Henry II
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MISTRESS OF THE MAZE—Rosamund Clifford, Lover of King Henry II
Annabel de Balliol, Bishop Hugh of Lincoln, books, Civil War, Edward IV, Everswell, Fair Rosamund Clifford, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Godstow, Henry II, Ida de Tosney, Jane Shore, John, Louis VIII, mazes, Mistress of the Maze, Old Sarum Well, Raymond of Poitiers, Rosamund’s Well, William Longspee, WoodstockJane Shore is one of the most famous royal mistresses and certainly the prime one of the 15th century. Arguably, however, the most famous royal mistress in medieval English history is the enigmatic Rosamund de Clifford, known as ‘Fair Rosamund’ or ‘Rose of the World.’ Like Jane, Rosamund seemed to have received a generally benign…
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What do Matilda and Margaret, Eleanor and Elizabeth, plus two Henrys, add up to…?
“Beauforts”, Antioch, Catherine de Roet, Crusades, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Elizabeth of York, Fair Rosamund Clifford, Gerald of Wales, Henry I, Henry II, Henry VII, John of Gaunt, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Lancastrians, Matilda, Raymond of Poitiers, Richard III, Robert of Gloucester, Shakespeare, Stephen, The Lion in Winter, Viscount Welles, YorkistsTo my mind, it adds up to two very similar situations that are two centuries apart. Let us begin in the 12th century. On his deathbed, Henry I of England named as his successor his only surviving child, his daughter, the Empress Matilda. He obliged the nobility to agree. They reneged, of course. A woman…
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Recently Leicester has revamped one of its hotels to include a Richard III room. If you are on the road in the Midlands, perhaps visiting Nottingham Castle (where Richard spent considerable time during his short reign and which is currently undergoing a rehaul of visitor facilities that should hopefully see more mention of Richard) another…
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May 1 has just gone past–a date known in ancient Britain as the Feast of Beltaine, the ‘Fires of Bel (the Shining One)’. Of all the old important pre-Christian dates, this is the one that the Church was never able to Christianise in any obvious way, retainings its traditions of merriment, dancing and bawdiness right…
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When people think of places connected with Richard III, they sometimes think of Northamptonshire due to his birthplace at Fotheringhay…but seldom of the town of Northampton itself. However, the town, although having lost in grandest medieval structures in two devastating fires, still has features of interest to Ricardians, Wars of the Roses students and medievalists.…
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The name Plantagenet came from Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, who was reputed to wear a sprig of the yellow ‘planta genista’ (also known as the Broom plant) in his hat. However, the Encyclopedia Britannica has speculated that the Plantagenet name ‘more likely’ arose because Geoffrey supposedly planted broom to improve his hunting covers. He…
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As the European rugby season enters another phase this week, we can focus on Blanche de Castile (1188-1252), granddaughter of Henry II, wife of Louis VIII, mother of and regent to (St.) Louis IX and great-grandmother of Isabelle, who married Edward II to become Richard III’s great-great-great-grandmother. In 2008, Stade Francais developed a new third…
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My recent research into the comings and goings of those involved in the Perkin Warbeck mystery revealed some interesting facts about the history of Dartmouth, now famous and loved for the coastal beauty that brings thousands of people to see it every summer. In the course of delving around for information, I came upon what…
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