Alice Chaucer, Three Times A Wife

<p>Geoffrey Chaucer’s granddaughter Alice was first married at the age of 11. She was granted a license to marry her third husband on 11th November, 1430; and became defined by her three powerful unions with men she outlived.</p><br><p>Having lost her first two husbands in the Hundred Years War, she then settled down with William de la Pole, Earl of Suffolk; a marriage that got her closer than ever to the seat of power. At one point, she even filled in for Queen Margaret on a ceremonial parade in France.</p><br><p>In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly marvel at Chaucer’s ability to climb the social hierarchy via her marriages; explain why ‘jointures’ changed the fortunes of widows in the Middle Ages; and consider the merits of commissioning multiple statues of themselves…</p><br><p><strong>Further Reading:</strong></p><p>• ‘Four Thought: And His Wife’ (BBC Radio 4, 2021) - Olly Mann interviews Jessica Barker about medieval statues of women, including Alice Chaucer: <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z0c4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z0c4</a></p><p>• ‘Historical Figures: Alice Chaucer, Lady of the Garter’ (Just History Posts, 2020): <a href="https://justhistoryposts.com/2020/08/11/historical-figures-alice-chaucer-lady-of-the-garter/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://justhistoryposts.com/2020/08/11/historical-figures-alice-chaucer-lady-of-the-garter/</a></p><p>• ‘'Till Death Us Do Part? Love and the Medieval Tomb Monument with Dr Jessica Barker’ (The Churches Conservation Trust, 2021): <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH55Vq3tHo0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH55Vq3tHo0</a></p><br><p><strong>For bonus material and to support the show, visit</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/Patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://patreon.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>Patreon.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><p><strong>We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:</strong><a href="https://create.acast.com/episodes/ca1f94a1-0921-446a-ae00-4d4bfd2ba3ef/podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong></a><a href="http://podfollow.com/Retrospectors" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>podfollow.com/Retrospectors</strong></a></p><br><p><em>The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.</em></p><p><em>Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.</em></p><p><em>Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021.</em></p><br><p><em>#1400s #Person #White #Strange #France #UK</em></p><br /><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>

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