A plague on royal houses
QUESTION Were any royals killed by the Black Death?
The Black Death, or bubonic plague, peaked in europe between 1347 and 1353, but returned to haunt the Continent throughout the 14th to 17th centuries.
It was the most lethal pandemic in history, killing up to a third of the world’s population.
Royalty fared better than the common man as they were able to isolate on private estates while the plague thrived in unhygienic towns and villages, yet it still took many prominent lives including Joan of england, the beloved 14-year-old daughter of edward III and Philippa of hainault.
She was betrothed to Pedro, heir to Castile, and in 1348 set out with her retinue on the long journey for the wedding. The Black Death had not yet appeared in england and the party was unaware of the danger.
however, an outbreak had begun in Bordeaux and, after arriving in the town, members of the entourage began to die.
Joan was moved to the isolated village of Loremo, but could not escape the plague and died.
A devastated edward III wrote to Alfonso XI of Castile: ‘But see, with what intense bitterness of heart we have to tell you this, destructive Death (who seizes young and old alike, sparing no one and reducing rich and poor to the same level) has lamentably snatched from both of us our dearest daughter, whom we loved best of all, as her virtues demanded.’
Alfonso succumbed to the plague two years later during the Fifth Siege of Gibraltar.
Other British-born royal plague victims were Blanche of Lancaster in 1368 and her daughter Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal.
Blanche was the first of the three wives of John of Gaunt, the powerful son of edward III, and the mother of henry IV. When John died 31 years later, he was buried with Blanche.
Philippa of Lancaster, who was married to Joao I of Portugal, succumbed to the plague in 1415, as did her son King Duarte of Portugal 23 years later.
Anne of Bohemia, the first wife of Richard II, is also thought to have been a plague victim. In 1455, 12-year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort married 24-year-old edmund Tudor. The Wars of the Roses, the battle for the english throne between the house of Lancaster and the house of York, had just begun.
edmund, a Lancastrian, was taken prisoner by the Yorkists a year later. he died of plague in captivity at Carmarthen Castle, leaving his widow seven months pregnant with their child, henry, who would found the Tudor dynasty.
There were plague deaths among european royal families including Queen Jeanne la Boiteuse, known as Joan the Lame, the first wife of France’s Philip VI; eleanor of Portugal, Queen of Aragon; Louis, King of Sicily; and Louis I of Naples.
Mary Illsley, Market Harborough, Leics.
QUESTION Who coined the phrase ‘It’s the economy, stupid’?
ThIS slogan is attributed to U.S. political strategist James Carville, who was advising Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton before the 1992 election against incumbent George Bush Sr.
In a strategy meeting at Clinton’s Little Rock headquarters, Carville wrote three potential slogans on the wall: Change vs more of the same; the economy, stupid; and don’t forget healthcare.
The economy was a major issue with concerns about an impending recession, so the second slogan was selected with the addition of the word ‘it’s’.
Clinton went on to win the first of his two terms in the November election.
Tom Hulmes, Newton-le-Willows, Lancs.
QUESTION Who has received most Best Song Oscar nominations without winning?
U.S. hIT-MAKING machine Diane Warren has been nominated for the Best Song Oscar 13 times, yet has always left the Academy Awards empty-handed.
The songs include Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now by Starship (Mannequin, 1987); Because You Loved Me by Celine Dion (Up Close And Personal, 1996); how Do I Live by LeAnn Rimes (Con Air, 1997); I Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing (Armageddon, 1998); and Music Of My heart by Gloria estefan and NSYNC (Music Of The heart, 1999).
More recent nominated songs include There You’ll Be by Faith hill (Pearl harbor, 2001); Grateful by Rita Ora (Beyond The Lights, 2014); Til It happens To You by Lady Gaga (The hunting Ground, 2015); Stand Up For Something by Andra Day (Marshall, 2017); I’ll Fight by Jennifer hudson (RBG, 2018); I’m Standing With You by Chrissy Metz (Breakthrough, 2019); Io sì (Seen) by Laura Pausini (The Life Ahead, 2020); and Somehow You Do by Reba Mcentire (Four Good Days, 2020).
As consolation for not winning an Oscar, more than 800 of her songs have been recorded and she was the first songwriter with seven hits by different artistes in the charts at the same time.
Danny Thomas, Sheffield, S. Yorks.
IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB; or email charles.legge@ dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.