Angevin # 8: The Great Revolt a/k/a Eleanor's Revolt

"There is a legend of a King called Lear, whom I have a lot in common. Both of us have kingdoms and multiple children we adore, and both of us are old, but there it ends. He cuts his kingdom into bits. I cannot do that. I've built an empire and I must know that it is going to last. All of the British Isles, half of France; I am the greatest power in a 1000 years, greater even than Charlemagne...." - Peter O'Toole as King Henry II in "A Lion in Winter"

"Well what family doesn't have its ups and downs" - Kathrine Hepburn as Queen Eleanor in "A Lion in Winter"

By the end of 1172, 39 year old Henry Plantagenet, militarily and diplomatically, was arguably the most powerful man in western Europe save the Pope in Rome. But his recent missteps in the Toulouse conflict and the tragedy that was the Becket controversy, though both situations salvaged, had made him realize his own mortality and concerned him of his legacy staying intact after he was gone. He had controversially crowned his eldest child, 17 year old Henry, as junior king of England, Duke of Normandy, and Count of Anjou; his next eldest, 16 year old Matilda was part of a marriage alliance with one of the most powerful men in the German Holy Roman Empire, Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria; Henry convinced Queen Eleanor to abdicate her ducal title of Aquitaine to their 15 year old son, Richard; Geoffrey, 14, was betrothed to Constance of Brittany, making him the future Duke of that Celtic-French province; and young Eleanor, 10, was betrothed to the crown prince of the Spanish realm of Castile. All of this planning and assigning of roles was to insure the Angevin Empire stayed unified and House Plantagenet remains a dominate powerhouse after he was gone, all under the overlord ship of his eldest and favorite son Henry. And even with all that he still had 7 year old Joan, 6 year old John, known as "Lackland" since he was the only brother without title waiting for him, and a bevy of bastards to use as place holders or marriage pawns.

Rosemund de Clifford

It all seemed so perfect and the Plantagenets looked to be thee most solidly unified royal family of all of Europe. But something rotten was brewing within the family, and her name was Eleanor. She had been Henry's partner since the beginning with the understanding they would be co-rulers in the empire they had schemed together to build. But she had been cut out little by little. First it was Becket, whom Henry lavished favor and power on. Eleanor saw him as a third wheel and when Becket turned on Henry, she did what she could to prevent any meaningful reconciliation. Then there was control of her beloved homeland of Aquitaine: she understood Henry's appointment of a seneschal as she could not be there most of the time, she would need to be seen at Henry's side at court; but then he had convinced her to give the region up completely to their son Richard. She begrudgingly accepted since the artistic and poetic Richard was her favorite of their children, but it was still a bitter act. Then there was Toulouse, a region her family had been coveting for generations; she thought it was finally within her grasp with Henry obsessing over gaining a Mediterranean port. But then it was gone, given up by Henry in favor of his ambitions against Paris. Henry's Irish campaign was another project she and those loyal to her were cut out of. Henry used his ever loyal Marcher lords to do his dirty work; not one of her southern French nobles that were with them in their mobile court was even considered to be a part the scheme. But what hurt her the most was Henry's love affair with the 19 year old daughter of the Marcher lord Walter de Clifford, Rosamund. Henry met her when she was 14, during the end of his Welsh campaigns, and had become fascinated by her. Said to be extremely mature and intelligent for her age, the half Norman, half Welsh Rosamund was educated and dressed in a mix of both her heritages. For the next four years he kept in touch with the Clifford family, showing them favor at court, showering them with gifts and privileges. And then when she was 18, Rosamund was invited to be a royal courtier. Everyone one knew, and it was an open secret what Henry's intentions were, but no one objected. Even Lord Clifford knew and accepted it as customary for the time. Kings and great magnates of the realm often had "official" mistresses from the lower nobility and he saw it has having a huge advantage to have his daughter in the king's bed ...ah, I mean ear; besides, he had many other children to use for purpose of marriage allegiance. Wives of nobles, like Eleanor, were use to their lord husbands having mistresses and she knew of Henry's many, despite Becket's attempts to hid them; it was part and parcel to noble life. But there was something different about Rosamund. Henry's love for her was well beyond his carnal dalliances with other woman. Worse yet for Eleanor was the comparisons; Rosamund was Eleanor's intellectual equal and was as skilled in manipulating the court as she was: some think it was Rosamund that lead Henry to using only Marcher lords in the Irish campaign as the men picked were all allies of her father. And she was beautiful, having many of the same revered features Eleanor once had when she and Henry first met. Obviously, Henry had a type, and Eleanor could see Rosamund as nothing more than a younger version of herself and a possible replacement. Curiously though, Rosamund drops out of history after that, nothing more is written about her in actual historical documents or relayed by chroniclers; and her family became just another of long list of obscure minor nobles. Many poems, songs, and plays are written about the enchanting Rosamund, some even contemporary of the time. All of them seem to suggest or some flat out implicate that Queen Eleanor had her killed. The most popular of tales tell of Eleanor using a labyrinth of secret passages to enter Rosamund's room at night and having cornered the girl gave her the choice of a dagger or poison; the beautiful maiden choosing the later. Whatever the case may be, Henry, already withdrawn since the death of Becket, now extended his cold shoulder to his wife as well, clearly blaming her for the absence of Rosamund in his life. But this would not be the end of it, Eleanor had only just begun her campaign of misery against her husband. She was determined to squeeze the will to live from him by turning his sons against him, beginning with his first born and favorite, Henry, and threatening the old lion's cherished legacy.

