The Characters
Between history and legend. The extraordinary mix of personalities and destinies that resulted in the construction of la Tour Blanche.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
If Eleanor hadn’t be able to marry twice, it would have changed the history of both France and England (and that of Issoudun)
Richard the Lionheart
A name fit for the hero of our story. Richard, the man with all the qualities of a legendary knight and king.
Philippe Auguste
Now considered one of the greatest kings of France. In Phillippe Auguste’s early years his legacy was far from assured.
Blanche de Castille
Le Tour Blanche - Blanche de Castille: the connection seems clear but it is not that simple.
Mercadier: a Mercenary
A lesser known character certainly but a decisive figure in our history.
Jean Sans Terre
Johnny no land (Prince John) It is often said that every good story deserves an equally good villain.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
(1122-1204)
Queen of France - Queen of England
Eleanor, granddaughter of William IX of Aquitaine, the Troubadour, was only 15 years old when she married Louis VII, heir to the French throne. The wedding took place on July 25, 1137 in Bordeaux. A few days later, the young newlyweds were crowned Duke and Duchess of Aquitaine in Saint-Étienne Cathedral, Poitiers and in December of that year, Eleanor was crowned queen of France in Bourges.
It was an excellent union for France’s crown estates which saw its territory triple. As dowry, Eleanor brought the realms of Guyenne, Gascony, Limousin, Angoumois, Saintonge and Périgord; the equivalent of 19 modern day departments.
Eleanor was a renowned beauty, free-spirited and cultivated, mixing great strength of character with a playful sense of humor: traits that were likely to attract criticism from the royal court. On the other hand, chroniclers of the time describe her husband as "a man of great piety who was rare in the gentleness he showed his subjects. An intelligent prince who was also devout and meek." Not a great match for Eleanor, who, to compound the issue, could not provide a male heir; a very serious problem in that time.
In 1141, Louis VII refused the appointment of Pierre de La Châtre as bishop of Bourges. Even using troops to block his access to the city. In retaliation the Pope excommunicated the king, the most serious sanction possible in Christendom.
To win back the Pope’s favor Louis VII responded to Bernard de Clairvaux’s call to arms and set off on the Second Crusade with his wife in tow.
But in Antioch (on the modern day Turkish / Syrian border) their relationship began to fall apart; the Queen seemed to be a little too close to her uncle Raymond de Poitiers, and rumors circulated, which upset, annoyed and embarrassed the king. In November of 1149, the couple returned to France... but not in same boat!
As proof of the independent power she wielded, Eleanor managed to have her marriage annulled. A humiliation for Louis and a disaster for the kingdom of France!
Their divorce was finalized at the Council of Beaugency, under the charge of consanguinity (inbreeding) by 4 degrees of separation. The charge was fairly common at the time, but this was the first time it had been brought by a woman.
Eleanor returned to Poitiers; on the way she would fight off two attempts to kidnap her! Both Thibault de Blois and Geoffroy d'Anjou, were desperate to get their hands on this powerful and attractive woman who controlled vast territories. In thwarting each of them she showed character that further reinforced her already steely reputation.
Eleanor had other plans. On May 18, 1152 - only eight weeks after the annulment of her marriage – she married the young and impetuous Henry II Plantagenet in Poitiers. She was 30, he was 19 and together they owned almost half of France.
Good fortune smiled upon the couple and on December 19, 1154 Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy, Earl of Anjou, Maine and Touraine, took advantage of the absence of a credible heir and the precarious political situation across the channel to claim the crown of England!
Eleanor now became the only woman in history to be queen of France and then England.
Relax and find out more (in French): Eleanor on the YouTube channel "Confessions d'Histoire".
Richard the Lionheart
(1157-1199)
King of England
The Plantagenet Dynasty
Richard was everything you would imagine a King of legend to be. He had a long blond mane, a warrior's stature, courage verging on foolhardiness (which would ultimately bring about his demise), a poet's soul (a troubadour who wrote several songs). But more than anything his exceptional destiny could have been written by the gods.
Even today he is one of the most popular historic kings of England. However, he only visited the island twice, and both those times briefly. In France, he remains a very popular figure, where he was born, educated and died, and he wrote his poems in langue d'oc (the ancient language spoken in the south of modern France), he probably spoke very poor English (like many French people today).
