H
J H T Q F MndH Sweeifimrl I
9 Following a Silken
jj Thread She Had
Pinned to the Fair
Charmer's Skirt, Her
IE Majesty Went Through
H the Blinding Secret
jfl Passages That Hid the
Lovers' Retreat, and
'i Plunged a Dagger Into
9 Rosamund's Heart
w- ECENT discoveries have caused renew ed interest in what
Xm JU r is perhaps the most fascinating story in all English history
Ww the story of "King Henry 11 and Fair Rosamund
f The secret love of the great earlv English King for one who
was called the moFt beautiful woman in England and his in-
Igenious but unsuccessful efforts to conc-al his intrigue from a
proud, rowerful and also beautiful Queen have excited the
Imagination of men for many centuries ever since the twelfth
century, when the events of this obscure story occurred
It Is established beyond question that King Henry loved
Rosamund Clifford, the fair daughter of Walter Lord Clifford,
not wisely but too well What is doubtful is that part of the
story which asserts that he kept his love in a strangely hidden
house and that the Jealous Queen Eleanor pursued her there and
put her to death
Now there has just been discovered on the Duke of Marl
borough's estate, Blenheim Palace, at Woodstock, the buried re
mains of an ancient stone house, which is thought to have been
that occupied by the King's love 'Rosamund's Bower," es Lhfl
poets have called it. 1
The palace, which King Henry occupied when he had hi love
affair with Rosamund, was at Woodstock.
The estate was a royal manor and was
many centuries later given by Queen Anne
'i'j to tlie flrst Duke of Marlborough after his
R great victories.
King Heniy's palace disappeared cen
turies ago,-and of "Rosamund's Bower"
j there has never been any definite trnre
. An old houso in the village of Woods lock,
firlffl not a stone's throw from Blenheim Palace
Park, has been pointed to by villager-- ao
HaflB occupying the original site of "Rosa-
n'ijfflm mund's Bower," but without any good his-
;n?SnE torlcal proof. Another old house, within
the grounds of the palace, has been less
j'tjGS frequently described as the original
but With 'the same lack of good evidence.
The newly discovered ruins on the Blen
heim estate are regarded by antiquarians
;S2t? as having a better claim to represent
j81i "Rosamund's Bower" than either of the
;J other two sites. The ruins are situated in
:'3$tfi a tb'ck wood in a remote, somewhat neg
lected, part of the estate. The wood was
recently cleared away to provide for the in
Jfeffn creased cultivation of foodstuffs.
rW5 Then came another interesting di6COV-
julPHJ ery. It was observed that at a distance of
IsVS a hundred yards from the ruins there were
a number of very ancient yew trees
planted In a peculiar zig-zag line The
rof course, had always been a familiar
sight, but now it appeared probable that
they were a vestige of "the maze." which,
according to legend, King Henry built
around his sweetheart's house.
In response to the renewed Interest in
Rosamund Clifford, one of the foremost
English artists. F. Cadogan Cowper. has
painted a remarkable picture cf "Fair
Rosamund and Queen Eleanor' for this
year's Royal Academy, it has proved ono
of the great successes of the exhibition
The artist has chosen the moment v.-hr-n
the Queen has surprised the guilty Rosar
muud in the dainty retreat which the Kityg
has built for her The two women arj
wonderfully contrasted On one sido
stands the handsome, 6trongfeatured, ma
jestlc Queen, with crown on head, pride,
determination, anger and outraged wifely
dignity In every line At her girdle rh
, carries a terrible dagger, and in one hand a
cup of poison Rosamund must accept
Mfl one or the other as the means of making
1 her exit from the world. She also holds
the thread by which she has traced down
(he lovers' retreat.
0Q e other clde of the picture Btands
; i Rosamund, the fair." frail, weak, trembling
sweetheart of a king You understand
instantly that, she cannot continue to exist
as the rival of the maJeetlc Queen.
BCTI The artist has based bis picture on a
Kfll passage in old John Stow's "Chronicle of
j England," one of the most familiar source
j ' of the fair Rosamund legend. This pas
sage reads as follows:
j 'Rosamund, tho fayre daughter of
1 Walter Lord Clifford, concubine to Henry
11. (poisoned by Queen Elianor, as some
thought), dyed at Woodstocke (A. D.
1177), where King Henry had made for
her a house of wonderful working; bo
lhal no man or woman might como to her.
but he that wuh Instructed by the King,
or such as worn right secret with him
touching the matter. This house after
some wan named Labvrinthus, or Dedalus
worke, which was wrought like unto a
knot in a garden called a Maze; but it
was commonly tald that lastly the Queene
KB came to her by a cluo of thredde, or 6ilke.
and so dealt with her. that she lived not
long pfter; but when she was dead sho
Henry II., the Lover oi Kosa
mund, Who Became Kinj of
England in 1154. From an
Ancient, Tvelfth Centurv
Manuscript.
was buried at GocLtow, In an house of
nunner. beside Oxford, with these versos
urjon h"r Tonibe 'Ilk jacet in tumba
Rosa mundl non Rosa munda. . . ."'
Many of the facts of Rosamund Clifford'3
life have been well established. The Eng
lish historian, Thomas Carte, gave much
attention to the subject. Sho was a
daughter of Walter Lord Clifford, whose
family bocamn one of the most prominent
in England throughout the Middle Ages, a
prosperity partly duo to the generosity of
King Henry II.
