Philippa of England

Biography

Early life Philippa was born to Henry Bolingbroke and Mary de Bohun, at Peterborough Castle, Peterborough. Her father became king in 1399. She is mentioned a couple of times during her childhood: in 1403, she was present at her widowed father's wedding to Joan of Navarre, and the same year, she made a pilgrimage to Canterbury. She mainly lived at Berkhamsted Castle and Windsor Castle.

Marriage In 1400 or 1401, King Henry suggested to Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden that an alliance be formed between England and the Kalmar Union through a double wedding between Henry's daughter Philippa to the heir to the Nordic thrones, Erik of Pomerania, and Henry's son Henry to Eric's sister Catherine. Queen Margaret could not agree to the terms and the marriage between Henry and Catherine never occurred. In 1405, however, a Scandinavian embassy composed of two envoys from each of the three Nordic kingdoms arrived in England, and the marriage between 11 year old Philippa and 24 year old Eric was proclaimed. On 26 November 1405, Philippa was married to Eric by proxy in Westminster, with the Swedish nobleman Ture Bengtsson Bielke as the stand-in for the groom. On 8 December, she was formally proclaimed Queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the presence of the Nordic ambassadors.

Philippa left England from Lynn in August 1406 with an entourage of male and female English nobles and arrived in Helsingborg in September, where she was greeted by Eric and Queen Margaret. The wedding between Philippa and Erik of Pomerania took place on 26 October 1406 in Lund Cathedral. Philippa was the first documented princess in history to wear a white wedding dress during a royal wedding ceremony: she wore a tunic with a cloak in white silk bordered with grey squirrel and ermine. The wedding ceremony was followed by her coronation. The festivities lasted until November, during which several men were knighted and Philippa's dowry was officially received by the court chamberlain and clerics from the three kingdoms. Philippa was in turn granted dower lands in all three kingdoms: Närke and Örebro in Sweden, Fyn with Odense and Nasbyhoved in Denmark, and Romerike in Norway. on a window above her grave at Vadstena Queen Philippa and King Eric lived in Kalmar Castle in Sweden with their court the first three years of their marriage. Philippa was given her own court, supervised by her chief lady in waiting, Lady Katarina Knutsdotter, a granddaughter of Saint Bridget of Sweden through Lady Märta Ulfsdotter, who had been the chief lady in waiting of Queen Margaret herself. Her great dower lands in Sweden increased Philippa's interest in this Kingdom, and while Eric preferred to reside in Denmark, Philippa made such frequent and long visits in Sweden, where she acted as Eric's proxy while present, that she was the de facto Regent of Sweden for the most part of the 1420s, though not formally made such.

Legacy Philippa is described as one of few royals of the Kalmar Union who was actually popular outside Denmark, and in Sweden, she was often praised as a positive contrast to Eric, who was generally unfavorably depicted. She is portrayed by New Zealand actress Thomasin McKenzie in the movie The King. In the Danish language movie Margrete: Queen of the North she is played by child actress Diana Martinová.

Gallery

Ancestry