The young Richard was, his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine’s, golden child. She raised him at her court in Poitiers and made him a duke at 15. She did not discourage him from fighting with his father, Henry II, even if it meant allying himself with the King of France.
In 1190, Pope Gregory VIII launched the Third Crusade. He believed that this sacred mission would redeem the sins of idle kings, princes and petty warlords. as well as getting them out of his hair for a while.
Richard was so keen on glory that, en route, he invade the island of Cyprus (“Sorry guys! Just passing through”). When he finally joined the crusades, he proved his spirit and talent as a tactician. It was not only his mane of hair which gave him his name but willingness to dip his claws in blood (sometimes with no justification).
He was also indecisive and had brutal mood swings, leading the troubadour Bertrand de Born to name him "Oc e No" - (“yes and no” in langue d’Oc).
He rowed with allies (including Philippe Auguste) and, after battle, consorted with enemies. He thought Malik, brother of Saladin the sultan of Egypt and Syria, was pretty cool. and even offered him his sister Jeanne’s hand in marriage. Why not? In feudal time they liked to keep it in the family. He never asked her opinion on the matter, but it was never going to happen anyway. Too many people would have found that sort of behaviour going a little too far.
He was one of the last people to leave the crusade and his journey home rivals the odessy, with enough drama and humour for a kitsch adventure epic.
With far from ideal weather conditions to cross the Mediterranean, Richard set sail for Marseille. However, fearing an unwelcomed arrival, he got cold feet and turned back, only to be caught up in a great tempest (storm). Managing to get through it in one piece, he landed on the island of Corfu, negotiated with a band of pirates and arranged for them to discreetly smuggle him and a band of his men into Croatia.
He then continued his journey, posing as "Hugues" a simple merchant. It wasn’t a great disguise and he was quickly spotted, captured and held hostage by Henry VI, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
He remained a prisoner for two years. Easily enough time to pen a lovely ballad.
You can listen to Richard's lament on this website moyenagepassion.com
Meanwhile, his mother, who was, by this time, over seventy years old, struggled to negotiate his release. The ransom, was astronomical. And Eleanor had to levy special taxes on the people of England three times to honour it. Then she travelled to Germany with her king’s ransom to liberate her golden child.
Richard returned to England a hero on March 13, 1194. But he didn’t hang around for long. He had important business on French soil, to defend his possessions from the French king, Philippe Auguste.
And so, on a beautiful day in July 1195, shortly after Mercadier, the mercenary and loyal friend of Richard, had captured the city, the two kings met in Issoudun. Negotiating a truce that no one believed was possible. It was so improbably that their negotiations were promptly followed by more fighting and yet again more negotiations. In the meantime, the fortuitous Mercadier got down to building the White Tower.
In 1199 the great king Richard let his sense of adventure get the better of him; embarking on a paltry expedition, a half-cooked treasure hunt, which would eventually lead to his death at Chalus Castle near Limoges (which you can still visit).
Heroes often die in stupid ways (even lionhearts).
NB: Not all English people agree about Richard. In “The Talisman”, published in 1825, Walter Scott, the inventor of the historical novel, ignores many of his better qualities and focuses on his raw brutish side.
Relax and find out more (in French): Watch “Richard, the Third Crusade and Philippe Auguste” an excellent video from the YouTube channel "Confessions of History".
Cartoon: the return of the good King Richard, as imagined by Disney, and a strange marriage! Bare in mind the first character we see is Prince John!
Philippe Auguste
(1165-1226)
King of France
The Capetian Dynasty
Philip II is one of the greatest kings of France. However, at first, his destiny was not assured. When he ascended to the throne, at the age of 15 years, the kingdom he inherited was a fragile and loose union about the size of the region around modern-day Paris.
At his death, his heirs inherited a kingdom almost as large as modern day France. For this reason, during his lifetime, he was given the name Auguste (Augustus - he who increases his kingdom) in the image of the emperors of Rome.
Yet he was nothing like a Roman emperor and definitely less popular than Richard, except maybe among historians. Throughout his reign, much longer than that of the King of England, he showed that he was a shrewd, strategic and conservative monarch, who understood that good governance and well-conducted diplomacy can be just as effective as war. In that sense, he was modern. It was also Phillipe II that made Paris a real capital city.