Henry 11 was the first of the Plantage
uet line of English kings, one of tho groat
monarch of the Middle Ages. By bfnh
he was a southern Frenchman, related to
the previous English kings through his
mother His life was an amazing series
of triumphs and tragedies At nineteen he
went to England, made war on his undo,
King Stephen, and after making peace was
accepted as heir to the English throne.
During this period he met and loved Rosa
mund Clifford,
In 1164, when he was twenty-one, he In'
herlted the Dngllsb throne, but before go
ing to England he seized the opportunity
to marry a great princess known as
Eleanor gt Aquitaine. Sho had been mar
ried to King Louis VII of France Ho had
divorced her on the pretext of consanguin
ity, but really because he was rilsplo d
by her gallantries and her violent temper.
To the ambitious Henry these defects
seemed of little importance, for what hp
desired most was the possession of the
preat territories in Franc to which
Eleanor wa3 heiress it was through her
inheritance that England beiatno involved
In war with France for nearly one hundred
yeara, including the Joan of Arc period.
Eleauor was a typical product of south
ern France in the age of troubadours, tour
natnents and courts of love. It was the
sole aim in life of a good knight to muk
love in the most romantic manner Imagina
ble and of a lady to have as many adoring
knights as possible Eleanor had served
as "Queen of Beaut)" at many tourna
ments and was credited by the old chroni
clers with having many affairs with
knights and troubadours. Sim was hand
Rome, hot tempered and of masculine vigor
of body
King Henry' married Eleanor and took
her to England, where he began to con
solldate his power. In the midst of his
cares be found time to ppend with Rosa-
...vw, 1; k
3ueen Eleanor, vith Dagger and Poison Cup, Surpris
ng Fai Rosamund in Her Secret "Bower" by Means
f a Clue of Thread. A Remarkably Skilful Historical
Paintinrj by F. Cadogan Cowper, A. R. A.
mund Clifford Thera is some reason to
believe that either before or immediately
after bin marriage to Queen Eleanor the
King went through a secret marriage with
Rosamund. In the isolated life of thoso
da3 it would not have been difficult to
conceal h n t-ther marriago from a young
Clrl like Rosamund.
To make sure of secrecy the King con
structed an extraordinary retreat for her
at his domain of Woodstock, where b
lived an idyllic if sinful existence,
temporarily free from court cares.
An old historian namd lirompton', wno
goes into considerable detail on tho sub
Ject, says that this retreat was Iirst ap
proaehed by a maze, an arrangement of
winding paths amid thick trees. Any one
who did not possess the clue to the maze
could never find h!s way to Rosamund V.
retreat, but would constantly find himself
foming back to where be started.
It is popularly supposed that this maze
was similar to the one at Hampton rourt
Palace, near London. Various types of
mazes have, in fact, been constructed on
English estates for centuries. It seems
probable that the one thiit concealed Rosa
mund's house must have been much larger
than that of Hampton Court.
When the Kins had made his way
through tho maze he came to a trap door
hidden among the trees. He raised this
and then entered a long, winding subter
P.c3amund
Ciiffcrd,
Weeping
at the
Discovery
of Her
Guilty
Secret.
From
an
Ancient
English
Painting.
The Famous Maze at Hampton Court Palace, Near London, Which
Is Popularly Supposed to Have Been Copied from the One
That Concealed Fair Rosamund's Retreat.
ranean passage, or labyrinth. Finally
when he had gone through this, ho came
up In a delightful little garden where
stood "Rosamund's Bower," concealed id
tho remotest part of the forest
During the two years following hi mar
rin?e to Queen Kieanor the King wa de
Voted to Rosamund. They had two sons,
both of whom became great men in the
land. It was not likely that such a woman
C) lf)?0 TntrnaMonM Keaturo Servtr. inr
fit?' l
as Queen Eleanor would long have failed
to notice her husband's absorption in a
secondary household.
The jealous Queen discovered that tho
' ri t l?y near the royal palace of Wood
Stock 1 1. -r suspicions Tell upon Rosamund
Clifford and she thought of an ingenious
stratagem to trace her movements. She
attached a ball of silk floss to Rosumund's
Bkirt and this unwound aa she retreated
iirrM nrltaln Rlutitu Rfscnrfd
Wgk&& 9
through, the maze to her secret trysting
pj u-e.
'hen the King had gone away the tierce,
proud Quen followed the Mlken thread
and surprised poor Rosamund in her
dainty retreat. Tho statement that tho
I u a carried with her n dagger and a cup
of poison is entirely in agreement with
what is known of her martial and vigorous
character.
Poor Rosamund, caught helpless and
alone, hesitated, what to do and, while)
sho trembled in terror, the fierce Queen
Struck her to tho heart with her dagger,
as some writers assert, although others
my -die took tho poison.
'Certain historians say that the story of
the maze and Queen Eleanors dramatln
actions Is a fanciful embroidery. They
a-sr-rt Mint after Klug Henry's relations
With Rosamund Clifford had been known
for two years tho Queen's violent remon
strances and the great scandal caused
thereby led to the seclusion of the royal
sweetheart In a nunnery at Godstow,
where -he died many years after.
The historians who reject tho romantic
story have never been ablo to prove that
the King did not conceal his sweetheart
In a maze., The story, which has been re
peated by many chroniclers from the C
trllest time, has many elements of prob
iMIity, and the discovery of the ancient
-ulns at Woodstock appears to confirm its
accuracy in part.
I
I
Jueen Eleanor, Who Put Rosa
mund to Death. From Her
Tomb at Fontevrault
Abbey, France.