Henry the Younger

Henry, the boy king, was the golden child of European Christendom. The now 18 year old scion of House Plantagenet was a paragon: a tall, blond, handsome young man of impeccable manners and courtesy. A royal clerk named Walter Map wrote of young Henry, "lovable, eloquent, handsome, gallant, every way attractive, a little lower than the angels." There was also his marriage to princess Margaret of France, all eyes turned to the young couple as the future of Europe for when they bore a child, it would bring together the twin powers, Plantagenet and Capetian, England and France united into a new super power the world had not known since the imperial families of ancient Rome. Everyone was in awe of what the future could hold. As if that wasn't enough Henry added an earned an awe-inspiring and celebrity reputation on the tournament circuits throughout France, England, Northern Italy, and western Germany. He was part of a team of knights, all young sons of noble houses, the next generation of Norman leadership, lead by the famed tourney champion Sir William Marshal; and together they won accolade after accolade on the game fields. Befriended and personally trained by the great Marshal himself, young Henry had the horsemanship and melee skill to rival any opponent. To give this sports team a modern day equivalent, Marshal and his team were Belichek and the New England Patriots, and Henry was their Brady. But with the fame came an expected level of grandiose; Henry traveled with a large retinue, equipped and clothed his fellows in only the best and finest, and was generous to a fault. It was a lifestyle that he struggled to maintain, even with the large purses won at tourney. But how could that be, he was the crown prince and held titles in northern France? Well, even though his father had bequeathed him those titles, it was in name only; practical control and use of revenues still rested with his father. Young Henry was given a stipend and given free reign in use of whatever castles or estates in Normandy and Anjou for housing and hosting events, but he had no source of income as his own and his stipend was not cutting it any more. He argued with his father that he was not just throwing money away, that this was all part of developing and nurturing relationships with his future lords and a reputation, an aura, of largess and magnanimity that would pay off in spades of loyalty when he is king. But King Henry wouldn't hear of it, claiming he had ruled through the sword and by being smarter than his opponents, and his son should do the same; that rule through luxury smacked too much of the french courts and look were that has got them. The crown prince's best friend and mentor, William Marshal, pleaded with him to drop it, that he and his men would remain loyal to him no matter what, but in the end it would be his mother's poisonous words that would drive a wedge between father and son.

