Plantagenets

Murder & Betrayal

The Devil’s Brood

The Plantagenet family ruled England from 1154 to 1485. They are one of the most famous and extraordinary families in English history with 14 kings. Not only were they past monarchs but they claimed they were descendants of the devil with all of the murder and betrayal that surrounded them and their reigns.

Even their predecessors and descendants, The Tudors, had a devilish streak: Henry VIII had 28 important nobles executed, Mary I had 12 nobles beheaded and had many Protestants burnt alive while Elizabeth I executed only 6 noblemen.

I would like to find out more about this incredible family who have inspired authors, tv producers and film makers alike. I will share my knowledge with all of you.

King Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine

First Plantagenet Rulers

Henry and Eleanor were the first King and Queen from the House of Plantagenet. There marriage caused scandal across Europe but at the beginning it seemed like a match made in heaven which soon turned out to be union formed in hell.

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry was born in 1133 while Eleanor had been born eleven years previously in 1122.

Eleanor was the eldest child of William X of Aquitaine and Aénor of Châtellerault and on the death of her younger brother, William, she became the sole heiress of the duchy of Aquitaine. She was given a good education of reading and writing, dancing and learning all the arts of Aquitaine.

Henry was the eldest son and child of Geoffrey V of Anjou and Matilda of England. Through his mother he was the heir to the kingdom of England and Normandy and Anjou through his father. 

His parents probably never cared for each other and most of the time fought like cat and dog. Matilda was fighting her cousin Stephen for the crown and most of his early childhood was spent in his mother's household until he was seven when he was sent to live with his father. In 1142 Henry was sent to his uncle Robert in Bristol so he could learn the skills that he would need in the future; politics, jousting, courtly love, chivalry etc. 

When Eleanor's father died in 1137 she was left in the care of Louis VI of France and to secure her new lands for France Louis married his eldest son and heir, Louis, to Eleanor. Most of the lords of Aquitaine did not like the French King "calling the shots" and marrying his son to their duchess. The young couple married on 25 July at Bordeux but the celebrations were cut short when the plans of an attack to kidnap Eleanor were revealed. Louis and Eleanor escaped to Taillebourg where one week after their union they were told them some news that would change their lives forever; King Louis had died and on Christmas Day they were finally crowned King and Queen of France.

Eleanor was not loved by her new subjects. Paris was a horrible place, the complete opposite of Aquitaine. Louis' mother, Adelaide of Savoy, thought her new daughter was flighty and a bad influence while she slandered by the church by Abbot Sugar. Louis was madly in love with Eleanor and granted her every desire which included making the palace more comfortable for her.

Eleanor was the victim of vicious rumours which accused her as an adulteress. She was accused of having an affair with Geoffrey of Anjou, Henry's father, while he was a vassal for the French King.

Louis and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix, but they never had a son and heir for France and Aquitaine. They were not happy any more and Eleanor begged her husband for an annulment. Maybe it had something to do with a new face at court: Henry Plantagenet? On 11 March 1152 the marriage was dissolved at Beaugency Castle on the grounds of Consanguinity (being close in blood). Louis was given custody of their two young daughters while Eleanor returned to Aquitaine.

On the 18 May, Eleanor and Henry married after only eight weeks after Eleanor's annulment "without the pomb and ceremony that befitted their rank". 

On the 25 October 1154 King Stephen died leaving Henry as King of England. By the time Henry and Eleanor set sail for their their new kingdom, Eleanor was pregnant with their second son.  The pair were crowned together on 19 December at Westminster Abbey in a lavish ceremony.

A son was born on the 28 January 1155 who was christened Henry. Henry and Eleanor's eldest

12th-century depiction of Henry and Eleanor holding court

son, William, died in April 1156. More children would soon follow in later years: Matilda (1156 - 1189), Richard (1157 - 1199), Geoffrey (1158 - 1186), Eleanor (1162 - 1212), Joan (1165 - 1199) and John (1166 - 1216). 

Like I mentioned earlier on the marriage soon became hell. It all started with Thomas Beckett who became a close advisor to the King and Eleanor felt neglected. In short, Beckett took young Henry into his household which angered Henry. Thomas was murder on the alter of Canterbury Abbey on the 29 December 1170 by four of Henry's knights.

But the rift between husband and wife began in late 1170 when Henry began an affair with Rosamund Clifford. Then came the rift between father and sons in the early 1170s. In1173 with the support of France, Scotland and Flanders, Henry's eldest sons, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, rebelled against their father. Henry the Younger was unhappy that even though he was King in name but he had no real authority in government as a King should have. 

The Duke of Brittany had died in 1171, but Geoffrey and the Duke's daughter Constance were not married, leaving Geoffrey without his own lands. Richard was encouraged to join his brothers as well by Eleanor, he never got on with his father and had a strong, special bond with his mother instead. 

