Did It Happen: Fair Rosamund Clifford

King Henry II had many mistresses but none compared in his heart with Rosamund Clifford, the daughter of Marcher lord Walter de Clifford.  To keep Rosamund safe from Henry's spiteful wife, Eleanor, the king kept his lady love in a tower near his castle of Woodstock.  The tower was accessible only by a maze to which the King knew the way.  Rosamund was the delight of his life and bore him many children.  One day, Eleanor figured out the clue to the maze and made her way to Rosamund's tower, presenting her with a sharp knife and a cup of poison.  Rosamund chose the poison and died.  King Henry arranged for his true love to be buried at a nearby priory and masses to be said in perpetuity for her soul.

Did it happen?

First, there was a Rosamund Clifford, c 1150- c 1170.  She was the daughter of Walter de Clifford and had two sisters and three brothers.  She grew up at the family home at Castle Clifford and was educated by the nuns at Godstow Abbey.  How or when she came to the notice of Henry II we will never know, but there was a relationship, though sources doubt that Rosamund bore him any children.  Sources also differ on whether, when Henry traveled throughout his dominions, Rosamund remained behind at Woodstock or one of the other royal palaces, or travelled with him.  If she remained behind, the probably didn't see each other as often as they liked.  As for Eleanor, during the period of time when Henry and Rosamund had their relationship, she was a state prisoner for having instigated the rebellion of her three sons against Henry.  Even if she knew of their relationship and objected to it, she would've been powerless to do anything about it.  Besides, ranking men at that time were known to keep mistresses.  Henry had several, and Eleanor would've had to have been a bloodthirsty mass murderess to have offed them all.   Legends about the tower, maze and the cup of poison didn't emerge until the Tudor era, and later again during the Victorian fascination with Medieval life.

Most likely, Rosamund did die young and was buried at Godstow Abbey.  Whether she had retired there after Henry let her down or died while they were still involved is open to question.  During Henry's lifetime, masses were said for her soul and her grave was decorated with candles.  However, a later bishop disliked the idea of a reputed king's mistress having an honorable burial site within the church and directed that her grave be relocated to the churchyard.  Her gravestone remained on display there until the 16th century.  A visitor to the term recalled that the epitaph read, "here in the tomb lies the Rose of the World, not a pure rose, she who once smelled so sweet, still smells-but not so sweet."