Alice Perrers – “A shameless, impudent harlot”

Alice Perrers was born in 1348 and is remembered as the mistress of King Edward III of England and as “one of the best-known political figures in the history of medieval England.” ¹

No records for Alice’s surname, parentage or early years survive, and records from her time as King Edward’s mistress do not paint her in the best light, so it is difficult to get a true sense of what she was like.

As Alice was hated by certain factions at court and by many chroniclers in her time, she is often said to have been of low birth in order to present her as hailing from a lower rank. Her mother is usually noted as being a domestic servant, and her father is listed as all sorts of roles, including a goldsmith, a weaver, a tiler and a blacksmith. In reality, it is likely that she came from the gentry class, or she would not have gained a position in the Queen’s household in the first place.²

Before meeting King Edward III of England, the records are unsurprisingly sparse for Alice’s earlier life. What we do know is that she was married around the age of twelve to a man named Janyn Perrers, which is where her known surname came from. Her husband was a jeweller, and he died just a few years later. The couple did not have any children together.

It may be because of Janyn’s early death that Alice sought to make her own living and took on a role in the household of Queen Philippa. It seems that Alice was working in the queen’s household for a while before she caught the King’s eye or before they crossed paths. King Edward III was not known for having mistresses and had a very strong relationship with his wife, Philippa, so when the relationship did start, it was kept relatively discreet. We do know that the relationship had begun while the queen was still alive, as three children were born to the couple during the queen’s lifetime. Alice would be sent away to give birth to the children, John, Jane and Joan, before returning to court once more.

When the relationship between Alice and King Edward III began, she was in her late teens, and the King was 55. In the medieval era, this was seen as quite an advanced age, and the king was already showing signs of senility. Historians have often portrayed Alice as money-grabbing and a seductress who tricked the elderly King into a relationship. The portrayal of her is often very one-sided, and we hear little of her intelligence, her emotions and her actual personality.³. It seems that Alice was disliked in part because Queen Philippa was so beloved by her people. After the Queen’s death, people were not happy to have their devoted Queen replaced by a teen mistress.

Once their relationship was out in the open, Alice rose rapidly through the ranks at court and became a key advisor to the King. A lot of the King’s closest friends and advisors had died, due to his age and his long reign. This left him reliant on new, ambitious advisors and, of course, his mistress Alice. Visitors and ambassadors often had to go through Alice to speak to the king, and court factions often relied on her for their positions and power. Nothing was done at court without Alice’s approval, which was extremely unusual in this period.

We can see the extent of Alice’s wealth and power on many occasions, such as her sending funds for the Northern Crusade in 1376. Alice was also gifted large numbers of jewels from the King, and it was reported that she would convince the senile King to re-purchase certain items over and over again, which helped her amass a huge fortune. The King would also gift Alice sums of money, which she invested in land and property, which further increased her own income. It is believed that “Greedy Alice used her position during the last decade of the old King’s life to rape the treasury, becoming one of the largest landowners in England.” ⁴

As the King grew older and more frail, Alice made moves to secure her own future and entered into a secret marriage. She was married to Sir William de Windsor in 1375, a 53-year-old man who spent much of his time in Ireland.

In order to bring Alice under control, an ordinance was created which aimed to stop women from interfering in the law, bribing and influencing parties. While this ruling was apparently aimed at women in general, Thomas Walsingham wrote in the 1376 ordinance, “especially Alice Perrers, on penalty of whatever the said Perrers can forfeit and of being banished from the realm.”

Following this, the Good Parliament stripped Alice of her wealth and even banished her. It was not long before the King overruled Parliament and restored her. Shortly after this incident with the Good Parliament, the king passed away after a period of illness due to an abscess.  Reports stated that Alice pried the valuable rings from his stiffening fingers, which seems far from likely.

Following the death of the King, “Parliament confiscated her estates in seventeen counties, her jewels and other gifts from the king.” ⁵ Alice was stuck in a cycle of battles over her land and property, constantly petitioning parliament for the return of her lands for the rest of her life.

Alice remained married to her husband, Sir William de Windsor, until his death, and she died herself at the age of 52. Alice’s three children with the King all survived into adulthood and were married.⁶

1. Ormrod, W. Mark. “The Trials of Alice Perrers.” p.366)
2. Charles Carlton p.23
3. Gemma Hollman p.22-23
4. Eleanor Herman p.2
5. Eleanor Herman p.2
6. Sources
   Carlton, Charles., Royal Mistresses
   Herman, Eleanor., Sex with Kings: 500 Years of Adultery, Power, Rivalry, and Revenge
   Hollman, Gemma., The Queen and The Mistress: The Women of Edward III
   Ormrod, W. M. “Who Was Alice Perrers?” The Chaucer Review, vol. 40 no. 3, 2006, p. 219-229
   Ormrod, W. Mark. “The Trials of Alice Perrers.” Speculum 83, no. 2 (2008): 366–96
   www.britannica.com/biography/Alice-Perrers
   www.thehundredyearswar.co.uk/alice-perrers