CERL Thesaurus

Portrait of Jacqueline of Hainault (1401-1436), who was Dauphine of France and Countess of Hainault. She was heiress to the counties of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut. She did not lead an easy life; aged five, she was employed as a marriage candidate in the dynastic power game. It was not an arranged marriage. Her first husband died, the second marriage - her cousin - she declared invalid, a third failed. For her fourth and last marriage she had to relinquish her power, suggesting that in this case it was true love. Tragically Jaqcueline died two years after the marriage to the effects of tuberculosis.