The final straw was Henry's decision to give his youngest son John three major castles that belonged to Young Henry, who protested and then fled to to his father-in-law Louis in Paris, followed by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey; Eleanor attempted to join them but was captured by Henry's forces in November.Louis supported Young Henry and war became imminent. 

Soon the boys agreed to a treaty with their father. Young Henry agreed to the give the disputed castles to John, but in exchange the elder Henry agreed to give the younger Henry two castles in Normandy and 15,000 Angevin pounds; Richard was made Duke of Aquitane in 1179 and Geoffrey became Duke of Brittany in July 1181 when he married Constance at last. 

Eleanor and Henry were never united as Henry had her kept prisoner until his death. 

By the late 1180s Richard was rebelling against his father over his mother's imprisonment and Richard knew he was making good progress as it was obvious that Henry was dying and that Richard would be the next king, Young Henry had died in June 1183. Henry and Richard met at Ballan, where Henry agreed to a complete surrender: he would give up the Lady Alice to a guardian and she would marry Richard at the end of the coming crusade and he would recognise Richard as his heir.

Henry was carried back to Chinon on a litter, where he was informed that John had publicly sided with Richard in the conflict and this desertion proved the final shock and he finally collapsed into a fever, only coming to for a few moments during which he gave confession. Henry II died on 6 July 1189 at the age of 56 and was buried at Fontevraud Abbey.

Their final resting place

Was Henry a good King? Maybe. He had his faults but what English King hasn't. He defiantly wasn't a great father as his sons uprose against him (and won). Was Eleanor a good wife? Maybe. She did give Henry 8 children but on the other hand she did go against Henry and she apparently had affairs.

They had a complicated and intriguing relationship which started with love and passion and ended in hate.

Henry Plantagenet & Margaret France

England’s Young King & Queen

Henry Plantagenet and Margaret of France are monarchs of England but even though they were crowned & anointed as King and Queen they are not thought as rulers by history.

Margaret of France

Henry was born on the 28 February 1155 to Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. Margaret was born in November  1157 to Louis VII of France and his second wife Constance of Castille. Henry's mother and Margaret's father had been married until they got an annulment and therefore they shared half-sisters; Marie and Alix.

Young Henry

Little is known about Henry's childhood but I expect as heir to the English throne he was given a good education; reading, writing, learning about politics, jousting, riding, chivalry etc.  

When Henry was five and Margaret was three an agreement was made between Henry II and Louis that Henry and Margaret would marry when they were both at a age for marriage. On the 2 November 1160 the two youngsters were betrothed and Margaret's dowry brought the disputed and vital territory of Vexin.    

On the 4 June 1170 Henry was crowned King of England. How? How can he be King if his father is still alive? He actually became co-ruler with his father. The Plantagenet Empire was combined of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Aquitane, Poitou, England and Ireland so Henry needed someone to always be in England to rule and who better then his own flesh and blood.

Louis was angered by the fact that Margaret had not been crowned alongside her husband and in order to keep him happy a joint coronation was arranged. They were formally married on 27 August 1172 at Winchester Cathedral, when Henry was crowned king of England a second time, this time together with Margaret, by Rotrou, the Archbishop of Rouen.

Henry fell out with his father in 1173 because he was frustrated that his father had given him no realm of his own to rule, and feeling starved of funds. The Young King's rebellion was supported by the English, Norman, Angevin, Poitevin and Breton magnates. The civil war, which lasted from 1173 to 1174, came close to toppling the king and he was saved only by the loyalty of his nobles with holdings on the English side of the Channel, and the defeat and capture of the king of Scotland. Her the capture of Eleanor,Young Henry sought a reconciliation with his father. By the terms of the settlement, his funds were much increased and he spent most of the next seven years competing in tourneys.

"The Young Henry was the only one of his family who was popular in his own day. It was true that he was also the only one who gave no evidence of political sagacity, military skill, or even ordinary intelligence... He was gracious, benign, affable, courteous, the soul of liberality and generosity. Unfortunately he was also shallow, vain, careless, high-hoped, incompetent, improvident, and irresponsible."

Even though Henry was not political his patronage gave him a "celebrity status" throughout western Europe. The baron and troubador, Bertran de Born, who knew him, said that he was "...the best king who ever took up a shield, the most daring and best of all tourneyers. From the time when Roland was alive, and even before, never was seen a knight so skilled, so warlike, whose fame resounded so around the world – even if Roland did come back, or if the world were searched as far as the River Nile and the setting sun." 

Soon after the rebellion Margaret became pregnant. Henry must of been of overjoyed with news that he would have an heir for England. Margaret had her confinement period in Paris where she had been born over 19 years previous and on the 19 June 1177 she gave birth prematurely to their only son William, who died three days later on 22 June.

