Because of the Impeding Sins of the Son: Henry the Young King Through the Eyes of a Foreigner
From
his wife, he [Henry II of England] had four sons and two daughters*,
namely King Henry, a most virtuous, generous and handsome youth, who
retained for himself any number of virtuous knights from everywhere
as household knights. While still living, his father caused him to be crowned as king, which afterwards was turned to his own
disadvantage.
Interesting
to look at Henry the Young King and his short career as a co-ruler of
England through the eyes of a foreigner, isn't it? The foreigner I am
going to "employ" is Gilbert of Mons (b. 1140-1150), a
cleric, who served at the court of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut, first
as a chaplain (1175), then second and first notary (118-1184), only
to come into office of chancellor of both Hainaut (1178/80-1195) and
Namur (1192-1195). His greatest accomplishment, however, was the
chronicle he was the sole author of and which went down in history
as Chronicon Hanoniense, the Chronicle of
Hainaut. He wrote it shortly after the death of his patron,
Count Baldwin V in 1195, which also marked the end of his court
career, probably because Baldwin's son and successor, Baldwin VI,
preferred his own ministers. Judging from the events and historical
figures Gilbert mentioned, he must have completed it between 1195 and
1196, for there are no references to the events after 1196. The death
of Emperor Henry VI in 1197, for instance, is not mentioned, nor is
John ever styled King of England. Still the chronicle is invaluable
source of information not only about the houses of Hainaut and
Flanders, but also about the counts of Champagne, Vermandois, dukes
of Louvain, etc., not to mention the royal families of France and
England. Just to give you a foretaste of what you may expect if you
decide to take a closer look at Gilbert's work:
Therefore,
having reasonable advice, he [Baldwin V] even proposed to ask the
count of Flanders, as he had always served him in all matters with
many men and great expenses. Taking with him outstanding and virtuous
men, Eustace the Elder of Roeulx and his son Eustace, Nicholas of
Barbencon, Otto of Trayegnies, Wlater of Wargnies, Amand of Prouvz,
Regnier of Trith, Hugh of Croix, Baldwin castellan of Mons, Goswin of
Thulin, John Cornutus, Baldwin of Walincourt, William of Haussy and
many others, he came to the count at Arras. He found him there with
many Flemish and Vermandois knights on the Sunday before the feast of
St Peter on the third day. The Count of Flanders presented an
extremely troubled face, with everyone sitting silently because their
count was disturbed. The count of Hainaut called upon the count of
Flanders as his ally and sworn man [the two were brothers-in-law] to
help him against the duker of Louvain because of his honour and to
retain his inheritance. the count of Flanders looked for
excuses... (p. 91-92)
Gilbert's
accounts are always like the one presented above, especially when he
describes "domestic" affairs, meaning Hainaut and Flanders.
Having been an eyewitness to the events he mentions, he always
provides details in great abundance, just like in the snippet above.
The names of Baldwin's knights, Philip of Flanders's troubled face,
his men sitting in silence, etc., all these stand as testimony to
Gilbert's reliability. When it comes to foreign affairs, however, he
sometimes gets the dates mixed. Let us not forget that the Hainaut's
connections to the ruling house of England, its court and politics,
went mainly through Philip, the count of Flanders, whose mother
Sybille was the sister of Geoffrey le Bel of Anjou and thus aunt of
Henry II of England. As for Eleanor of Aquitaine, there was a
connection as well, Philip's younger sister Marguerite was the wife
of Eleanor's nephew, the young Count Raoul II the Leper of Vermandois
(d. 1167), before she married Baldwin V.
But
to the point, in his Chronicle Gilbert mentiones the
Young King a few times. The lines I have opened this post with are
the first in which Henry's name appears. Curiously enough, when
reading about Henry and his younger brother Richard [the future
Richard I Lionheart] as they stand together in the introduction of
Henry II and Eleanor's family, we are offered a rare glimpse of the
differences in their personalities. Thus we get 'King Henry, a most
virtuous, generous and handsome youth, who retained for himself any
number of virtuous knights from everywhere as household knights
...' vs. 'Richard, a most fierce knight, to whom his father
(while still living) gave the duchy of Aquitaine for his possession.
Accordingly Richard was called the count of Poitiers'.
We
know that Gilbert wrote twelve years after Henry's untimely death, so
with the benefit of hindsight, still it is interesting to take a
glimpse of how Henry II - Henry the Young King relations were
percieved by those representing the outer world. The first passages
about Henry are fair enough, Gilbert succeeds in staying impartial.
He neither condemns the son nor favours the father, stating simply
that the coronation of the prince was Henry II's mistake. He does not
dwell on the young king's transgressions as the other chroniclers
tend to do. Next time he mentions Henry, however, and it is on the
occassion of Baldiwn V's homage to the young king's father paid in
1172, he spins the well known and often retold moral tale, which - if
we take pains to investigate the real state of affairs - turns out to
be far from true.
