Whore? Or just a woman ahead of her time?
There was ... in England a shameless woman and wanton harlot called Ales Peres, of base kindred ... being neither beautiful or fair, she knew how to cover these defects with her flattering tongue.
Just recently I finished The King's Concubine by Anne O'brien, a story about Alice Perrers who was the mistress to King Edward III, and I found her story fascinating. She defiantly deserves a place on this blog. Her story is amazing, she is one of the many women in history who are born centuries too early. She is given a bad reputation, but I think that should change that; she started as a nobody and rose up to be one of the most powerful women in 14th Century England. So I would like to dedicate this post as a tribute to her.
Alice was born in 1348 when England was at the mercy of The Black Death that was sweeping across Europe. She wasn't of high breeding or had wealth or family connections. Her parents were probably a town labourer and a taven whore, we don't know for sure as she was left at the doorstep St Mary's in Barking in Suffolk. There she grew up, surrounded by nuns and was destined to become one herself.
When she was around 14, she was taken to the household of Janyn Perrers,where she became his wife, but only in name as the marriage was never consummated as he only wanted a wife to take care of him in his old age and not to give him pleasure. Alice was treated liked a servant: brought in the plates for dinner, cleaned the house etc. When Jany died Alice was left with nothing. Not a penny to her name. Destitute. No family or friends. The only place she could return to was St Mary's.
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| Queen Phillipa |
In 1363, Queen Phillipa came to St Mary's and met Alice. Phillipa decided to created her as one of ladies-in-waiting. Why? Alice wasn't of high birth like the Queen's ladies were supposed to be. Alice was not beautiful but plain and "famously ugly". So why did the Queen want her at court?
Phillipa was ill. She could no longer satisfy her husband anymore. She needed someone to give him the pleasure she could no longer give. Somebody she could trust. That somebody was Alice.
At the age of only 15, Alice was led to the King's chambers where the she would become the King's mistress. King Edward was 50 years at the time, 36 years Alice's senior, he was old enough to be her grandfather and she his granddaughter, but he took her anyway. It was rumoured that she used witchcraft to become part of the Queen's household and lure the king into a sexual liaison that he would never escape from.
Before Edward had never had a mistress because he loved his wife to much to betray her with another woman. He was happy even though Phillipa couldn't share a bed with him anymore, he still stayed faithful. It was only when Phillipa had asked him to think about taking a mistress did his attention turn to Alice. Was the Phillipa's great plan? Maybe so.
Even though Phillipa had given her consent, Edward and Alice were committing adultery, a great sin, especially when the Queen was very much alive.
Edward gave his young lover everything that she desired: jewels, houses, land, he could not refuse her. She bore him 3 children: a son named Sir John de Southeray (c. 1364-1383), and two daughters, Jane and Joan.
In 1369, Phillipa died at Windsor Castle. The affair between the king and his young lover was made public.
After his queen's death, Edward locked himself away from the court and Alice. It was by intervention made by some powerful lords, including the King's third surviving son John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (it is from him that King Henry VII had his right to the throne as his great-great grandson through his mother's side) persuading Alice to speak to the King to become out his "sanctuary" and thus, becoming his Concubine (a woman in an ongoing, marriage-like relationship with a man with whom she cannot be married for a specific reason, i.e. social ranks or that he is already married.) The word, concubine, originates from around 1250–1300 from Middle English, Anglo-Norman, and Latin. Concubīna translates“to lie together”.
Alice was now a "wife" figure to Edward, but wasn't married to him. She was his lover and confidant. By the king's command she was given Phillipa's jewels which was worth £20,000 and was dressed in golden robes and proclaimed as "The Lady of the Sun". She was Queen in all but name.
Perrers owned 56 manors surrounding the capital: the manor of Gains (probably at Upminster) in Essex; in 1367, she held in custody the lands of Robert de Tiloil. Only 15 were gifts, the other 35 she had bought with her own money. She had become the most powerful woman in England. With the number of properties she owned she qualified for a earldom if she was a man.
As she rose into favour with the King she gained more and more enemies in the court who were jealous of her power over the King. She was nothing! She deserved nothing! Certainly not the King's affection and favour.
The Bishop of Rochester wrote that "it is not fitting that all the keys should hang from the belt of one woman." Thomas Walsingham (a monk at St Albans) said "no one dared go against her."
During her height of power controlled public policy, ran the royal palaces, nursed the King, st on the King's seat in the law court and traded with sophisticated merchants of London, helping herself to the royal funds intended to help the English army fighting the French. Rumours spread that she sneaked in her merchant step-daughter into the royal chamber for a three or foursome.
She married Sir William Windsor in secret without the King's blessing. Windsor was a Westmorland knight and the royal lieutenant in Ireland. It is unknown when she married him, but it seemed to be more of "business arrangement" rather than a "act of love and passion".
After this marriage was revealed in 1376, the King of course was furious that HIS MISTRESS was sharing herself with another man without him knowing. She was tried by government for corruption. It wasn't banishment from court and retiring to the country but instead banishment from the kingdom. Basically her punishment was exile. Later she was able to return to England and work to regain her lands that were taken from her by the lords in government who claimed they were only property of the crown, which we know they weren't all. It was not until tragedy struck that she came back to court.
In 1377, Edward became gravely ill and would not recover. He was on his deathbed. He kept calling out for Alice, so she was sent to return to court.
She sat by Edward's side as he laid dying. Where was his family? His children? His friends? Alice was the only person there including a priest so Edward could confess his sins and perform the final rites along with a servant.
Edward died at the age of 65 leaving his ten year old grandson Richard as the new King of England. The new king's mother, Joan of Kent, barred Alice from attending her lover's funeral. How cruel can you be?
Alice lived in Essex with William during the next two decades trying to get back her lost property. She never got back what was hers or the wealth of her glory days. They had no children that is recorded. The main problem might have been that he spent most of his time in Ireland as part of his duty to his King and country, while she took care of his estate. In 1384, William died. He left everything to his sisters instead of Alice, which proves that she didn't give him a child of his own or he would of left her more.
Alice lived to the age of 52 and died in 1400. She left her daughters land as her son was settled and in favour of Richard II, his nephew.
I think that Alice doesn't deserve the bad reputation that she has gotten over 600 years later. Her story is very tragic. Abandoned by her parents, forced to marry a stranger who left her widowed with not a single shilling to her name, forced to become the King of England's mistress, hated by the court, called a whore, banished. It is a real love story with love, sex, betrayal, drama, romance and danger.
Alice Perrers was a remarkable woman who deserves more credit than she is given by history. Her future was weaved by Phillipa when she brought Alice to court and sent her to the King's chambers.
Was she a whore or just a woman ahead of her time? You can decide that, but I think that she was just a woman who was ahead of her time. Thats the problem with this period of time, the woman are brave, intelligent and "have some balls". They would of been better of living now in the present. Just think of how different the world would be. But than the past would be different. Alice is proof of this.
She was a woman who raised herself from nothing to another remarkable woman in history. She wrote the book on how to be good mistress which her successors i.e. Anne Boleyn used. She is worthy of the praise that I give her and historians give her a bad reputation which she clearly didn't deserve. I applaud Anne O'Brien on her new book about this fine woman who came from nothing to become a somebody.
Sources:
The King's Concubine by Anne O'brien