Geoffrey of Brittany

Henry the younger knew that his father planned on naming is little brother John as castellen of 3 castles in his duchy of Normandy as a way to make the 7 year old more attractive for a proposed marriage between prince John and the daughter of the Count of Maurienne. But Eleanor lied to her young Henry and told him it is not just three castles his father planes on naming to John, that it was the start of a process to split off a chunk of Normandy into a separate county for John. Couple this with playing on her sons money issues with his father and the boy's resentment toward the king for Becket's death who he loved as a father more than the king and she had sold him on the idea of rebellion against his father. She had her other two sons, Richard and Geoffrey, come to Poitier and meet with her and Henry. Geoffrey was easy to convince, he had been frustrated in his position as almost duke of Brittany, he wanted the title, power and revenues now and did not see the point in waiting for when his future wife Constance was old enough to marry. At 15 Geoffrey had developed a reputation of ambition, deviousness, cunning, and an intelligence that bordered on scary. He developed his parents love of scheming and honed it to a fine art and in the words of his own mother she saw within him, "a great capacity for hate." It was these qualities that had made King Henry suspicious of his own son and why he was making him wait; he knew Geoffrey was more than capable to run his own realm, smarter than any of his other offspring. But he was frightened of what the boy might do without control and did not want to give him the power until he could find a way to keep him in check.

Richard of Aquitaine

It would be a bit more difficult to connive Richard to betray their father. The future lion-heart grew up on the great epic tales and poems of chivalric military figures like noble King Arthur and the mighty Roland. So enthralled with the image of the idealize valorous knight that he himself wrote songs and poems on the subject and dedicated himself to the art of war, gaining and displaying enough skill and bravery at tournaments that he earned his own knighthood at 12, one of the youngest to ever earn the title. He to wanted to utilize the vast revenues that should be his as Duke of Aquitaine, as he wanted to create a retinue of knights of his own and go on the tournament circuits, to live out his dreams of being a world renowned knight like his older brother. Except he and young Henry did not see eye to eye on what it all meant: Henry saw knighthood in the eyes of politics, and fraternity; Richard, saw it through the eyes of a warrior, to test oneself and hone oneself into a better man. The two had never gotten along because of this ideological divide. Richard more than once accusing Henry of debasing the title of knight and the code of chivalry; Henry in turn mocked his younger brother's seriousness, excusing Richard of sucking the joy out of life.  It would have to be Eleanor who would bring Richard around. In the end his mother got to him too, though no one knows exactly how. Rumors, accusations, and speculation surround Richard to this day of his reasons. There are two persistent claims, the ones that there seems to be at least a shred of evidence that they might be true. The first is that his mother seduced him into an incestuous affair which she then lorded over him. There was no denying that Richard, throughout his entire life was Eleanor's favorite child  and that Richard seemed to have a very odd bi-polar relationship with her, were as at some points he was closer to her than anyone else, and at other points would do everything he can to avoid her and not speak of her. The other accusation, though not mutually exclusive from the other, is that Eleanor had found out about Richard's bisexual nature and pushed him into a relationship with Prince Phillip of France, who in turn helped Eleanor in convincing Richard into betrayal. Either way the conspiracy was set and the three started making contacts and allegiances with those they thought would help.

King Louie VII; Prince Phillip, Count of Flanders; Theobald V, Count of Blois; and Matthew of Alsace, Count of Boulogne

A grand alliance was made with Eleanor and her three eldest sons gaining the support of King Louie of France and his his son Prince Phillip who was now also the Count of Flanders; newly crowned King William I of Scotland who succeeded his brother, the King Henry sycophant, Malcolm IV who had died of a degenerate bone disease; the counts of Blois and Bouloge; and a handful of English lords who believed young Henry would be a more inclusive ruler than his iron-fisted father. But as secret plans were being made second thoughts started to creep into young Henry's mind, probably instigated by his good friend Sir William Marshal. Eleanor had to act fast if her plot to overthrow her husband and rule through manipulating her sons was going to work; the alliance was dependent on Henry's charisma and leadership and so needed him committed. She lied to two of her son's top advisers, Richard Barre and William Blund, and his personal chaplain, that they had all made a great mistake and now she could not convince Henry to abandon his plans for revolt; that only King Henry could de-escalate the situation. While the three men rode from Poitier to Chinon to tell the king what was transpiring, Eleanor told her sons that the three men were betraying them all, that there was no going back now and they had to act quickly. When King Henry heard the news he immediately set out for Poitier hoping to stop the madness before it could begin, but he was too late. Young Henry had already made for Paris to connect his forces with Louie and Phillip, Richard rode to Aquitaine to rally the southern French lords to his mothers cause, and Geoffrey rode to Brittany to use his influence to convince the lords there to revolt as well. Only Queen Eleanor was captured; King Henry's men caught her trying to sneak out of the area disguised as a male merchant, making for Aquitaine. By April 1173 the Great Revolt had started and King Henry was forced mobilized his forces against his own sons. The loyal noble houses of his father's Anjou rode north into Normandy and combined their forces with the counts of Argentan and Avranches to protect Henry's rear from Geoffrey and the Brittians, meanwhile Henry consolidated the might of the Normans around what he perceived to be the mostly likely target of his traitorous family, the great cathedral city of Rouen; the spiritual center of all Normans in Europe since the days of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy and where William the Conqueror had built one of the greatest cathedrals in all of Christendom in 1063. If Rouen fell it would be a crushing moral defeat for the famed viking descended Normans. Henry needed to defend it long enough for his English lords to deploy their forces across the channel.

