Defining Queenship at Greyfriars London, c.1300-58.

ECCLESIASTICAL patronage; QUEENS; ISABELLA, Queen, consort of Edward II, King of England, 1292-1358; MARGARET, Queen, consort of Edward I, King of England, ca. 1279-1318; FRANCISCAN convents; RELIGION & politics; HISTORY of London, England -- To 1500; HISTORY

This article explores the political implications of patronage of the Franciscan convent of Greyfriars London by two successive queens of England: Margaret and Isabella of France. First reviewing the surviving evidence for its development and appearance in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries, I discuss Greyfriars’ connections to the capital’s political elite and issues surrounding the chronology of its building work. Queenly support for Greyfriars London by Margaret of France is located in the context of political relations between the Crown and the City, and Margaret’s efforts to establish her queenly authority and identity on arrival in England. The article then explores the significances of Isabella of France’s patronage of the London mendicants. First, it is considered in relation to the political unrest surrounding the deposition of her husband, Edward II, in 1327. I argue that Isabella of France made consistent, strategic use of the Franciscans to represent herself and her activities to the greatest political advantage. Concern for the mendicants had implications for Isabella’s public image long afterwards, however: in her enforced political ‘retirement’ following the 1330 coup of her son, Edward III, and in the arrangements she made for her burial and commemoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]