In November 1180, he represented his father at the coronation of Philip Augustus, Margaret's half-brother as associate King of France at Reims where he was given the honour of acting as Steward of France and carried the crown in the coronation procession. Later, he played a leading role in the celebratory tournament held at Lagny-sur-Marne, to which he brought a retinue of over 500 knights at huge expense.

The Young Henry's affairs took a turn for the worse in 1182 when he fell out with William Marshal, the leader of his tournament mesnée on the accusations that he had been having an affair with the Young Queen Margaret. However it is believed that he was actually guilty of lèse majesté (the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state) which was brought on by Marshal's own arrogance and greed. The charge of adultery was only introduced in the Life of William Marshal as a distraction from the real charges.

Henry may of started the process of a getting an annulment because of her adultery but probably because she could not conceive an heir. Henry sent Margaret to the French court in early 1183 to keep her safe in the impending war with his brother, Richard, rather than because she was in disgrace.

Margaret and Henry never met again as during the course of a campaign in the Limousin against his father and his brother Richard during the summer of 1183, Henry died. He contracted dysentery at the beginning of June. As a token of his penitence for his war against his father he prostrated himself naked on the floor before a crucifix. He made a testament and since he had taken a crusader's vow, he gave his cloak to his friend William Marshal with the plea that he should take the cloak to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On his deathbed, he reportedly asked to be reconciled to his father, but King Henry, fearing a trick, refused to see him. He died on 11 June, clasping a ring his father had sent instead as a sign of his forgiveness. After his death, his father is said to have exclaimed: "He cost me much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more."

Henry's tomb at Rouen

His remains are at Rouen Cathedral, where his tomb is on the opposite side of the altar from the tomb of his younger brother Richard, with whom he was perpetually quarrelling. The tomb of the Archbishop of Rouen, who had married him and Margaret, lies nearby in the ambulatory. His brothers Richard I and John both later became kings of England.

Margaret was given a substantial pension in exchange for surrendering her dowry of Gisors and the Vexin. She became the second wife of Béla III of Hungary in 1186 making her Queen of Hungary. In 1196 Béla died and Margaret became widowed once more. She decided to go on a pilgrimage to Holy Land at St John of Acre in 1197 where she became ill and died. She was buried at the Cathedral of Tyre.

I think that they should be given the accordance of the rulers they were. Crowning the heir to the throne in advance to the King's death was a French custom that was brought to England by Stephen and Henry II. They were crowned, and anointed. Shouldn't they be remembered as part of the one of the greatest Dynasty the world has ever known?

King Richard I

The Lion cub who became the King

Disney's version of the Lion Heart

Richard I. What comes to mind when we think of him? For me it is his nickname "Lion Heart". King Richard has become associated with the legend of Robin Hood which an outlaw fights for justice who "steals from the rich and gives to the poor" while Richard is away on the crusades. 

Richard was the second surviving son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine . He was born on the 8 September 1157 in Beaumont Palace in Oxford. Richard was thought to be Eleanor's favourite child and because of the loving relationship they had put a strain on the relationship between father and son.

"He was tall, of elegant build; the colour of his hair was between red and gold; his limbs were supple and straight. He had long arms suited to wielding a sword. His long legs matched the rest of his body."

While Henry II visited his lands from Scotland to France Richard spent his childhood growing up in England. In May 1165 he left England for the first for the continent when his mother took him to Normandy. 

Even though he was born and lived in England until he was eight we don't really know how much English he could speak and understand, but Richard was well educated who composed poetry and wrote in Limousin (language of Aquitaine) and also in French, the native tongue of his parents. 

Parents making marriage alliances for the offspring were very common among royalty and nobility in the Medieval era. When Richard was three years old Henry arranged for his son to marry one of the daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona but like so many alliances it was called off. Why? Well we don't know why but the families could of fallen out. 

In the early 1160s there had been talks that Richard should marry Alys of France because of the rivalry between the kings of England and France, Louis obstructed the marriage. Alys' sister Margaret was betrothed to Richard's older brother Henry so this marriage would make the peace between the Plantagenets and the Capets more secure. A peace treaty was secured in January 1169 and Richard's betrothal to Alys was confirmed.

When the time came for Henry II to divide his lands between his three sons; Henry would become King of England and Count of Anjou, Maine, and Normandy, while Richard would inherit Aquitaine Poitou, and Geoffrey would get Brittany through marriage alliance with Constance of Brittany. At the ceremony where Richard's betrothal was confirmed, he paid homage to the King of France for Aquitaine, thus securing ties of vassalage between the two. This was decided before 1166 when John, Henry's youngest son, was born so the decision of inheritance had to thought on again.

