Death
At the age of 53, like her mother, Philippa fell mortally ill with the plague. She moved from Lisbon to Sacavém and called her sons to her bedside so that she could give them her blessing. Philippa presented her three eldest sons with jewel-encrusted swords, which they would use in their impending knighthoods, and gave each a portion of the True Cross, “enjoining them to preserve their faith and to fulfill the duties of their rank”.
Though he had been reluctant to marry her, the king had grown quite fond of his wife, and it is said that he was “so grieved by mortal illness… that he could neither eat nor sleep”.
In her final hours, Philippa was said to be lucid and without pain. A story tells that she was roused by a wind which blew strongly against the house and asked what wind it was. She was delighted to hear that it was the north wind, and thought that this would be quite beneficial for her son’s and husband’s voyage to Africa, which she had coordinated. Philippa’s end was as pious, harmonious, and peaceful as her life: she prayed with several priests and, “without any toil or suffering, gave her soul into the hands of Him who created her, a smile appearing on her mouth as though she disdained the life of this world”.
Read more about this topic: Philippa Of Lancaster
Famous quotes containing the word death:
“Bruno Antony: Tell me, Judge, after you’ve sentenced a man to the chair, isn’t it difficult to go out and eat your dinner after that?
Judge Dolan: When a murderer is caught he must be tried, when he is convicted he must be sentenced, when he is sentenced to death he must be executed.
Bruno Antony: Quite impersonal, isn’t it?
Judge Dolan: So it is. Besides, it doesn’t happen every day.
Bruno Antony: So, few murderers are caught?”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“O Lord, methought what pain it was to drown,
What dreadful noise of waters in my ears!
What sights of ugly death within my eyes!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“‘Lay me a green sod under my head,
And another at my feet;
And lay my bent bow at my side,
Which was my music sweet;
And make my grave of gravel and green,
Which is most right and meet.”
—Unknown. Robin Hood’s Death (l. 65–70)