Queens of England who Died in Childbirth

though giving birth is not exactly a day at the spa modern medicine has made huge leaps in keeping mothers and babies alive and healthy through the ordeal of childbirth in Europe in the Middle Ages about one in three women died in their childbearing years and women routinely wrote their wills upon discovering that they were pregnant any number of things could go wrong including obstructed labor hemorrhage and eclampsia women were especially susceptible to infection during childbirth in the time before antiseptic and many died of child bed fever days after a delivery in addition doctors had a complete lack of understanding of female anatomy and believed that our reproductive organs were simply male organs turned inward royal woman's wealth and status was no protection against these dangers in fact their risks were increased as it was seen as their duty to have as many children as possible the Royal custom was to shun breastfeeding on natural birth control and hand the new baby over to a wet nurse so the mother could get back into the marriage bed as quickly as possible and access to doctors with the latest often harmful medical interventions didn't help a Queen's chances here are the stories of seven queens and princesses of England who died tragically as the result of childbirth Isabella of England Isabella was the fourth child of King John and Isabella of angoulême at 21 she married the twice widowed 40 year old emperor frederick ii she was crowned Holy Roman Empress queen of Germany and Sicily once in Germany her husband dismissed all but two of her ladies and Isabella was isolated in her new country Frederick who had spent a great deal of time in the Middle East while on crusade had a harem of Arabian women guarded by eunuchs to which he added his new bride during their six years of marriage Isabella gave birth to four or five children at least one of whom died in infancy she died giving birth to a daughter Isabella was 27 Murray Dubois Mary was an English and Welsh aristocrat and member of the Lancastrian side of the War of the Roses upon her father's death Mary and her elder sister Elinor each inherited half of his vast estate Eleanor's husband wanted to take control of both halves of the fortune so he kidnapped Mary and cloistered her in a nunnery John of Gaunt third son of King Edward the third abducted the 12 year old Mary and Wed her to his fourteen-year-old son Henry the marriage between the adolescents was supposed to remain unconsummated until they were older but the newlyweds found their way to each other and Mary was pregnant by 16 her first child only lived a few days she went on to have six more children Mary died at the age of 26 giving birth to her second daughter Philippa five years after Mary's death her husband murdered his cousin Richard ii and seized the throne becoming King Henry at the fourth Mary's eldest son later became Henry the fifth one of the greatest warrior kings of the Middle Ages both of her daughters Blanche who became Electress of Palatine and Philippa Queen of Denmark Norway and Sweden suffered pregnancy-related deaths Isabella of Valois Isabella was the daughter of King Charles the sixth of France when she was seven years old she was married to the 29 year old english king richard ii as part of a peace treaty to end the 100 Years War young Isabella said that she was happy to be queen of England because that would make her a great lady she was set up with her own court at Windsor Castle where her husband always respectful visited her often they had a friendly relationship and he would often talk and joke with her and her ladies richard was known to prefer the company of his male favorites so it wasn't just her young age that made this marriage a little awkward four years into their marriage Richard was murdered and Isabella was placed under house arrest by the new king Henry the fourth Isabella defied the king by mourning her dead husband Henry wanted to marry the young Dowager Queen to his own son the future Henry v but her father refused insisting that she be returned to France back home the sixteen-year-old Isabella married her 11 year old cousin Charles Duke of Orleans at 19 she died giving birth to her first child a daughter named Joan who lived and went on to become the duchess of alice all Elizabeth of York Elizabeth was the daughter of Edward the fourth of England and Elizabeth Woodville of the York side of the War of the Roses King Richard the third was defeated at the Battle of Bosworth Field and the victor had himself crowned King Henry the seventh he then kidnapped the Princess Elizabeth and married her Henry of the Lancastrians and the red rose and Elizabeth of York of the White Rose finally brought the two warring sides together despite the kidnapping and the politics of the match the couple were actually very happy and grew to love each other Elizabeth was gentle kind generous and well loved by her husband children and servants she enjoyed music dancing and dice games but stayed out of politics she gave birth to seven children though three died in childhood her eldest son Arthur Prince of Wales and heir to the throne died at the age of fifteen when Elizabeth was pregnant with her seventh child she spent her confinement in the Tower of London then still a royal residence she gave birth to a daughter Catherine who died within a few days on her 37th birthday Elizabeth succumbed to infection contracted during the delivery her husband and children mourned her death deeply in this illuminated manuscript eleven-year-old Prince Henry is shown weeping into the sheets of his mother's empty bed Henry the seventh was encouraged to take a second wife but no other woman could ever measure up to his Lee Queen Henry died a widower making way for his son Henry the eighth Jane Seymour Jane was the third wife of King Henry the eighth after 24 years of marriage to Catherine of Aragon and three years of marriage to Anne Boleyn Henry had two daughters but no male heir being only the second Tudor King after the War of the Roses Henry was obsessed with fathering a male heir to cement his dynasty so he placed his hopes in a young lady in waiting to his recently beheaded second wife a few months into their marriage Jane became pregnant and spent the summer in confinement protecting the fragile life of what she and Henry fervently hoped would be the coveted male heir in September after three nights of labor due to the baby being in the breech position Jane delivered Henry's fondest wish a healthy son weeks later the