Rodin's Burghers of Calais

Auguste Rodin, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Queen Philippa and the Men of Calais 1347 (30)

1. On your map find Engand, France and Calais

2. Why did the people of Calais like Queen Philippa?

The people of Calais liked Queen Philippa of Hainault 1310-1369 no doubt, because she was willing to plead with her husband, Edward III 1312-1377, in 1347 to have compassion on the six men of Calais, the six burghers, who he was about to kill. Perhaps it is a good illustration of compassion, intercession and mediaion.

3. What do you know about the Black Prince?

The Black Prince is a name I have known since childhood but I have only a vague idea of who he is. In this story he only merits a brief mention but he is Edward and Philippa's son, Edward of Woodstock 1330-1376. He was their eldest son and heir apparent but he died before his father, and so his son Richard II succeeded to the throne instead. The price was one of the most successful English commanders of the Hundred Years War (1337–1453). He was regarded by English contemporaries as a model o chivalry and one of the greatest knights of his era.