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194-489: The psalter was perhaps produced c. 1310–1320 by one main scribe and, unusually for a work so heavily illuminated, a single artist, who is now known as the "Queen Mary Master". It was probably made in London, and possibly for Isabella of France , queen of Edward II of England , though there is no agreement on the matter. For the next two hundred years, its history is not known. A note in a sixteenth-century hand indicates that it

388-430: A cowl while the daughters are typically shown in bed, dressed in their nightclothes. Many renderings contain a cypress tree or a cross-shaped cupola . The historicity of this incident is disputed. Adam C. English argues for a historical kernel to the legend, noting the story's early attestation as well as the fact that no similar stories were told about any other Christian saints. Jona Lendering, who also argues for

582-464: A lost Life of Saint Nicholas as his source. Nearly all the sources Eustratius references date from the late fourth century to early fifth century, indicating the Life of Saint Nicholas to which he refers was probably written during this time period, shortly after Nicholas's death. The earliest complete account of Nicholas's life that has survived to the present is a Life of Saint Nicholas , written in

776-586: A nervous breakdown following the death of Mortimer. Isabella remained extremely wealthy; despite being required to surrender most of her lands after losing power, in 1331 she was reassigned a yearly income of £3000, which increased to £4000 by 1337. She lived an expensive lifestyle in Norfolk, including minstrels , huntsmen, grooms and other luxuries, and was soon travelling again around England. In 1348, there were suggestions that she might travel to Paris to take part in peace negotiations, but eventually this plan

970-485: A " femme fatale " figure in plays and literature over the years, usually portrayed as a beautiful but cruel and manipulative figure. Isabella arrived in England at age 12 during a period of growing conflict between the king and the powerful baronial factions. Her new husband was notorious for the patronage he lavished on his favourite , Piers Gaveston , but the queen supported Edward during these early years, forming

1164-499: A body of support from the Church and selected nobles, whilst Isabella and Mortimer moved into Nottingham Castle for safety, surrounding themselves with loyal troops. In the autumn, Mortimer was investigating another plot against him, when he challenged a young noble, William Montagu , during an interrogation. Mortimer declared that his word had priority over the king's, an alarming statement that Montagu reported back to Edward. Edward

1358-484: A bribe to put three famous generals to death, in spite of their actual innocence. Saint Nicholas appeared to Constantine and Ablabius in dreams, informing Constantine of the truth and frightening Ablabius into releasing the generals, for fear of Hell . Later versions of the story are more elaborate, interweaving the two stories together. According to one version, Emperor Constantine sent three of his most trusted generals, named Ursos, Nepotianos, and Herpylion, to put down

1552-478: A caption placed above the image. The psalms are accompanied by over 800 illustrations, which fall into three categories: initials, many containing imagery related to David ; large illuminations depicting the Life of Christ ; and marginal drawings at the bottom of every page. This last section contains six sequences, including a bestiary and the "lives of the martyred saints." According to Anne Rudloff Stanton, "the codex

1746-583: A fake "escape" for Edward from Berkeley Castle; after this Edward was kept in Ireland, believing he was really evading Mortimer, before finally finding himself free, but politically unwelcome, after the fall of Isabella and Mortimer. In this version, Edward makes his way to Europe, before subsequently being buried at Gloucester. Finally, Alison Weir , again drawing on the Fieschi Letter, has recently argued that Edward II escaped his captors, killing one in

1940-472: A famous order (in Latin : Eduardum occidere nolite timere bonum est ) which, depending on where the comma was inserted, could mean either "Do not be afraid to kill Edward; it is good" or "Do not kill Edward; it is good to fear". In actuality, there is little evidence of anyone deciding to have Edward assassinated, and none whatsoever of the note having been written. Similarly, accounts of Edward being killed with

2134-591: A hated figure locally, he was promptly attacked and killed — his head was later sent to Isabella by her local supporters. Edward, meanwhile, was still fleeing west, reaching Gloucester by 9 October. Isabella responded by marching swiftly west herself in an attempt to cut him off, reaching Gloucester a week after Edward, who slipped across the border into Wales the same day. Hugh Despenser the Elder continued to hold Bristol against Isabella and Mortimer, who placed it under siege between 18–26 October; when it fell, Isabella

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2328-470: A huge risk in doing so. Female infidelity was a very serious offence in medieval Europe, as shown during the Tour de Nesle Affair. Both of Isabella's former French sisters-in-law had died by 1326 as a result of their imprisonment for charges of adultery, and their alleged lovers had been brutally executed. As a result, Isabella's motivation has been the subject of discussion by historians. Some believe that there

2522-466: A move guaranteed to appeal to domestic opinion, Isabella also decided to pursue Edward III's claim on the French throne , sending her advisers to France to demand official recognition of his claim. The French nobility were unimpressed and, since Isabella lacked the funds to begin any military campaign, she began to court the opinion of France's neighbours, including proposing the marriage of her son John to

2716-574: A new church, the Basilica di San Nicola, to Saint Nicholas in Bari. The Pope himself personally placed Nicholas's relics into the tomb beneath the altar of the new church. The removal of Saint Nicholas's relics from Myra and their arrival in Bari is reliably recorded by multiple chroniclers, including Orderic Vitalis and 9 May continued to be celebrated every year by western Christians as the day of Nicholas's "translation". Eastern Orthodox Christians and

2910-450: A pardon, possibly from Edward III, but Isabella was insistent on his execution. The execution itself was a fiasco after the executioner refused to attend and Edmund of Kent had to be killed by a local dung-collector, who had been himself sentenced to death and was pardoned as a bribe to undertake the beheading. Isabella de Vesci escaped punishment, despite having been closely involved in the plot. By mid-1330, Isabella and Mortimer's regime

3104-405: A part of Nicholas' relic as a gift. Whereas the devotional importance of relics and the economics associated with pilgrimages caused the remains of most saints to be divided up and spread over numerous churches in several countries, Saint Nicholas is unusual in that most of his bones have been preserved in one spot: his grave crypt in Bari. Even with the allegedly continuing miracle of the manna,

3298-474: A peace treaty between the two nations. However, her presence in France became a focal point for the many nobles opposed to Edward's reign. Isabella gathered an army to oppose Edward, in alliance with Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, whom she may have taken as a lover. Isabella and Mortimer returned to England with a mercenary army, seizing the country in a lightning campaign. The Despensers were executed and Edward

3492-506: A pilgrimage to Canterbury , during which she left the traditional route to stop at Leeds Castle in Kent , a fortification held by Bartholomew de Badlesmere , steward of the King's household who had by 1321 joined the ranks of Edward's opponents. Some historians believe that the pilgrimage was a deliberate act by Isabella on Edward's behalf to create a casus belli . Lord Badlesmere was away at

3686-558: A rapid period of celebratory spending then ensued. Isabella soon awarded herself another £20,000, allegedly to pay off foreign debts. At Edward III's coronation, Isabella then extended her land holdings from a value of £4,400 each year to the huge sum of £13,333, making her one of the largest landowners in the kingdom. Isabella also refused to hand over her dower lands to Philippa after her marriage to Edward III, in contravention of usual custom. Isabella's lavish lifestyle matched her new incomes. Mortimer, in effect her first minister, after

3880-549: A rebellion in Phrygia . However, a storm forced them to take refuge in Myra. Unbeknownst to the generals, who were in the harbor, their soldiers further inland were fighting with local merchants and engaging in looting and destruction. Nicholas confronted the generals for allowing their soldiers to misbehave and the generals brought an end to the looting. Immediately after the soldiers had returned to their ships, Nicholas heard word of

4074-529: A red-hot poker have no strong contemporary sources to support them. The conventional 20th-century view has been that Edward did die at Berkeley Castle, either murdered on Isabella's orders or of ill-health brought on by his captivity, and that subsequent accounts of his survival were simply rumours, similar to those that surrounded Joan of Arc and other near contemporaries after their deaths. Three recent historians, however, have offered an alternative interpretation of events. Paul Doherty , drawing extensively on

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4268-510: A restrained beginning, also began to accumulate lands and titles at a tremendous rate, particularly in the Marcher territories. The new regime also faced some key foreign policy dilemmas, which Isabella approached from a realist perspective. The first of these was the situation in Scotland, where Edward II's unsuccessful policies had left an unfinished, tremendously expensive war. Isabella

4462-612: A result of her perceived role in the affair. In the north, however, the situation was becoming worse. Edward attempted to quash the Scots in a fresh campaign in 1314, resulting in the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Bannockburn . Edward was blamed by the barons for the catastrophic failure of the campaign. Thomas of Lancaster reacted to the defeats in Scotland by taking increased power in England and turning against Isabella, cutting off funds and harassing her household. To make matters worse,

4656-761: A result of this, Nicholas became the patron saint of prisoners and those falsely accused of crimes. An index finger claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas was kept in a chapel along the Ostian Way in Rome. Another finger was held in Ventimiglia in Liguria . Today, many churches in Europe, Russia, and the United States claim to possess small relics, such as a tooth or a finger bone. An Irish tradition states that