King William I; Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester; and Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Socttish Invasion and Rebellion of Norfolk and Leicester

But his loyal lords in England would not be able to come, for the Scottish King, William I had begun an invasion of the northern English region known as North Umberia, and  the rebellious English lords of Leichester, Robert de Beaumont, and Norfolk, Hugh Bigod, started seizing all the castles around the great cities of York and Chester. Henry's realm was invaded on all sides: by the Scottish and rebel English lords in the north; Geoffrey and the Brittians in the West; Richard's and Theobald V's forces in the South; the French crown prince Phillip and the Count of Boulogne to the east; and his heir Henry, with the King of France, like a dagger to his heart were thrusting up the ever prominent Vexin, toward the very heart of Normandy, Rouen. All looked dire for Henry and his advisors all called for a retreat to southern England, to take the fight to the Scottish and the rebel lords first before retaking Normandy and Rouen. Henry would hear none of it. He sent riders to his forces in western Normandy, who had taken up defensive positions west of Argentan, and told them to proceed with an all out attack against the youngest of his traitorous sons, Geoffrey. Though it was a small force, Henry banked on Geoffrey's inexperience; the boy may have been a master political tactician but did his vaunted intelligence apply to military thinking and leadership as well? Turns out Geoffrey was not prepared for such an assault. He had geared himself for a siege campaign against Argentan, his plan to take the city and hold it as a distraction to draw some of his fathers forces away from the more offensive forces of the eastern front of his brother Henry. But now faced with an army coming straight at him he did not have the were-with-all to form an on field impromptu defensive line. His Brittany forces broke apart before the the Anjou/Norman force even reached him. Geoffrey was taken into custody to Chinon to await his father's justice. At the same time, up in England, Richard de Lucy, the sheriff of Essex, had organized a swift mobile hit and run army, attacking supply lines, baggage trains, and foraging parties of both the rebel English lords and the Scottish armies. The chaos of trying to catch him prevented the two armies from ever linking up, giving the loyal English lords time to bolster their defenses and start a campaign of starving out the twin armies, never letting them gain enough stability and preparedness to enact a serious attack or siege of anymore major towns or castles. The rebel Earl of Norfolk, Hugh Bigod, was completely cut off by loyalist forces and was cornered in his own territory. Frustrated, not able to combined with his ally Hugh, rebel lord Robert de Beaumont rode north to try and get the Scottish to break Bigod out  only to find his way blocked by a force of loyalist lead by de Lucy, who has been given the title of Chief Justicar for his earlier efforts, at the bridge in Fornham. At the Battle of Fornham, Beaumont tried to fight his way across the bridge but de Lucy held and forced Beaumont to try and find a long way around, costing him valuable time.

