Celebrated women
of the
15th Century
Joan of Arc
..... St Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of Orleans, born 1412 died May 31st 1431 .....
she was born in the village of Domremy on the borders of Lorraine and the
'voices' began when she was twelve years old and ended when the Dauphin Charles
was crowned King Charles V11 in Rheims Cathedral with Joan kneeling at his side.
Inspired by the 'voices' of St Catherine and St Michael she became convinced
that her mission in life was to save her country and see the true king crowned.
After trying many times to see the Dauphin she was eventually allowed to meet
him and Charles said that if she could make the theologians believe her then he
would give her the command of an army to relieve Orleans which was then under
siege by the British. She did succeed and on April 28th, dressed in white armour
and leading 4000 men and a procession of priests, she led them to Orleans. After
a week of fighting the town was saved and although several victories followed
she knew her course was clear. On July 14th the royal procession arrived at
Rheims and Charles V11 was crowned. Her mission had ended and the 'voices' had
stopped. The days of victory were over and eventually she was captured by the
Burgundians and sold to the British to whom she was regarded as a witch. Joan
was put on trial, questioned repeatedly and asked to recant her ways but she
refused. After a year of hard treatment however she succumbed and was sentenced
to life imprisonment. She had been made to make many promises and one of
them was that she would never again wear men's clothes but as female garments
were deliberately held from her she had no choice. Pronounced a relapsed heretic
she was burned to death at the stake in the market place of Rouen. On
April 18th 1909 she was beatified at a Vatican ceremony and on May 30th 1920 was
canonised by Pope Benedict XV
Eleanor of Arragon .....
died 18th February 1445 ..... daughter
of Ferdinand 1, King of Arragon, she was
married in 1428 to the Infanta of Portugal who in 1433 became Edward 1. He died
in 1438 and left Eleanor as guardian of his son Alfonso V and regent of the
kingdom. His brother, Don Juan, contrived to transfer the regency to another
brother Don Pedro, Duke of Coimbra, and to allow the Queen to retain only the
education of her son who was then only four years old. Her first step was
to defy the decree of the States and to continue to exercise the sovereign
power. She succeeded in this and Don Pedro was forced to leave the court but
after a popular insurrection he was recalled and she was obliged to yield to him
the custody of her son. Eleanor fled to Castile where she tried to persuade King
John 11 to declare war against Portugal but she was unsuccessful. She rejected
the offers of the Regent to betroth his daughter to the young King and to grant
her a liberal pension. Eleanor left the court of Castile and went to Toledo
where she enjoyed the protection of a powerful family. She died here, believing
herself to have been poisoned by order of Alvarez de Luna, the constable of
Castile, who dreaded her influence over the mind of his sovereign
Isabella of Castile
..... born 22nd April 1451 died 26th November 1504 ..... her
reign of Castile was, on one side, glorious for Spain with Castile and Aragon
uniting into one nation, the conquest of Granada and the expulsion of the Moors,
Christopher Columbus's discovery of America and the many reforms which the
talented Isabella implemented to bring a state of order and dignity never known
before. However, the setting up by her of the Spanish Inquisition under the
notorious Inspector General Torquemada, left a stain on her name, Spain and
humanity. She was a devout Catholic and believed strongly that the Moors and the
Jews were the enemies of Christianity. In twenty five years nearly 350,000
people suspected of heresy were either put to death or cruelly tortured and
maimed for life. The terrified Jews fled to France, Italy and Germany and in
1492 a decree was issued expelling all Jews from Spain, an action which greatly
affected its economy. Of her two children, Dona Catalina (Catherine of Aragon)
married Henry V111 and her other daughter Joanna went insane. On the death of
Isabella Spain inherited a mad queen but it did not last long and she was locked
away in the palace by her father Ferdinand who once again took charge of the
throne. On his death Charles V, his grandson, ascended to the throne and Spain
