King Edward I and Queen Eleanor, by Alfred Sacheverel[l] Coke (1846-1924). 1863. Oil on panel, signed with initials and inscribed London and dated 1863, lower left. 20 15/16 x 16 3/4 inches (53.2 x 42.4 cm). Private collection, image courtesy of the author. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
This very early work by Coke in a naïve style was executed when he was a young man of only seventeen and predates both his entry into the Royal Academy Schools and his "Poetry Without Grammar period. Although it is quite two-dimensional in its handling, Rupert Maas felt this painting shows "a handling quite extraordinarily advanced for the date of 1863" and it reminded him of later works by Stanley Spencer (50). The painting utilizes that favourite Pre-Raphaelite device of having a window in the background thus allowing Coke to create a distant background without having to make the traditional middle-ground transition between it and the foreground plane. The colours are rich, almost Venetian-like, but the fabrics are not handled with High Renaissance detail, not surprising considering his limited artistic training at this early stage. Edward I was fascinated with imperial Rome which is perhaps why the fabric draped over his throne features eagles, a symbol of the Roman Empire. Queen Eleanor is shown kneeling before her husband King Edward I who is seated on his simple gothic throne. Eleanor clasps his hands but the hands are not well drawn from an anatomical standpoint. A young cupbearer is in the background to the right. His outfit features two lions passant guardant, similar to those on the Royal Banner of England, but they are on a blue background not red, and shows only two lions not the three as seen in the Arms of the Plantagenet kings who ruled England from 1154. The subject of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor might have been a natural one for the teenaged Alfred to paint because he himself was a Plantagenet, a descendant of the line of King Edward III; the couple's conjugal affection was also in the news at this time, with preparations being made to restore the Eleanor Cross at the end of the Strand.
Eleanor of Castile was born in November of 1241 in Burgos, the daughter of King Ferdinand III of Castile and his second wife Jeanne de Dammartin. Eleanor became a well-educated, cultured, and literate woman for her time. In 1254 she became engaged to Prince Edward, son of King Henry III of England, and the teenaged couple were married at the monastery of Las Huelgas, Burgos on 1 November 1254. They spent a year in Gascony after their marriage "where Edward learned government administration" (Abernethy). In October of 1255, at King Henry's bidding, Eleanor went to England and Edward joined her a few months later. Edward and Eleanor travelled on the continent from 1260 until 1263. When disgruntled barons led by Simon de Montfort rebelled against King Henry's rule in England, Eleanor and Edward returned to England bringing archers from Ponthieu. When the royalist forces were defeated at the Battle of Lewes, Edward was captured. Edward later escaped from prison and defeated the barons in the Battle of Evesham in 1265. In July of 1266 Eleanor gave birth to their first child, a prince named John. She was eventually to have as many as sixteen children. On 25 April 1284 she gave birth to the eventual heir to the throne, the future Edward II. The Victorians reportedly saw her as "a pattern of wifehood; when queen, a model of gracious and beneficent sovereignty (for she was universally beloved); and, in short, the very ideal of a 'woman of the time'” (“The Eleanor Cross Restored at Charing-Cross”).
In 1270 Edward and Eleanor left on the Eighth Crusade to the Holy Land but this was unsuccessful and they left Palestine to return to England via Gascony in September of 1272. In November 1272 King Henry III died. Edward and Eleanor were crowned King and Queen at a joint ceremony in Westminster Abbey on 19 August 1274. "In 1279, she succeeded her mother and became Countess of Ponthieu in her own right" (Abernethy) — which greatly increased her already substantial personal income. Although not particularly popular with her English subjects, she was devoted to her husband. She was generous in her charity and a patroness of English universities. She suffered from illness during the last three years of her life and died on 28 November 1290 at the age of forty-nine, with Edward at her side. Her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 17 December 1290. Edward I was also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots. Although he did remarry, when he died in 1307 he was buried next to her.
Related Material
Bibliography
Abernethy, Susan. "Eleanor of Castile, Queen of England." Web. 15 June 2025. The Freelance History Writer. https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com/2014/11/28/eleanor-of-castile-queen-of-england/
“The Eleanor Cross Restored at Charing-Cross.” Illustrated London News Vol. 47 (9 December 1865): 560. Internet Archive. Web. 15 June 2025.
Maas, Rupert. British Pictures 1840-1940. London; Maas Gallery, 1998, cat. 56, 50.
Created 15 June 2025