Alice Perrers

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Alice Perrers (c. 1348 – 1400) is notorious as the mistress of King Edward III of England. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa. Her second husband was William of Windsor, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.^[1]

After Philippa's death, Alice's relationship with Edward became semi-official, although she had probably already had at least one child by him, a son named John. Edward lavished extravagant gifts on her, including Philippa's jewelry and the estate of Wendover, Buckinghamshire. On one occasion the king had her paraded as the 'Lady of the Sun,' dressed in golden garments.

At the so-called Good Parliament of 1376, Alice was temporarily banished from court but the political winds changed and she was able to return. As Edward III reached the end of his life and retired to Sheen Lodge, Alice advised him to take in tournaments as a form of recuperation. A chronicler reported that Alice, alone with the king at his death, stripped the rings from Edward's fingers, but this was almost certainly an attempt to discredit Edward's court – and Alice – rather than an accurate portrayal of the facts.

There has been scholarly speculation that Alice was the model for the Lady Mede character in William Langland's Piers Plowman.

Although multiple sources agree that John was a son of Edward, Alice and the king may have produced as many as four children together. Possible offspring are:

Sir John de Southeray (c. 1364 – 1383)^[2]
- Married Matilda Percy, daughter of Henry Percy.
Nicholas Lytlington (d. 1386)
- Was Abbot of Westminster.
- Seems to never have claimed royal blood.
Jane Plantagenet
- Married Richard Northland.
Joan Plantagenet
- Married Robert Skerne.

There is also the possibility that Alice atoned for her sins and paid for the building of a church in Essex, which was then known as "Hore-church". This was subsequently changed to "Horn church", and horns were affixed to St Andrew's church (not the same church that Alice supposedly had built) to keep up the pretence. The local area was thereafter known as Hornchurch, as it is today. ^[3]

[edit] References

^ T. R. Gambier-Parry, "Alice Perrers and Her Husband's Relatives," The English Historical Review, 47:186 (April, 1932), 272-276 [1]
^ Margaret Galway, "Alice Perrers's Son John" The English Historical Review, 66:259 (April 1951), 242-246 [2]
^ "Heritage Strategy for Hornchurch", Havering London Borough Council website. Retrieved on 2008-06-08