War: The Revolt of 1173

All families have drama.  Novels, plays and movies make it seem as though the Plantagenets invented family drama centuries before soap operas and reality television.  The difference between a regular family and a royal family was that divisiveness within the family could quickly be exploited by other royal families and other countries, a la Game of Thrones.  And, the issues, power, land and inheritance.  In Medieval times, inheritance within a family wasn't so cut and dried.  Father-to-son passage of royal authority wasn't a given.  Each son had to scrape for themselves, proving their right to inherit and edging out the others, who fought for the scraps or died trying. 

Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine were the ultimate power couple of their age.  Henry was heir to England and Normandy, as well as Angers and other counties in France.  Eleanor brought Aquitaine and Poitou, basically most of what is now southern France to the table.  They had four adult sons, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John.  How to divvy up all this land and give each son a piece of the pie and prevent him warring with the others was a never-ending problem.  Henry, Jr., was married to a French princess and Geoffrey to a woman who was Duchess of Britany in her own right.  And, there was always France and Scotland to think about.  Both would take advantage of any apparent weakness in the Plantagenet family.

Young Henry was 18 years old in 1173, good-looking, a tournament hero and with just enough brains and ambition to be dangerous.  Having been crowned junior king in 1170, he wanted the authority and power to go with that.  No Plantagenet stood for being junior in anything, even to his old man.  Henry II wasn't about to give up any power to someone he still considered a young whippersnapper who needed to learn his place the hard way.  Then Henry II decided to give some land within Henry's inheritance to John and the lid blew off.  Junior went to his father-in-law, the King of France, who was always looking for a pretext to star a war with his old rival Henry II.  Richard and Geoffrey soon followed, and Geoffrey brought along his wife Constance, who had control of her own lands in Brittany. 

Eleanor of Aquitaine threw in her lot with her sons.  For all the ink that has been spilled on the romance between her and Henry II, the reality was that the old sparks had died.  Eleanor was aware that real power lay with her boys and it was her duty as a mother of lions to stand with them.  In particular, she was eager to protect her eventual heir, Richard, who stood to lose everything if Junior and Louis of France pushed matters too far.  Henry II intercepted Eleanor in Normandy and she was sent back to England.  She would spend the next 19 years as a prisoner shuttled from one castle to another in England. 

The war began in 1173 when two other independent realms, Flanders and Boulogne, invaded Normandy in a joint operation with France and knights loyal to Henry, Junior, including William Marshal.  William the Lion, King of Scotland, invaded the north of England.  Henry II defeated the invaders in Normandy and turned on Scotland.  Henry II proved he still had his military ability and drove William back, penetrating deep into Scotland.  William the Lion would regret coming into this family quarrel.  Then, Henry's own nobles in England got into the act.   The Earls of Norfolk and Leicester, backed with Flemish mercenaries, marched on London, taking advantage of Henry II being occupied in Normandy.  Henry's army in Scotland backtracked to deal with them and gained another victory.  One of Henry II's loyal barons reached the art of understatement by telling Henry that 1173, was "a bad year to be your enemy."

But William of Scotland wasn't through yet.  As the war persisted in Normandy, his brother David, Earl of Huntingdon led a coalition of disaffected English lords.  The rebels burned Nottingham and Norwich.  The barons were upset over their usual grievances, royal authority in general, and the murder of Thomas Becket in particular.  To win support in England, Henry II had to turn from military strategy to optics and diplomacy.  He did public penance for the killing of Thomas Becket and defeated the Scots at Alnwick, capturing William the Lion.  His sons knew that the game was up, and with Louis' assistance, brokered a peace that saved their inheritance, and their necks for the time being.

Henry knew how to hit the barons where it would really hurt and ordered several castles demolished.  If a noble lord didn't have a fortified base to gather an army and retreat to, he would be less likely to take on the king.  William of Scotland had to surrender control of his fortresses at Berwick and Edinburgh, thus laying the seeds for continued English intervention in Scotland.  It would be a matter of time before Henry's brood (and the Scots or French) got restless again. 

Conflict: The First Barons' War, 1215-1217

The English are proud of the fact that the Isle of Britain hasn't been invaded since 1066, though such powerful enemies as Napoleon and Hitler almost tried it.  However, they forget one little detail.  England was invaded, more properly infiltrated for several months, by a French occupation force.  This wasn't one of the more shining episodes in Plantagenet history, but it must be told nonetheless.

