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:
“The things a man has to have are hope and confidence in himself against odds, and sometimes he needs somebody, his pal or his mother or his wife or God, to give him that confidence. He’s got to have some inner standards worth fighting for or there won’t be any way to bring him into conflict. And he must be ready to choose death before dishonor without making too much song and dance about it. That’s all there is to it.”
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