Main Cast of Characters

HOUSE OF NORMANDY

MAUD, daughter of Henry I

HENRY I, King of England and Duke of Normandy, youngest son of William the Conqueror

ADELICIA OF LOUVAIN, second wife to Henry I

ALDYTH, Saxon nurse and godmother to Maud

HOUSE OF GLOUCESTER

ROBERT, Earl of Gloucester, bastard son of Henry I

MABEL OF GLAMORGAN, Robert’s wife

WILLIAM AND PHILLIP, two of their sons

HOUSE OF BLOIS

STEPHEN, third son of Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror

HENRY, Stephen’s younger brother

MATILDA OF BOULOGNE, Stephen’s wife

EUSTACE, Stephen’s son

HOUSE OF ANJOU

GEOFFREY, Count of Anjou and Maine

HENRY, his eldest son

HOUSE OF SCOTLAND

DAVID, King of Scotland

HOUSE OF MUELAN

THE DE BEAUMONT TWINS:

WALERAN, Count of Muelan

ROBERT “Robin,” Earl of Leicester

OTHERS

BRIAN FITZCOUNT, Lord of Wallingford, bastard son of the Count of Brittany

MILES FITZWALTER, Sheriff of Gloucester

RANULF, Earl of Chester

PEERS OF THE CHURCH

HENRY OF BLOIS, Stephen’s youngest brother, Abbot of Glastonbury, later Bishop of Winchester and Papal Legate

ROGER, Bishop of Salisbury, Chief Administrator to Henry I

THEOBALD OF BEC, an Archbishop of Canterbury

ULGAR, Bishop of Angers

WILLIAM OF CORBEIL, an Archbishop of Canterbury

Our fatal acts our angels are, or good or ill,

Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.

—Fletcher

The Normans are a turbulent race and, unless restrained by a firm government, are always ready for mischief. They are eager for rebellion, ripe for tumults, and alert for every sort of crime.

—Orderic Vitalis, monk and chronicler

All things to nothingness descend,

Grow old and die and meet their end;

Man dies, iron rusts, wood goes decayed,

Towers fall, walls crumble, roses fade …

Nor long shall any name resound

Beyond the grave, unless ’t be found

In some clerk’s book; it is the pen

Gives immortality to men.

—Master Wace,

Chronicle of the Norman Dukes