The Magna Carta finally received the Great Seal on June 15, 1215.  The barons, or England's largest landowners whether they were technically barons or not, renewed their fealty to King John.  John, for his part had no intention of keeping any of the provisions of the Charter and he soon made this apparent.  Part of the Charter was Clause 61, which allowed a force or 25 or more barons to oppose the King, by force of arms if necessary, if he violated their feudal rights.  This was known as right of distraint, similar to overriding a Presidential veto today.  By 1215, there were enough barons angry at John that they were willing to use their weapons to enforce the terms of Magna Carta.

But the barons needed allies and turned to a Plantagenet family enemy, Phillip II and his heir Louis.  Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter of Eleanor of Castile, daughter of Henry II and Eleanor.  So it was basically turning part of the Plantagenet family in on itself.  Though Phillip II didn't approve of the idea, he allowed his son to cross the channel with a party of knights as a sort of peace-keeping force.  The peacekeeping force rapidly turned into an invasion fleet that landed on the coast of Kent.  John fled to Winchester and Louis lost no time in taking London, where he quickly found the support of the townspeople and most of the warring barons.  Then, King Alexander II of Scotland got into the act, throwing his support behind Louis and doing homage to him for lands Alexander claimed in England. 

Louis besieged Dover, but had to call a truce and return to London.  Windsor also held out against the French.  John's forces besieged and took Rochester by force.  Then, in 1216, John died of dysentery.  There were three options, his 9-year-old son, Henry, his adult niece, Eleanor of Brittany, and Louis of France, still very much in London.  Pierre des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, hurried to have Henry crowned in Gloucester Abbey with a makeshift crown fashioned from a necklace.  William Marshal, yes that William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, was appointed Regent of the Kingdom.  He affirmed the royal assent to Magna Carta with some of the provisions revoked, including the nuclear option in Clause 61.  Marshal appealed to the barons to rally around young Henry and resist a takeover by the French.  The Pope got into the act by excommunicating Louis. 

Though Louis gained some victories, he eventually had to return to France for reinforcements.  The English weren't about to let him back in.  Working town by town and castle by castle, Marshal's forces slowly made gains against the French.  Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth on September 11, 1217, accepting a sum of money to go away and stay away. 

King: Henry the Young King

Young men in the Plantagenet family had a daunting task, to live up to fathers or older brothers who were some of the best kings England ever had9, and/or were celebrities in their own time.  One who might have fit the bill was Henry, the Young King (1155-1183), the son of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Little is known of Henry's earlier life.  He was the second of five sons of Henry and Eleanor.  His eldest brother, William of Poitiers, had died as a toddler.  Henry II hoped that Henry, Jr., would inherit the lion's share of the Plantagenet dominions including England and Normandy.  To that end, when Henry was 15 years old, he was crowned King of England during his father's lifetime.  This occurred during 1170, at the height of the Becket controversy, and without the Archbishop of Canterbury presiding.  Junior was described as tall, well-built, broad-shouldered, with a long neck, freckled skin, bright blue eyes and reddish-gold hair, the basic Plantagenet blueprint.  Henry II appointed William Marshal to serve as Junior's tutor in arms and military matters.  Under Marshal's guidance, Henry became a tournament champion.  In that day and age, the most common tournament form was the melee and Junior was one of many highborn knights who excelled with Marshal as team leader.

Because Henry II was very much alive and in control, Junior wasn't allowed to exercise any authority on his own and, for many years, that seemed to suit him just fine.  The assessment of contemporaries was that he gave no evidence of any political or military skill or even basic intelligence, probably because he was under his powerful father's thumb during his life.  He could be gracious, benign and courteous, when he wanted to be.  He could also be shallow, vain, careless and high-tempered, again the basic Plantagenet recipe.  What he would have amounted to after Henry II's death we'll never know.  In 1170, he was betrothed to Margaret of France, whom we've already met in a previous post.  They had one child together, William of Salisbury.  The birth was difficult and Margaret never had another child.  To appease critics who believed that Junior's earlier coronation was lacking due to the absence of an Archbishop of Canterbury, he and Margaret were crowned again after the wedding. 