4850-586: A satirical puppet show for their guests and Isabella gave new embroidered purses both to her brothers and to their wives. Isabella and Edward then returned to England with new assurances of French support against the English barons. Later in the year, however, when Isabella and Edward held a large dinner in London to celebrate their return, Isabella apparently noticed that the purses she had given to her sisters-in-law were now being carried by two Norman knights: Gautier and Philippe d'Aunay. Isabella concluded that

5044-521: A ship. The fighting continued as Isabella and her household retreated onto the vessel, resulting in the death of two of her ladies-in-waiting. Once aboard, Isabella evaded the Flemish navy, landing further south and making her way to York. Isabella was furious. Both with Edward for, from her perspective, abandoning her to the Scots, and with Despensers for convincing Edward to retreat rather than sending help. For his part, Edward blamed Lewis de Beaumont ,

5238-484: A source written before conversion narratives became popular, which would be a positive indication of that source's reliability. He notes that many of the stories recounted by Michael the Archimandrite closely resemble stories told about the first-century AD Neopythagorean philosopher Apollonius of Tyana in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana , an eight-volume biography of him written in the early third century by

5432-572: A staunch opponent of Arianism and a devoted supporter of Trinitarianism , and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed . Nicholas's attendance at the Council of Nicaea is attested early by Theodore the Lector's list of attendees, which records him as the 151st attendee. However, he is conspicuously never mentioned by Athanasius of Alexandria , the foremost defender of Trinitarianism at

5626-479: A steadily worsening situation. They wrote that Isabella had publicly snubbed Stapledon; Edward's political enemies were gathering at the French court and threatening his emissaries; and that Isabella was dressed as a widow, claiming that Hugh Despenser had destroyed her marriage with Edward. Additionally, Isabella surrounded herself with mostly exiles, including Edmund of Kent , John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond , and her rumored lover Roger Mortimer. Roger Mortimer

5820-442: A terrible famine, a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he killed them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, saw through the butcher's lies and resurrected the pickled children by making the sign of the cross . Jona Lendering opines that the story is "without any historical value". Adam C. English notes that

6014-565: A total of three early lists, one of which, Theodore the Lector, is generally considered to be the most accurate. According to Jona Lendering, there are two main possibilities: A later legend, first attested in the fourteenth century, over 1,000 years after Nicholas's death, holds that, during the Council of Nicaea, Nicholas lost his temper and slapped "a certain Arian" across the face. On account of this, Constantine revoked Nicholas's miter and pallium . Steven D. Greydanus concludes that, because of

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6208-823: A way that permanently poisoned her relationship with both Edward and the Despensers. Isabella and Edward had travelled north together at the start of the autumn campaign. Before the disastrous Battle of Old Byland in Yorkshire, Edward had ridden south, apparently to raise more men, sending Isabella east to Tynemouth Priory . With the Scottish army marching south, Isabella expressed considerable concern about her personal safety and requested assistance from Edward. Her husband initially proposed sending Despenser forces to secure her, but Isabella rejected this outright, instead requesting friendly troops. Rapidly retreating south with

6402-540: A wealthy courtier and grew close again to her family especially her daughter Joan, Queen of Scots and her grandson Edward, Prince of Wales . Isabella was born in Paris on an uncertain date — on the basis of the chroniclers and the eventual date of her marriage, she was probably born between April 1295 and January 1296. She is described as born in 1292 in the Annals of Wigmore, and Piers Langtoft agrees, claiming that she

6596-734: A woman. Comparisons to psalters that focus on women and were known to have been owned by women (such as the Isabella Psalter , the Munich Psalter , and the Imola Psalter ) are drawn. Especially the Isabella Psalter is similar in content and style to the Queen Mary Psalter, strengthening the case for identifying the original patron or owner as Isabella of France. Kathryn Smith argues that specifically

6790-591: A working relationship with Piers and using her relationship with the French monarchy to bolster her own authority and power. After the death of Gaveston at the hands of the barons in 1312, however, Edward turned to a new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger , and attempted to take revenge on the barons, resulting in the Despenser War and a period of internal repression across England. Isabella could not tolerate Hugh Despenser, and by 1325, her marriage to Edward

6984-635: Is a large conventional pomegranate-flower worked on fine linen in coloured silks and gold thread." Queen Mary used the pomegranate as a memento for her mother, Catherine of Aragon , and the entire binding was probably done "by her own direction." The remaining clasp plates are engraved with images pertaining to the House of Tudor . The psalms (in Latin) are preceded by an Old Testament cycle containing 223 scenes, and are glossed in Anglo-Norman by way of

7178-723: Is actually rooted in historical fact. Traditionally, Nicholas was born in the city of Patara ( Lycia et Pamphylia ), a port on the Mediterranean Sea , in Asia Minor in the Roman Empire, to a wealthy family of Greek Christians. According to some accounts, his parents were named Epiphanius ( Ἐπιφάνιος , Epiphánios ) and Johanna ( Ἰωάννα , Iōánna ), but, according to others, they were named Theophanes ( Θεοφάνης , Theophánēs ) and Nonna ( Νόννα , Nónna ). In some accounts, Nicholas's uncle

7372-554: Is an intricately designed and encyclopaedic masterpiece, presenting largely visual stories that span the courtly world as well as biblical history." Among the themes she identifies among the narratives, Stanton notes the "crucial nature of women's actions" and especially mothers protecting their children. The selection of women is broad. Included are women from the Old Testament characters, including Eve , Sarah , and Bathsheba ; Stanton notes that four scenes of childbirth occur in

7566-585: Is celebrated on almost every Thursday of the year (together with the Apostles ) with special hymns to him which are found in the liturgical book known as the Octoechos . Soon after the transfer of Saint Nicholas's relics from Myra to Bari, an East Slavic version of his Life and an account of the transfer of his relics were written by a contemporary to this event. Devotional akathists and canons have been composed in his honour, and are frequently chanted by

7760-457: Is evidence that Hugh Despenser the Younger attempted to assault Isabella herself in some fashion. Certainly, immediately after the Battle of Boroughbridge, Edward began to be markedly less generous in his gifts towards Isabella, and none of the spoils of the war were awarded to her. Worse still, later in the year Isabella was caught up in the failure of another of Edward's campaigns in Scotland, in

7954-462: Is my sister and I refuse to expel her." Charles went on to refuse to return the lands in Aquitaine to Edward, resulting in a provisional agreement under which Edward resumed administration of the remaining English territories in early 1326 whilst France continued to occupy the rest. Meanwhile, the messages brought back by Edward's agent Walter de Stapledon , Bishop of Exeter and others portrayed

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8148-528: Is no hard evidence for their having had a substantial relationship before meeting in Paris. Isabella was reintroduced to Mortimer in Paris by her cousin, Joan, Countess of Hainault , who appears to have approached Isabella suggesting a marital alliance between their two families, marrying Prince Edward to Joan's daughter, Philippa . Mortimer and Isabella may have begun a physical relationship from December 1325 onwards. If so, both Isabella and Mortimer were taking

8342-402: Is not attested in the earliest sources and is therefore unlikely to be historical. One of the earliest attested stories of Saint Nicholas is one in which he saves three innocent men from execution. According to Michael the Archimandrite, three innocent men were condemned to death by the governor Eustathius. As they were about to be executed, Nicholas appeared, pushed the executioner's sword to

8536-556: Is not mentioned by any contemporary chroniclers. This is not surprising, since Nicholas lived during a turbulent time in Roman history . The earliest mentions of Saint Nicholas indicate that, by the sixth century, his following was already well-established. Less than two hundred years after Saint Nicholas's probable death, the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II (ruled 401–450) ordered the building of

8730-597: Is now known as "Saint Nicolas de Port" in honor of Nicholas. The clergy at Bari strategically gave away samples of Nicholas's bones to promote the following and enhance its prestige. Many of these bones were initially kept in Constantinople, but, after the Sack of Constantinople in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade , these fragments were scattered across western Europe. A hand claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas

8924-446: Is said that, in Myra, the relics of Saint Nicholas each year exuded a clear watery liquid which smelled like rose water, called manna , or myrrh , which was believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers. As it was widely known that all Nicholas's relics were at Myra in their sealed sarcophagus, it was rare during this period for forgers of relics to claim to possess those belonging to Saint Nicholas. A solemn bronze statue of

9118-509: Is said to have made a pilgrimage to Egypt and Syria Palaestina . Shortly after his return, he became Bishop of Myra . He was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian , but was released after the accession of Constantine . An early list makes him an attendee at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, but he is never mentioned in any writings by people who were at the council. Late, unsubstantiated legends claim that he

9312-399: Is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. Other early stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution, and chopping down a tree possessed by a demon. In his youth, he

