The Formidable Women who Shaped Medieval Europe. Interview with Susan Abernethy

When Henry the Young King with William Marshal at his side went tourneying, they often crossed paths with Hugh III of Burgundy, whom the author of the History of William Marshal called 'a great lover of tournaments'. In 1183, the duke sided with the Young King against his brother Richard and his father, Henry II in the ill-fated campaign that ended up with the Young King’s untimely death. He was present in Martel, the eyewitness to the unfolding events that took unexpected momentum and were to change the course of history. Hugh himself was to win fame during the Third Crusade and die while in the Holy Land. You will be able to read more about the role he played in the Young King’s story when I am back in 2026. Today for those of you, who are interested in the Valois chapter in the history of the Duchy of Burgundy, I would like to recommend Susan Abernethy’s latest book, which is now out in the UK. If you are thinking of a Christmas present for your loved ones, The Formidable Women who Shaped Medieval Europe may come as a perfect solution. Grasping the opportunity, since I will not be around in the near future, I would like to wish my Guest and all the Young King’s readers a Happy New Year. May it be as good as the passing one. 

Welcome to the blog, Susan! Lovely to have this exciting opportunity to talk to you about your latest book. I am in the course of reading it and I am absolutely loving every bit. However, somehow naturally, a question presents itself: having been following your excellent blog for years, I was under impression that your primary focus has always been on the British history... Why Burgundy then? Where did this special interest of yours come from?

A few years ago, I made a random purchase of a used copy of a biography of Isabel of Portugal by Aline S Taylor. It just so happened that Isabel was the daughter of King John I of Portugal and Philippa, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and son of King Edward III of England. At the venerable age of 33, Isabel was married to Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy as his third wife.

Isabel had a son who succeeded his father with the moniker of Charles the Bold. It turned out I owned a reprint of a turn of the century biography of Charles by Ruth Putnam in my library. Both Isabel and Charles greatly intrigued me as tenacious and resolute characters. I had to learn more. My research began with Putnam’s biography and progressed to the four volume biographies of each of the Valois dukes of Burgundy by Richard Vaughan, as well as many other books.

                     

Philip the Bold, John the Fearless, Philip the Good and Charles the Bold... When we think Burgundy these are the names that immediately spring to mind. But if you were to choose a few female names? In your opinion, which of the female rulers had exerted the greatest influence and left the most indelible mark on the duchy's history?

Foremost would have to be Margaret of Male, the wife of Philip the Bold and the first Duchess of Burgundy of the Valois line. Once Philip the Bold gained the duchy of Burgundy, he merged it with the county of Burgundy, otherwise known as the Franche-Comté, by marrying Margaret, who would inherit not just the Franche-Comté, but also Flanders and the counties of Rethel and Nevers, along with other territories. So we have the first formidable woman, who brought the first block of significant land to the newdynasty. Margaret not only gave birth to many children but aided her husband in ruling his newly gained conglomeration of territories, and he trusted her implicitly. Philip the Bold instituted a deliberate program of marrying his daughters into various regions around his provinces, not just as respectable mates for the grooms but to increase his territories. Richard Vaughan says Philip the Bold was one of the most talented diplomats of his age. 

I would have to give credit to Isabel of Portugal as the next formidable woman of influence. Philip the Good would frequently be away from the Low Countries, making war and attempting to add new territories. Isabel would rule in his stead while he was away, raising taxes, supplying the army, putting down rebellions, working with the ministers and going over the duke’s financial accounts. She was supremely talented. Philip put her in charge of many of the proceedings for the Treaty of Arras in 1435, where she negotiated political and commercial agreements between Burgundy, England and France. Her diplomatic skills received positive praise. 

Margaret of Male, Duchess of Burgundy

And lastly, I would give great credit to Margaret, Archduchess of Austria, Duchess of Savoy and Regent of the Netherlands. As the daughter of Mary, titular Duchess of Burgundy (the heir of Charles the Bold) and Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, she was married three times. When young, they sent her to France as the bride of Charles VIII, who eventually repudiated her to marry Anne, Duchess of Brittany, for obvious political reasons. Next, they sent her to Spain as the wife of Juan, Prince of Asturias. When he died a few months after thewedding, she stayed in Spain for two years and studied governance under her inimitable mother-in-law, Isabella of Castile. And her last husband, Philibert II, Duke of Savoy, allowed her to rule the duchy in his stead during their marriage. When Philibert died, all of this experience came into play when Maximilian appointed her Regent of the Netherlands for her nephew, the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, where she ruled with skill and diplomacy until her death in 1530. She looms large in the duchy's history.