In 1173, matters came to a head between Henry, Eleanor, Junior and the other Plantagenet boys.  Whether it was frustration with their father's heavy hand, dissatisfaction with their potential inheritance, instigation by Eleanor, or all the above, Henry's sons rose in rebellion against their father.  Junior's effort gained traction in the form of Norman, Breton and Angevin lords willing to join him and he almost toppled his father from the throne.  The loyalty of the English barons and the timely neutralization of Scotland by the capture of its king saved Henry II's throne.  He and his sons were reconciled, for the time being.  In 1179, Junior represented his father when his counterpart Phillip Augustus, was crowned junior king to his own father, Louis VII.  Then, in 1182, Junior and William Marshal had a falling out.  Rumors had it that Marshal had had an affair with Margaret.  Junior sought an annulment of the marriage around this time, based on Margaret's inability to have children, but maybe there was more under the surface?

Things were never peaceful in the Plantagenet family for long.  Although Junior later patched things up with Marshal, he was once more on the outs with Henry II and Richard, this time over their potential inheritance rights.  As he gathered his forces and funds to march against his father and brother, Junior caught dysentery and began to sink fast.  He sent to Henry II and begged his father to come.  Sensing a trap, Henry II declined and sent a ring as a token of his forgiveness.  Conscience-stricken, Henry, Jr., confessed and prostrated himself naked before a crucifix.  He had given his cloak, with its Crusader's cross, to Marshal with instructions to take it with him to the Holy Land.  Henry died in 1183 and was buried in Rouen Cathedral.

Knight: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Centuries before movie stars, rock stars, athletes and the internet famous fed the obsession with celebrity, knights errant and tournament champions were the celebrities of their day.  And none was more famous then William Marshal (c 1146-1219).

William was born in England.  The family surname, Marshal, was an occupational designation, though it isn't clear today just what the Marshal family were marshals of.  A marshal could be a military function, a legal function similar to a constable, or could work in the court of a king or high noble.  What's for certain is that this family was made of stern stuff.  During the Anarchy, William's father John initially supported King Stephen, but transferred his allegiance to Matilda after Stephen took young William hostage.  When Stephen threatened to launch young William against the walls of his father's castle in a form of trebuchet, John Marshal told the King's messengers that if William was killed, he had the hammer and anvil to make even better sons.  Stephen couldn't bring himself to kill a child and William was spared.  It would've been an abject lesson for anyone. 

William was the son of a minor nobleman and had to make his own way in the world.  He became a knight-errant, offering his services to whichever nobleman would pay him.  He also became known for competing in tournaments, where prize money and the captured armor and horses of defeated opponents made him wealthy.  He served William de Tancarville and a maternal uncle, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury.  He entered royal service as a military tutor to Henry the Young King and saved Eleanor of Aquitaine from an ambush, getting himself captured in the process.  Eleanor paid his ransom.  Marshal remained loyal to Henry II during the final tumultuous years of the older man's reign.  As Henry fled before the forces of his son Richard, William met Richard in single combat and knocked the young Lionheart off his horse.  It was the beginning of a close friendship between the two men.  King Richard arranged the marriage of William, now 43, with the 17-year-old heiress Isabel de Clare, daughter of Richard de Clare (Strongbow), Earl of Pembroke.  Though he wouldn't be made Earl of Pembroke until 1199, Marshal was now the wealthiest man in the kingdom.

When Richard left on the Third Crusade, he appointed William Marshal to the council of Regency which would govern England in his absence.  Marshal joined forces with John against Richard's Justiciar, William Longchamp, but soon came to realize that John was using the conflict with Longchamp as an excuse to seize Richard's throne.  Marshal transferred to the Loyalist side of the conflict trying to keep Richard's kingdom together until he returned.  During John's reign, Marshal remained just as loyal to him, though the two men did not get along and had several public quarrels over lands and honors involving Marshal's extensive holdings in Ireland and Normandy.  Marshal was one of the few barons who remained loyal to John during the lead-up to the signing of Magna Carta in 1214.  At John's death in 1216, he appointed Marshal regent for his young son, Henry III.  Marshal held this post until his death in 1219, at which time he turned his duties as Regent over to the Papal Legate, not trusting any of the barons or English clergy to serve the young king as loyally as he had. 