Serious to the point of being austere, Phillipe II was not the kind of king who laughed and joked, poets and troubadours were not welcome in his court. Books about chivalry were not his thing, too frivolous! Unlike Richard, he did not believe in adventure for adventure’s sake and didn’t waste too much time on the Third Crusade, partly be because he got sick but mainly because he was in a hurry to return and capitalise upon Richard's absence from France.
His first wife, Isabelle de Hainaut, died in 1190 (a stroke of good luck, as he had already attempted to leave her on political grounds). In 1193, Phillippe was thinking of remarriage. The princess Ingeburge seemed the perfect candidate, the daughter of Voldemar the Great, King of Denmark, who shared Phillipe’s dislike of the English. A perfect alliance?
Ingeburge was 17. "Her complexion was radiant and she had the majestic pride befitting a consort," writes Rigord, Philippe Auguste's biographer. But, he adds, "she was cold, inanimate and entirely devoid of the politeness and niceties so necessary for the Court of France." Yet despite this incite Rigord remains, like everyone else, perplexed by Philip's attitude: "Either the new queen had some secret flaw, or a magic spell stopped the king from possessing her. He suddenly felt an incredible aversion, no longer being able to cast his eyes upon her." She would spend the next twenty years of her life moving between convents and prisons. Even for the period that's a bit harsh!
Right, let’s get back to business, July 27, 1214, despite the religious conventions of the time, Philip engaged in combat on the sabbath. His foe, Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor along with Flemish, English, and French lords in toe. This could have been his Waterloo but Phillipe managed to come out on top.
Georges Duby, a great historian of the Middle Ages writes: "After Bouvines, no one could question the prodigious range of the royal estates. Nothing could prevent royal bailiffs from collecting taxes from the defeated provinces. (...) from now on, no principality throughout the kingdom, would consider rebelling.”
Even though Philip’s father had left him with a weakened estate, facing threats from all sides. During his reign he completely turned the situation around; laying the foundations for French royal power that would prevail until the revolution and the birth of the modern era.
The great historian Fernand Braudel says of him: "He was a modern Ulysses, who founded an empire in only a few years."
Blanche de Castille
(1188-1252)
Queen of France
When they met in Issoudun in 1195, Philippe and Richard envisioned an alliance between their two families as a means to broker lasting peace. But it was only after Richard's death, during the reign of his brother King John (Jean sans terre), that their plan came to fruition.
Blanche de Castile was Richard and John’s niece. Her mother married Alphonse VIII of Castile, so she was also a minor Spanish princess.
The Treaty of Goulet established her destiny: she would marry the heir to the King of France. It was Eleanor that instigated their union, hoping, perhaps, to unite the two kingdoms and bring about peace. It was her last stroke of brilliance. Despite being more than 80, she went to fetch her granddaughter from Spain and brought her back to become queen.
On May 23, 1200, she married Louis, Philippe Auguste’s young son, in Port-Mort (Eure). Blanche was twelve, Louis was thirteen. He enjoyed games and riding horseback. To begin with, alone and far from her friends and family, the little princess spent most of her time crying. But the young prince showed himself tender and sincere in his attempt to console her. As they grew up, Louis and Blanche became a model couple. Which was rare at the time, especially among the rich and powerful. "Never had a queen loved her lord and children so strongly, and the king loved them too, they loved each other so much, that that were like one." wrote a poet.
In 1216, they headed for England. As the English were seeking to impeach the disgraced King John, Louis saw an opportunity to claim England's throne in his wife’s name. After all, she was the niece of Richard the Lionheart! The young couple were close to achieving the unthinkable: bringing together the kingdoms of France and England. At first, the English barons cheered on the Frenchman. But when the king’s death rid them of his scheming, they decided to crown John’s 9-year-old son, giving Louis the cold shoulder.
Louis suddenly found himself out of favour, on the wrong side of the channel. Blanche begged Philippe Auguste to send reinforcements. But the King of France had never had much faith in Louis’ risky expedition and so he called the mission off,
and Louis fled, with his tail between his legs, fled back to France.
In 1223, his father the great king Phillippe Auguste died. Louis and Blanche were crowned 15 days later. King Louis was celebrated for his bravery, and would go on to be known as Louis the Lion. Not exactly original, and maybe not a good sign as after only three years as king, following campaigns in the Midi region, he was struck down by an epidemic.
