ABSTRACT
The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were times of crisis for many European monarchies. 1 England was no exception; during his reign in the early 1300s, Edward II faced numerous rebellions, warfare with the Scots, and he was furthermore accused of letting his favourites gain too much power. Eventually, Edward II was imprisoned and his favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger, was put on trial and executed. 2 According to French chronicler Jean Froissart, Despenser was also castrated for being ‘a heretic and a sodomite, even, it was said, with the king, which was why the king had driven the queen away’ at the favourite’s suggestion. 3 During the trial in 1326 there were many allegations launched against Edward’s favourite; a recurring one was that he had come between the king and the queen. The accusers claimed that Despenser had even put Queen Isabella’s life in jeopardy when he convinced the king to abandon her and her entourage during the war with the Scots. The allegations end by declaring Despenser a traitor and ‘always disloyal’ because he had sown discord between the king and the queen. 4 An attempt to ruin the royal couple’s marital relations could thus be considered an act of treason, which demonstrates that the relationship between the king and the queen was of great societal and political importance. This chapter examines how the relationship between the king and the queen reflected on the king’s authority in the late medieval era. We will argue that the royal marriage symbolized the state of the kingdom, and that marital issues, not least those of a sexual character, were used to express concern with how the kingdom was ruled.
