GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives

From: Tanya Marshall <>
Subject: BOLLINGBROKE - ELEANOR COBHAM - GOOD DUKE HUMPHREY
Date: Wed, 2 Oct 1996 12:55:47 EDT

TASTES_LIKE_FEAR wrote .....
> Henry's children were as follows:

1) Henry (1387 - 1422), who became King Henry V of England in 1413. He
married
Catherine of Valois ( 1401 - 1437), by whom he had one son, King
Henry VI (1421 - 1471). Henry VI married Margaret of Anjou. The couple
had one son Edward, Prince of Wales, who was killed at the battle of
Tewkesbury
in 1471. Although Edward married Anne Neville, daughter of
Richard Neville "The Kingmaker", they had no children, and the line died out.

>snip .................

Prince Edward and Anne Neville were more betrothed than married - at that
time a betrothal was practically as binding as a marriage. She later married
Richard III.

....TASTES_LIKE_FEAR wrote:
> 4) Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (d.1447), married first Jacqueline of
Hainault,
widow of Jean, Dauphin of France (the brother of Catherine of Valois, who
married Henry V). Jacqueline was actually legally married to the Duke of
Brabant at the time, so it could not have been a legal union....They had
no children. Humphrey married secondly Eleanor Cobham, by whom he also
had no issue. Eleanor Cobham was revealed to be a witch, and was
publicly flogged through the streets of London.
snip....................

Some knowledgeable soul has already mentioned that it is believed that
Humphrey and Eleanor had illegitimate issue - a son and daughter. As for "...revealed to be a
witch..." Actually, she was tried for witchcraft and found guilty - but if
readers are familiar with the politics of the time, they will appreciate the
succinctness with which Leonard Walker sums up the situation, stating that the
strenuous accusations of witchcraft were "conjured up by Humphrey's enemies to
discredit him publicly and with the King, over whom both he and his wife had
considerable influence. In all this the hands of Beaufort and Suffolk can be
seen." Eleanor dabbled in witchcraft - it was fashionable - but she denied
performing witchcraft for the purpose of killing off the king and putting
Humphrey on the throne. That Humphrey's extensive library contained books on
witchcraft - as well as theology, Greek philosophers, Bible commentaries,
histories, biographies, architecture, astronomy - did not help in Eleanor's
defense. She was not "publicly flogged through the streets of London."
According to Walker in his book, To Dine With Duke Humphrey (Ian Henry
Publications, 1987), Eleanor, for three separate days, had to walk through
London while carrying a two-pound candle and wearing a white sheet. The candle
she carried to the altar of St. Paul's. She was imprisoned - probably honorably - for the rest of her life (18 years) in different
castles, including Leeds and Kenilworth. Humphrey died while under arrest -
whether from natural causes or from murder has never been resolved.

A more positive note: Humphrey's wonderful library became the seed of today's
Bodleian. But that's another story!

By the way, one of the people accused of witchcraft along with Eleanor was
ROGER BOLINGBROKE, an Oxford priest and a "notorious" dabbler in witchcraft.
He, too, was found guilty of witchcraft - and was hung.

>Tanya
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• BOLLINGBROKE - ELEANOR COBHAM - GOOD DUKE HUMPHREY by Tanya Marshall <>