THE OREGON SUNDAY. JOURNAL, PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 18, 1920;
i. -v 1 ii ! it M tl-ii- !! m um n
Following a Silken
thread one oad
Pinned to the iFair
Charmer's Skirt, Her
MajestyWent Through
the Blinding Secret
Passages That Hid the
Lovers' Retreat, and
Plunged a Dagger Into
Rosamund's Heart
R'
ECENT discoveries hare caused renewed Interest in what
Is perhaps the most fascinating story in all English, history
-the story ot' "King Henry II. and Fair Rosamund." . '
The secret loveof the great early English King for one -who
was called the most beautiful woman in England and his in
genious but unsuccessful efforts to conceal bis Intrigue from a
proud, powerful and also beautiful Queen, have' excited the
Imagination of men. for many centuries ever since the twelfth,
jcentury, 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 la 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 deaths j
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 td have been
that occupied by the King's love "Rosamund"s Bower," as the
poets have called It ; ,
The valace. which King Henry occupied whnr Jie. ,Kod .
- , - - s v. uio AUTO
affair with Rosamund, was at Woodstock- t.
The estate was a ; royal manor and was
many centuries later given by Queen Anne
to the. first Duke of Marlborough after his
great victories.
King Henry's palace disappeared cen
turies "ago, and "off "Rosamund's Bower" v
there has never been any definite trace.
An old house in the village of Woodstock,
not a stone's throw from "Blenheim Palace
Park, has been pointed to by villagers as
occupying the original site of "Rosa
mund's Bower," but without any good his
torical proof. Another old house, within
the grounds of thai palace, has been less
frequently described as the original site,
but with the same Jack of good evidence.
T": The" newly'discoviered ruins on the Blen
heim estate are regarded by antiquarians
as having a better claim to represent
"Rosamund's Bower" than either of the
other two . sites. The ruins are situated In
'a thick' wood in a remote, somewhat neg
lected, part of the estate. The wood was
recently cleared away to provide for the In
creased cultivation of foodstuffs.
Then came another interesting discov
ery. It was observed that at a distance of
a hundred yards from the ruins there were
a number ef very ancient yew trees
planted in a peculiar zig-zag line. These,
f course, bad always been a familiar
Bight, 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 CHffordV one of the foremost
English artists, F.i Cadogan Cowper, has
painted a remarkable picture of "Fair
Rosamund and Qmeen Eleanor" for this
year's Royal Academy. It has proved one
of the great successes of the
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exhibition.
The artist has chosen the moment when
the Queen has surprised the guilty Rosa
mund in the dainty retreat which the King
has built for her.s The two women are
wonderfully contrasted. On one side
stands the handsome, strong-featured, ma
jestic Queen, with; crown on head, .pride,
determination, anger an.d outraged wifely
dignity in every line. At her girdle she
carries a terrible dagger, and in one hand a
cup of poison Rosamund must accept
one or the other as the means of making
her exit from the world. She also holds
the thread by which, she has traced down
the lovers' retreat.
On the other side of the picture stands
Rosamund, the fair, frail, weak, trembling
sweetheart of a king. You understand
instantly that she cannot continue to exist
as the rival of the majestic Queen.
The artist has based his picture on a
passage in old John Stow's "Chronicle of
England," one of the most familiar sources
of the fair Rosamund legend. This pas
sage reads as follows:
Rosamund, the fayre daughter of
Walter Lord Clifford concubine to Henry
II. (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;, so
that no man or woman might come to her,
tout he that was Instructed by the King,
"or such as were right secret with him
touching the matter. This house after
come was named Labyrinthus, or Dedalus
worke, which, was ; wrought like unto a
knot in a garden,! called a Maze; ibut It
was commonly said that lastly the Queen e
came to her by a clue of thredde, or silke,
and so dealt with her, that she lived not
long after; tut when she was . dead she
Henry II. the Lover oT "Rosa
mund, Who Became King of
England in 1154.! From an
; Ancient, Twelfth Century
Manuscript.
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was buried at Godstow, in an house of
fiunnes beside Oxford, with these verses -"Upon
her Tombe: 'Hici Jacet in tumba ?
Rosa xnundi, non Rosa munda. . . " '
Many of the facts of Rosamund Clifford's
life have been well established. The Eng- 5
lish historian, Thomas Carte, gave much .
attention ; to the subject. - She was a
daughter of Walter Lord Clifford, whose .
family became one of the most prominent
in England throughout the Middle Ages, a
prosperity partly due to the generosity of
King Henry II. !
