Daughters of Chivalry by Kelcey Wilson-Lee

Author:Kelcey Wilson-Lee
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan UK

XIII

Homecoming

1300–1

THE NORTH, WOODSTOCK

On her way back to England, Elizabeth stopped off in Brussels to bid farewell to Margaret who, after ten years of marriage and at the age of twenty-five, was finally pregnant, a cause of much rejoicing within Brabant. For Margaret, the pregnancy must have been an extraordinary relief – not only was she finally providing Brabant with a legitimate heir, but having a child of her own would go some way to make up for the loss of her sisters, whose proximity she had until recently enjoyed. If the death of her eldest sister Eleanora was surprising and saddening for the Duchess of Brabant, Elizabeth’s departure for England left Margaret utterly isolated from her family. It was a loss the duchess seems to have felt keenly – references in the wardrobe records show that messengers were frequently dispatched to or from Brabant, carrying letters to her father and sisters.1

Elizabeth left Brussels in July, along with her travelling companions – the Dutch noblewoman Lady de Saux, and the two English ladies her father had sent over to comfort her after Johan’s death, Alice de Breton and Joanna de Mereworth. The party travelled west through Brabant and Flanders, and across the sea, arriving in London in August. From there, they travelled two hundred miles north to Cawood in Yorkshire, where her father had established a northern court in a palace belonging to the Archbishop of York; this was to act as a base, while he attempted to draw the Scottish lords into battle and recreate the success he had found at Falkirk two years before.

Elizabeth had many weeks of travel with her ladies – long, boring days perched atop a palfrey or hidden within a richly ornamented carriage, with little to do but stare out at the countryside and gaze back at the awed faces of common labourers and pilgrims along the roads, her back perhaps straightening as she remembered the importance of projecting a regal image to her father’s subjects. They stopped each evening to rest at different royal castles, monasteries, and at the manor homes of wealthy aristocrats who provided food and beds, before setting off again the next day. As they travelled north, Elizabeth had plenty of time in which to consider her future. Given the drama of Johan’s death and the uncertainty which surrounded her dower from Holland, she might reasonably have anticipated to be granted a period at court before any remarriages were planned, although her father was undoubtedly mindful of the example set by Joanna’s secret remarriage. The journey Elizabeth took led her past many sites familiar from her life before marriage, including Langley, her childhood home with its orchards and exotic pets, and the hunting lodge at Clipstone, where she had said goodbye to her mother a decade before.

Elizabeth was principally focused on reaching her father, and it is possible that her sister Joanna was also present in the north (along with their brother, Prince Edward, who was now sixteen): the Countess of

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