Main Cast of Characters

House of Anjou:

Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, count of Anjou

Henry’s sons:

• Henry, the young king, called Harry in this book (married to Marguerite of France)
• Richard, also duke of Aquitaine under his father
• Geoffrey, count of Brittany (betrothed to Constance, heiress of Brittany)
• Prince John
• Henry’s misbegotten son, Geoffrey Plantagenet, oblate and later bishop-elect of the See of Lincoln

Henry’s daughters:

• Matilda
• Little Eleanor
• Joanna

Henry’s cousin:

Count William of Gloucester

Henry’s misbegotten half sister:

Emma of Anjou

Members of his English administration:

• Robert de Beaumont the Elder, earl of Leicester, justiciar
• His son, Robert de Beaumont the Younger, also justiciar
• Richard de Lucy, justiciar
• Ranulf de Glanville, sheriff and later justiciar
• William FitzNigel, treasurer
• Earl Patrick of Salisbury, military commander in Aquitaine

Marshals of England:

• John, marshal of England
• His eldest son, also John, later marshal of England
• His fourth son, William, knight in the train of Henry’s eldest son, Harry

House of Aquitaine:

• Eleanor: duchess of Aquitaine, Henry’s wife and queen of England
• Her uncle, Ralph de Faye, lord of Châtellerault
• Her niece Isabella, countess of Flanders
• Bertran de Born, lord of Hautefort, influential troubadour at the court of Poitiers
• Peter of Blois, secretary-chaplain to Eleanor and Henry

House of Capet:

• Louis VII, king of France, formerly husband to Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Marie, countess of Champagne, Louis’s eldest daughter by Eleanor
• Marie’s husband, Count Henri of Champagne
• Marguerite, Louis’s eldest daughter by Constance of Castile and wife to Prince Harry
• Alais, Louis’s second daughter by Constance of Castile
• Adela of Champagne-Blois, Louis’s third wife and queen of France
• Philip, Louis’s son by Adela of Champagne-Blois

The de Cliffords of Bredelais:

• Sir Walter de Clifford, a petty knight
• Lady Margaret, his wife
• Rosamund, his youngest daughter

Peers of the church and churchmen:

• Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, primate of England
• Roger, archbishop of York
• Father Matthew, priest at Salisbury

Others:

• Aude, midwife and healer
• Hildi, servant to Rosamund
• Abbess of Godstow
• Amaria, attendant to Eleanor
• Ermengarde, countess of Narbonne
• Women at Canterbury: Meg, Agnes, Cicily, Ragenhild

Note: Aude, Father Matthew, Hildi, the women at Canterbury, and the abbess of Godstow (although an abbess undoubtedly existed) are fictional characters. The others had their place in history.