9506-453: The Battle of Boroughbridge ; Lancaster was promptly executed, leaving Edward and the Despensers victorious. Hugh Despenser the Younger was now firmly ensconced as Edward's new favourite and together over the next four years Edward and the Despensers imposed a harsh rule over England, a "sweeping revenge" characterised by land confiscation, large-scale imprisonment, executions and the punishment of extended family members, including women and

9700-499: The Bishop of Durham and an ally of Isabella, for the fiasco. Isabella effectively separated from Edward from here onwards, leaving him to live with Hugh Despenser. At the end of 1322, Isabella left the court on a ten-month-long pilgrimage around England by herself. On her return in 1323, she visited Edward briefly, but was removed from the process of granting royal patronage. At the end of 1324, as tensions grew with France, Edward and

9894-567: The Castilian royal family . By the end of 1328 the situation had descended into near civil war once again, with Lancaster mobilising his army against Isabella and Mortimer. In January 1329 Isabella's forces under Mortimer's command took Lancaster's stronghold of Leicester , followed by Bedford ; Isabella — wearing armour, and mounted on a warhorse — and Edward III marched rapidly north, resulting in Lancaster's surrender. He escaped death but

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10088-590: The Church of Saint Nicholas in Myra , which thereby preserves an early mention of his name. The Byzantine historian Procopius also mentions that the Emperor Justinian I (ruled 527–565) renovated churches in Constantinople dedicated to Saint Nicholas and Saint Priscus , which may have originally been built as early as c. 490. Nicholas's name also occurs as "Nicholas of Myra of Lycia" on

10282-577: The First Crusade . Although the Crusaders generally favored warrior saints, which Saint Nicholas was not, the presence of his relics in Bari made him materially accessible. Nicholas's associations with aiding travelers and seafarers also made him a popular choice for veneration. Nicholas's veneration by Crusaders helped promote his following throughout western Europe. After the relics were brought to Bari, they continued to produce "myrrh", much to

10476-629: The Nativity of Jesus is believed to have taken place. Over the crypt where Nicholas is believed to have lived now stands the "Church of Saint Nicholas" in Beit Jala , a Christian town of which Nicholas is the Patron saint . After visiting the Holy Land, Nicholas returned to Myra. The bishop of Myra, who had succeeded Nicholas's uncle, had recently died and the priests in the city had decided that

10670-546: The Old Royal Library to the British Museum . Elements of the text are not known from other manuscripts and may have been specially composed. Some of the captions and illustrations betray the influence of the twelfth-century Historia scholastica . At least twenty manuscripts from the fourteenth century have survived that reflect the "Queen Mary style". The contents indicate that it was probably made for

10864-471: The She-Wolf of France ( French : Louve de France ), was Queen of England as the wife of King Edward II , and de facto regent of England from 1327 until 1330. She was the youngest surviving child and only surviving daughter of King Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre . Isabella was notable in her lifetime for her diplomatic skills, intelligence, and beauty. She overthrew her husband, becoming

11058-464: The Welsh Marches , making an easy alliance with Edward, who sought revenge for the death of Gaveston. In 1313, Isabella travelled to Paris with Edward to garner further French support, which resulted in the Tour de Nesle affair. The journey was a pleasant one, with many festivities, although Isabella was injured when her tent burned down. During the visit, her brothers Louis and Charles put on

11252-592: The archdiocese of Bari has allowed for one scientific survey of the bones. In the late 1950s, while the crypt was undergoing much-needed restoration, the bones were removed from it for the first time since their interment in 1089. A special Pontiffical Commission permitted Luigi Martino, a professor of human anatomy at the University of Bari , to examine the bones under the commission's supervision. Martino took thousands of measurements, detailed scientific drawings, photographs, and x-rays. These examinations revealed

11446-503: The murder of Edward II . Isabella and Mortimer's regime began to crumble, partly because of her lavish spending, but also because the Queen successfully, but unpopularly, resolved long-running problems such as the war with Scotland . In 1330, aged 18, Isabella's son, Edward III forcibly asserted his authority. Mortimer was executed, Isabella's regency was ended and she was imprisoned, but soon released. She lived out her remaining years as

11640-462: The " Great Famine " descended on England during 1315–17, causing widespread loss of life and financial problems. Despite Isabella giving birth to her second son, John , in 1316, Edward's position was precarious. Indeed, John Deydras , a royal pretender , appeared in Oxford , claiming to have been switched with Edward at birth, and to be the real king of England himself. Given Edward's unpopularity,

11834-426: The "plotting and envy of Satan ." The man could not afford proper dowries for his three daughters. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, be forced to become prostitutes. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but, being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to

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12028-423: The Archimandrite's Life the only account of Saint Nicholas that is likely to contain any historical truth. Jona Lendering , a Dutch historian of classical antiquity, notes that Michael the Archimandrite's Life does not contain a " conversion narrative ", which was unusual for saints' lives of the period when it was written. He therefore argues that it is possible Michael the Archimandrite may have been relying on

12222-487: The Archimandrite's account, however, Saint Nicholas is instead expressly stated to be motivated by a desire to save the daughters from being sold into prostitution. He argues that this desire to help women is most characteristic of fourth-century Christianity, due to the prominent role women played in the early Christian movement, rather than Greco-Roman paganism or the Christianity of Michael the Archimandrite's time in

12416-525: The Beaumont family, itself opposed to the Lancastrians. Similarly originating from France, the senior member of the Beaumont family, Isabella de Beaumont , had been a close confidant of Edward's mother Eleanor of Castile , supported by her brother Henry de Beaumont . In 1311, Edward conducted a failed campaign against the Scots, during which he and Isabella barely escaped capture. In the aftermath,

12610-819: The Catholic Church in the West had declared (in 1054 AD) that the Greek church , the official church of the Byzantine Empire, was in schism . Because of the many wars in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult. Taking advantage of the confusion and the loss by the Greek Christian community of Myra of its Byzantine imperial protection, in the spring of 1087, Italian sailors from Bari in Apulia seized part of

12804-565: The Despenser family, in particular his new favourite, Hugh Despenser the Younger. By 1326, Isabella found herself increasingly at odds with both Edward and Hugh, ultimately resulting in Isabella's own bid for power and an invasion of England. Edward was an unusual character by medieval standards. Edward looked the part of a Plantagenet king: he was tall, athletic, and wildly popular at the beginning of his reign. However, he rejected most of

12998-412: The Despensers confiscated all of Isabella's lands, took over the running of her household and arrested and imprisoned all of her French staff. Isabella's youngest children were removed from her and placed into the custody of the Despensers. At this point, Isabella appeared to have realised that any hope of working with Edward was effectively over and begun to consider radical solutions. By 1325, Isabella

13192-408: The Despensers, Edward failed to grasp the situation, resulting in Isabella finding herself and her household cut off from the south by the Scottish army, with the coastline patrolled by Flemish naval forces allied to the Scots. The situation was precarious and Isabella was forced to use a group of squires from her personal retinue to hold off the advancing army whilst other of her knights commandeered

13386-467: The Despensers, sending troops into London and demanding their exile. Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke , a moderate baron with strong French links, asked Isabella to intervene in an attempt to prevent war; Isabella publicly went down on her knees to appeal to Edward to exile the Despensers, providing him with a face-saving excuse to do so, but Edward intended to arrange their return at the first opportunity. Isabella's attempts, though heavily praised by

13580-441: The English barons. Meanwhile, Hugh de Despenser the Younger became an increasing favourite of Isabella's husband, and was believed by some to have begun a sexual relationship with him around this time. Hugh was the same age as Edward. His father, Hugh the Elder, had supported Edward and Gaveston a few years previously. The Despensers were bitter enemies of Lancaster, and, with Edward's support, began to increase their power base in

13774-433: The English, had very little impact and she had no lasting effect as a mediator for foreign or domestic affairs. Despite the momentary respite delivered by Isabella, by the autumn of 1321, the tensions between the two factions of Edward, Isabella and the Despenser, opposing the baronial opposition led by Thomas of Lancaster, were extremely high, with forces still mobilised across the country. At this point, Isabella undertook

13968-533: The English-held Montpezat . The assault was unsuccessful, but in the subsequent War of Saint-Sardos , Isabella's uncle, Charles of Valois , successfully wrested Aquitaine from English control. By 1324, Charles declared Edward's lands forfeit and occupied the entirety of Aquitaine apart from the coastal areas. Edward was still unwilling to travel to France to give homage due to England's precarious condition. Criminal gangs were occupying most of

14162-542: The Fieschi Letter of the 1340s, has argued that Edward in fact escaped from Berkeley Castle with the help of William Ockle, a knight whom Doherty argues subsequently pretended to be Edward in disguise around Europe, using the name "William the Welshman" to draw attention away from the real Edward himself. In this interpretation, a look-alike was buried at Gloucester. Ian Mortimer , focusing more on contemporary documents from 1327 itself, argues that Roger de Mortimer engineered

14356-555: The French court in mid-1326 and travelled north to William I, Count of Hainaut . As Joan had suggested the previous year, Isabella betrothed Prince Edward to Philippa of Hainault, the daughter of the Count, in exchange for a substantial dowry. She then used this money, plus an earlier loan from Charles, to raise a mercenary army, scouring Brabant for men, which were added to a small force of Hainaut troops. William also provided eight men-of-war ships and various smaller vessels as part of

14550-420: The French, and £20,000 in compensation for the raids across northern England. No compensation would be given to those earls who had lost their Scottish estates, and the compensation would be taken by Isabella. Although strategically successful and, historically at least, "a successful piece of policy making", Isabella's Scottish policy was by no means popular and contributed to the general sense of discontent with

14744-488: The Greek writer Philostratus . Christian storytellers were known to adapt older pagan legends and attribute them to Christian saints. As Apollonius's hometown of Tyana was not far from Myra, Lendering contends that many popular stories about Apollonius may have become attached to Saint Nicholas. Accounts of Saint Nicholas's life agree on the essence of his story, but modern historians disagree regarding how much of this story

14938-506: The Lancastrian opposition to Edward, bringing all of his opponents into a single coalition. Isabella now marched south towards London, pausing at Dunstable , outside the city on 7 October. London was now in the hands of the mobs, although broadly allied to Isabella. Bishop Stapledon failed to realise the extent to which royal power had collapsed in the capital, and tried to intervene militarily to protect his property against rioters;

15132-620: The Norman knight William Pantulf . Pantulf took these relics to his hometown of Noron in Normandy, where they were placed in the local Church of St. Peter in June 1092. In 1096, the duke of Apulia gave several bones of Saint Nicholas to the count of Flanders , which he then enshrined in the Abbey of Watten . According to legend, in 1101, Saint Nicholas appeared in a vision to a French clerk visiting

15326-634: The Pope and to Charles IV, expressing his concern about his wife's absence, but to no avail. Edward instructed Isabella to come home in September, but she expressed concern the young Despenser would try to kill her upon her arrival, or the Earl of Richmond. She also feared her own husband might attempt to have her killed. For his part, Charles replied that the, "queen has come of her own will and may freely return if she wishes. But if she prefers to remain here, she

15520-531: The Queen. The Scottish general Sir James Douglas , war leader for Robert I of Scotland , made a bid to capture Isabella personally in 1319. He almost succeeded in capturing her at York , with Isabella only just barely escaping. Suspicions fell on Lancaster, and one of Edward's knights, Edmund Darel, was arrested on charges of having betrayed her location, but the charges were essentially unproven. In 1320, Isabella accompanied Edward to France to try and convince her brother, Philip V, to provide fresh support to crush

15714-723: The Turks have both long regarded the unauthorized removal of the relics from Myra as a blatant theft, but the people of Bari have instead maintained that it was a rescue mission to save the bones from the Turkish invaders. A legend, shown on the ceiling of the Basilica di San Nicola, holds that Nicholas once visited Bari and predicted that his bones would one day rest there. Prior to the translation of Nicholas's relics to Bari, his following had been known in western Europe, but it had not been extremely popular. In autumn of 1096, Norman and Frankish soldiers mustered in Bari in preparation for

15908-568: The Welsh Marches, in the process making enemies of Roger Mortimer de Chirk and his nephew, Roger Mortimer of Wigmore , their rival Marcher Lords . Whilst Isabella had been able to work with Gaveston, Edward's previous favourite, it became increasingly clear that Hugh the Younger and Isabella could not work out a similar compromise. Unfortunately for Isabella, she was still estranged from Lancaster's rival faction, giving her little room to manoeuvre. In 1321, Lancaster's alliance moved against

16102-474: The Welsh borders, where he was put into the custody of Lord Berkeley . On 23 September, Isabella and Edward III were informed by messenger that Edward had died whilst imprisoned at the castle, because of a "fatal accident". Edward's body was apparently buried at Gloucester Cathedral , with his heart being given in a casket to Isabella. After the funeral, there were rumours for many years that Edward had survived and

16296-544: The barons rose up, signing the Ordinances of 1311 , which promised action against Gaveston and expelled Isabella and Henry de Beaumont from court. England fully descended into civil war in 1312. Isabella stood with Edward, sending angry letters to her uncles Louis and Charles asking for support. Edward left Isabella against her will at Tynemouth Priory in Northumberland whilst he unsuccessfully attempted to fight

16490-468: The barons. The campaign was a disaster, and although Edward escaped, Gaveston found himself stranded at Scarborough Castle where his baronial enemies then surrounded and captured him. Guy de Beauchamp and Thomas of Lancaster ensured Gaveston's execution as he was being taken south to rejoin Edward. Tensions mounted steadily over the decade. In 1312, Isabella gave birth to the future Edward III , but by

16684-484: The bone they tested comes from the left pubis , and the only pelvis bone in the collection at Bari is the left ilium . In the absence of DNA testing, however, it is not yet possible to know for certain whether the pelvis is from the same man. Among Greeks and Italians he is a favorite of sailors, fishermen , ships and sailing. As a result, and over time, he has become the patron saint of several cities which maintain harbours . In centuries of Greek folklore , Nicholas

16878-461: The border town of Hereford , from where she ordered Henry of Lancaster to locate and arrest her husband. After a fortnight of evading Isabella's forces in South Wales, Edward and Hugh were finally caught and arrested near Llantrisant on 16 November. The retribution began immediately. Hugh Despenser the Elder had been captured at Bristol, and despite some attempts by Isabella to protect him,

17072-567: The bronze statue was returned (albeit without its original high pedestal) to a corner nearer the church. On 28 December 2009, the Turkish government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of Saint Nicholas's skeletal remains to Turkey from the Italian government. Turkish authorities asserted that Nicholas himself desired to be buried at his episcopal town, and that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland. In 2017, an archaeological survey at St. Nicholas Church, Demre

17266-519: The church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church. In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks , and soon after the beginning of the East–West schism , a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in

17460-459: The church without authorization and brought them to their hometown, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola . The remaining bone fragments from the sarcophagus were later removed by Venetian sailors and taken to Venice during the First Crusade . Very little is known about Saint Nicholas's historical life. Any writings Nicholas himself may have produced have been lost and he

17654-412: The clerks at the heart of the government, mostly appointed by the Despensers and Stapledon, were confirmed in office. All that was left now was the question of Edward II, still officially Isabella's legal husband and lawful king. As an interim measure, Edward II was held in the custody of Henry of Lancaster, who surrendered Edward's Great Seal to Isabella. The situation remained tense, however; Isabella

17848-432: The conclusions. Isabella and Mortimer ruled together for four years, with Isabella's period as regent marked by the acquisition of huge sums of money and land. When their political alliance with the Lancastrians began to disintegrate, Isabella continued to support Mortimer. Isabella fell from power when her son, Edward III deposed Mortimer in a coup, taking back royal authority for himself. Unlike Mortimer, Isabella survived

18042-405: The consul Ablabius, telling him that they had not really put down the revolt, but instead encouraged their own soldiers to join it. The generals' enemies also bribed Ablabius and he had the three generals imprisoned. Nicholas then made his dream appearances and the three generals were set free. In 325, Nicholas is said to have attended the First Council of Nicaea , where he is said to have been

18236-425: The council, who knew all the notable bishops of the period, nor is he mentioned by the historian Eusebius , who was also present at the council. Adam C. English notes that lists of the attendees at Nicaea vary considerably, with shorter lists only including roughly 200 names, but longer lists including around 300. Saint Nicholas's name only appears on the longer lists, not the shorter ones. Nicholas's name appears on

18430-438: The country and there had been an assassination plot against Edward and Hugh Despenser in 1324, with the famous magician John of Nottingham being hired to kill the pair using necromancy . Edward was deeply concerned that, should he leave England, even for a short while, the barons would take the chance to rise up and take their revenge on the Despensers. Charles sent a message through Pope John XXII to Edward, suggesting that he

18624-582: The crypt underneath the Basilica di San Nicola was dedicated as an Orthodox chapel with an iconostasis in commemoration of the recent lifting of the anathemas the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches had issued against each other during the Great Schism in 1054. In May 2017, following talks between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a portion of the relics of St. Nicholas in Bari were sent on loan to Moscow. The relic

18818-515: The declaration of the Parliament. The situation could be reversed at any moment and Edward II was known to be a vengeful ruler. Edward II's subsequent fate, and Isabella's role in it, remains hotly contested by historians. The minimally agreed version of events is that Isabella and Mortimer had Edward moved from Kenilworth Castle in the Midlands to the safer location of Berkeley Castle in

19012-445: The early ninth century by Michael the Archimandrite (814–842), nearly 500 years after Nicholas's probable death. Despite its extremely late date, Michael the Archimandrite's Life of Saint Nicholas is believed to heavily rely on older written sources and oral traditions. The identity and reliability of these sources, however, remains uncertain. Catholic historian D. L. Cann and medievalist Charles W. Jones both consider Michael

