Editing Rosamund Clifford

{{Short description|Mistress of King Henry II of England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox noble|name=Rosamund Clifford|image=File:Fair Rosamund in her Bower.jpeg|caption=''Fair Rosamund in her Bower'' by [[William Bell Scott]] (after 1854)|birth_date=unknown|birth_place=Clifford Castle, Hereford|death_date={{circa|1176}}|death_place=[[Godstow Abbey]], Godstow|spouse=[[Henry II of England]]|spouse-type=Companion|father=[[Walter de Clifford (died 1190)|Walter de Clifford]]|mother=Margaret}}

'''Rosamund Clifford''' (possibly before 1140{{snd}}{{c.}} 1176), often called "The Fair Rosamund" or "Rose of the World" ([[Latin]]: ''rosa mundi''), was a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] English [[noblewoman]] and [[Royal mistress|mistress]] of [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], King of England. She became famous in [[English folklore]].

==Life==

=== Early life ===
[[File:Clifford Castle ruins.jpg|left|thumb|The ruins of [[Clifford Castle]], where Clifford grew up]]
Rosamund Clifford was the daughter of [[Walter de Clifford (died 1190)|Walter de Clifford]], a [[marcher lord]], and his wife Margaret de Toeni.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |last1=Archer |first1=T. A. |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5661 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |last2=Hallam |first2=Elizabeth |date=2004 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |pages=ref:odnb/5661 |chapter=Clifford, Rosamund [called Fair Rosamund] |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/5661 |access-date=2023-03-23 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}}</ref> Her date of birth is uncertain. Some sources place it in 1140 or possibly even earlier, possibly due to the traditional identification of Rosamund as the mother of at least one of Henry II's illegitimate children (William the Longespee and Geoffrey, the archbishop of York) - indicating that she had already become Henry II's mistress by the early 1150s. On the other hand, [[Gerald of Wales]] describes her as a ''puella'' (a girl or a young woman) at the time of her death in 1176.<ref>De Principis Instructione, Distinctio 3, Chapter 2</ref> She was certainly of age by 1166. Rosamund had three brothers, [[Walter de Clifford (died 1221)|Walter]] ({{circa|1160{{snd}}1221}}), Richard and Gilbert, and two sisters: Amice, and Lucy.

Her name likely came from the [[Latin]] phrase ''rosa mundi'', meaning "rose of the world."<ref>Anthony à Wood ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=L0IPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA341 The life and times of Anthony Wood: antiquary, of Oxford, 1632–1695, described by himself]''. Printed for the Oxford historical society, at the Clarendon press, 1891. Page 341.</ref> Clifford was first raised at her father's Clifford Castle, then sent to a [[convent]] of [[Benedictine]] [[nun]]s in [[Godstow Abbey]] for education.<ref name="Bingham">[https://books.google.com/books?id=AiSkGUrSrEMC&dq=rosamund+clifford&pg=PA66 Bingham, Jane. ''The Cotswolds: A Cultural History'', Oxford University Press, 2010] {{ISBN|9780195398755}}</ref>

=== Henry II's mistress ===
Clifford was reputed as one of the greatest beauties of the 12th century.<ref name="bbcoxf">[https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-28426782 "'Fair Rosamund' well to be restored at Blenheim Palace", BBC News (Oxford), July 20, 2014]</ref> Her relationship with [[Henry II of England|Henry II]], King of England (1133–1189) supposedly started when his wife, [[Eleanor of Aquitaine|Queen Eleanor]] ({{circa|1122{{snd}}1204}}) was pregnant with their last child, [[John, King of England|John]] (1166–1216) in 1166, but the king publicly acknowledged the [[affair]] for the first time in 1174.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Weir |first=Alison |title=Eleanor of Aquitaine, by the wrath of God, Queen of England |date=1999 |publisher=Jonathan Cape |isbn=978-0-224-04424-0 |location=London}}</ref> The queen is thought to have given birth to John in [[Beaumont Palace|Beaumount Palace]] instead of [[Woodstock Palace]] because Clifford lived at Woodstock. Alison Weir in her biography of Eleanor, thinks this unlikely and dismisses it as "another example of the unsupported fictions that have attached themselves to Rosamund's name".<ref name=":0" /> Accounts differ on whether Clifford stayed in Woodstock while the king was travelling between England and his continental lands or accompanied him. If she did not go with him, they could not have spent more than about a quarter of the time between 1166 and 1176 together.<ref name=":0" />

