Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Click to view high resolution image

Title: Eleanor de Bohun
Creator:
Description: Eleanor, a member of the high nobility, was the daughter of Humphrey (IX) de Bohun, earl of Hereford and Essex. When her father died, she and her younger sister became heiresses to extensive lands and were considered great prizes in marriage. At around the age of nine she was wed to Thomas of Woodstock, Edward III’s youngest son, who at nineteen needed resources to establish a princely household. Thomas played important roles in warfare and politics, but he became estranged from his nephew, Richard II, over peace with France and punishment of the king’s favorites. Scholars believe that Richard II was responsible for Thomas’s arrest and murder while in custody in 1397.
Eleanor’s wimple modestly covers her neck and chin, indicating her widowhood. One tradition maintains that she withdrew to Barking Abbey after her husband’s death, but records document that she also reclaimed property and travelled to her estates. She assured her children’s future and the memory of the Bohun family by rendering homage to Richard II for her lands and thereby receiving an annuity from the king. In her will she bequeathed family manuscripts to her children, including a psalter with her father’s arms in the form of a swan enameled on the clasps. She also specified that her funeral hearse be accompanied by fifteen old, poor men who would pray for her, her husband, and all Christians.
The brass monuments for Eleanor and her husband gave viewers very different impressions. Hers portrays an austere widow, while her husband’s magnificent brass (now lost) proudly portrayed him as a member of the royal family. He was presented in the robes of the Order of the Garter surrounded by family as well as the Holy Trinity and saints. The inscription on Eleanor’s tomb does emphasize family and rank: “Here lies Eleanor de Bohun, daughter and co-heir of the honorable knight Sir Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton, and Constable of England, wife of the mighty and noble prince Thomas of Woodstock, son of the excellent and mighty prince Edward, King of England, the Third since the Conquest, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Essex and Buckingham, and Constable of England, who died 3 October in the year of grace 1399.”
Like many other brass monuments, Eleanor’s tomb has a decorative canopy framing her figure. The slender columns, with triple arches and delicate Gothic details, provide support for six heraldic shields (one now missing) and three medallions. Some shields carry the arms of two families (impaled) or four (quartered) united by marriage. The shields represent the arms of Thomas of Woodstock (upper left), Woodstock impaling de Bohun quartered with Hereford (upper right), deBohun (center left), de Bohun impaling Fitzalan quartered with Warenne (center right), Milo, Earl of Hereford (lower left), and the earl of Essex (missing on the lower right but reported by earlier observers). The medallions on the gothic arches include the Bohun swan and two lions’ heads.
Source: Private collection
Rights: Permission of the collectors
Subject (See Also): Brass Rubbing Noble Women Tomb Effigies
Geographic Area: British Isles
Century: 14
Date: 1399
Related Work: Rubbing of Eleanor de Bohun's monument:
https://piperline.hamline.edu/brass/images/w_lon_wes_a_1399.jpg
Photograph of Eleanor de Bohun's tomb at Westminster Abbey:
http://d28x33bn4x2mjg.cloudfront.net/assets/thumbnail/0007/51586/Bohun,-Eleanor-de,-brass-72-Westminster-Abbey-copyright-photo.jpg
Current Location: Private collection
Original Location: London, England. Westminster Abbey
Artistic Type (Category): Brass rubbing
Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Heelball; Paper
Donor:
Height/Width/Length(cm): 53.34 cm/165.1 cm/
Inscription: Cy gist Alianore de Bohune, eisne fille et un des heires a l’Honorable Seigneur Monseigneur Humphry de Bohune, Compte de Hereford, d’Essex, et de Northampton, et Constable d’Engleterre, femme a puissant et noble Prince Thomas de Wodestocke, fils a tres excellent et tres puissant Seigneur Edward Roy d’Engleterre, puis le conquestries Duc de Gloucester, Compte d’Essex, de Buckingham, et Constable d’Engleterre, qui mourit le tier jour d’October, l’an de Mil CCCLXXXXIX. Translation: Here lies Eleanor de Bohun, daughter and co-heir of the honourable knight Sir Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, Essex and Northampton, and Constable of England, wife of the mighty and noble prince Thomas of Woodstock, son of the excellent and mighty prince Edward, King of England, the Third since the Conquest, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Essex and Buckingham, and Constable of England, who died 3 October in the year of grace 1399.
Related Resources: Brass Rubbings Collection. Hamline University. http://www.hamline.edu/brass-rubbings/ Accessed 2015;
British History Online. An Inventory of the Ancient and Historical Monuments of London. Volume I Westminster Abbey. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/london/vol1/pp17-76 Accessed 2016;
Grant, Francis J. Manual of Heraldry. John Grant, 1929.