"theblackprussian"'s posting and the Lusignans

1. Was Anthony Woodville the real Sir Lancelot?
Posted by: "theblackprussian" theblackprussian@... theblackprussian
Date: Thu Nov 23, 2006 3:46 am ((PST))

Good grief. What an intriguing posting. I make no
attempt to comment on it. My three pence/cents
worth is this: I'm surprised to see the scoundrel
Lusignans still at it in the 1480s. I know them
from the period of Eleanor of Aquitaine when:
they tried to kidnap the newly-annulled Eleanor
on her way to Poitiers, killing Earl Patrick of
Salisbury and capturing his nephew, the young
William Marshall; were then driven into exile,
and to Jerusalem, by the young King Henry II;
rampaged through Eleanor's provinces during
Henry's reign and had to be suppressed by the
young Richard Lionheart, Eleanor's heir to
Aquitaine and Poitou.

There was never any love lost between the
Angevins and Lusignan. During the Second Crusade
(1147-8), French commanders wanted to hang
Eleanor's military captain, the teenaged Geoffroi
de Rançon, for a military blunder. Eleanor
intervened to save his life. She lived to regret
it:

"Ten years later, de Rançon commanded my forces on Crusade, taking
the blame for the Turks' ambush of Louis' army. I was just able to
save him from being hanged: I always thought well of Geoffroi. But
Taillebourg became an endless source of trouble. Furthermore, the
house of Rançon married with the Lusignans. Bad blood. Legend holds
that Lusignan descends from the fairy Melusine-and she was part
snake! My experiences of her family bear that out.
Richard, undeterred, took Taillebourg, a feat never before tried, let
alone done in a mere ten days. Its defences were formidable. He razed
the Rançons' fortress to the ground. That, I am pleased to say, had a
salutary effect on our vassals."

Years later, Eleanor decided that, if she
couldn't beat the French, she could at least
marry them. She made a midwinter crossing of the
Pyrenees (January 1200) to bring back her own
granddaughter Blanca (later Blanche of Castile)
to marry the heir to France. En route...

"We made good time until we reached La Marche. Lacking safe-conduct
from the Lusignans, I should have known better than to try the
journey without greater force. But the press of affairs had driven that
curséd clan out of my head. They stopped us; although less violently
than in their ambush thirty years before, when Patrick of Salisbury was
killed on my account and William Marshall almost lost his life. This time
we were ill-equipped for fight or flight. Meanwhile, time pressed sore. So
I yielded to the force majeure held over my head by descendants of the
very brigands who slew Patrick. They were led now by Hughes le Brun,
an ape of a man, but cunning, as is all that tribe. In my predicament, I
took the only course of action open to me: I yielded to pressure.
Such gratitude! Hughes is the grandson of my former commander,
Geoffroi de Rançon, whose neck I had saved. Had I let the Franks hang
him, he would not have sired Burgone de Taillebourg, sparing the world
her issue, the Lusignans, Guy and Hughes.
I will say this for Hughes le Brun. He wasted no time on niceties.
He agreed to permit my passage to and from Castile if I would cede the
county of La Marche, which Henry had seized after my first encounter
with Guy de Lusignan. So, with no more ado, I ceded La Marche. Of
course, since I conceded this transfer under duress it had no standing
in law; and we would have no compunction in taking the county back,
with vengeance to boot. Meanwhile, I acquired the right to proceed and
return, and to do so under the safe-conduct of an escort."

Still later, of course, King John, Eleanor's sole
surviving son, stole Hughes le Brun's bride,
setting the scene for another interminable
go-around. The quoted passages above come from my
upcoming book of Eleanor's memoirs, "Power of a
Woman. Memoirs of a turbulent life." Enjoy it. I
hope the formatting holds together for readers.

Robert Fripp
--
Robert Fripp
Web: http://RobertFripp.ca/ || http://writers.ca
Tel: 416.481.7070 x 29 || Email: r_fripp@...
Toronto

--

Robert Fripp
Marketing communications in I.T., Life Sciences, Healthcare
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Web: http://RobertFripp.ca/ || http://writers.ca
Tel: 416.481.7070 x 29 || Email: r_fripp@...
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