Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut

Jacqueline of Wittelsbach
Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland, Dauphine of Viennois, Duchess of Touraine, Duchess of Brabant, Duchess of Gloucester
Countess of Hainaut, of Holland and of Zeeland
Reign 1417 – April 1432
Predecessor William II (or IV, V and VI)
Successor Philip I the Good
Spouse John, Dauphin of France
m. 1415; dec. 1417
John IV, Duke of Brabant
m. 1418; ann. 1422[1]
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester
m. 1423; ann. 1428[1]
Francis, Lord of Borselen
m. 1432 and 1434; wid. 1436
Born 16 August 1401(1401-08-16)
Castle of Le Quesnoy, Hainaut
Died 8 October 1436(1436-10-08) (aged 35)
Teylingen Castle, near Leiden
Burial The Hague, Holland

Jacqueline of Wittelsbach (Dutch: Jacoba van Beieren; French: Jacqueline de Bavière) (16 August 1401 – 8 October 1436) was Duchess of Bavaria-Straubing, Countess of Hainaut and Holland from 1417 to 1432. She was also Dauphine of France for a period of less than a year and a half between 1415 and 1417 and Duchess of Gloucester for a period during the 1420s, if her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, is accepted as valid.

Jacqueline was the last Wittelsbach ruler of Hainaut and Holland. Following her death, her estates passed into the inheritance of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.

Contents

History

Early life. Marriage to the Duke of Touraine

Born in the Castle of Le Quesnoy in Hainaut, Jacqueline, from her birth, was referred to as "of Holland", indicating that she was the heiress of her father's estates. She was the only daughter of William II, Duke of Bavaria (also known as William VI, Count of Holland) from his marriage with Margaret of Burgundy, daughter of Margaret III of Flanders and Philip the Bold. She was born after 16 years of an otherwise childless marriage. At the age of only twenty-two months (in Paris on 5 May 1403) and again at the age of four (in Compiègne on 29 June 1406), Jacqueline was betrothed to John, Duke of Touraine, fourth son of King Charles VI of France and Queen Isabeau of Bavaria. Both children were brought up in the Castle of Le Quesnoy, Jacqueline's birth place. The boy had been given into tutelage of his father-in-law, since he was expected to succeed as ruler in Hainaut and not in any way in France itself. It was a happy youth with both children given a very good education. On 22 April 1411 the Pope gave his dispensation for the union and on 6 August 1415, when Jacqueline was just fourteen, she and John married in The Hague.

On 15 December 1415 John's elder brother Louis, the Dauphin of France, died, and John became the new Dauphin and heir to the throne. But John died on 4 April 1417 (in Compiègne, of an abscess in his neck). Two months later, on 31 May, Jacqueline also lost her father.

Marriage to the Duke of Brabant

Acknowledged as sovereign in Holland and Hainaut, Jacqueline was expected to seek a new husband. In 1418, her uncle and guardian, John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, arranged a marriage to her cousin, John IV, Duke of Brabant and Limbourg. The ceremony took place in The Hague on 18 April of that year, but the marriage brought no happiness to Jacqueline. John was two years younger, boorish, spoiled and weak.

It was at this time that Jacqueline's troubles with her uncle, John III, duke of Bavaria-Straubing and bishop of Liège, began, when he claimed her counties and fuelled the civil war between their political factions. She was fortunate to be able to draw on the support of the Hoek faction in Holland, which represented the interests of the small cities and petty nobility. Through the mediation of John the Fearless, a treaty of partition was concluded in 1419 between Jacqueline and John III of Bavaria, but it was merely a truce, and the contest between uncle and niece soon began again. It continued with varying success for both sides until the death of John III in 1425.

Jacqueline came to the realisation that she could not depend on the support either of her husband or her mother in her confrontation with her uncle. Due to personal and political disagreements with her husband, Jacqueline finally left him to reside in the Kingdom of England at the invitation of Henry V. Jacqueline's marriage with John of Brabant was declared illegal, and she obtained a divorce from Avignon Pope Benedict XIII on 7 March 1422. Upon her arrival, it was Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the younger brother of King Henry, who welcomed her. He was thirty, unmarried, and, according to an English chronicle, "exceeded any monarch in knowledge". Although Jacqueline considered marriage to the Duke of Gloucester, Henry V prevented her from marrying him. Nevertheless, she was an honoured guest at the court of England, and when the future Henry VI was born, Jacqueline was made one of his godparents.

Marriage to the Duke of Gloucester and its aftermath

It was only after the unexpected death of Henry V in 1422 that Jacqueline obtained a dubious divorce from John of Brabant valid in England that allowed a marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester.[2] However, as not all rules were observed, the marriage was arranged in haste and in secret in the town of Hadleigh, Essex, sometime before 7 March 1423. IN 1424, Jacqueline gave birth to a stillborn child, the only offspring from her four marriages.

Jacqueline hoped that Humphrey would restore her to her counties but, being regent in England, he was occupied with affairs of state. Then her situation changed when her uncle John of Bavaria died on 6 January 1425, the victim of poisoning. Now it was her former husband, John of Brabant, who tried to dispute her inheritance. In this matter, Humphrey did intervene, with disastrous consequences for the English-Burgundian alliance that aided the English cause in France during the Hundred Years' War.

