The last royal weddings of the Norman era were remarkable. Matthew Paris described the marriage of Henry III, son of King John, and the extraordinary coronation of his bride that followed.
Henry had become king in 1216 at the age of nine, when no proper crown was available because it had been lost in the Wash by his father. He then underwent a second coronation, by the Pope, at Westminster at the age of thirteen. At Christmas 1235, Henry had waited with some trepidation to discover whether his envoys had succeeded in contracting the marriage to this very young woman (Paris says she was aged "at least twelve").
Beautiful Brides for Royal Marriages
In 1236 Henry married Eleanor of Provence, and soon after he gave her nuptial celebrations of great grandeur, including a full coronation at Westminster. He bestowed on her the titles of queen of England, lady of Ireland, duchess of Normandy and Aquitaine, and countess of Anjou.
Eleanor was the second eldest of four sisters, daughters of a count; all were noted for their great beauty, and each became a queen.
- Elder sister Margaret was married to Louis, the King of France
- Third sister Sanchia (Cynthia) later married Richard of Cornwall, Henry's brother, who was eventually crowned King of Germany
- Youngest sister Beatrice married Margaret's brother-in-law, Charles, and became queen of Sicily.
Her father, Raymond Berengeur, Count of Provence, had been engaged in continual wars by which, Paris suggests, "he had wasted almost all the money he possessed." During prenuptial negotiations, Henry reduced his dowry demands from 20,000 marks to nothing, although advisors eventually settled for 3,000 marks.
This made Raymond amenable to the marriage, and his daughter's Savoyade entourage, numbering three hundred horsemen and several bishops and cousins (relatives of hers largely through her mother, Beatrice of Savoy) was paid for by the King of Navarre, through whose lands they passed, and assisted safely to the coast by the King of France. The bride arrived at Sandwich in Kent and then sailed along the coast to Dover, and was accompanied to Canterbury to meet her bridegroom for the first time.
Eleanor of Provence's Wedding Dress
The ceremony followed swiftly, the marriage solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury on the fourteenth of January 1236 under the watchful eyes of other clergy, especially the bride's uncles and relatives. "When Henry saw his bride in a gown of material which shimmered like the hot sunlight of Provence, tight-fitting to the waist and then flaring out in generous pleats to her feet, sleeves long and lined with ermine, he became her captive and never did recover his freedom thereafter," Costain states. This was the beginning of her reputation as a leader of fashion, when she would favour red damask dress fabric and gold or silver accessories.
On the nineteenth of January, King Henry presented his bride at Westminster "where an extraordinary solemnity took place on the following day, which was Sunday, at which the king wore his crown and Eleanor was crowned queen. Thus was Henry the Third married at Canterbury, and the nuptials were celebrated in London, at Westminster," Matthew Paris wrote. Aspects of the occasion would be echoed in a London royal wedding today.
London Traditions of the Royal Wedding
The whole of London and Westminster, along with most of the major earls and bishops, treated the occasion as if it were a coronation of accession. Paris devotes several pages to it:
"There were assembled at the king's nuptial festivities such a host of nobles of both sexes, such numbers of religious men, such crowds of the populace ... The whole city was ornamented with flags and banners, chaplets and hangings, candles and lamps ...The citizens [...] proceeded thither dressed in silk garments, and with mantles worked in gold ... mounted on valuable horses, glittering with new bits and saddles, and riding in troops arranged in order. They carried with them three hundred and sixty gold and silver cups, preceded by the king's trumpeters and with horns sounding..."
At the banquet that followed, "The citizens of London passed the wine about in all directions, in costly cups, and those of Winchester superintended the cooking of the feast ... The ceremony was splendid, with the gay dresses of the clergy and knights who were present... The chancellor, the chamberlain, the marshall, and the constable, by right of their office, took their seats there, as did the barons by date of their creation, in the city of London, whereby each knew his place."
"Whatever the world could afford to create pleasure and magnificence was there brought together from every quarter." Paris concludes. The tradition of magnificence and pomp and ceremony around bridal fashion has continued at London royal weddings ever since.
Sources
Thomas B. Costain (1951) The Magnificent Century: The Pageant of England Doubleday & Company Inc.
Margaret Howell, ‘Eleanor (c.1223–1291)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8620, accessed 30 Jan 2011]
Rev. J.A. Giles (translator) (1854) Matthew Paris’s English History Vol 1 from 1235 to 1244
Valerie Williamson - Dr. Val Williamson is a freelance journalist and academic specialising in historical and popular culture topics.
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