In 1171 Henry bestowed the Duchy of Aquitaine on Richard before he left for his lands with his mother where they embarked on a tour in an attempt to secure the loyalty and love of the people. Together they laid the foundation stone of St Augustine's Monastery in Limoges. In June 1172 Richard was formally recognised as the Duke of Aquitaine when he was granted the lance and banner emblems of his office and the ceremony took place in Poitiers and then again in Limoges where he wore the ring of St Valerie, who was the personification of Aquitaine.

When Young Henry wanted to rule independently in 1173 he started a rebellion against his father. Henry left England for France to seek Louis' help and Richard and Geoffrey joined their older brother. Louis gave his support to the three sons and even knighted Richard, tying them together through vassalage. Their rebellion was described as a "war without love".

The three brothers made an oath at the French court that they would not make terms with their father without the consent of Louis VII and the French barons. While his brothers were gathering support from barons Richard went to Poitou to raise the barons who were loyal to himself and his mother and when Eleanor was captured Richard was left to lead his campaign in Aquitaine on his own. He marched to take La Rochelle, but was rejected by the inhabitants; he withdrew to the city of Saintes which he established as a base of operations.

Aquitaine

A truce was made on 8 September 1174 between the two King, its terms specifically excluded Richard. Abandoned by Louis and wary of facing his father's army in battle, Richard went to Henry II's court at Poitiers on 23 September and begged for forgiveness, weeping and falling at his father's feet and Henry gave his son the kiss of peace. several days later, Young Henry and Geoffrey joined him in seeking reconciliation with their father on the terms the three brothers accepted were less generous than those they had been offered earlier in the conflict and Richard was given control of two castles in Poitou and half the income of Aquitaine while YoungHenry was given two castles in Normandy and Geoffrey was permitted half of Brittany. Eleanor remained Henry II's prisoner until his death, partly as insurance for Richard's good behaviour.

In 1177, it was suspected that Henry had lain with Princess Alys, who at the time was still Richard's betrothed. This made a marriage between Richard and Alys technically impossible in the eyes of the Church, but Henry prevaricated: Alys's dowry was valuable. Richard was discouraged from renouncing Alys because she was the sister of King Philip II of France, a close ally.

From 1180 to 1183 the tension between Henry and Richard grew, as King Henry commanded Richard to pay homage to Henry the Young King, but Richard refused. Finally, in 1183 Henry the Young King and Geoffrey invaded Aquitaine in an attempt to subdue Richard while his barons turned against him. However, Richard and his army were able to hold back the invading armies, and they executed any prisoners. The conflict took a brief pause in June 1183 when the Young Henry died making Richard heir to the English crown. King Henry demanded that Richard give up Aquitaine to give to John but Richard refused, and the strain on their relationship continued .

To strengthen his position, in 1187, Richard allied himself Philip II. "The King of England was struck with great astonishment, and wondered what [this alliance] could mean, and, taking precautions for the future, frequently sent messengers into France for the purpose of recalling his son Richard; who, pretending that he was peaceably inclined and ready to come to his father, made his way to Chinon, and, in spite of the person who had the custody thereof, carried off the greater part of his father's treasures, and fortified his castles in Poitou with the same, refusing to go to his father."

In exchange for Philip's help against his father, Richard handed him his rights to Normandy and Anjou and paid homage to Philip in November of the same year. With news arriving of the Battle of Hattin, he took the cross at Tours in the company of other French nobles.


In 1188 Henry II planned to concede Aquitaine to his youngest son John and the following year, Richard attempted to take the throne of England for himself by joining Philip's expedition against his father. On 4 July 1189, Richard and Philip's forces defeated Henry's army at Ballans. Henry agreed to name Richard his heir and two days later Henry II died in Chinon, and Richard succeeded him as King of England, Duke of Normandy, and Count of Anjou. It is believed that Henry's corpse bled from the nose in Richard's presence, which was taken as a sign that Richard had caused his death.


When Richard was crowned  in Westminster Abbey on the 3 September 1189 he barred all

Richard's Statue outside
Westminster Palace

Jews and women from the ceremony, but some Jewish leaders arrived to present gifts for the new king. Apparently, Richard's courtiers stripped and flogged the Jews, then flung them out of court.

When a rumour spread that Richard had ordered all Jews to be killed, the people of London began a massacre where many Jews were beaten to death, robbed, and burned alive and their homes were burned down, and several Jews were forcibly baptised into the Christain faith. Some sought sanctuary in the Tower of London, and others managed to escape and among those killed was Jacob of Orléans, a respected Jewish scholar. It is believed that the riot was started by the jealous and bigoted citizens, and that Richard punished the perpetrators, allowing a forcibly converted Jew to return to his native religion. Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, reacted by remarking, "If the King is not God's man, he had better be the devil's".


Realising that this could destabilise his kingdom on the eve of his departure on crusade, Richard ordered the execution of those responsible for the most egregious murders and persecutions, including rioters who had accidentally burned down Christian homes.He distributed a royal writ demanding that the Jews be left alone. The edict was loosely enforced, however, and the following March there was further violence including a massacre at York.

We all know that Richard loved war and was always on a crusade when he should of being at home ruling England as seen in the tale of Robin Hood. He only spent a total of six months out of 10 year reign in England. 

"He was a bad king: his great exploits, his military skill, his splendour and extravagance, his poetical tastes, his adventurous spirit, do not serve to cloak his entire want of sympathy, or even consideration, for his people. He was no Englishman, but it does not follow that he gave to Normandy, Anjou, or Aquitaine the love or care that he denied to his kingdom. His ambition was that of a mere warrior: he would fight for anything whatever, but he would sell everything that was worth fighting for. The glory that he sought was that of victory rather than conquest"

While Richard was raising funds for his crusade, he was said to declare, "I would have sold London if I could find a buyer." However, although England was a major part of his lands and gave him a royal title with which to approach other kings as an equal but it faced no major internal or external threats during his reign, unlike his territories in France, and so did not require his constant presence there and left the country in the hands of various officials he designated  which include his mother. 

In November 1189 William II of Scilly died leaving Richard's younger sister Joan a widow. By the time Richard reached Scilly in September 1190 the King Tancred had imprisoned Joan and wouldn't give her the money she had inherited in William's will. Richard demanded that his sister be released and given her inheritance and she was freed on 28 September, but without the inheritance. 

Richard attacked Messina, capturing it on 4 October 1190. After looting and burning the city Richard established his base there, but this created tension between Richard and Philip of France. He remained there until Tancred finally agreed to sign a treaty on 4 March 1191. The treaty was signed by Richard, Philip and Tancred and its main terms were:

• Joan was to receive 20,000 ounces of gold as compensation for her inheritance, which Tancred kept.
• Richard officially proclaimed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, son of Geoffrey, as his heir, and Tancred promised to marry one of his daughters to Arthur when he came of age, giving a further twenty thousand ounces of gold that would be returned by Richard if Arthur did not marry Tancred's daughter.

Before Richard left Cyprus in 1191, he married Berengaria of Navarre, first-born daughter

Berengaria of Navarre

of King Sancho VI of Navarre, in Limassol on 12 May 1191 at the Chapel of St. George. Richard's sister Joan, whom Richard had brought from Sicily, witnessed the wedding. The marriage was celebrated with great pomp and splendour and many feasts and entertainments, and public parades, and celebrations followed, to commemorate the event. Among the other grand ceremonies was a double coronation. Richard caused himself to be crowned King of Cyprus, and Berengaria Queen of England and of Cyprus, too. But at the time of the marriage he was still officially betrothed to Alys. Further, Eleanor championed the match, as Navarre bordered on Aquitaine, thereby securing her ancestral lands' borders to the south. Richard took his new wife with him briefly on this episode of the crusade.

Richard's sexuality has always been questioned. Was he straight? Did he prefer the company of men rather then women? Or was he bisexual? We don't know the answer but during his time on the crusade he had an illegitimate child with a local woman called Philip of Cognac. One thing is for sure Richard and Berengaria had no children but they were hardly ever together, she didn't even see England until after Richard's death.

On his way to the territory of his brother-in-law Henry of Saxony, Richard was captured shortly before Christmas 1192 near Vienna by Leopold V, Duke of Austria, who accused Richard of arranging the murder of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat. Moreover Richard had personally offended Leopold by casting down his standard from the walls of Acre. 

On 28 March 1193 Richard was brought to Speyer and handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who was aggrieved both by the support which the Plantagenets had given to the family of Henry the Lion, and also by Richard's recognition of Tancred in Sicily, and who imprisoned him in Trifels Castle. Henry VI, needing money to raise an army and assert his rights over southern Italy, continued to hold Richard for ransom and in response Pope Celestine III excommunicated Henry VI along with Leopald for the continued wrongful imprisonment of Richard.

Richard famously refused to show deference to the emperor and declared to him, "I am born of a rank which recognises no superior but God". The emperor demanded that 150,000 marks  to paid for his realise and 2–3 times the annual income for the English Crown under Richard. Eleanor of Aquitaine worked to raise the ransom and both clergy and laymen were taxed for a quarter of the value of their property, the gold and silver treasures of the churches were confiscated, and money was raised from the scutage and the carucage taxes. At the same time, John and King Philip of France offered 80,000 marks for the Emperor to hold Richard prisoner until Michaelmas 1194. The emperor turned down the offer. The money to rescue the King was transferred to Germany by the emperor's ambassadors and on 4 February 1194 Richard was released. Philip sent a message to John: "Look to yourself; the devil is loose".

In Richard's absence, his brother John revolted with the aid of Philip; amongst Philip's conquests in the period of Richard's imprisonment was Normandy. Richard forgave John 

when they met again and named him as his heir in place of Arthur. 

In March 1199, Richard was in the Limousin suppressing a revolt by Viscount Aimar V of Limoges. Although it was Lent, he "devastated the Viscount's land with fire and sword". He besieged the puny and virtually unarmed castle of Chalus-Chabrol because  a local peasant had uncovered a treasure trove of Roman gold, which Richard claimed from Aimar in his position as feudal overlord.

In the early evening of 25 March 1199, Richard was walking around the castle perimeter without his chainmail, investigating the progress of sappers on the castle walls. One defender in particular amused the king greatly—a man standing on the walls, crossbow in one hand, the other clutching a frying pan which he had been using all day as a shield to beat off missiles. He deliberately aimed at the king, which the king applauded; however, another crossbowman then struck the king in the left shoulder near the neck. He tried to pull this out in the privacy of his tent but failed so a surgeon removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. The wound swiftly became gangrenous. Accordingly, Richard asked to have the crossbowman brought before him and the man turned out to be a boy who claimed that Richard had killed his father and two brothers, and that this was his revenge. The boy expected to be executed but Richard's last act of mercy was to forgive the boy of his crime, saying, "Live on, and by my bounty behold the light of day," before ordering the boy to be freed and sent away with 100 shillings. Richard then set his affairs in order, bequeathing all his territory to his brother John and his jewels to his nephew Otto.

Richard died on 6 April 1199 in the arms of his mother; it was later said that "As the day was closing, he ended his earthly day." Because of the nature of Richard's death, he was later referred to as 'the Lion by the Ant was slain'. According to history, Richard's last act of chivalry proved fruitless; in an orgy of medieval brutality, the infamous mercenary Captain Mercadier had the crossbowman flayed alive and hanged as soon as Richard died.

Richard's tomb

Richard's heart was buried at Rouen in Normandy, the entrails in Châlus and the rest of his body was buried at the feet of his father at Fontevraud Abbey in Anjou. In 2012, scientists analysed the remains of Richard's heart and found that it had been embalmed with various substances, including frankincense, a symbolically important substance because it had been present both at the birth and embalming of the Christ.

A 13th century Bishop of Rochester wrote that Richard spent 33 years in purgatory as expiation for his sins, eventually ascending to Heaven in March 1232.

What are your opinions on Richard? Was he a good King? What was his sexuality? I believe that he was bisexual as he spent most of his life with men on crusades but he did enjoy women as he had a son who was illegitimate. He was brave to go and fight on a crusade but he didn't spend a lot of time in England where he was King.

Richard I has gone down in history as "Richard, the Lion Heart" and that is how he will always be remembered. 

King John

The Worst English King?

When I was a little I loved watching Disney films and one of my favourite was Robin Hood (1973). I absolutely loved that version, seeing all the characters played by animals that reflected their personalities. In the tale of Robin Hood John highlights the virtues of King Richard, or contrasts with the evil Sheriff of Nottingham but Disney portrays John as a "cowardly, thumb sucking lion".

John was born in Beaumont Palace in Oxford on Christmas Eve in 1166 to Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor never took to John but Henry adored him and made him Lord of Ireland in 1177.

John was never meant to inherit anything. He had three older brothers, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey. Instead when he was older him and his sister Joan were sent to to Fontevrault Abbey where he would be steered into a career in the church. 

Neither parent took a major part in John's upbringing as they were fighting each other so maybe Fontevrault Abbey was the best place for him. A teacher was given the charge of the young Prince's early education and managing the servants of his immediate household. John spent some time as a member of the household of his elder brother Henry, where he learnt how to hunt and military skills. John enjoyed reading and, built up a travelling library of books but he also enjoyed gambling, in particular at backgammon, and was an enthusiastic hunter. John was a "connoisseur of jewels", owning a large collection, and became famous for his opulent clothes and for his fondness for bad wine. As he grew up, he became known for sometimes being "genial, witty, generous and hospitable"; at other moments, he could be jealous, over-sensitive and prone to fits of rage, "biting and gnawing his fingers" in anger.

Princess Isabelle of Gloucester in Robin Hood (2010)

Henry II wanted to keep the empire he had built up for his family secure so he decided to betroth John to Alais, the daughter and heiress of Humbert III of Savoy and as part of this agreement John was promised the future inheritance of Savoy, Piemonte, Maurienne, and the other possessions of Count Humbert while Henry transferred the castles of Chinon, Loudun and Mirebeau into the young boy's hands even though he was five years old so his father would continue to control them. But John's brother Henry was unimpressed by this; although he had yet to be granted control of any castles in England, these were effectively his future property and had been given away without consultation. From 1173 to 1174 the John's brothers and mother fought his father.

