42. Ralph of Diceto.

  43. William of Newburgh.

  44. Giraldus Cambrensis; Ralph of Diceto.

  45. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  46. Pipe Rolls.

  47. William of Newburgh.

  48. Ralph of Diceto.

  49. Ibid.

  50. Roger of Hoveden.

  51. Ibid.

  52. Ralph of Diceto.

  53. Ibid.

  54. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  55. Ralph of Diceto.

  56. This is inferred from Gervase of Canterbury's statement that she was released from prison on Henry's death, and from references in the Pipe Rolls that suggest she stayed at Winchester for long periods towards the end of the reign.

  57. Ralph of Diceto.

  58. Gervase of Canterbury.

  59. Ralph of Diceto.

  60. Ibid.

  61. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Markchale.

  62. Guillaume le Breton.

  63. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  64. Ibid.; Giraldus Cambrensis.

  65. Ibid.

  66. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  67. Giraldus Cambrensis; Roger of Hoveden; Roger of Wendover.

  68. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  69. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  70. Ibid.

  71. Ibid.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Roger of Hoveden.

  74. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  75. William of Newburgh.

  76. Roger of Hoveden; Gesta Henrici Secundi; Giraldus Cambrensis.

  77. Gervase of Canterbury.

  78. William of Newburgh.

  16 "The Eagle Shall Rejoice in Her Third Nesting"

  1. Itinerary of Richard I.

  2. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  3. Ingulfs Chronicles of the Abbey of Croyland (trans. H. T. Riley, 1854).

  4. L'Histoire de Guillaume de Marechale.

  5. Ralph of Diceto; Gervase of Canterbury.

  6. Ralph of Diceto.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Gesta Regis Ricardi.

  9. Roger of Hoveden.

  10. Roger of Wendover.

  11. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Diceto.

  12. The English coinage had hitherto been subject to regional variations.

  13. Roger of Hoveden.

  14. Gesta Regis Ricardi.

  15. Roger of Hoveden.

  16. Ralph of Diceto.

  17. Roger of Hoveden.

  18. Ralph of Diceto.

  19. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  20. Ralph of Diceto.

  21. Ibid.

  22. Glanville later died on crusade.

  23. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  24. Ibid.

  25. Gervase of Canterbury.

  26. Gesta Regis Ricardi.

  27. Roger of Hoveden.

  28. Itinerary of Richard I.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Ibid.

  31. Pipe Rolls.

  32. Itinerary of Richard I.

  33. Roger of Wendover.

  34. Ralph of Diceto.

  35. Ibid.

  36. Roger of Hoveden states it was 100,000 marks, but the Gesta Regis Ricardi claims that it was as much as 900,000.

  37. Gesta Regis Ricardi.

  38. Richard of Devizes; William of Newburgh.

  39. Joscelin of Brakelond.

  40. Ralph of Diceto.

  41. Roger of Hoveden.

  42. William of Newburgh.

  43. Richard.

  44. Ibid.

  45. One charter was to the Abbey of Fontevrault, "for the repose of Henry's soul," while the rest conferred endowments upon other religious houses and the Knights Hospitallers of the Priory of France, in return for prayers for a successful outcome to the crusade and the safe return of King Richard. Eleanor also witnessed a judgement given by Payne de Rupefort, Seneschal of Anjou, in favour of the Abbess of Fontevrault in a dispute with the Mayor of Saumur over "local rights."

  46. Richard of Devizes; Ambrose; Itinerary of Richard I; Richard.

  47. This should read "daughters," since Berengaria's father Sancho VI did not die until 1194.

  48. Quoted in Mitchell, Berengaria, Enigmatic Queen of England.

  49. Roger of Hoveden; Itinerary of Richard I.

  50. Ambrose.

  17 "The Admiration of Her Age"

  1. Roger of Hoveden; Itinerary of Richard I.

  2. The date of her death is not recorded, but is presumed to have been during or after 1230, when she is last mentioned in the records.

  3. Most other reports of her beauty are found in the works of later chroniclers, viz. Ranulf Higden, Piers Langtoft, Walter of Guisborough, and Henry Knighton.

