Philippa of Guelders – Mary, Queen of Scots’ formidable great-grandmother (Part one)

Philippa of Guelders was born in 1465 as the daughter of Adolf, Duke of Guelders and Catherine of Bourbon.

It had long been assumed that she was the twin of her brother Charles, born on 9 November 1467, but this seems to be without any source. According to an article by Pauline Zwetheul, it seems that Philippa was born on a Friday in March 1465 in Brussels. This would make her Charles’ older sister rather than his twin sister.¹ Her godfather was Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and she was known as Philippe at the Burgundian court. Philippa was cared for by a wet nurse named Gerritken Biesmans.²

By September 1466, Philippa and her mother followed Adolf to the city of Grave. The following year, they visited the Burgundian court in Brussels. A few weeks later, Catherine had dinner with her niece, Mary of Burgundy, in Ghent, who gifted her a bag of toys, presumably for Philippa.³ She was only just pregnant with Charles, who would be born that November.

Catherine was in Nijmegen when she died after a sickbed of just a few months on 21 May 1469. Philippa and Charles were still very young, and they were entrusted to the care of Adolf’s unmarried sister, Catherine of Guelders. At the time, Adolf was involved in unrest in the duchy after he had imprisoned his father.

In 1473, Nijmegen was captured by Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and Philippa and Charles were taken into his care. He was their uncle, and they were brought to Ghent. Charles the Bold had remarried Margaret of York in 1468, and she would now oversee their care and education. Philippa grew up alongside Charles the Bold’s daughter, Mary of Burgundy, who was eight years younger, and she eventually became Mary’s lady-in-waiting. When Mary married the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I on 19 August 1477, Charles and Philippa held candles during the ceremony. ⁴

Tragically, Mary died in 1482 following a horseriding accident. Philippa was one of those in the funeral procession. Shortly after this, Philippa left for the French court, leaving her brother Charles behind. At the time, Anne of France was regent of France for her minor brother, King Charles VIII. Anne now became responsible for the care of Philippa, just as she was for many noble children. Philippa was related to Anne as well. Anne’s husband, Peter, was her mother’s older brother.

With all these family connections, Philippa was considered to be an attractive candidate for marriage. Her future husband was René II, Duke of Lorraine. He had previously been married to Jeanne d’Harcourt, but they had remained childless. Their marriage was annulled without papal approval in 1485, and René asked Anne for Philippa’s hand in marriage. This seems to have been agreeable to Anne as Philippa and René were married on 1 September 1485 in Orléans. ⁵ However, the family of Jeanne was quite unhappy with this news, and they turned to Pope Innocent VIII. He officially annulled René’s first marriage in 1489, although the jilted Jeanne had died in 1488.

Philippa requested a second wedding ceremony, which took place in December 1488.⁶  By then, she and René had already had two sons, Charles and François, who both died in infancy. They would go on to have a total of 12 children, of which five sons would survive to adulthood. The family settled in the ducal palace in Nancy, but as was the custom, the court was often on the move.

Read part two here.

1. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.207
2. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.205
3. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.207
4. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.209
5. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.210/211
6. Philippa van Gelre, Hertogin van Lotharingen, (1465-1547) by Pauline Zwetheul in Arnhem Historisch Tijdschrift 2023/4 p.211