Which one of the ladies is your favorite and why?

There are several of these women’s stories that impressed me. Perhaps one of my favorite discoveries in writing this book was Catherine of Burgundy, Duchess of Austria and Countess of Ferrette. Philip had his eye on the county of Ferrette (now a part of Alsace in northeastern France), which bordered on his Burgundian territories. Ferrette was under the influence of Leopold IV, Duke of Austria. Catherine’s marriage to Leopold would be a success in that the couple got along well; however, they had no children. When Philip the Bold failed to pay Catherine’s dowry, she convinced Leopold to grant her the governance of the county of Ferrette, which would give her an income. She ruled the county competently, acting as a diplomat for her Burgundian ducal brother and nephew, John the Fearless and Philip the Good respectively, making economic and trade alliances and waging petty wars in the surrounding area. Catherine is one of the few women I’ve found who operated as a man would have in the medieval era, which makes her truly unique. Even more exceptionally, once Catherine became a widow, she married a handsome young nobleman without her brother’s permission, to the astonishment of just about everyone around her. She certainly must have been charming and persuasive. The sad ending to the story concerns Catherine’s nephew, Philip the Good, who, for all intents and purposes, forced Catherine to give up her liaison with the nobleman. She seems to have lost all desire for life after this and died shortly thereafter.

Did you encounter any difficulties while working on your book? What challenges - if any - did present themselves in the process? 

Yes, I certainly did. First of all, women are not usually included in history, so sources and information were sparse. I was very impressed with Richard Vaughan’s books on the Valois dukes because he obviously tried to include generous information on the women. His premise that Philip the Bold instituted a strong policy of marrying his daughters and relatives into various houses from surrounding territories led him to recount these marriages. Bart van Loos’ book, The Burgundian’s had recently been translated into English, and he had some eye-opening details about the duke’s wives My second impediment was the fact that I don’t speak or read German, Flemish or Dutch. My French helps a little in a few cases. So, finding sources in English created a hurdle which had to be overcome. Just through chance, I found a book published in 1934 in French about Maximilian Smassmann, the second husband who married Catherine of Burgundy, Duchess of Austria. After a search, I found a translator willing to translate the 100 page chapter on Smassmann’s relationship with Catherine. This was the key to unlocking the secret of their marriage. Another research book I found had a great article on Philip the Bold’s marriage policies in French and I hired a friend to translate this chapter. Late in my research, I discovered an article written for a magazine related to a Guelderian historical society in Dutch about Philippa of Guelders. The author was kind enough to send me a copy of the article which I managed to translate into English. This article was chock full of great details about Philippa’s life. And I was lucky enough to find a website hosted by the Huygens Institute called the Digital Women’s Lexicon of the Netherlands. There’s a plethora of articles on many women in Dutch history here, including bibliographies. Google Translate is amazing and allowed me to read the articles in English. Part of the joy of historical research is acting like Sherlock Holmes to find information. 

Seizing the opportunity, I would like to ask you for your opinion on the research conducted by Philippa Langley and her team. The biggest single piece of evidence introduced by them two years ago was the so-called Lille receipt, which led us directly to Margaret of York. Being an ardent admirer of her brother, Edward IV, I was hoping we were getting closer to solving English history's greatest cold case, but were we? What part did Margaret actually play in the aftermath of Bosworth and in the first years of Henry Tudor's reign? Henry, with his inferior claim to the throne, would have done anything to secure his precarious position... Was Margaret ready to do anything to stop him?

Honestly, I have to admit up front I have not read Langley’s book. I viewed the one-hour television program that aired on PBS in the US and have read several articles about the findings. Margaret was the sister of Kings Edward IV and Richard III of England. They negotiated a marriage for her to Charles the Bold in 1468. As the third wife of the Burgundian duke, she played a major role in governing the duchy while Charles was away waging war. She gained great wealth and power and forged a strong bond with Charles’ daughter and heir, Mary, and would help her rule Burgundy following the death of Charles at the Battle of Nancy in 1477. A portion of Margaret’s wealth came from subsidies and grants given to her by her brothers. 

One of the first orders of business for Henry VII following his victory at Bosworth in 1485 and his ascension to the English throne by right of conquest was the cancellation of Margaret of York’s subsidies. Needless to say, this angered Margaret. She had an axe to grind because of the death of her brother and the loss of income. Certainly, one could argue this gave her motivation to do everything in her power to stop Henry VII.

Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy

 

Regarding the Lille receipt, this is a piece of paper acknowledging the purchase and delivery of 400 weapons destined for an invasion of England to help the son of Edward IV regain his throne. In 1487, the nobility of Ireland had crowned a Yorkist ‘King Edward’ which most sources claim to be Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of Margaret’s third brother, George Duke of Clarence, or a pretender posing as the Earl (sometimes called Lambert Simnel). Margaret’s forces went to England on this boy’s behalf, and the result would be the Battle of Stoke Field. The writer of the Lille receipt, citing King Edward’s son, suggests he believed the boy being mentioned was one of the ‘princes in the Tower’ and apparently Langley takes this as evidence that one of the boys was still alive. The identity of the boy is ambiguous here. Why would Margaret believe this child was her nephew King Edward V when the rest of Europe thought he was the Earl of Warwick? Even if she said this boy was her brother’s son, was she telling the truth? There is an obvious bias here as she wanted to stir up trouble for Henry VII because she believed he stole her income. Does Langley take this into account? It shows there is a lack of understanding of the medieval political realities of the time. We do not know which ‘Edward’ is being referenced here, and Margaret had political and personal reasons to make mischief. In reality, this receipt offers no evidence at all that one of the princes was still alive. In fact, by the fall of 1498, Margaret would write a remarkable letter to King Henry VII of England, asking for his pardon and promising to recognize his right to rule England.

This indeed, is not getting us any closer to solving the mysterious fate of Margaret’s nephews. From then on, how did Margaret and Henry’s relationship continue?

Once Margaret wrote the letter recognizing Henry VII as king of England, the backing of any pretenders stopped. Henry did not restore her grants and income.

 

Will the mystery ever be solved? Do you think?

 

Sad to say, I don’t believe the mystery will ever be solved. The preponderance of the evidence points to Richard III having the princes murdered upon his orders. Rebellion was in the air and once the people believed the princes were gone, the nobility could no longer back the king. Whether they were murdered or not, it was believed they were dead. It strikes me as intriguing that the records state the boys were not seen after August 1483 and shortly thereafter, in early September, Richard had his son invested as Prince of Wales. As Nathen Amin points out in his book Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simnel, Warbeck, and Warwick, the bodies of the princes were most likely dumped into the Thames river. This makes perfect sense as there would be no evidence of what happened.

Tell us about your debut book, Charles II’s Portuguese Queen: The Legacy of Catherine of Braganza.

Many years ago, I found the books of Jean Plaidy in the library and read every one I could get my hands on. She wrote historical fiction based on English history, and one of these volumes was ‘The Merry Monarch’s Wife’ about Catherine. Years later, when I started The Freelance History Writer blog, I resolved to write articles about all the queens of England, and Catherine was one of the first. I found it difficult to find sources about her in English.

Catherine was known as the forgotten queen as she remained in the shadows of Charles II’s more glamorous mistresses. Catherine’s husband’s infidelities caused people to believe she was depressed and weepy. But was this true? I decided to write a book about her and found just the opposite. She was resilient and powerful in her own way. The book “Charles II’s Portuguese Queen: The Legacy of Catherine of Braganza” centers entirely onCatherine, with minimal discussion of the mistresses. It also shows how she practiced her agency as queen based on new scholarship. And her legacy lies in her dowry of the city of Bombay, given to England upon her marriage. Charles eventually sold his interest in Bombay to the English East India Company, who turned it into an empire and exported many common, ordinary goods into England and Europe such as cotton cloth, lacquer cabinets, cane, porcelain and tea. Catherine brought these items to England, and they made their way into the everyday lives of the English.

Thank you so much, Susan, for this fascinating insight into your work. I wish you best of luck on your upcoming projects which I am looking forward to.  

Thank you so much for hosting me, Kasia and I want to wish you the best of luck on your projects, too. 

Susan Abernethy's passion for history dates back fifty years and led her to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in history at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is currently a member of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, the Historical Writers Association, the Society for Renaissance Studies and the Historical Association. Her work has appeared on several historical websites and in magazines and includes guest appearances on historical podcasts. Her blog, The Freelance History Writer, has continuously published over five hundred historical articles since 2012, with an emphasis on European, Tudor, Medieval, Renaissance, Early Modern and women’s history. She is currently working on her third non-fiction book.

You can purchase Susan's books on Pen & Sword and on Amazon.