=== Later life and death ===
[[File:Godstow Abbey ruins - geograph.org.uk - 1779065.jpg|thumb|The ruins of Godstow Abbey]]
When her relationship with the king ended, Rosamund retired to [[Godstow Abbey]].<ref name=":0" /> She died there around 1176, before the age of 40, and she was buried there.<ref name=":0" /> Her death was commemorated at [[Hereford Cathedral]] on 6 July, the same day on which Henry II died, 13 years after her.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} The king and the Clifford family paid for her tomb to be cared for by the [[Benedictine]] [[nun]]s of the [[convent]].<ref name=":0" /> Her resting place became a popular [[shrine]] among locals, which was noticed by [[Hugh of Lincoln]], the [[Bishop of Lincoln]] in 1191. Seeing the flowers and candles that covered the tomb, he ordered her remains to be moved and buried outside, "with the rest, that the [[Christianity|Christian]] religion may not grow into contempt, and that other women, warned by her example, may abstain from illicit and adulterous intercourse".<ref name=":0" /> Complying with the bishop's request, Clifford's body was moved to the cemetery by the nuns' [[chapter house]] and was destroyed during the [[dissolution of the monasteries]] (1536–1541) under [[Henry VIII]].<ref>Cole, William. ''The Unfortunate Royal Mistresses, Rosamond Clifford, and Jane Shore, Concubines to King Henry the Second, and Edward the Fourth'', London, 1825 [https://books.google.com/books?id=bqZWAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA8 p. 8]</ref> The ruins of the abbey still stand and are open to the public.

[[Paul Hentzner]], a German traveller who visited England around 1599, recorded that her faded tombstone inscription read in part:<ref>Hentzner, Paul. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080821150435/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/h/hentzner/paul/travels/chapter1.html ''Travels in England during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth'']</ref>
{{Verse translation|lang=la
|... Adorent,
Utque tibi detur requies Rosamunda precamur.
|lang2=en
|Let them adore,
And we pray that rest be given to you, Rosamund.}}
Followed by a [[rhyming]] [[epitaph]]:
{{Verse translation|lang=la
|Hic jacet in tumba Rosamundi non Rosamunda,
:Non redolet sed olet, quae redolere solet.
|lang2=en
|Here in the tomb lies the rose of the world, not a pure rose;
She who used to smell sweet, still smells—but not sweet.
|attr1=Quoted by Hentzner, ''Travels in England''}}
Accounts from the time of its destruction report that, along with other engravings, the tomb contained the depiction of a [[chalice]].<ref name=":0" />

==In folklore==
In [[English folklore]], Rosamund's legend states that the king did everything to hide his affair from his wife, Queen Eleanor. He saw Rosamund only in the middle of a complicated underground [[labyrinth]] in the park of [[Woodstock Palace]] in Oxfordshire. Following [[rumour]]s, the queen made her way through the labyrinth and confronted her rival, forcing her to choose between a [[dagger]] and a [[bowl]] of [[poison]]; Rosamund chose the poison and died.<ref name="Matthews">[http://www.sacred-texts.com/etc/ml/ml22.htm Matthews, W.H., ''Mazes and Labyrinths'', Chap. XIX, Longmans Green and Co., London, 1922]</ref><ref>[[Martin Gardner|Gardner, Martin]] ''More Mathematical Puzzles and Diversions'' p. 88, Penguin Books (1966)</ref> Contemporary [[chronicle]]r [[John Brompton]] did not recount this incident in his account of the events,<ref name="Matthews"/> and it first appeared in the 14th-century ''French Chronicle of London.''

Another version tells that Rosamund was [[Roasting|roasted]] between two fires, stabbed, and left to bleed to death in a bath of scalding water by the queen.<ref name="Gambles">Gambles, Robert. ''Great Tales from British'', Amberley Publishing Limited, 2013, {{ISBN|9781445613499}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=VzSIAwAAQBAJ&pg=PP61, p. 61]</ref> During the [[Elizabethan era]], such stories gained popularity, leading to the writing of the ''Ballad of Fair Rosamund'' by [[Thomas Deloney]] (1612) and the ''Complaint of Rosamund'' by [[Samuel Daniel]] (1592), both being purely fictional. The underground labyrinth was added to the tale in 1516 (although Robert Gambles cites a 1231 reference to "Rosamund's [[Room|chamber]]", with [[garden]]s, a [[cloister]] and a [[well]]),<ref name="Gambles"/> drawing on the story of [[Estrildis]], mistress of king [[Locrinus]], who had underground apartments built to hide her from his wife.<ref name="Worrall 1977">{{cite journal | last=Worrall | first=David | title=Blake's 'Jerusalem' and the Visionary History of Britain | journal=Studies in Romanticism | publisher=Boston University | volume=16 | issue=2 | year=1977 | issn=0039-3762 | jstor=25600075 | pages=215–216 | doi=10.2307/25600075 | url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25600075 }}</ref> The cup of poison first appears in a [[ballad]] in 1611.<ref name="Gambles"/>