In
those days, this same King Henry of England (...) embraced his sons
with great esteem and raised them to their own properties with all
honour and placed them in charge by themselves. For he put aside the
royal crown and caused his son Henry to be crowned, a most virtuous
knight, most generous in faultless gifts, who attrected to his
company whatever virtuous kinghts he could form any lands, and had as
wife the daughter of King Louis of France. Of the entire land, King
Henry II retained for himself the fruits and profits belonging to
that kingdom, and kept for himself the administration of his son the
new king. Afterwards his son was not averse to rising up against his
father, with the help of King Louis of France, wishing to drive his
father from the kingdom. He had no success against his father, by his
own efforts or those of his helpers, not because of the pressing
merits of the father, but because of the impeding sins of the
son... (pp.63-64)
We
know that Henry II neither "put aside" the crown nor raised
all his sons to their own properties - Roger of Hoveden makes it
clear how many times the Young King asked his father for a piece of
land or a castle where he could settle and live with his wife, each
time to no avail. When describing the circumstances of Henry's
death., Gilbert makes amends - not intentionally but he does -
stating openly that Henry waged war on Richard because "he
possessed nothing by inheritance from his father or mother, and his
brother Richard possessed the entire land of their mother...",
thus Henry wanted Aquitaine for himself.
As
for the Great Revolt of 1173-74, Henry's role is summarised in one
sentence- 'In the year of 1173 following the Lord's incarnation,
Henry the aforesaid young king of England made war and serious
hostility against his father with the help of King Louis of France'
(p.65). Gilbert's prime focus is on Philip of Flanders
and the role he played, but when it comes to Baldwin V of Hainaut and
why he did not hasten to Henry II's aid "from whom he had ten
marks annually in fief", he offers something that can be taken
as an excuse, noting that because the count "was not in any way
obligated in homage or affection to the king of France", he
wanted to cross in secret through the lands of Philip of Flanders,
his brother-in-law, to join Henry's forces. According to Gilbert,
Baldwin actually set off at the head of his troops, leaving the reins
of government to his Countess, but was surprised and "challenged
by an ambush" by some Flemings, one Hellin of Wavrin and others.
As
for the war of 1181, between Philippe Auguste of France and Philip of
Flanders, we are offered detailed account, mainly and not
surprisingly from the Hainaut/Flanders perspective. We learn that 'by
the Devil's incitement, huge disagreement arose between Count Philip
of Flanders and Vermandois, and his lord King Philip of France' and
that, as Gilbert put it, "each was confident in his fierceness
and very great power, and hurried to engage in war". Henry II of
England sent his three oldest sons at the head of their troops to
support the young king of France. This military campaign is described
in detail not only by Gilbert but also by Ralph of Diceto in
his Images of History. Here's my post about Ralph's
version of events, in which he mentions Henry the Young King a few
times. In Gilbert' s Chronicle Henry's role and involovement in the
struggle is reduced to one sentence - 'The lord king Philip of
France, who had Henry the young king of England with 600 knights with
him, rushed to battle against the count of Flanders' (p.78). I wish
that in Gilbert's words we could find a confirmation of Ralph's
version, namely that "The
count [Philip of Flanders] feared to meet King Henry, son of the king
of England, face to face and shut himself up in the castle of Crepy".
Even if Gilbert says nothing about it, I still find it highly
probable. From Philip's perspective it must have been extremely
difficult to meet Henry face to face and not only because they were
kin, but also because they were friends and companions from the
tournaments circuits. I would risk a statement that there were
no other two men in their world, who would understand each as they
did.
Lastly,
a few words about Henry's death, an interesting bit about Richard
included - not every chronicler states openly that the future
Lionheart was not a favourite in his lifetime (certainly not in 1183)
- to the contrary, the disgruntled barons of Aquitaine had much to
say about it, and, judging by the snippet I am to give, not only
them. It seems that Richard earned a bad reputation also "abroad".
Although
the young king had taken many castles and good towns from his
brother, and had attracted many powerful men to his side (because
Richard was loved by few), yet that young king was surprised by an
illness, and deprted from the world in the borough which is called
Martel. (p. 84)
To
sum up, Gilbert of Mons certainly offers many interesting bits of
information about his contemporaries, the royal House of Anjou
included. I daresay that his foreignness is to our - I mean Henry the
Young King and his family fans - great advantage. I hope I have
succeeded in making this post and its content as fascinating to Henry
the Young King readers as I myself have found it.
* Henry and Eleanor had three daughters: Matilda (b. 1156), Eleanor (b. 1161) and Joanna (b. 1165).
* Henry and Eleanor had three daughters: Matilda (b. 1156), Eleanor (b. 1161) and Joanna (b. 1165).
Sources:
Gilbert of Mons, Chronicle of Hainaut. Translated into English by Laura Napran. The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 2005
Ralph of Diceto. Images of History. In The Plantagenet Chronicles, ed. Dr.Elizabeth Hallam, Greenwich Editions, 2002.
I am going off Richard the Lionheart the more I learn about him. Not that he was ever a favourite of mine:). He was ruthless in Acquitaine and it's not surprising money there turned to his elder brother instead.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am in Team Henry I can't help admiring Richard :-) But, as Prof Matthew Strickland points out in his "On the Instruction of a Prince", had Richard died in 1183 (the year of Henry's death) instead of 1199, he would have been remembered merely as tyrannical ruler not crusader hero.
DeleteFantastic post, dear Kasia. I would love to read Gilbert's chronicle. It sounds fascinating. Shared on fb. Take care! xx
ReplyDeleteThank you, Marsha :-) The chronicle is really worth reading. Such abundance of fascinating bits and details, especially for someone interested in Vermandois and Flanders...
DeleteVery thorough post, Kasia. It would be almost as interesting to meet some of the chroniclers (on our time travel trips) as the people they write about. Pretty interesting characters, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteThanks once again for enlightening us,
Joan
I am happy you enjoyed it, Joan! It was great fun to write it. And yes, I would love to meet both Gilbert and Ralph of Diceto :-)
Delete