John had spent the conflict with his father, and was given widespread possessions across the Angevin empire as part of the Montlouis settlement. In 1175 he appropriated the estates of the late Earl of Cornwall and gave them to John and the next year, Henry disinherited Mabel and

Amice FitzWilliam, and betrothed John to their now extremely wealthy sister Isabelle.

Young Henry died in 1183 from the bloody flux and soon Geoffrey followed in 1186 after being trampled to death in tournament in Paris. John was two steps from being King. In 1189 Henry died leaving Richard as King of England but Richard hardly spent any time in England as he was always on a crusade.

On 29 August 1189 John and Isabelle were married at Marlborough Castle in Wiltshire and John assumed the title of Duke of Gloucester but the Archbishop of Canterbury declared the marriage null because they were within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity as half-second cousins as great-grandchildren of King Henry I. The interdict was lifted by Pope Clement III who granted a dispensation to marry but forbade the couple from having sexual relations.

When John came to the throne in 1199 he had the marriage annulled on the grounds of consanguinity and was granted by the bishops of Lisieux, Bayeux and Avranches sitting in Normandy. John kept her Isabelle's lands, and Isabel did not contest the annulment.

Wait! Didn't Richard make his nephew Arthur his succession as the eldest son of his brother

Arthur in The Devil's Crown (1978)

Geoffrey? Let me answer that question for you. When Richard died on April 6, 1199, on his deathbed he proclaimed his brother John as his heir fearing Arthur was too young Arthur was only twelve years old at the time and under the influence of the French king so John immediately claimed the throne of England but much of the French nobility were resentful at recognizing him as their overlord. They preferred Arthur, who was a vassal of Philip II of France. Philip recognized Arthur's right to Anjou, Maine, and Poitou. Upon Richard's death Arthur led a force to Anjou and Maine.

In May 1200 The Treaty of Le Goulet was signed by the John and Philip which settled once and for all the claims of the Kingdom of England. Philip recognised John as King of England as heir of his brother Richard I and thus formally abandoned any support for Arthur I. John, meanwhile, recognised Philip as the suzerain of continental possessions of the Angevin Empire.

Arthur felt offended by Philip and fled to John where he was treated kindly, but he soon became suspicious of John and fled back to Angers and in April 1202, Arthur was again betrothed, this time to Marie of France, a daughter of Philip II and Agnes of Andechs-Merania.

After his return to France, and with the support of Philip II, Arthur embarked on a campaign in Normandy against John and Poitou revolted in support of Arthur. The Duke of Brittany besieged his grandmother, Eleanor of Aquitaine, in the Château de Mirebeau. John marched on Mirebeau, taking Arthur by surprise on 31 July 1202. Arthur was captured by John's barons on 1 August, and imprisoned in the Château de Falaise in Falaise, Normandy.

At the Château de Falaise, Arthur was guarded by Hubert de Burgh and apparently John ordered two of his servants to kill Arthur but Hugh de Burgh refused to do so. The following year Arthur was transferred to Rouen, under the charge of William de Braose where he vanished in April 1203.

Did John kill his nephew? That was thought at the time.

“After King John had captured Arthur and kept him alive in prison for some time, at length, in the castle of Rouen, after dinner on the Thursday before Easter, when he was drunk and possessed by the devil ['ebrius et daemonio plenus'], he slew him with his own hand, and tying a heavy stone to the body cast it into the Seine. It was discovered by a fisherman in his net, and being dragged to the bank and recognized, was taken for secret burial, in fear of the tyrant, to the priory of Bec called Notre Dame de Pres.”

Isabelle of Angoulême in Robin Hood (2010)

John had to remarry to have heirs and he choose Isabella of Angoulême as his next wife. Why? Rumours spread that John had fallen deeply in love with Isabella, and may have been motivated by desire for an apparently beautiful, if rather young, girl. On the other hand, the Angoumois lands that came with Isabella were strategically vital to John: by marrying Isabella, John was acquiring a key land route between Poitou and Gascony, which significantly strengthened his grip on Aquitaine.

Unfortunately, Isabella was already engaged to Hugh de Lusignan, an important member of a key Poitou noble family and brother of Raoul de Lusignan, the Count of Eu, who possessed lands along the sensitive eastern Normandy border. John married Isabella on 24 August 1200, at Bordeaux, a year after he annulled his first marriage to Isabel of Gloucester. She was crowned queen in an elaborate ceremony on 9 October at Westminster Abbey in London. John's relationship with Isabella of Angoulême, is unclear but John married Isabella whilst she was relatively young – her exact date of birth is uncertain, and estimates place her between at most 15 and more probably towards nine years old at the time of her marriage. Together Isabella and John had five children: Henry, Richard, Joan, Isabella and Eleanor.

John's personal life greatly affected his reign and like his forefathers and descendants he was sinfully lustful and lacking in piety and his mistresses were married noblewomen, which was considered unacceptable at the time. John had at least five illegitimate children during his marriage to Isabell of Gloucester. No illegitimate children were born during John's marriage to Isabelle, and there is no actual documentary proof of adultery during the union, although John certainly had female friends amongst the court throughout his reign.

In 1215 the Barons in the north and east of England were organising resistance and oppressing the people. John held a council in London in January 1215 to discuss potential reforms and sponsored discussions in Oxford between his agents and the rebels during the spring. John announced his

Magna Carta

intent to become a crusader, a move which gave him additional political protection under church law from the Barons.

Letters of support from the pope arrived in April but by then the rebel barons had organised themselves and they had gathered at Northampton in May and renounced their feudal ties to John, appointing Robert FitzWalter as their military leader and they called themselves the "Army of God" and marched on London, taking the Winchester as well as Lincoln and Exeter but John's efforts to appear moderate and conciliatory had been largely successful, but once the rebels held London they attracted a fresh wave of defectors from John's royalist faction so John instructed for peace talks with the rebel barons.

John and the rebel leaders at Runnymede, near Windsor Castle, on 15 June 1215 to agree to a proposed peace agreement known as The Magna Carta, or "Great Charter". The charter went beyond simply addressing specific baronial complaints, and formed a wider proposal for political reform, albeit one focusing on the rights of free men, not serfs and unfree labour. It promised the protection of church rights, protection from illegal imprisonment, access to swift justice, new taxation only with baronial consent and limitations on scutage and other feudal payments.

Despite his promises to the contrary, John appealed to Innocent for help, observing that the charter compromised the pope's rights under the 1213 agreement that had appointed him John's feudal lord. Innocent obliged; he declared the charter "not only shameful and demeaning, but illegal and unjust" and excommunicated the rebel barons and this led to the First Barons' War.

John in Robin Hood (2010)

In September 1216 John began a fresh, vigorous attack, he marched from the Cotswolds, feigned
an offensive to relieve the besieged Windsor Castle, and attacked eastwards around London to Cambridge to separate the rebel-held areas of Lincolnshire and East Anglia. From there he travelled north to relieve the rebel siege at Lincoln and back east to King's Lynn, probably to order further supplies from the continent. In King's Lynn, John contracted dysentery, which would ultimately prove fatal. With tensions growing, a wave of desertions begun, including William Marshal's son William and William Longespée who was the King's half brother and stepson of the Earl of East Anglia, who both returned to John's faction.

The king returned west but is said to have lost a significant part of his baggage train along the way which included the Crown Jewels, were lost as he crossed one of the tidal estuaries which empties into the Wash, being sucked in by quicksand and whirlpools.

John had become very ill by the time he reached Newark Castle as he was unable to travel any farther. John died on the night of 18 October. Numerous – probably fictitious – accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches". His body was escorted south by a company of mercenaries and he was buried in Worcester Cathedral in front of the altar of St Wulfstan. A new sarcophagus with an effigy was made for him in 1232, in which his remains now rest.

Isabella's first act was to arrange the speedy coronation of her nine-year-old son Henry at the city of Gloucester on 28 October and as the royal crown had recently been lost, she supplied her own golden circlet to be used in lieu of a crown. The following July, less than a year after his crowning as King Henry III of England, she left him in the care of his regent, William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and returned to France to assume control of her inheritance of Angoulême.

Henry's first coronation in 1216,
13th century depiction

Richard became a noted European leader and ultimately the King of the Romans in the Holy Roman Empire.Joan married Alexander II of Scotland to become his queen consort. Isabella married the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. His youngest daughter, Eleanor, married William Marshal's son, also called William, and later the famous English rebel Simon de Montfort. John had a number of illegitimate children by various mistresses, including nine sons – Richard, Oliver, John, Geoffrey, Henry, Osbert Gifford, Eudes, Bartholomew and probably Philip – and three daughters – Joan, Maud and probably Isabel. Of these, Joan became the most famous, marrying Prince Llywelyn the Great of Wales who was the last true Prince of Wales before the English Invasion.

Was John really as bad as he is portrayed as he is in the legend of Robin Hood? Probably. But I think that that the media has made him into more of a villain than he was. One thing that we can agree on is he was the last of the Angevian Kings as during his reign he lost the lands that made up the Empire on the continent to the French King. What do you think?