  4. Richard of Devizes.

  5. Ralph of Diceto; Roger of Hoveden.

  6. Peter of Blois.

  7. Ralph of Diceto.

  8. Ibid.

  9. Roger of Hoveden.

  10. Roger of Wendover.

  11. Ralph of Diceto; Richard of Devizes.

  12. Itinerary of Richard I.

  13. Richard of Devizes.

  14. Roger of Hoveden.

  15. Ralph of Diceto.

  16. Roger of Hoveden.

  17. Giraldus Cambrensis; Roger of Hoveden; Piers Langtoft.

  18. Piers Langtoft.

  19. Roger of Hoveden.

  20. Philip's position is made clear in a sirvente by Bertran de Born entitled "S'ieufos aissi."

  21. Roger of Hoveden; The Chronicle of Meaux; Giraldus Cambrensis.

  22. Roger of Hoveden.

  23. Ibid.; Ralph of Diceto; Itinerary of Richard I.

  24. Ralph of Diceto.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Roger of Hoveden.

  27. Ibid.; Richard.

  28. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Diceto; Itinerary of Richard I.

  29. Pipe Rolls; Itinerary of Richard I.

  30. The chapel may still be visited today, along with various other sites connected with Richard and Berengaria in Cyprus, among them the ruined Berengaria Tower (of which the royal couple laid the foundations) on the outskirts of Kolossi, and Little Berengaria Village near Pannicon, north of Limassol.

  31. Geoffrey de Vinsauf, The Art of Poetry (quoted in Mitchell, Berengaria, Enigmatic Queen of England). Vinsauf was a loyal subject and companion of Richard I.

  32. Ambrose.

  33. Gervase of Canterbury.

  34. Roger of Hoveden.

  35. Some modern writers claim that the horror Berengaria felt on witnessing the massacre caused her to miscarry, but I can find no contemporary evidence for this.

  36. Gesta Henrici Secundi.

  37. Richard of Devizes.

  38. William of Newburgh.

  39. Ibid.

  40. Ibid.

  41. For this episode, see Giraldus Cambrensis; Roger of Hoveden; William of Newburgh.

  42. William of Newburgh.

  43. Roger of Hoveden.

  44. Richard of Devizes.

  45. Roger of Hoveden.

  46. Richard of Devizes.

  47. William of Newburgh.

  48. Roger of Hoveden; Richard of Devizes.

  49. Richard of Devizes.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Roger of Hoveden; Gervase of Canterbury; Roger of Wendover; Guillaume le Breton; William of Newburgh; Rigord.

  52. Bertran de Born (see note 20 above) makes it clear that Philips sense of honour required him to avenge the slight to his sister.

  53. Roger of Hoveden.

  54. Ibid.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Richard of Devizes.

  57. Ibid.

  58. Roger of Hoveden.

  59. Richard of Devizes.

  60. Roger of Hoveden.

  61. Richard of Devizes.

  62. Ibid.

  63. Ibid.

  64. Charter Rolls.

  65. Richard of Devizes.

  66. Ibid.

  67. Giraldus Cambrensis; Roger of Hoved
en.

  68. Richard of Devizes.

  69. Ibid.

  70. Ibid.

  71. Ibid.

  72. Ibid.

  73. Ralph of Diceto.

  74. Ambrose.

  75. Gervase of Canterbury; Roger of Hoveden.

  76. Roger of Hoveden.

  77. Ibid.

  18 "The Devil Is Loosed!"

  1. Letter from Henry VI to Philip II, quoted by Roger of Hoveden.

  2. Ibid.

  3. Ibid. For Richard's adventures and capture, see also the account of his chaplain Anselm, in Ralph of Coggeshall.

  4. Letter of Henry VI to Philip II, quoted by Roger of Hoveden.

  5. Ibid.

  6. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  7. For Eleanor's state of mind, see the letters to the Pope quoted later in this chapter (Foedera; Richard).

  8. Roger of Hoveden.

  9. Ibid.

  10. Foedera; Richard.

  11. Roger of Hoveden.

  12. Matthew Paris.

  13. William of Newburgh; L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  14. Ibid.

  15. Ralph of Diceto.

  16. Roger of Hoveden.

  17. Ralph of Diceto.

  18. William of Newburgh.

  19. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  20. Ralph of Diceto.