19206-426: The east coast of England on 24 September with a small force; estimates of Isabella's army vary from between 300 and around 2,000 soldiers, with 1,500 being a popular middle figure. After a short period of confusion during which they attempted to work out where they had actually landed, Isabella moved quickly inland, dressed in her widow's clothes. The local levies mobilised to stop them immediately changed sides, and by

19400-415: The elderly. This was condemned by contemporary chroniclers, and is felt to have caused concern to Isabella as well; some of those widows being persecuted included her friends. Isabella's relationship with Despenser the Younger continued to deteriorate; the Despensers refused to pay her monies owed to her, or return her castles at Marlborough and Devizes . Indeed, various authors have suggested that there

19594-435: The end of the year Edward's court was beginning to change. Edward was still relying heavily upon his French in-laws, one of which was Isabella's uncle Louis who had been sent from Paris to assist him. However, Hugh Despenser the Elder now formed part of the inner circle, marking the beginning of the Despensers' increased prominence at Edward's court. The Despensers were opposed to both the Lancastrians and their other allies in

19788-489: The engagement several times for political advantage, and only after he died in 1307 did the wedding proceed. Isabella and Edward II were finally married at Boulogne-sur-Mer on 25 January 1308. Isabella's wardrobe gives some indications of her wealth and style — she had dresses of baudekyn , velvet , taffeta and cloth, along with numerous furs; she had over 72 headdresses and coifs ; she brought with her two gold crowns, gold and silver dinnerware and 419 yards of linen. At

19982-400: The fact that Nicholas had a tomb that could be visited serves as the almost solitary definitive proof that he was a real historical figure. In his treatise De statu animarum post mortem (written c. 583), the theologian Eustratius of Constantinople cites Saint Nicholas of Myra's miracle of the three generals as evidence that souls may work independent from the body. Eustratius credits

20176-417: The fact that he was shown with a barrel led people to conclude that he was the patron saint of brewers. According to another story, during a great famine that Myra experienced in 311–312, a ship was in the port at anchor, loaded with wheat for the emperor in Constantinople. Nicholas invited the sailors to unload a part of the wheat to help in the time of need. The sailors at first disliked the request, because

20370-772: The faithful as they ask for his intercession . He is mentioned in the Liturgy of Preparation during the Divine Liturgy (Eastern Orthodox Eucharist ) and during the All-Night Vigil . Many Orthodox churches will have his icon , even if they are not named after him. In Oriental Orthodoxy , the Coptic Church observes the Departure of St. Nicholas on 10 Kiahk, or 10 Taḫśaś in Ethiopia, which corresponds to

20564-670: The first priest to enter the church that morning would be made bishop. Nicholas went to the church to pray and was therefore proclaimed the new bishop. He is said to have been imprisoned and tortured during the Great Persecution under the Emperor Diocletian (ruled 284–305), but was released under the orders of the Emperor Constantine the Great (ruled 306–337). This story sounds plausible, but

20758-500: The first to break with Isabella and Mortimer. By 1327 Lancaster was irritated by Mortimer's behaviour and Isabella responded by beginning to sideline him from her government. Lancaster was furious over the passing of the Treaty of Northampton, and refused to attend court, mobilising support amongst the commoners of London. Isabella responded to the problems by undertaking a wide reform of royal administration and local law enforcement. In

20952-557: The folklore of Santa Claus (" Saint Nick ") through Sinterklaas . Little is known about the historical Saint Nicholas. The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death and probably contain legendary elaborations. He is said to have been born in the Anatolian seaport of Patara , Lycia , in Asia Minor to wealthy Christian parents. In one of the earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he

21146-579: The following day Isabella was in Bury St Edmunds and shortly afterwards had swept inland to Cambridge . Thomas, Earl of Norfolk , joined Isabella's forces and Henry of Lancaster – the brother of the late Thomas, and Isabella's uncle – also announced he was joining Isabella's faction, marching south to join her. By the 27th, word of the invasion had reached the King and the Despensers in London. Edward issued orders to local sheriffs to mobilise opposition to Isabella and Mortimer, but London itself

21340-462: The ground, released them from their chains, and angrily chastised a juror who had accepted a bribe. According to Jona Lendering, this story directly parallels an earlier story in Philostratus's Life of Apollonius of Tyana , in which Apollonius prevents the execution of a man falsely condemned of banditry. Michael the Archimandrite also tells another story in which the consul Ablabius accepted

21534-460: The house under the cover of night and threw a purse filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house. The father immediately arranged a marriage for his first daughter, and after her wedding, Nicholas threw a second bag of gold through the same window late at night. According to Michael the Archimandrite's account, after the second daughter was married, the father stayed awake for at least two "nights" and caught Saint Nicholas in

21728-505: The intervention of Isabella's father, Philip IV before Edward began to provide for her more appropriately. Isabella's relationship with Gaveston was complex. For a time, her dislike of him was widely known, and she was said to be in contact with her father, the pope and cardinals in order to have him exiled. Baronial opposition to Gaveston, championed by Thomas of Lancaster, increased; and Philip IV began to covertly fund this grouping, using Isabella and her household as intermediaries. Edward

21922-462: The island was known as "Saint Nicholas Island" and today it is known in Turkish as Gemiler Adasi, meaning "Island of Boats", in reference to Saint Nicholas's traditional role as the patron saint of seafarers. The church was built in the fourth century, around the time of Nicholas's death, and is typical of saints' shrines from that time period. Nicholas was the only major saint associated with that part of Turkey. The church where historians believe he

22116-490: The joy of their new owners. Vials of myrrh from his relics have been taken all over the world for centuries, and can still be obtained from his church in Bari. Even up to the present day, a flask of manna is extracted from the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year on 6 December (the Saint's feast day ) by the clergy of the basilica. The myrrh is collected from a sarcophagus which is located in the basilica vault and could be obtained in

22310-427: The lavish ceremony was held in London to popular acclaim. Isabella and Mortimer had already begun a trend that continued over the next few years, in starting to accumulate huge wealth. With her lands restored to her, Isabella was already exceptionally rich, but she began to accumulate yet more. Within the first few weeks, Isabella had granted herself almost £12,000; finding that Edward's royal treasury contained £60,000,

22504-515: The many miracles attributed to his intercession , he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker . Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints , and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to

22698-469: The marriage arrangements. Although Edward was now fearing an invasion, secrecy remained key, and Isabella convinced William to detain envoys from Edward. Isabella also appears to have made a secret agreement with the Scots for the duration of the forthcoming campaign. On 22 September, Isabella, Mortimer and their modest force set sail for England. Having evaded Edward's fleet, which had been sent to intercept them, Isabella and Mortimer landed at Orwell on

22892-501: The marriage as early as 1298 but it was delayed by wrangling over the terms of the marriage contract. The renewal of the Anglo-French truce in 1299 led to the marriage of Edward I to Philip's sister Margaret, further anticipating the marriage of Isabella to Edward II. In 1303, Edward I may have considered a Castilian bride for Edward II instead of Isabella and even increased her dowry before the wedding. Edward I attempted to break

23086-469: The medieval period, contemporaries also commented on her high intelligence. As queen, the young Isabella faced numerous challenges. Edward was handsome, but also to have possibly formed close romantic attachments first to Piers Gaveston and then to Hugh Despenser the Younger . Edward found himself at odds with the barons, too, in particular his first cousin Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster , whilst continuing

23280-536: The ninth century, by which point the position of women had drastically declined. Nicholas is also said to have visited the Holy Land . The ship he was on was nearly destroyed by a terrible storm but he rebuked the waves, causing the storm to subside. Thus, Nicholas became venerated as the patron saint of sailors and travelers. While in Palestine , Nicholas is said to have lived in a crypt near Bethlehem , where

23474-525: The pair must have been carrying on an illicit affair, and appears to have informed her father of this during her next visit to France in 1314. The consequence of this was the Tour de Nesle affair in Paris , which led to legal action against all three of Isabella's sisters-in-law. Blanche and Margaret of Burgundy were imprisoned for life while Joan of Burgundy was imprisoned for a year before being acquitted. Isabella's reputation in France suffered somewhat as

23668-607: The preface alone. Women from and associated with the New Testament include Mary and Saint Anne . A final group of images concerns saints, three of whom are female ( Catherine of Alexandria , Mary Magdalene , and Margaret the Virgin ); in the case of two of the three male saints, Thomas Becket and Saint Nicholas , special attention is paid to the saints' mothers. Isabella of France Isabella of France ( c.  1295 – 22 August 1358), sometimes described as

23862-500: The process, and lived as a hermit for many years; in this interpretation, the body in Gloucester Cathedral is of Edward's dead captor. In all of these versions, it is argued that it suited Isabella and Mortimer to publicly claim that Edward was dead, even if they were aware of the truth. Other historians, however, including David Carpenter , have criticised the methodology behind this revisionist approach and disagree with

