If only a 14th-century Philippa had been a Philip….!

Sex can be divisive. By that I mean that being the “wrong” sex has made huge differences in the past. No, it’s nothing to do with today’s strife concerning to which sex one really belongs. Instead I mean that back in history being born a woman often prevented you or your line from ascending to a throne.

It is only today that the system in the UK has been changed so that Princess Charlotte now follows on from Prince George, coming before her other brother, Prince Louis. Only a few years ago she would have been third in line, after both brothers.

Seldom was this more important than in the case of Philippa of Clarence, only daughter of Lionel of Clarence, second son of King Edward III. Lionel was next brother to Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince, who left only one small son, Richard of Bordeaux, to inherit the crown of Edward III. The next brother to Lionel was John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Then came Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, and finally Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester.

Five brothers, and a mixed bunch they were. Then, with Edward of Woodstock dying (leaving the little boy Richard of Bordeaux, who became Richard II), and Lionel of Clarence already dead (leaving one daughter, Philippa of Clarence), John of Gaunt saw a path opening for his own line to ascend the throne. Now, I know this view of Gaunt isn’t a given fact, because we don’t really know, but I’d say it’s a pretty good shot at the truth.

Why did Gaunt see a route to the throne? Because Philippa of Clarence was a woman. She married the 3rd Earl of March, Edmund Mortimer, and they had a son, Roger, who would become the 4^th Earl of March, and who was, by any reckoning, the second senior grandson of King Edward III, Richard II being the senior. Therefore this boy should succeed if Richard died without issue. King Roger.

Lionel was the second son, and his line came before Gaunt’s. But—HUGE but!—little Roger Mortimer was born of a female line. Gaunt pounced upon this. His mantra was that female lines should not ascend the throne before a lesser male line. Hellfire, women were the last resort! In the end Gaunt’s own son, Henry of Bolingbroke, Henry IV, usurped the throne and murdered Richard II. Job done anyway.

But oh, how different it would have been if Philippa of Clarence had been Philip of Clarence, the marriage had been with a Mortimer lady and they’d had a son. Then there wouldn’t have been any question. If Richard II had died childless, which he did, then Philip of Clarence’s son would have ascended the throne. No argument. We would definitely have had our first King Roger.

Were it not for that single chance that Lionel’s child had been Philippa not Philip, our history would have been rewritten immeasurably.

As it was, Philippa’s line eventually married into the York line of Edmund of Langley, and the House of York as we know it was born, leading to Edward IV and Richard III. The House of Lancaster/Tudor then usurped the throne again and so it went on.

You can read more about Philippa here.