Marshal had always wanted to go on Crusade.  He had traveled in the Holy Land but wanted to do more.  Before his death, he was made a Knight Templar and buried in the robes of the order in Temple Church, London.  He and Isabel had had 10 children together.  William's five boys duly succeeded him as Earls of Pembroke 2-6, but none of them had sons to take the title any further.  Some claim this was due to an Irish curse on Marshal's line because of his harsh treatment of tenants on his Irish lands.  I'll leave that to individual readers to believe or not.  However, Marshal and history would have the last word.  The Pembroke honor passed to his daughter, who married the Earl of Norfolk.  This marriage made the title Earl Marshal hereditary to the Earls and later Dukes of Norfolk for centuries.  William was also the great-grandfather of Robert Bruce, courtesy of his daughter Maud, who married the Earl of Hertford and her daughter married the Lord of Annandale, grandfather of Robert Bruce.  Through another granddaughter, Marshal was ancestor of Edward III.  Thus, Marshal was the ancestor of the final Plantagenet kings, Edward IV and his sons, and Richard III.  And, through Elizabeth of York, he's the ancestor of all English kings from Henry VIII and including the current Queen and her family.  Not bad for a knight errant who almost got shot out of a catapult as a kid. 

(I'm updated to reader Elizabeth Chadwick and other members of the British Medieval History website on Facebook for updated information, which I've included here along with a picture of Marshal's effigy showing his correct shield.  Elizabeth maintains a Facebook group and website page devoted to William Marshal.) 

 

Medieval Life: the Tournament

What the Super Bowl, the BCS game, March Mardness, the NBA Playoffs, the World Cup and the Stanley Cup are to modern audiences, tournaments were in the Middle Ages.  Though only knights got to participate, even the lowest orders of society got to watch, albeit from a distance.  There was color, spectacle, pageantry, prize money, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. 

A tournament, from the French word for "to turn" consisted of two primary events, the melee and the joust.  Though jousting, where two knight rode toward each other on horseback with lances and tried to unseat each other from their horses, is the best-known, it wasn't the main event.  A medieval tournament started with an announcement that a great lord was willing to sponsor one to take place.  While tournaments could mark special occasions, such as the birth of an heir, a marriage, or a coronation, they could take place for any reason, at almost any time of year.  The only forbidden times were Lent, and Fridays or Sundays.  Knights expecting to compete in the tournament gathered from as far as they could travel to be there.  While great champions might have their own quarters or tents and display their own standards, men usually grouped into open air settlements according to whom they would represent in the melee.  The inside or home settlement versus the outside, visiting knights.  In the days leading up to the tournament there would be banquets and other festivities.  Jousts might take place between individual knights, but that was the prelude to the big show.

The big event was the melee.  Essentially, this was a mock battle, with teams of opposing knights, sometimes up to several dozen men on each side.  The contest would then devolve into individual contests between the top contenders.  Although it wasn't intended to be lethal, the combination of men, weapons and horses was dangerous enough.  People got killed or seriously injured, or even stuck in their armor.  Though chain armor was the norm, rather than the plate armor of later centuries, it was possible to take a knock on the helmet and dent it so badly that a smith had to be called to get the armor off one's head.  William Marshal had that humiliating experience.  The object of the melee was to capture an opposing knight for ransom.   Knights who were defeated and captured could pay up.  Or, they could forfeit their armor, weapons and horses, which the winner could then keep or sell for money to fund himself for more tourneys.  Men could become known for their prowess in tournaments, much like modern athletes.  And, like modern athletes, proceeds from captures or even prizes and prize money offered at tournaments could make a man quite wealthy, William Marshal again.  Some kings were just as ready to enter the lists as the knights, Richard I being the usual suspect.

Just as people do today with modern sports, medieval people took these events seriously.  Knights trained and practiced for tournaments, some of which were invitation-only, so gaining renown in other tournaments was crucial.  There were books about tournament tactics and etiquette.  Songs and poems were written about them, and people talked about famous tournaments and famous contenders for years.  But what about ladies' favors, knights entering the competition incognito and all that?  Kings or royals might fight under an assumed name, to avoid special treatment good or bad, but that was rare.  Ladies were desired spectators at tournaments, but only as the Medieval era progressed did they take on the role of presiding over tournaments, issuing prizes and giving favors to special knights to be their champion.  That, like plate armor, comes in at a later period.