry III of England, and Marguerite, who married Louis IX of France. Sanchia, who married Henry III's brother Richard of Cornwall, was expected to be a second lady of the realm of England. However, her husband was asked to accept the crown of the Holy Roman Empire. Beatrice, who married Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France, became queen of Sicily after the pope had granted the kingdom to the new king Charles I of Sicily.

I will only be able to give a brief overview of the sisters, as to do much more would be spoiling the book for you.

Today, I will cover Beatrice of Sicily. Tomorrow will be Eleanor of England. 

Queen Beatrice of Sicily (1234-1267)


The youngest sister, and the designated heir of Provence. Much to the chagrin of her sisters, Beatrice was made the heir of Provence after the death of their father. It would be a point of contention between the sisters, but mostly between Beatrice and her oldest sister Marguerite, who thought that Provence rightfully belonged to her.

Beatrice was about 9 years old when her father had died, and her county was then administered by her mother. Due to the location of the county, she was one of the most sought after heiresses and for her safety, Beatrice was placed into a fortress and her mother went to seek protection from the pope. The pope came into an agreement with Louis IX, his formidable mother Blanche of Castile, and Charles of Anjou, that in exchange for military help that Beatrice of Savoy be given to Charles of Anjou. However, Charles would not be given Provence, only their children. Beatrice of Savoy agreed to the terms.

Unfortunately for BP (Beatrice of Provence will be BP as it is tiresome), her husband made a mess of the county and made himself very unpopular with the locals. This lead to BS being essentially forced out of her county (of which her husband had willed that she have use of). BP sided with her husband in all of this.

Her sisters were Queen, and at an event, where all of the sisters and husbands were present, her sister, Marguerite publicly embarrassed her by not allowing her to sit with them. As due to royal protocol, only Queens can sit amongst Queens. This infuriated Beatrice, and did not improve sisterly ties.

While,  she never got to sit in her sisters' presence,  she did become queen. Her husband was invited by the pope to become King of Sicily, but needed to defeat Manfred of Sicily in the process. With Beatrice's help, Charles raised the money and military needed to defeat Manfred.

She died in 1267 leaving behind 3 daughters and 2 sons.