Henry II. was the first of the Plantage
net line of English kings, one of the great
monarchs of the Middle Ages. By -birth
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 hiasuncle,
Kiag Stephen, and after making peace was
accepted as heir to the English throne.
During this period he met and loved Rosa
mund Clifford.
In 1154, when he was twenty-one, he in
herited the English throne, but before go;
ing to England he seized the opportunity
to marry a ; great- princess known as
Eleanor of Aquitaine. She had been mar
ried to King Louis VII. of France. He had
divorced her on the pretext of consanguin
ity, but really because he was displeased
by her gallantries and her violent temper.
To the ambitious Henry these defects
seemed of little, importance, for what he
desired most was the possession of the
great territories in Franco to which
Eleanor was heiress. It was through her '
inheritance that England became involved
in war with France for nearly one hundred
years, including the Joan of Arc period.
Eleanor was a typical product of south
era France in the age of troubadours, tour
naments and. courts of love. It was the
sole aim in life of a good knight to make
Jove 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 Beauty" at many , touraa-
ments and was credited by the old chroni
clers with ' having many affairs with
knights and troubadours. ; She was hand" t
some, hot tempered and of masculine vigor '
of body.
King Henry married Eleanor and took
her to England, where he began to - con-1
solidate his power. In the midst of ' his
cares he found time to spend: with Rosa-,
Queen Eleanor, with Dagger and Poison Cup, Surpris
ing Fair Rosamund in Her Secret "Bower" by Means
of a Clue of Thread. A Remarkably Skilful Historical
Painting by F. Cadogan Cowper, A. R. A.
mund Clifford. There Is some reason to
believe that either before or immediately
after Lis marriage to Queen Eleanor the
King went through a secret marriage with
Rosamund. In the isolated life of those
days it would not have been difficult to
conceal his other marriage from a young
girl like Rosamund.
To make sure of secrecy the King con
structed an extraordinary retreat for her
at his domain of Woodstock, where he
lived an Idyllic if sinful existence,
temporarily free from court cares.
An old historian named Brompton, wno
goes into considerable detail on the sub
ject; says that this retreat was first ap
proached 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 his way to Rosamund's
retreat, but would constantly find himself
coming back to where he started.
It is popularly supposed that this maze
was similar to the one at Hampton Court
Palace, near London. Various types of
mazes have, in fact, been constructed on
English .estates fori centuries. It seems
probable that the one that concealed Rosa,
mund's house must have been much larger
than that of Hampton Court.
When the King had made his way
through the maze ie came to a trap door
hidden, among the .trees. He raised this
and then entered a long, winding .subter-
Rosamund
Clifford,
Weeping
at the
Discovery
of Her
Guilty
Secret.
From
an
Ancient
English -Painting.
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I r i t tin
i ittV Hi
, rhr- -tit
7 vuiiwaa;!. i '
"he 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, he came
; up In a- delightful -little garden where
stood "Rosamund's Bower," concealed In .
the remotest part of the forest.
r , During the two years following his mar
riage to Queen Eleanor the King was 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) 1920. International Feature Service. Inc.
as Queen Eleanor would long have failed '
to notice her husband's absorption in a
secondary household.
The jealous Queen discovered that the
eecret lay near the royal palace of Woodstock.-
Her suspicions fell upon Rosamund
Clifford and she thought of an Ingenious
stratagem to trace her movements. She .
attached a ball of silk floss to Rosamund's
ekirt and this unwound as : she retreated .
- Great Britain Bigrhta Bee erred.
through the maze to her secret trystlng
place. ; l,
When the King had gone away the fierce,
proud Queen followed the silken : thread
and surprised poor Rosamund in - her
dainty retreats. The statement that the
,.. Queen carried with, her a 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
she trembled in terror, tha fierce Queen
' struck her to the heart with her dagger,'
as some writers assert, although . others .
say she took the poison. -
Certain historians say that the story of
the maze and Queen .Eleanor's dramatic
actions is a fanciful embroidery. .They
assert that after King Henry's relations
with. Rosamund Clifford - had been known
for two years the Queen's violent remon
strances and i the great scandal caused
thereby led to the seclusion" of the royal
sweetheart in a nunnery at Godstow,
where she died many years after.
The historians who reject the romantic
story have never been able to prove that
the King did not conceal his sweetheart,
in a maze. The story, which has heen re-
' peated by many chroniclers from the
earliest times, has many elements of prob
ability, and the discovery of the ancient
ruins at Woodstock appears to confirm Its
accuracy- in part. -
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L H. Ti... . '
Queen Eleanor, Who Put-Rosa
mund to Death. From Hery
Tomb at Fontevrault
" " Abbey, France," " '
t,