Royal Favourites of Medieval England

All monarchs have need of those to whom they give their trust. Never was this moreessential than for the kings of Medieval England. From the Norman victory of 1066 to thebloody demise of Richard III in 1485, the stings and arrows of royal life bred relentlessvigilance, distrust, and paranoia. This volume covers a period of 419 years. It starts with a bloody battle and ends with abloody battle. To understand the lives and actions of court favourites, one must also knowabout the monarchs they served. In this book, you will read short biographies of eachmonarch, followed by a few of those courtiers to whom they gave their trust, not alwaysdeserved. You will read about the vicious actions of William the Conqueror, who, despite his victoryon Senlac Hill, took five years to subdue the English, but who could not have achieved hisvictories without trusted lieutenants like William Fitz Osbern. How Stephen's innateindolence almost lost him England, had it not been for William of Ypres, and how Matilda'shalf-brother, Robert of Gloucester, kept her hopes of finally sitting on the throne bequeathedto her by her father Henry I alive. The Plantagenet kings changed the face of England, often bringing riches to those whohitched their wagons to the monarchy. Men still revered today, like William Marshal, knownas The Greatest Knight, who faithfully served five kings. Various younger brothers heldhigh church offices. Not all served to enrich themselves. John Beauchamp became a favouriteof Edward III but was not overtly mercenary. The Wars of the Roses left England virtually bankrupt. The favourites on either side, theLancastrian Somersets and the Yorkist Nevilles, gained enormous wealth and power,determined to fight to the death. The death that ended it was Richard III's on 22nd August1485, when Henry Tudor grabbed the throne,and the Tudor Age began.