According to most medieval chroniclers, Queen Eleanor had been imprisoned by 1173 for raising her sons to be rebellious against their father, making a direct confrontation between the two women highly improbable.<ref name="Gambles"/>

{{Multiple image
| image1            = Fair Rosamond.png
| caption1          = An illustration from an 18th-century [[chapbook]]
| image2            = Coupin de La Couperie - Queen Eleanor and Rosamund Clifford.jpg
| caption2          = [[Marie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie]]'s circa 1826 painting
| header            = Depictions of the legendary confrontation between Queen Eleanor and Rosamund Clifford
| image3            = Edward Burne-Jones - Fair Rosamund and Queen Eleanor - Google Art Project.jpg
| caption3          = [[Edward Burne-Jones]]' painting from 1861
| image4            = Queen Eleanor & Fair Rosamund.jpg
| caption4          = [[Evelyn De Morgan]]'s [[Pre-Raphaelite]] painting from between 1880 and 1919
| align             = center
| caption_align     = center
| width             = 200
}}

=== Possible issue ===
Historians are divided whether Clifford's relationship with [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] produced children. Legends have attributed to her two of the king's [[Legitimacy (family law)|illegitimate]] sons, [[Geoffrey (archbishop of York)|Geoffrey, Archbishop of York]] ({{circa|1152{{snd}}1212}}) and [[William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury|William Longespée]], 3rd [[Earl of Salisbury]] (c. 1176 – 1226).<ref name="Matthews"/> However, Geoffrey was born before the king and Clifford even met from an otherwise unknown woman (possibly called Ykenai or Hikenai), and William was the son of [[Ida de Tosny]], [[Earl of Norfolk|Countess of Norfolk]] (died after 1181).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z4pYMToIWgC&q=Geoffrey+%28archbishop+of+York%29+mother&pg=PA497 |title=Notes and Queries |date=1887 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Smith |first1=David Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bXWasaXnja8C&q=walter+map+geoffrey+mother&pg=PR31 |title=English Episcopal Acta 27, York 1189–1212 |last2=Lovatt |first2=Marie |last3=Academy |first3=British |last4=Kemp |first4=B. R. |last5=Harper-Bill |first5=Christopher |date=1980 |publisher=OUP/British Academy |isbn=978-0-19-726293-1 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Fair Rosamund's Well, Blenheim - geograph.org.uk - 1015851.jpg|left|thumb|Fair Rosamund's Well in the park of [[Blenheim Palace]]|200x200px]]

=== Fair Rosamund's Well and Rosamund's Green ===
According to local tales, "Rosamund's bower" (probably an early version of the labyrinth) was demolished when [[Blenheim Palace]] was built.<ref name="bbcoxf"/> Today, Fair Rosamund's Well ({{coord|51.845070|-1.3677058|}}) is a paved [[Spring (hydrology)|spring]] in the park of Blenheim Palace in [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire|Woodstock]], Oxfordshire. It is located to the south of the Grand Bridge on the western shore of The Lake, sometimes called Brown's Lake after 18th-century [[landscape architect]] [[Capability Brown]]. According to a 2014 [[BBC]] article, "[T]he well had become 'somewhat overgrown and at risk of becoming damaged'".<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 July 2014 |title='Fair Rosamund' well to be restored |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-28426782 |access-date=5 January 2019}}</ref>
[[File:Rose- Rosa Mundi.JPG|thumb|''Rosa mundi'' rose|200x200px]]
Rosamund is also associated with the village of [[Frampton on Severn]], Gloucestershire, another of her father's holdings. Walter de Clifford granted the mill there to [[Godstow Abbey]] for the good of the souls of his wife and daughter. The [[village green]] of Frampton became known as Rosamund's Green by the 17th century.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=15790 Victoria County History of Gloucestershire: Frampton on Severn]</ref>

=== ''Rosa mundi'' rose ===
A cultivated variation of ''[[Rosa gallica]]'' with striped pink blooms is commonly known as ''rosa mundi''.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC plant finder – Rosa mundi |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/plant_pages/3426.shtml |access-date=31 May 2013}}</ref> Its connection to Rosamund Clifford dates to the 16th century.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}}