baby Prince Edward was baptized in grand style but his mother was not present she was ill with child bed fever due to an infection contracted during the difficult delivery at the end of October Jane died she was 29 years old and had been Queen for only 17 months Jane was the only one of Henry's wives to receive a royal funeral Jane's son went on to become King Edward the six but ruled for just six years and died at the age of 15 of tuberculosis catherine parr catherine was twice widowed when she fell in love with Sir Thomas Seymour brother of the late Queen Jane the pair were planning their wedding when King Henry the eighth proposed to her she was heartbroken she wanted a quiet life and had no ambition to be queen but she had little choice but to accept and become Henry's sixth wife Henry boasted of his virility and complained about Catherine not becoming pregnant but it is thought that he was most likely impotent by this time four years into their marriage Henry died at the age of 55 catherine was now a fabulously wealthy Dowager Queen her heart's desire was Thomas Seymour the couple were not allowed to marry so soon after the King's death so they Wed in a secret ceremony at 35 Catherine who had never conceived in her three previous marriages was thrilled to discover that she was pregnant during her pregnancy her husband did not remain true to her he carried out strong flirtations with the Princess Elizabeth who was living at her stepmothers house Catherine even caught her husband and Elizabeth in an embrace and had to send the princess away Catherine gave birth to a daughter Mary but six days later the new mother died from child bed fever caused by poor hygiene during the delivery she only outlived King Henry by 18 months new widower Thomas Seymour proposed marriage to Princess Elizabeth but was turned down he then ran afoul of his brother Edward who was Regent and got himself beheaded for treason 7 month-old baby Mary was abandoned to an orphanage Catherine Parrs good friend Catherine Brandon stepped in to care for the motherless infant however Mary disappeared from history and most likely died in childhood Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales Charlotte was the only legitimate child of the Prince Regent later George the 4th and his wife Caroline of Brunswick Charlotte had been conceived on the couple's wedding night but they hated each other on sight and separated immediately after the honeymoon George's brothers preferred bedding mistresses to marrying foreign princesses so none of them had any legitimate children either this left Charlotte as the singular hope for the future of the British monarchy luckily she was incredibly popular with the people the beautiful and politically moderate princess and her handsome German husband Prince Leopold were the will and Kate of their day the public followed their every move with fascination and admiration Charlotte fell ill at the Royal Opera and it was reported that she had suffered a miscarriage at 21 she was pregnant again she spent most of her pregnancy out of the public eye at montt house-sitting for this portrait by sir thomas lawrence her doctors were concerned that she ate heavily and got little exercise but dithered about treatment putting her on and off diets and weakening the princess she went into labor on the evening of November 3rd by November 5th her male midwife Sir Richard Croft was in fear that Charlotte would not be able to expel the baby he called for obstetrician John Sims but then Croft decided against allowing the doctor to use forceps to pull the infant from her it was a gamble either way as a faster birth might have saved Charlotte and the child but forceps often caused infection in a time before antiseptics by nine o'clock that evening Charlotte finally gave birth to a 9-pound baby boy who was sadly stillborn the doctors tried desperately to revive the child applying chest compresses plunging him into warm water rubbing him with mustard and plying him with brandy all to no avail when Charlotte was told of the baby's death she took the news stoically she appeared to be healthy and would live to bear more children exhausted from her two-day ordeal Charlotte ate a little broth and toast and went to sleep her husband Leopold who had been by her side the entire time took an opiate and collapsed into bed shortly before midnight Charlotte awoke and began vomiting violently and complaining of pains in her abdomen Croft was shocked to find her cold to the touch breathing with difficulty and bleeding uncontrollably he tried to wake Leopold but the prince was out cold her doctors frantically applied warm compresses and gave her laudanum in wine but there was nothing more they could do Charlotte died at 2:30 a.m. the princess and her infant son were buried together at st. George's Chapel Windsor the outcry of grief throughout the country was enormous it was said that every household had lost a favorite child shops ran out of black cloth docks and courts were shut down for two weeks of mourning and even the poor and homeless were black armed public funds were raised to build this monument to the lost princess three months after Charlotte's death her Midwife Richard Croft killed himself the triple tragedy led to significant changes in obstetrics particularly more liberal use of forceps and earlier intervention Charlotte's death also sparked her uncle's abandoning their mistresses and marrying in a race to produce the next heir to the throne this resulted in the birth of Queen Victoria but you have to wonder how would things have been different if we had had a queen charlotte the first instead a very special thank you goes to my patron Sven juh thank you so much for supporting my work if you enjoyed this video please consider supporting me on patreon and help me make more fascinating videos a link to my patreon is in the description thank you for watching [Music]

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Keywords: history, game of thrones, documentary, royal family, nobility, royalty, bbc, middle ages, medieval, the crown, british history, six wives, henry viii, catherine parr, jane seymour, england, scandal, queen elizabeth, royal wedding, princess charlotte of wales, Isabella of England, Isabella of Valois, catherine of aragon, elizabeth of york, war of the roses, tudors, pregnancy, feminist, women, obgyn, obstetrics, 9 months, labor, delivery, medical, medicine, midwife, doctor, giving birth

Id: QB1TB8Tf2-0

Length: 14min 31sec (871 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 24 2019