once again returned to the conditions it had known before Isabella. This lasted
through the next two centuries
Elizabeth of York - Queen
..... died 1503 ..... the model
for the Queen on playing cards she was the eldest daughter of Edward 1V and
Elizabeth Woodville and was born at Westminster. Under the Treaty of Pecquigny she was betrothed to the Dauphin of France although it is believed
that her uncle, Richard 111, once thought of marrying her. On the death of her
two brothers in the Tower she became heiress to the House of York and her
marriage to the exiled Henry Tudor was arranged but he insisted on delaying the
marriage until after he was crowned Henry V11 as he felt that Elizabeth's claim
to the throne was superior to his. They married in 1486 and her coronation took
place two years later. Elizabeth was a popular Queen and seems to have
been a good influence on her husband. She died giving birth to her eighth child,
a daughter. One of her daughters, Princess Margaret, married the King of
Scotland which brought about the union of the Scottish and English crowns with
its important political results
Angela Merici
..... born 21st March 1474 died 1540 ..... foundress of the
Ursuline nuns. She was born at Desenzano and her parents died when she was very
young. She became a Franciscan tertiary and devoted herself, with some of her
friends, to the education of poor girls. In 1535 they dedicated themselves to
this work under the patronage of Ursula, who as the golden legend states
" was the daughter of a British Christian King betrothed to a pagan prince but
desiring to remain a virgin. She obtained a three year delay to her marriage and
spent this time in a ship cruising with ten noble companions each of whom
occupied a ship with a thousand companions on board. winds drove them up the
Rhine and finally they ended up in cologne where they were martyred by the Huns
for their Christianity, Ursula having refused to marry their chief". Angela and
her companions took no vows and wore lay clothes. The sisterhood was formed into
a congregation in 1565 and flourished today. It has been described as the oldest
and most considerable teaching order of women in the Roman Catholic church.
Angela was canonised in 1807 and her feast day is 27th January
Catherine of Aragon
..... born 1485 died 1536 ..... daughter of Isabella and
Ferdinand of Castile, widow of Arthur, Prince of Wales. In June 1509 she became
the first wife of Henry V111. Between 1510 and 1514 she gave birth to four
children but all died in infancy. In 1516 their daughter Mary was born and she
later became Queen Mary 1 (Mary Tudor). Henry was anxious for a son and heir and
in 1527 began to seek an annulment to their marriage so that he could marry Anne
Boleyn and despite strong opposition from the Pope he and Anne were secretly
married in 1533. The announcement of the annulment of his marriage to
Catherine was announced a few months later and she was sent into retirement at
Ampthill in Bedfordshire. In 1534 her marriage to Henry was pronounced valid by
the Pope and this caused Henry's final break with Rome. Catherine refused to
accept the title of "princess dowager" or to accept the Act of Succession
(1534) which declared Mary illegitimate
Diana of Poitiers
..... born 3rd September 1499 died 22nd April 1566 ..... daughter of Jean de
Poitiers who was condemned to death, whilst Diana was very young, for having
been an accessory to the flight of the constable de Bourbon. It is recorded that
during his imprisonment a violent paroxysm of fear made his hair turn white
quite suddenly and he was only saved by Diana's powerful pleas. She was married
at the age of thirteen to Louis de Breze, Count of Mavlevrier and grandson of
Charles V11 and Agnes Sorel. When her husband died in 1531 she soon won the love
of the dauphin ( known later as Henry 11) even though she was at least twenty
years older than him. At this time Henry was married to the extremely
beautiful Catherine de Medici but still Diana gained an absolute conquest and
nothing interfered with his love for her. In 1548 she was created Duchess
de Valentinois, her power was unbounded and like that of most royal favourites,
she exercised great cruelty and caprice. The Duchess d'Etampes, one time
mistress of Francis 1, was banished from court and the measures which had been
taken against the Protestants were due to the evil influence of Diana. after the
death of Henry she retired to the Chateau d'Anet where she died alone and
forsaken by all