John d'Avesnes, Count of Hainaut I

John married Aleida Van Holland on 9 Oct 1246. Aleida (daughter of Floris Van Holland Count of Holland, IV and Mathilde de Brabant) was born in 1230 in 's-Hertogenbosch, S-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands; died on 9 Apr 1283 in Valenciennes, Pas-De-Calais, France; was buried in Flines-lez-Rachedu, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

John married Philippa Luxembourg in 1270 in Luxembourg. Philippa (daughter of Henry V Luxembourg and Margaret Bar) was born in 1252 in Luxembourg; died on 6 Apr 1311 in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France; was buried in Valenciennes, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Jeanne de Valois on 29 May 1305 in Chanay, Ain, Rhône-Alpes, France. Jeanne (daughter of Duke of Anjou Charles III de Valois and Princess of Sicily Margaret d'Anjou) was born about 1294 in Fontainebelau, Seine-et-Marne, France; died on 7 Mar 1342 in Fontenelle, Yonne, France; was buried in Maing, Nord, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Philippa of Hainault

Notes:

Walter of Stapeldon was bishop of Exeter, and in 1319 served on an English diplomatic mission to the Low Countries to negotiate a naval agreement. As part of their responsibilities, the emissaries also visited Hainaut and gave Philippa the once-over. It is interesting that she was even then being considered as a possible future queen of England, nearly a full decade before Queen Isabella finally closed the negotiations.

A document from their trip gives a fairly full physical description of the young girl: she was well built, without any obvious deformity; good hair, neither light nor dark; neat head, with a somewhat bulbous forehead (considered a sign of beauty); her eyes were dark brown, almost black, and fairly close together (NOT a good sign). Her nose was all right, except the tip was a bit broad and the nostrils a tad large. The lips were full, especially the lower one. Her teeth were good, some whiter than others, and the lower row was noticeably irregular while the upper row protruded just a bit--not too much. Her skin was brownish, not the translucent white of a romance heroine. She resembled her father a good deal (a good sign as it suggested she was more masculine and might well have more sons than daughters), both parents were very fond of her, and all the courtiers of Hainaut thought well of her too, as far as the envoys were able to determine.

According to her mother, Philippa would have her ninth birthday at the next feast of the Nativity of St John Baptist (24 June), which puts her birth on or near that day in the year 1310. She was thus about two and one-half years older than her future husband, and would have been about 45 when she bore her last child Thomas in 1355. -- John Carmi Parsons (edited)

Philippa married Edward Plantagenet, King of England III on 24 Jan 1327 in York Minster, Deangate, Yorkshire, England. Edward (son of King of England Edward Plantagenet, King of England II and Isabella Capet) was born on 13 Nov 1312 in Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England; died on 21 Jun 1377 in Shene Palace On-The-Thames, Richmond, Surrey, England; was buried in Westminster Palace, Greater London, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]