==In fiction==
[[File:A Lamentable Ballad of Fair Rosamond, Concubine to Henry II, circa 1825.png|thumb|300px|"A Lamentable [[Ballad]] of Fair Rosamond, [[Concubinage|Concubine]] to Henry II" ({{c.}} 1825)]]
[[File:John William Waterhouse - Fair Rosamund.jpg|thumb|''Fair Rosamund'' by [[John William Waterhouse]] (1917)]]

=== In literature ===

* ''The Complaint of Rosamund'', a 1592 poem by [[Samuel Daniel]];
* ''Rosamond'', an 1860 verse play by [[Algernon Swinburne]]
* ''The Saint'' (German: ''[[Der Heilige]]''), an 1879 novel by [[Conrad Ferdinand Meyer]];
* ''Rosemonde'', a 1913 poem by [[Guillaume Apollinaire]]<ref>Apollinaire, Guillaume (1913); Rees, Garnet (ed.) (1975) ''Alcools'' London, Athlone Press.</ref>
* ''Eleanor the Queen'' is a 1955 novel by [[Norah Lofts]]
* ''Penmarric'', a 1971 [[family saga]] by [[Susan Howatch]] (as Rose Parrish);
* ''The Courts of Love: The Story of Eleanor of Aquitaine'', a 1987 novel by [[Eleanor Alice Burford|Jean Plaidy]];
* ''The Falcon and the Flower'', a 1988 romance novel by [[Virginia Henley]];
* ''Wings of the Storm'', a 1992 novel by [[Susan Sizemore|Suzan Sizemore]];
* ''Always'', a 2000 novel by Lynsay Sands (mentioned);
* ''The Book of Eleanor, A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine'', a 2002 novel by Pamela Kaufman;
* ''Time and Chance'' (2002) and ''Devil's Brood'' (2008), two novels by [[Sharon Kay Penman]]; 
* ''Death at Blenheim Palace'', a 2006 novel by [[Susan Wittig Albert|Robin Paige]];
* ''The Death Maze'' (in the U.S.: ''The Serpent's Tale''), a 2008 novel by [[Diana Norman|Ariana Franklin]];
* ''The Time of Singing'', a 2008 novel by [[Elizabeth Chadwick]] (mentioned);
* ''The Captive Queen: A Novel of Eleanor of Aquitaine'', a novel by 2010 by [[Alison Weir]];
* ''The Winter Crown'', a 2014 novel by Elizabeth Chadwick;
* ''La Révolte'' (The Revolt), a 2018 French novel by [[Clara Dupont-Monod]]
* ''Nest of the Gyrfalcon,'' a 2024 novel by G. Lawrence 
* ''Eaglets,'' a 2024 novel by G. Lawrence

=== In cinema ===
* [[The Lion in Winter (1968 film)|''The Lion in Winter'']] is a 1968 adaptation of the play of the same name (alluded to).

=== In theatre ===

* ''[[Henry II (play)|Henry II]]'' is a 1692 play by [[William Mountfort]];
* ''[[The Lion in Winter]]'' is a 1966 play by [[James Goldman]] (alluded to).

=== In opera ===
* ''[[Rosamond (Clayton)|Rosamond]]'', a 1707 opera by [[Thomas Clayton (composer)|Thomas Clayton]] to a libretto by [[Joseph Addison]];
* ''[[Rosamond (Arne)|Rosamond]]'', a 1733 opera by [[Thomas Arne]] to [[Joseph Addison]]’s libretto;
* ''Rosamund'', a 1780 German [[Singspiel]] by [[Anton Schweitzer]] to a libretto by [[Christoph Martin Wieland]];
* ''[[Rosmonda d'Inghilterra]]'' ("Rosamund of England") is an 1834 Italian opera by [[Gaetano Donizetti]];
* ''[[Fair Rosamond (opera)|Fair Rosamond]]'' is an 1837 opera by [[John Barnett]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* Biography from ''Who's Who in British History'' (1998), H. W. Wilson Company. ''Who's Who in British History'', Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1998.
*W. L. Warren, ''Henry II'', 1973.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Rosamund}}
[[Category:1140s births]]
[[Category:1170s deaths]]
[[Category:Burials in Oxfordshire]]
[[Category:Mistresses of Henry II of England]]
[[Category:12th-century English women]]
[[Category:12th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:Oxfordshire folklore]]