Of Nunneries and Fair Rosamund

My sympathies have always been with Queen Eleanor. From The Abbey of Misrule:

Rosamund was the high-born daughter of a Norman Lord from the Welsh marches. Not very much is actually known about her, which is why it is so easy to fill the gaps with stories. What we do know is that she became the mistress (or one of the mistresses: medieval kings were not especially faithful creatures) of Henry II. When their affair became public, in 1174, the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, unsurprisingly soured on the King, and it is said that she swore revenge on both Rosamund and her husband. Soon enough, she had joined with the King’s sons in a public rebellion against him. It failed, and she was imprisoned for fifteen years.

All of which, of course, was great news for Rosamund - and, indeed, the King, who could now dedicate himself fully to his mistress. Henry had built her a palace at Woodstock, complete with a labyrinth, a well to bathe in (which can still be seen today) and a secret bower where she and the King would meet when the Queen’s back was turned. Now, there was no need to hide. The King and his lover could be out and proud.

Chroniclers of the time tended to paint Rosamund as a whore and a temptress, who had seduced the King away from the straight and narrow path - a standard treatment of women at the time. In fact, though, we know nothing much about her, or about her real relationship with the King. All we have today are a burgeoning mass of Romantic stories. Rosamund and Henry became, for a long while, an archetypal love story from the Age of Chivalry. (Read more.)