Afterword

The rebellion referenced at the end of The Queen’s Pawn¹ between Eleanor’s sons and Henry began in May 1173, and raged on until 1174. Henry fought each son on a different front: Henry the Younger in Normandy, Geoffrey in Brittany, and Richard in Aquitaine. One by one, each son fell to his father’s superior military strength, but Henry was not cruel in victory He forgave them all; he gave castles and additional income to each son in turn. But their war was fought in vain: Henry kept tight political control over all three of their duchies. The king was not as forgiving of Eleanor, since she was the driving force behind the rebellion in the first place. Henry no doubt knew that if left with her freedom, Eleanor would not accept defeat, but would rise in rebellion again, and bring their sons along with her. To separate her from their sons, especially her favorite son, Richard, Henry locked Eleanor away for the rest of his reign². In my novel, I have offered the possibility that Alais and Henry’s liaison³ was not all Henry’s idea, but an attempt by Alais to take the throne. I enjoy the idea that Eleanor of Aquitaine was not the only woman in Henry’s life that faced him as an equal. While the events of my novel occur from 1172 to 1173, the chroniclers of the time suggest that Henry took Alais as his mistress in 1175, and their liaison continued at least until 1177 In 1175, Henry also began to press the pope for an annulment⁴ of his marriage to Eleanor, which was never granted. Though in history, Alais was sent to Henry’s court at the age of nine, in The Queen’s Pawn I have made an adjustment to her age. Though most of the book is set in 1172-1173, I have made Alais fourteen and fifteen during those years to approximate her historical age when she and Henry engaged in their affair. Setting the novel during the years 1172-1173 served my book in one important way: it allowed the reader to watch Eleanor of Aquitaine’s machinations as she set the rebellion of 1173 in motion, while adding spice to Alais’ bid for the throne. The Queen’s Pawn simply asks the question, what if Henry and Alais’ affair had happened before the rebellion, and not after? How would the landscape of history and politics have changed? In my novel, though Alais’ play for power comes before Eleanor was locked away, the political landscape did not change because of her affair with Henry. No matter what the year, or how many letters Henry wrote to the pope calling for an annulment, Eleanor was queen, and remained so until Henry’s death in 1189.
Beyond the Plantagenets themselves, Alais, Louis, and Eleanor’s lady-in-waiting Amaria, all the other people in this novel are fictitious⁵. For simplicity’s sake, I have narrowed the action in my novel to only two of Henry’s holdings: Winchester Castle and Windsor Castle in England. Throughout Henry’s reign, the court was almost constantly on the move, and a great deal of time was spent in Henry’s larger holdings on the Continent, in Normandy and Anjou. I chose Windsor Castle for much of the action of this novel because it was the seat of Henry’s power in England. I chose Winchester Castle as the second setting for the novel because Eleanor was sent there once Henry imprisoned⁶ her. She spent the last years of Henry’s reign at Winchester Castle under guard, and additional years at Sarum on Salisbury Plain. Also for simplicity’s sake, I created the Abbey of St. Agnes near Bath as both a haven⁷ and a prison for Alais, Princess of France. The historical Alais knew many other prisons and havens⁸ throughout her years in Henry’s court; her historical whereabouts are known when others remember to make mention of her. In my fiction, I have given her a haven among the sisters of St. Agnes, a refuge that, as far as we know, she did not find in her life as a princess living among her father’s enemies. The unrest among the Plantagenets did not end with the events of my novel. Henry never allowed Eleanor freedom from her various prisons. She stayed under guard until Henry died in 1189. Young Henry died in 1187, and in 1189 Eleanor’s favorite son, Richard, became king. Though Richard was his father’s heir, he was at war with the king the winter Henry died. The first act of Richard’s reign was to set his mother free. Eleanor went on to advise her son throughout his kingship, with varying degrees of success. Though Richard clearly loved her, he rarely took her political advice, marrying a woman not of her choosing, going on Crusade in the Holy Land, and getting captured by fellow Christians⁹ on his way home so that Eleanor had to pay his ransom¹⁰. Alais’ historical fate is less certain. It is logical to assume that after Henry died, Alais would be released to return to France. Though Richard did not marry her as his betrothal¹¹ agreement called for, neither did he send her home. Instead, for years Alais remained in Rouen, in the heart of Richard’s territories. Only after Richard married Berengaria of Navarre and returned from his Crusade was Alais released to return to Paris. At that time, her brother, King Philippe Auguste, arranged her marriage to his vassal¹² the Count of Ponthieu. Sources say that Alais and her husband had at least one child, but the date and cause of her death were not recorded. Richard fought his last battle at the castle of Chalus, conquering the French stronghold only to die from a festering arrow wound in his shoulder. Eleanor buried him at Fontevrault, near his father, next to the spot where she would one day lie. Eleanor sent Richard’s spleen to be buried at the site of his last battle, perhaps as a gesture to symbolize¹³ that his temper killed him in the end. Richard’s heart was buried in Rouen, the city where Alais spent years at the beginning of his reign.

The End

1 pawn   

n.典当，抵押，小人物，走卒；v.典当，抵押

参考例句：

• He is contemplating pawning his watch.他正在考虑抵押他的手表。
• It looks as though he is being used as a political pawn by the President.看起来他似乎被总统当作了政治卒子。

2 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

3 liaison   

n.联系，（未婚男女间的）暖昧关系，私通

参考例句：

• She acts as a liaison between patients and staff.她在病人与医护人员间充当沟通的桥梁。
• She is responsible for liaison with researchers at other universities.她负责与其他大学的研究人员联系。

4 annulment   

n.废除，取消，（法院对婚姻等）判决无效

参考例句：

• The annulment caused a profound impression in Japan. 同盟的废止，在日本发生了强烈的反响。 来自辞典例句
• Law An annulment acquittal; dismissal, of a court order. 取消，宣告无罪；法院命令的撤销。 来自互联网

5 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

6 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

7 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

8 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

9 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

10 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

11 betrothal   

n. 婚约, 订婚

参考例句：

• Their betrothal took place with great pomp and rejoicings. 他们举行了盛大而又欢乐的订婚仪式。
• "On the happy occasion of the announcement of your betrothal," he finished, bending over her hand. "在宣布你们订婚的喜庆日。" 他补充说，同时低下头来吻她的手。

12 vassal   

n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的

参考例句：

• Wales was a vassal kingdom at that time.那时威尔士是个附庸国。
• The vassal swore that he would be loyal to the king forever.这位封臣宣誓他将永远忠诚于国王。

13 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。