  21. William of Newburgh.

  22. Ralph of Diceto.

  23. Roger of Hoveden.

  24. Ralph of Diceto.

  25. William of Newburgh.

  26. I have omitted repetitious passages and some of those citing scripture.

  27. Some historians erroneously translate this as "Chateauroux," but it is clear that the Latin reference to the Castle of Ralph refers to the Castello Radulphi, where Eleanor had met the Pope during her visit to Rome in 1191. There is no record of her ever having met Celestine at Chateauroux. The Castle of Ralph is also mentioned (in a passage not quoted in this text) in her second letter to the Pope, where it is obvious that the Roman palace is being referred to.

  28. Foedera; Richard.

  29. Rigord.

  30. Roger of Hoveden.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Gervase of Canterbury.

  33. This is sometimes taken as the first of the three letters, but the explanatory detail in the first, and the angrier salutation in this, strongly suggest that it was the second.

  34. This was an exaggeration, as Louis VII had already given Alexander III his support. Eleanor had not been present when these matters were discussed by Louis and Henry II.

  35. Foedera; Richard.

  36. A mark was not a coin but a unit of account equivalent to 120 silver pennies or 8 oz. of silver.

  37. Roger of Hoveden.

  38. Ralph of Diceto.

  39. William of Newburgh.

  40. Roger of Hoveden.

  41. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  42. Ralph of Diceto; Roger of Hoveden.

  43. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  44. Roger of Hoveden.

  45. William of Newburgh.

  46. Ralph of Diceto; Annals of Margam.

  47. Chroniques de St Martial.

  48. Roger of Hoveden.

  49. Foedera; Richard.

  50. Roger of Hoveden.

  51. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  52. Roger of Hoveden.

  53. Ibid.; L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  54. William of Newburgh.

  55. Roger of Hoveden.

  56. Ibid.

  57. Ibid.

  58. William of Newburgh.

  59. Roger of Hoveden.

  60. Letter from Walter of Coutances to Ralph of Diceto; Roger of Hoveden.

  61. Ibid.

  62. Roger of Hoveden.

  63. Letter from Walter of Coutances to Ralph of Diceto.

  64. Roger of Hoveden.

  65. Ibid.

  66. Ralph of Diceto.

  67. Gervase of Canterbury.

  68. Roger of Hoveden.

  69. Ralph of Diceto; Roger of Hoveden.

  70. Roger of Hoveden.

  71. William of Newburgh; he refers to this port as "Sweyne."

  72. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Coggeshall.

  73. Ralph of Diceto; Gervase of Canterbury.

  74. Roger of Wendover.

  75. William of Newburgh.

  76. Roger of Hoveden.

  77. Ralph of Diceto.

  78. Ibid.

  79. Roger of Wendover.

  80. Gervase of Canterbury.

  81. Now a ruin known as King John's Palace.

  82. Itinerary of Richard I.

  83. Roger of Hoveden.

  84. William of Newburgh.

  85. Ralph of Diceto.

  86. Roger of Hoveden; for this ceremony, see also Gervase of Canterbury and L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  87. Gervase of Canterbury.

  88. Roger of Hoveden.

  89. Pipe Rolls.

  90. Roger of Hoveden.

  19. "The Staff of My Old Age"

  1. Gervase of Canterbury; L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  2. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  3. Ralph of Diceto; Roger of Wendover.

  4. Roger of Hoveden.

  5. Ralph of Diceto.

  6. For this episode, see L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  7. Roger of Hoveden.

  8. Pipe Rolls; Richardson, The Letters and Charters of Eleanor of Aquitaine.

  9. Pipe Rolls.

  10. Calendar of Documents, ed. Round.

  11. Giraldus Cambrensis.

  12. Adam of Eynsham.

  13. Roger of Hoveden.

  14. Oxford Etymological Dictionary.

  15. Rigord.

  16. Roger of Hoveden.

  17. See Early Blazon: Heraldic Terminology in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries, by Gerard J. Brault (Oxford, 1972); also A European Armorial, ed. Rosemary Pinches and Anthony Wood (Heraldry Today, 1971), Armorial Bearings of the Sovereigns of England by William Petchey (London, 1977), Royal Beasts by H. Stanford London (The Heraldry Society, East Knoyle, 1956), European Civic Coats of Arms by Jiri Louda (London, 1966), and The Oxford Guide to Heraldry by Thomas Woodcock and John Martin Robinson (Oxford, 1988), among many other authorities. See also Nurith Kenaan-Kedar, Alienor d'Aquitaine conduite en captivite: Les peintures commemoratives de Sainte-Radegonde de Chinon (Cahiers de civilisation medievale, University of Poitiers, December 1998).