Blanche became responsible for the kingdom. and immediately had to combat the important French vassals manoeuvring for power and influence. They did not appreciate being led by a woman of the Plantagenet dynasty. She devoted herself to the education of her son, Louis IX, preparing him for political life. She was clearly talented as he became a great king, and earning title St. Louis.
Although her origins were Plantagenet, Blanche supported the cause of the Capetians throughout her life. In some ways her life mirrored Eleanor’s: less flamboyant, a little duller, but still reflecting an exceptional destiny.
Mercadier, the mercenary
Unknown birth - died in 1200
In 1195, Richard the Lionheart called upon Mercadier to invade and annex Issoudun. Then to see to the fortification of the city. So Mercadier built la Tour Blanche.
Mercadier was a traveller, a mercenary. The leader of a band who offered their services to kings or lords who required seasoned fighters. We know of three such men who served Richard: Algais, Louvart and Mercadier. A band of men "who thought nothing of shedding human blood, looting and arson." according to Mathieu Paris, a chronicler of the time.
Everyone used them. Philippe Auguste often hired the services of a mercenary named Cadoc. Among these unscrupulous individuals, Mercadier stands out in his own right, maybe because we know a little more about him. but perhaps also because of his closeness to Richard. As soon as the King of England set foot in Normandy, after his release, the two men were inseparable. "They travelled together, fought side by side; and in the letters by which the King of England instructed his nobles of his victories, he didn’t forget to mention, with praise, the exploits of his faithful companion," claims Hercules Géraud, author of a study on mercenaries.
Mercadier was at Richard’s side during his last moments.
Adémar V, Viscount of Limoges, had discovered a treasure at Chalus Castle. He offered Richard, his overlord, a share of it. But Richard wanted it all to himself. On March 26, 1199, he arrived at the castle along with his faithful mercenary. He was casing the joint, when he was hit in the shoulder by a crossbow bolt. Mercadier handed Richard over to his doctor before attacking the castle and then he and his men exterminated everyone except the guilty crossbowman. Meanwhile, Richard declined and his wounds became gangrenous. Mercadier brought the captured bowman before the ailing king.
Roger de Hordeven, a chronicler, described the scene:
Richard: What harm had I done to you, that you wanted to bring about my death?
Crossbowman: You killed my father and my two brothers and you would have killed me too. You can take whatever revenge on me you wish, as long as you, who has visited such great evil on the world, die too.
Richard: You will live in spite of crime. Your life will serve as a reason for hope for the vanquished and a living testament to my humanity.
The crossbowman was released. But as soon as the king died, Mercadier had him recaptured, skinned alive and hung from the gallows. He had decided against humanity!
On April 10, 1200, Mercadier went to Bordeaux to greet Queen Eleanor, who had brought Blanche de Castille. His days of banditry were brought to an end as he was murdered in broad daylight by another gang leader.
He did not have time to make the most of the castle that Richard had gifted him in Beynac (Dordogne).
Prince John
Jean Sans Terre or Johnny no Land makes the ideal villain. He didn’t have the best start in life. He was the youngest son born to Henry II and Eleanor. His father preferred Henry the younger (who died too soon to take the throne) and his mother preferred Richard. As a result, they didn’t grant him a title or land (hence his name). No wonder hate burned inside him!
So as soon as Richard’s back was turned (while he was held hostage) Prince John tried to seize power. He stayed in England and plotted with Philip Augustus, who took advantage of the fact that John was unloved by his barons and his people.
When Richard returned to England, John knelt before him. Richard forgave him while also humiliating him: "Don’t worry John, you are but a child. You've been keeping poor counsel. Those who advised you will pay. Get up, Let’s eat."
When Richard died, the succession was in doubt. Should the kingdom go to John, or his nephew, Arthur? John settled the matter in his own way, by having Arthur killed.
"A very bad man was King John” says the Chronicle of the Dukes of Normandy, “He was cruel to all his men; he coveted beautiful women, shame was brought upon the highest men of the land, for which he was extremely hated. He never really told the truth.”
He died in 1216 of dysentery. A pitiful end to "this man who defiled more than hell," according to Chronicler Mathieu Paris.
History has not been kind to him. But then he wasn’t very kind to his contemporaries! That said, many people at the time were just as cruel as him. It is he however, who best embodies the dark side of the Middle Ages.
No land, no luck!
…and to cheer things up here’s the evil Prince John as imagined by Disney: