Back in 1152, Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine on this day over in Bordeaux. However, she was 11 years his senior and twenty year later, Henry still had a few wild oats to spread around.
He spotted a young lady by the name of Rosamund and went about building her a house near his palace at Woodstock, where Queen Eleanor was in residence. So that the two women should never meet, Henry then proceeded to build a maze around Rosamund’s house. Whilst Henry knew the way in, it certainly flummoxed Eleanor long enough for him to father two children with Rosamund.
Eventually, Eleanor worked it out and, as an early historian wrote, “…so dealt with her that she did not live long after.”
One also does wonder if Eleanor had anything to do with the inscription on Rosamund’s grave, which apparently read:
“Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes;
The smell that rises is no smell of roses.”
He spotted a young lady by the name of Rosamund and went about building her a house near his palace at Woodstock, where Queen Eleanor was in residence. So that the two women should never meet, Henry then proceeded to build a maze around Rosamund’s house. Whilst Henry knew the way in, it certainly flummoxed Eleanor long enough for him to father two children with Rosamund.
Eventually, Eleanor worked it out and, as an early historian wrote, “…so dealt with her that she did not live long after.”
One also does wonder if Eleanor had anything to do with the inscription on Rosamund’s grave, which apparently read:
“Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes;
The smell that rises is no smell of roses.”