24056-516: The regime. Secondly, the Gascon situation, still unresolved from Edward II's reign, also posed an issue. Isabella reopened negotiations in Paris, resulting in a peace treaty under which the bulk of Gascony, minus the Agenais, would be returned to England in exchange for a 50,000- mark penalty. The treaty was not popular in England because of the Agenais clause. Henry, Earl of Lancaster was amongst

24250-590: The relics of Saint Nicholas are also reputed to have been stolen from Myra by local Norman crusading knights in the twelfth century and buried near Thomastown , County Kilkenny , where a stone slab marks the site locally believed to be his grave. According to the Irish antiquarian John Hunt , the tomb probably actually belongs to a local priest from Jerpoint Abbey . Russian Orthodox Church announced on 22 September 2024 that Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral in Baku received

24444-400: The relics the team has examined turn out to be too recent to have actually belonged to the saint to whom they are attributed, but he states, "This bone fragment, in contrast, suggests that we could possibly be looking at remains from St Nicholas himself." Kazan believes the pelvis fragment may come from the same individual as the skeleton divided between the churches in Bari and Venice, since

24638-496: The remaining bones of Saint Nicholas, as well as those of several other bishops of Myra, from the church there, which was only guarded by four Orthodox monks, and brought them to Venice , where they deposited them in the San Nicolò al Lido. This tradition was lent credence in two scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which confirmed that the relics in the two cities are anatomically compatible and may belong to

24832-630: The remaining fragments of his skeleton. In 1044, they dedicated the San Nicolò al Lido monastery basilica to him on the north end of the Lido di Venezia . According to a single chronicle written by an anonymous monk at this monastery, in 1100, a fleet of Venetian ships accompanied by Bishop Henri sailed past Myra on their way to Palestine for the First Crusade. Bishop Henri insisted for the fleet to turn back and set anchor in Myra. The Venetians took

25026-580: The remains of the saint from his burial church in Myra, over the objections of the Greek Orthodox monks in the church. Adam C. English describes the removal of the relics from Myra as "essentially a holy robbery " and notes the thieves were not only afraid of being caught or chased after by the locals, but also the power of Saint Nicholas himself. Returning to Bari, they brought the remains with them and cared for them. The remains arrived on 9 May 1087. Two years later, Pope Urban II inaugurated

25220-399: The rest of the castle, leaving Edward in control of his own government for the first time. Parliament was convened the next month, where Mortimer was put on trial for treason. Isabella was portrayed as an innocent bystander during the proceedings, and no mention of her sexual relationship with Mortimer was made public. Mortimer was executed at Tyburn , but Edward III showed leniency and he

25414-463: The roof, before using rope ladders provided by an accomplice to get down to the River Thames . He then crossed the river and eventually made it to safety in France. Victorian writers suggested that, given later events, Isabella might have helped Mortimer escape. Additionally, some historians continue to argue that their relationship had already begun at this point, although most believe that there

25608-621: The royal Chancery from the Tower of London . After surrendering to Edward's forces on 31 October 1321, Margaret, Baroness Badlesmere, Kent and her children were sent to the Tower, and 13 of the Leeds garrison were hanged. By January 1322, Edward's army, reinforced by the Despensers returning from exile, had forced the surrender of the Mortimers, and by March Lancaster himself had been captured after

25802-403: The rumours spread considerably before Deydras' eventual execution, and appear to have greatly upset Isabella. Isabella responded by deepening her alliance with Lancaster's enemy, Henry de Beaumont , and by taking up an increased role in government herself, including attending council meetings and acquiring increased lands. Henry's sister, Isabella de Vesci , continued to remain a close adviser to

25996-530: The saint by Russian sculptor Gregory Pototsky was donated by the Russian government in 2000, and was given a prominent place in the square fronting the medieval Church of St Nicholas. In 2005, mayor Süleyman Topçu had the statue replaced by a red-suited plastic Santa Claus statue, because he wanted an image more recognisable to foreign visitors. Protests from the Russian government against this were successful, and

26190-417: The saint to have died at over seventy years of age and to have been of average height and slender-to-average build. He also suffered from severe chronic arthritis in his spine and pelvis. In 2004, at the University of Manchester , researchers Caroline Wilkinson and Fraco Introna reconstructed the saint's face based on Martino's examination. The review of the data revealed that the historical Saint Nicholas

26384-463: The same act of charity toward the third daughter. The father fell on his knees, thanking him, and Nicholas ordered him not to tell anyone about the gifts. The scene of Nicholas's secret gift-giving is one of the most popular scenes in Christian devotional art, appearing in icons and frescoes from across Europe. Although depictions vary depending on time and place, Nicholas is often shown wearing

26578-574: The same person. It is said that someone dies every time the bones of Saint Nicholas in Venice are disturbed. The last time the bones were examined was in July 1992. Because of Nicholas's skeleton's long confinement in Myra, after it was brought to Bari, the demand for pieces of it rose. Small bones quickly began to disperse across western Europe. The sailors who had transported the bones gave one tooth and two fragments chipped from Nicholas's sarcophagus to

26772-434: The scene became so widely reproduced that, rather than showing the whole scene, artists began to merely depict Saint Nicholas with three naked children and a wooden barrel at his feet. According to English, eventually, people who had forgotten or never learned the story began misinterpreting representations of it. That Saint Nicholas was shown with children led people to conclude he was the patron saint of children; meanwhile,

26966-478: The scenes depicting Joseph , if read in the proper historical context, suggest Isabella: "it [the Joseph cycle] functioned in two ways: as a commentary on royal policy and current events during the reign of Edward II, and as an "anti-model" of conjugal fidelity for his queen, Isabella of France." The Queen Mary Psalter is noted for its ornate, embroidered binding, executed on crimson velvet under Mary I; "on each side

27160-400: The shop nearby. The liquid gradually seeps out of the tomb, but it is unclear whether it originates from the body within the tomb, or from the marble itself; since the town of Bari is a harbour, and the tomb is below sea level , there have been several natural explanations proposed for the manna fluid, including the transfer of seawater to the tomb by capillary action . In 1966, a vault in

27354-481: The shrine at Bari and told him to take one of his bones with him to his hometown of Port , near Nancy . The clerk took a finger bone back with him to Port, where a chapel was built to Saint Nicholas. Port became an important center of devotion in the following of Nicholas and, in the fifteenth century, a church known as the Basilique Saint-Nicolas was built there dedicated to him. The town itself

27548-554: The story of the resurrection of the pickled children is a late medieval addition to the legendary biography of Saint Nicholas and that it is not found in any of his earliest Lives . Although this story seems bizarre and horrifying to modern audiences, it was tremendously popular throughout the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period , and widely beloved by ordinary folk. It is depicted in stained glass windows, wood panel paintings, tapestries, and frescoes. Eventually,

27742-460: The story's authenticity, notes that a similar story is told in Philostratus's Life of Apollonius of Tyana , in which Apollonius gives money to an impoverished father but posits that Michael the Archimandrite's account is markedly different. Philostratus does not mention the fate of the daughters and, in his story, Apollonius's generosity is purely motivated out of sympathy for the father; in Michael

27936-475: The story's late attestation, it "has no historical value." Jona Lendering, however, defends the veracity and historicity of the incident, arguing that, as it was embarrassing and reflects poorly on Nicholas's reputation, it is inexplicable why later hagiographers would have invented it. Later versions of the legend embellish it, making the heretic Arius himself and having Nicholas punch him rather than merely slapping him with his open hand. In these versions of

28130-631: The story, Nicholas is also imprisoned, but Christ and the Virgin Mary appear to him in his cell. He tells them he is imprisoned "for loving you" and they free him from his chains and restore his vestments. The scene of Nicholas slapping Arius is celebrated in Eastern Orthodox icons and episodes of Saint Nicholas at Nicaea are shown in a series of paintings from the 1660s in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari . One story tells how during

28324-669: The tenth line of a list of attendees at the Council of Nicaea included by Theodore Lector in the Historiae Ecclesiasticae Tripartitae Epitome , written sometime between 510 and 515. A single, offhand mention of Nicholas of Myra also occurs in the biography of another saint, Saint Nicholas of Sion , who apparently took the name "Nicholas" to honor him. The Life of Saint Nicholas of Sion , written around 250 years after Nicholas of Myra's death, briefly mentions Nicholas of Sion visiting Nicholas's tomb to pay homage to him. According to Jeremy Seal,

28518-538: The three innocent men about to be executed and the three generals aided him in stopping the execution. Eustathius attempted to flee on his horse but Nicholas stopped his horse and chastised him for his corruption. Eustathius, under the threat of being reported directly to the Emperor, repented of his corrupt ways. Afterward, the generals succeeded in ending the rebellion and were promoted by Constantine to even higher status. The generals' enemies, however, slandered them to