  18. His name is subject to dispute: Gervase of Canterbury calls him John Sabroz, while Ralph of Diceto calls him Peter Basili.

  19. Roger of Hoveden.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Annales Monastici, ed. Luard.

  22. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  23. Calendar of Documents, ed. Round; Itinerary of Richard I.

  24. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  25. Ibid.

  26. Ibid.; Ralph of Diceto.

  27. Charter of Queen Eleanor to the Abbey of Our Lady of Turpenay.

  28. Adam of Eynsham.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Ralph of Diceto.

  31. Roger of Wendover.

  20 "The Most Reverend Eleanor"

  1. Richard.

  2. His name is variously given in the sources as Aimery, Aimeri, Amaury, and Adhemar.

  3. Adam of Eynsham.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Roger of Hoveden; Richard.

  9. Roger of Hoveden.

  10. (Charter Rolls.) It is sometimes claimed in modern biographies that Eleanor and Berengaria actually visited Turpenay, but a charter of Maurice, Bishop of Poitiers, confirms that "this gift was made by the Queen at Fontevrault," where she "invested Luke, Abbot of Turpenay, with it, in the presence of Peter of Capua, cardinal, and many others."

  11. Roger of Hoveden.

  12. Richard.

  13. Calendar of Documents, ed. Round; Charter Rolls.

  14. Charter Rolls.


  15. She had borne a daughter, Mary or Wilhelmina, the previous year; this daughter later married Bernard of Elbine, Prince of Orange.

  16. Calendar of Documents, ed. Round.

  17. Charter Rolls; Richard.

  18. Charter Rolls.

  19. Ibid.

  20. Richard.

  21. Roger of Hoveden.

  22. L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  23. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Coggeshall.

  24. Ralph of Coggeshall.

  25. Ralph of Diceto.

  26. Ibid.; Ralph of Coggeshall; Roger of Hoveden; L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale.

  27. Ralph of Diceto.

  28. Richard; Rigord; Foedera.

  29. Charter Rolls.

  30. Ibid.

  31. Ibid.

  32. Ibid.

  33. Ibid.

  34. Ibid.

  35. For Joanna's veiling and death, see Roger of Hoveden.

  36. Some genealogical works give his name as Betrand, perhaps confusing him with Count Raymond's illegitimate son Bertrand. It is far more likely that he was named after the late King Richard.

  37. Charter Rolk

  38. Ibid.; Richard.

  39. For this episode, see Roger of Hoveden.

  40. Roger of Hoveden.

  41. Gervase of Canterbury.

  42. Roger of Hoveden.

  43. Gervase of Canterbury.

  44. Richard.

  45. Roger of Hoveden; some modern writers assert that Eleanor left before the truce was concluded, but it is clear from this account that she did not.

  46. Some books state that there were three unmarried daughters, including the eldest, Berengaria, but she had married Alfonso IX of Leon, as his second wife, in 1198.

  47. Pierre Vidal, Poesio. Queen Eleanor of Castile lived until 1214; she and King John were the only two of Eleanor's children to survive her.

  48. Quoted in Appel, Provenzalische Chrestomathie.

  49. Roger of Hoveden.

  50. Ibid.

  21 "The Brood of the Wicked Shall Not Thrive"

  1. Charter Rolls.

  2. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Diceto; Rigord. Hugh of Lincoln bore witness to this hatred when he visited Arthur in Paris and advised him to show himself friendly towards John in order to preserve the peace.

  3. Roger of Hoveden; Ralph of Diceto; Rigord.

  4. Roger of Hoveden.

  5. Foedera.

  6. Ralph of Diceto; Richard.

  7. Ralph de Lusignan had acquired the county of Eu by marriage to its Norman heiress.

  8. Roger of Hoveden.

  9. Guillaume le Breton.

  10. Roger of Hoveden.

  11. Aymer died in the summer of 1202, whereupon John succeeded him as Count of Angouleme.

  12. Roger of Hoveden.

  13. Ibid.; L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechale; Chronique de Touraine; Annals of Bury St Edmunds (in Annales Monastici).