In October 1425 Duke Humphrey landed a mercenary army in Flanders that laid waste the land to the gates of Brussels. Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, responded with a furious protest to Humphrey threatening war with England. The Englishman suggested that Philip support Jacqueline's cause, and mused that his claim of distruction was "contrary to the truth." Philip challenged him to a duel; Humphrey agreed and brother Bedford adjudicated in a jousting tournament. Nonetheless, armed conflict ensued. Humphrey sent a fleet of twenty-four ships containing an army of 2,000 men under command of Lord FitzWalter at the end of 1425. However, the cities in Zeeland were not prepared to assist, and Jacqueline had no army to come to their aid. In the meantime, Philip the Good was prepared and, on 13 January 1426, started his attack on the main force. The English forces were annihilated and only the knights were not killed, as they could be used to secure a ransom. This victory placed Zeeland securely into Philip's hands. As Brabant and Hainaut were losing the conflict, the Burgundians made peace with Humphrey. In the long term, however, the rift would be fatal to the Anglo-Burgundian alliance and the English war with France.[3]

Soon Humphrey began to distance himself from Jacqueline's cause. On 13 February 1426, Humphrey deserted his wife by returning to England, never to set foot in Flanders again. Jacqueline then found herself obliged to submit to her cousin, Philip the Good, after being besieged in the city of Mons in Hainaut. Jacqueline was placed under house arrest in the chateau of Ghent.

On 27 February Pope Martin V decreed that Jacqueline was still the wife of John IV, Duke of Brabant, and this released Humphrey from his obligations to come to her aid. Having lost interest in Jacqueline and her counties in the Low Countries, Humphrey consoled himself in England with Eleanor Cobham, Jacqueline's former lady-in-waiting, while Jacqueline was imprisoned. Her escape from confinement was extraordinary. When it was rumoured that she was to be taken to Lille or even as far as Savoy, two knights came to her rescue. Visiting her, they brought her men's clothing, and she was able to leave the chateau of Ghent unnoticed by the guards in disguise as a man.

John of Brabant now mortgaged the two counties of Holland and Zeeland to Philip, who assumed their protectorate. Jacqueline struggled heroically during the next three years to maintain herself in Holland against the united efforts of Philip the Good, John of Brabant, and the cities of the Hook faction. Although she occasionally won, her victories were never decisive. On 17 April 1427, John of Brabant died, which ironically did not resolve her marital problems. Pope Martin V decreed that her marriage to John had been valid, thus confirming that her marriage to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, was in fact null and void (9 July 1428). Within months Humphrey married with his mistress Eleanor Cobham.

Without allies, and with Philip the Good applying further pressure to her, Jacqueline realised she had no chance of regaining her counties and, on 3 July 1428, "The Reconciliation of Delft" (de Zoen van Delft) was signed between Jacqueline and Philip. By this treaty, Jacqueline kept her titles of Countess of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut, but the administration of her territories was placed in the hands of Philip, who was also appointed as her heir in case she died without children. She was not allowed to marry without the permission of her mother, Philip and the three counties.

With this treaty, Jacqueline gained more than what she could have expected. Although she was sovereign in name only, her image appeared with Philip's on the coins of her territories. There was to be a council of nine the ruled them, of which she was to be allowed to appoint three. From now as her life was rather empty; she did little but travel through her counties.

Final Days

In 1430, Philip the Good mortgaged Holland and Zeeland to the Borssele family, who placed the head of the family, Francis, Lord of Borssele ("Frank van Borssele"), in charge of Jacqueline's finances. Francis had been one of her opponents in the past; nonetheless, in 1432, they secretly married and attempted to foment a rebellion in Holland against Burgundian rule. In response to this, Philip invaded Holland and threw Borssele into prison. Only on the condition that Jacqueline abdicate her estates in his favour would Philip allow Jacqueline her liberty and recognize her marriage with Borssele. She submitted in April 1432, and lived on her husband's estates in retirement. Jacqueline thus renounced her titles and became known as Duchess in Bavaria, of Holland and Countess of Oostervant. On 1 March 1434, Jacqueline and Frank van Borssele openly married in the church of St. Maartensdijk and Philip granted Frank the title of Count of Oostervant.

Jacqueline's marriage with Frank van Borssele was happy but, in the summer of 1436, it became obvious that she was gravely ill. She died of "consumption" (presumably tuberculosis)[4] in Teylingen Castle on 8 October 1436. Since she had no children, Philip of Burgundy inherited Hainaut and Holland. Her husband Frank survived her for thirty-four years.

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ^ a b see text
  2. ^ Alfred H.Burne, "The Hundred Years War," (1st ed., 1955; Folio soc., 2005), 371
  3. ^ Alfred H.Burne, "The Hundred Years War," (Folio, 2005), 372
  4. ^ Some sources cited she was murdered, possibly by orders of her cousin Philip the Good.

References

Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
Born: 1401 Died: 1436
German royalty
Regnal titles
Preceded by
William VI		 Countess of Hainaut, Holland and Zeeland
1417–1432
 Succeeded by
Philip the Good