28712-555: The throne, Edward had attempted to avoid doing so again, increasing tensions between the two. One of the elements in the disputes was the border province of Agenais , part of Gascony and in turn part of Aquitaine. Tensions rose in November 1323 after the construction of a bastide , a type of fortified town, in Saint-Sardos , part of the Agenais, by a French vassal. Gascon forces destroyed the bastide, and in turn Charles attacked

28906-451: The time of her marriage, Isabella was probably about twelve and was described by Geoffrey of Paris as " the beauty of beauties... in the kingdom if not in all Europe. " This description was probably not simply flattery by a chronicler, since both Isabella's father and brothers were considered very handsome men by contemporaries, and her husband was to nickname her "Isabella the Fair". Isabella

29100-530: The time of testing, was in the possession of Father Dennis O'Neill, a priest from St Martha of Bethany Church in Illinois. The results of the radiocarbon dating confirmed that the pelvis dates to the fourth century AD, around the same time that Saint Nicholas would have died, and is not a medieval forgery. The bone was one of the oldest the Oxford team had ever examined. According to Professor Higham, most of

29294-477: The time, having left his wife Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere in charge of the castle. When the latter adamantly refused the Queen's admittance, fighting broke out outside the castle between Isabella's guards and the garrison, marking the beginning of the Despenser War . Whilst Edward mobilised his own faction and placed Leeds Castle under siege, Isabella was given the Great Seal and assumed control of

29488-834: The traditional pursuits of a king for the period — jousting , hunting and warfare — and instead enjoyed music, poetry and rural crafts . Furthermore, there is the question of Edward's sexuality in a period when homosexuality was considered a serious crime, but there is no direct evidence of his sexual orientation. Contemporary chroniclers made much of his close affinity with a succession of male favourites . Some condemned Edward for loving them "beyond measure" and "uniquely", others explicitly referring to an "illicit and sinful union". Nonetheless, Isabella bore four children by Edward, leading some historians to believe that Edward's affairs with his male favourites were platonic , despite Isabella's complaints of whose bed he visited. When Isabella first arrived in England following her marriage, her husband

29682-399: The transition of power, remaining a wealthy and influential member of the English court, albeit never returning directly to active politics. Isabella's regency lasted only four years, before the fragile political alliance that had brought her and Mortimer to power disintegrated. 1328 saw the marriage of Isabella's son, Edward III to Philippa of Hainault, as agreed before the invasion of 1326;

29876-433: The war against the Scots that he had inherited from Edward I. Using her own supporters at court and the patronage of her French family, Isabella attempted to find a political path through these challenges. She successfully formed an alliance with Gaveston, but after his death at the hands of the barons, her position grew increasingly precarious. Edward began to take revenge on his enemies, using an ever more brutal alliance with

30070-455: The wheat had to be weighed accurately and delivered to the emperor. Only when Nicholas promised them that they would not suffer any loss for their consideration did the sailors agree. When they arrived later in the capital, they made a surprising find: the weight of the load had not changed, although the wheat removed in Myra was enough for two full years and could even be used for sowing. It has long been traditionally assumed that Saint Nicholas

30264-544: Was 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) in height and had a broken nose, which had partially healed, revealing that the injury had been suffered ante mortem . The broken nose appeared to conform with hagiographical reports that Saint Nicholas had been beaten and tortured during the Diocletianic Persecution . The facial reconstruction was produced by Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Manchester and

30458-475: Was 7 years old in 1299. The French chronicler Guillaume de Nangis and English chronicler Thomas Walsingham describe her as 12 years old at the time of her marriage in January 1308, placing her birth between January 1295 and of 1296. A papal dispensation by Clement V in November 1305 permitted her immediate marriage by proxy , despite the fact that she was probably only 10 years old. Since her brother Charles

30652-477: Was a powerful Marcher lord, married to the wealthy heiress Joan de Geneville , and the father of twelve children. Mortimer had been imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1322 following his capture by Edward during the Despenser wars. Mortimer's uncle, Roger Mortimer de Chirk finally died in prison, but Mortimer managed to escape the Tower in August 1323: making a hole in the stone wall of his cell and then escaping onto

30846-549: Was a strangely unemotional man; one contemporary described him as "neither a man nor a beast, but a statue"; modern historians have noted that he "cultivated a reputation for Christian kingship and showed few weaknesses of the flesh". Philip built up centralised royal power in France, engaging in a sequence of conflicts to expand or consolidate French authority across the region, but remained chronically short of money throughout his reign. Indeed, he appeared almost obsessed about building up wealth and lands, something that his daughter

31040-584: Was a strong sexual attraction between the two, that they shared an interest in the Arthurian legends , and that they both enjoyed fine art and high living. One historian has described their relationship as one of the "great romances of the Middle Ages" in spite of the fact that they are reputed to have murdered her husband. They also shared a common enemy: the regime of Edward II and the Despensers. Taking Prince Edward with them, Isabella and Mortimer left

31234-548: Was able to recover her daughters Eleanor and Joan , who had been kept in the Despensers' custody. By now desperate and increasingly deserted by their court, Edward and Hugh Despenser the Younger attempted to sail to Lundy , a small island in the Bristol Channel , but the weather was against them and after several days they were forced to land back in Wales. With Bristol secure, Isabella moved her base of operations up to

31428-719: Was already involved with Piers Gaveston, an "arrogant, ostentatious" soldier, with a "reckless and headstrong" personality that appealed to Edward. Isabella, then aged twelve, was effectively sidelined by the pair. Edward chose to sit with Gaveston rather than Isabella at their wedding celebration, causing grave offence to her uncles Louis, Count of Évreux , and Charles, Count of Valois , and then refused to grant her either her own lands or her own household. Edward also gave Gaveston Isabella's own jewelry, which he wore publicly. Isabella complained to her father that Gaveston took her place next to Edward II, she received insufficient funds and Edward visited Gaveston's bed more than hers. It took

31622-533: Was also accused of in later life. Isabella's mother died when Isabella was still quite young; some contemporaries suspected Philip IV of her murder, albeit probably incorrectly. Isabella was brought up in and around the Louvre Palace and the Palais de la Cité in Paris. Isabella was cared for by Théophania de Saint-Pierre, her nurse, given a good education and taught to read, developing a love of books. As

31816-488: Was at a breaking point. Travelling to France on a diplomatic mission, Isabella may have begun an affair with Roger Mortimer , and the two may possibly have agreed at this point to depose Edward and oust the Despenser family. The Queen returned to England with a small mercenary army in 1326, moving rapidly across England. The King's forces deserted him. Isabella deposed Edward, becoming regent on behalf of her young son, Edward III . Some believe that Isabella then arranged

32010-425: Was becoming unsafe because of local unrest and Edward made plans to leave. Isabella struck west again, reaching Oxford on 2 October where she was "greeted as a saviour" – Adam Orleton , the Bishop of Hereford , emerged from hiding to give a lecture to the university on the evils of the Despensers. Edward fled London on the same day, heading west towards Wales. Isabella and Mortimer now had an effective alliance with

32204-623: Was born on 18 June 1294, and she had to reach the canonical age of 12 before her marriage in January 1308, the evidence suggests that she was born between April 1295 and January 1296. Her parents were King Philip IV of France and Queen Joan I of Navarre ; her brothers Louis , Philip and Charles became kings of France. Isabella was born into a royal family that ruled the most powerful state in Western Europe . Her father, King Philip, known as "le Bel" (the Fair) because of his good looks,

32398-540: Was clearly concerned about Edward's supporters staging a counter-coup, and in November she seized the Tower of London, appointed one of her supporters as mayor and convened a council of nobles and churchmen in Wallingford to discuss the fate of Edward. The council concluded that Edward would be legally deposed and placed under house arrest for the rest of his life. This was then confirmed at the next parliament , dominated by Isabella and Mortimer's followers. The session

32592-432: Was committed to bringing this issue to a conclusion by diplomatic means. Edward III initially opposed this policy, before eventually relenting, leading to the Treaty of Northampton . Under this treaty, Isabella's daughter Joan would marry David Bruce (heir apparent to the Scottish throne) and Edward III would renounce any claims on Scottish lands, in exchange for the promise of Scottish military aid against any enemy except

32786-495: Was convinced that this was the moment to act, and on 19 October, Montagu led a force of twenty-three armed men into the castle by a secret tunnel. Up in the keep , Isabella, Mortimer and other council members were discussing how to arrest Montagu, when Montagu and his men appeared. Fighting broke out on the stairs and Mortimer was overwhelmed in his chamber. Isabella threw herself at Edward's feet, famously crying "Fair son, have pity on gentle Mortimer!" Lancastrian troops rapidly took

32980-407: Was customary for the period, all of Philip's children were married young for political benefit. Isabella was promised in marriage by her father to Edward II , the son of King Edward I of England , with the intention to resolve the conflicts between France and England over the latter's continental possession of Gascony and claims to Anjou , Normandy and Aquitaine . Pope Boniface VIII had urged

33174-478: Was edging back towards Edward II, his half-brother. Edmund of Kent was in conversations with other senior nobles questioning Isabella's rule, including Henry de Beaumont and Isabella de Vesci. Edmund was finally involved in a conspiracy in 1330, allegedly to restore Edward II, who, he claimed, was still alive: Isabella and Mortimer broke up the conspiracy, arresting Edmund and other supporters—including Simon Mepeham , Archbishop of Canterbury . Edmund may have expected

33368-408: Was facing increasing pressure from Hugh Despenser the Younger, Edward's new royal favourite. With her lands in England seized, her children taken away from her and her household staff arrested, Isabella began to pursue other options. When her brother, King Charles IV of France, seized Edward's French possessions in 1325, she returned to France, initially as a delegate of the King charged with negotiating

33562-554: Was forced to abdicate — his eventual fate and possible murder remains a matter of considerable historical debate. Isabella ruled as regent until 1330 when her son Edward deposed Mortimer and began to rule directly in his own right. Isabella's husband Edward, as the Duke of Aquitaine , owed homage to the King of France for his lands in Gascony . Isabella's three brothers each had only short reigns, and Edward had successfully avoided paying homage to Louis X, and had paid homage to Philip V only under great pressure. Once Charles IV took up

33756-514: Was forced to exile Gaveston to Ireland for a period and began to show Isabella much greater respect, assigning her lands and patronage. In turn, Philip ceased his support for the barons. Gaveston eventually returned from Ireland , and by 1309–11, the three seemed to be co-existing together relatively comfortably. Indeed, Gaveston's key enemy, Edward and Isabella's uncle Thomas of Lancaster , considered her to be an ally of Gaveston. Isabella had begun to build up her own supporters at court, principally

33950-410: Was held in January 1327, with Isabella's case being led by her supporter Adam Orleton , Bishop of Hereford . Isabella's son, Prince Edward, was confirmed as Edward III of England , with his mother appointed regent. Isabella's position was still precarious, as the legal basis for deposing Edward was doubtful and many lawyers of the day maintained that Edward II was still the rightful king, regardless of

34144-402: Was increasingly insecure, and Isabella's son, Edward III, was growing frustrated at Mortimer's grip on power. Various historians, with different levels of confidence, have also suggested that in late 1329 Isabella became pregnant. A child of Mortimer's with royal blood would have proved both politically inconvenient for Isabella, and challenging to Edward's own position. Edward quietly assembled

34338-412: Was kept in the San Nicola in Carcere in Rome. This church, whose name means "Saint Nicholas in Chains", was built on the site of a former municipal prison. Stories quickly developed about Nicholas himself having been held in that prison. Mothers would come to the church to pray to Saint Nicholas for their jailed sons to be released and repentant criminals would place votive offerings in the church. As

34532-419: Was not quartered or disembowelled . After the coup, Isabella was initially transferred to Berkhamsted Castle , and then held under house arrest at Windsor Castle until 1332, when she then moved back to her own Castle Rising in Norfolk . Agnes Strickland , a Victorian historian, argued that Isabella suffered from occasional fits of madness during this period but modern interpretations suggest, at worst,

34726-427: Was on display for veneration at Christ the Savior Cathedral before being taken to Saint Petersburg in mid-June prior to returning to Bari. More than a million people lined up in Moscow for a momentary glimpse of the gilded ark holding one of the saint's ribs. The sailors from Bari took only the main bones of Nicholas's skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. The city of Venice had interest in obtaining

34920-423: Was originally buried in his home town of Myra, where his relics are later known to have been kept, but some recent archaeological evidence indicates that Saint Nicholas may have originally been entombed in a rock-cut church located at the highest point on the small Turkish island of Gemile , only twenty miles away from his birthplace of Patara. Nicholas's name is painted on part of the ruined building. In antiquity,

35114-439: Was originally entombed is at the western end of the great processional way. In the mid-7th century, Gemile was vulnerable to attack by Arab fleets, so Nicholas's remains appear to have been moved from the island to the city of Myra, where Nicholas had served as bishop for most of his life. Myra is located roughly 40 km (25 mi) east of Gemile and its location further inland made it safer from seafaring Arab forces. It

35308-471: Was owned by an Earl of Rutland, and though it does not identify the earl it appears likely that it was Henry Manners . A Protestant, he was imprisoned in May 1553, which may explain how the psalter landed in the possession of Queen Mary: a second note, in Latin, explains that the psalter was impounded by Baldwin Smith, a customs officer, and thus remained in England. It remained in the possession of Queen Mary and her successors until 1757, when George II donated

35502-580: Was promptly executed by his Lancastrian enemies – his body was hacked to pieces and fed to the local dogs. The remainder of the former regime were brought to Isabella. Edmund Fitzalan , a key supporter of Edward II and who had received many of Mortimer's confiscated lands in 1322, was executed on 17 November. Hugh Despenser the Younger was sentenced to be brutally executed on 24 November, and a huge crowd gathered in anticipation at seeing him die. They dragged him from his horse, stripped him, and scrawled Biblical verses against corruption and arrogance on his skin. He

35696-418: Was quashed. She was involved in the talks with Charles II of Navarre in 1358. Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari , was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province , Turkey ) during the time of the Roman Empire . Because of

35890-439: Was really alive somewhere in Europe, some of which were captured in the famous Fieschi Letter written in the 1340s, although no concrete evidence ever emerged to support the allegations. There are, however, various historical interpretations of the events surrounding this basic sequence of events. According to legend, Isabella and Mortimer famously plotted to murder Edward in such a way as not to draw blame on themselves, sending

36084-402: Was reported to have found a temple below the modern church, with excavation work to be done that will allow researchers to determine whether it still holds Nicholas's body. After the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Byzantine Empire temporarily lost control over most of Asia Minor to the invading Seljuk Turks , and so Greek Christians of Myra became subjects of the Turks. At the same time

36278-461: Was said to resemble her father, and not her mother, queen regnant of Navarre, a plump, plain woman. This indicates that Isabella was slender and pale-skinned, although the fashion at the time was for blonde, slightly full-faced women, and Isabella may well have followed this stereotype instead. Throughout her career, Isabella was noted as charming and diplomatic, with a particular skill at convincing people to follow her courses of action. Unusual for

36472-409: Was seen as "The Lord of the Sea", often described by modern Greek scholars as a kind of Christianized version of Poseidon . In modern Greece, he is still easily among the most recognizable saints and 6 December finds many cities celebrating their patron saint. He is also the patron saint of all of Greece and particularly of the Hellenic Navy . In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Nicholas's memory

36666-432: Was shown on a BBC2 TV program The Real Face of Santa . In 2014, the Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University produced an updated reconstruction of Saint Nicholas's face. In 2017, two researchers from Oxford University , Professor Tom Higham and Doctor Georges Kazan, radiocarbon dated a fragment of a pelvis claimed to belong to Saint Nicholas. The fragment originally came from a church in Lyon, France and, at

36860-502: Was subjected to a colossal fine, effectively crippling his power. Isabella was merciful to those who had aligned themselves with him, although some — such as her old supporter Henry de Beaumont, whose family had split from Isabella over the peace with Scotland, which had lost them huge land holdings in Scotland — fled to France. Despite Lancaster's defeat, however, discontent continued to grow. Edmund of Kent had sided with Isabella in 1326, but had since begun to question his decision and

37054-408: Was temporarily defrocked and imprisoned during the council for slapping the heretic Arius . Another famous late legend tells how he resurrected three children, who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork during a famine. Fewer than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Theodosius II over the site of

37248-442: Was the bishop of the city of Myra , also in Lycia. Recognizing his nephew's calling, Nicholas's uncle ordained him as a priest. After his parents died from an epidemic, Nicholas is said to have distributed their wealth to the poor. In his most famous exploit, which is first attested in Michael the Archimandrite's Life of Saint Nicholas , Nicholas heard of a devout man who had once been wealthy but had lost all of his money due to

37442-508: Was then dragged into the city, presented to Queen Isabella, Roger Mortimer and the Lancastrians. Despenser was then condemned to hang as a thief, be castrated, and then to be drawn and quartered as a traitor, his quarters to be dispersed throughout England. Simon of Reading, one of the Despensers' supporters, was hanged next to him, on charges of insulting Isabella. Once the core of the Despenser regime had been executed, Isabella and Mortimer began to show restraint. Lesser nobles were pardoned and

37636-717: Was willing to reverse the forfeiture of the lands if Edward ceded the Agenais and paid homage for the rest of the lands. The Pope proposed Isabella as an ambassador, and Isabella saw this as a perfect opportunity to resolve her situation with Edward and the Despensers. Having promised to return to England by the summer, Isabella reached Paris in March 1325 and rapidly agreed to a truce in Gascony, under which Prince Edward, then thirteen years old, would come to France to give homage on his father's behalf. Prince Edward arrived in France, and gave homage in September. At this point, however, rather than returning, Isabella remained firmly in France with her son. Edward began to send urgent messages to

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