The cathedral of Rouen, consecrated 1063

News of Geoffrey's defeat and of the rebel's bogged down northern England campaign reached King Henry and Young Henry around the same time. It was a race against time now. How fast could the old king consolidate his forces and bolster the defense of Rouen verse how fast can his son and his allies get there to take it and win a victory that could call into question the loyalty of Henry's Norman lords. But the old dog still had a few tricks, he divided his forces in half, leaving one half to hold Rouen from the coming besieging force of the Count of Blois and Richard, who were only two or three days away. He secretly lead his other half north and then east coming up behind Prince Phillip's Flemish force. Totally surprised and not yet at full strength for having not linked up with the Count of Boulogne's forces, Phillip was routed and retreated back to Flanders. Keeping the momentum and hoping to catch Boulogne before he heard the news, Henry rode hard south and again caught the force marching for Rouen by suprise, hitting it in the flank. Again, a complete route and the Count of Boulogne would retreat and abandon the war completely. Henry's small garrisons in the Vexin were delaying young Henry and King Louie's forces enough that King Henry could make it back to Rouen before they arrived. Expectedly, the Count of Blois, the old turn coat, Theobald V, and his son Richard were already there laying siege to the city. A parley was called and Henry got Blois to agree to a truce were Blois could retreat a days march back and wait join up with the forces making their way up the Vexin; but more importantly Richard was reconciled back to his father's side. Richard's men of Aquitaine merged with the defense of Rouen and Richard swore to never again raise arms against his father. All he asked for in exchange was that his mother be shown leniency, imprisonment instead of execution for treason. Henry made no grantees to any of their fates, except to welcome his son back, promising to not to see any harm come to him. April of 1174, Richard was left in charge of the defense of Rouen, against the forces of his older brother and the French King, while his father made haste for England to organize a counter attack against Scotland and the rebel lords.

Henry came back to find things well in hand for the most part. He kept up pressure, squeezing Norfolk's domain tighter and tighter until he was forced to surrender. Henry was gracious and let his family keep their original earldom, but Hugh himself set off on pilgrimage and self imposed exile to the holy land for penance. He would die in bed in Palestine in 1177, having never seen his home or family again. De Lucy finally caught up with Beaumont and captured him. Again Henry showed mercy, allowing his family to keep their original lands while the rebel lord himself would find himself as a personal retainer and household knight of his son Richard, whom he would stay by the side of for the rest of his life. As for the king of Scotland, his role in the Great Revolt would come to an end on July 13, 1174, at the battle of Alnwick. King William had met with great success so for, in his bid to conquer North Umbria, having not come across a force that could match his own since the majority of loyalist forces had been dealing with Bigod and Beaumont south of him. But the fact that he was not able to utilize supplies from their lands, which was part of the original plan, he had started to run out of provisions and so made a beeline to get back to Scotland and resupply to continue to consolidate his hold over territory won. A patrolling warband of about 100 English knights lead by Sir Ranulf de Glanville came upon the Scottish forces camp at dawn and immediately attacked the waking Scotsmen. Less than half of King William's men were able to get into armor before the English knights were upon them. William himself having been able to armor up and get on his horse in time was himself soon captured after his horse was killed out from under him in the first 15 minutes of battle. King William was brought before Henry who forced the Scottish King to sign the Treaty of Falaise which stipulated Scotland pay England 40,000 marks of silver (approximately $18 million, give or take a million), a reaffirmation of English dominance of Scotland, and the right of the English king to make several clergy appointment in the Scottish church. Henry also took what was left of the Scottish invasion force down to France with him as part of his final face off with his son Henry and King Louie.

So on September 30, 1174, two massive armies glared at each other across the fields outside Normandy's spiritual heart, the city of Rouen. One one side was King Henry and his Norman and Anjou knights, Richard's Aquitaine force, and the subservient William I's Scottish force. On the other was King Louie and young Henry's eastern French forces, Theobald V of Blois' forces, and what Prince Phillip could regain of his Flemish forces since their flight. Now, with the prospect and very real possibility of 1000s dying including dozens of the great men of western Europe and the magnificent cathedral city going up in flames, both sides agreed to talks, known as the Truce of Gisors. Theobald V of Blois walked away with nothing, a point of irritation between him and prince Phillip in the years to come. Geoffrey would be confirmed as Duke of Brittany, but its revenues were to be split between him and his father and only Henry could call the Brittians to arms. Richard was reaffirmed Duke of Aquitaine with all the rights, privileges, and revenues that went with it. He was also betrothed to King Louie's 14 year old daughter Alys and the Vexin given as an advancement on her dowry. King Louie was promised by King Henry that no more regions of France would be plotted for Plantagenet control; that Angevin expansion was now over in France. Young Henry was reaffirmed as count of Anjou, his father's ancestral home, with all the rights and privileges therein, except again the majority of the county's produced revenue would go to Henry's treasury in Chinon. But the prize that the young Henry had fought these 18 months for, the great Duchy of Normandy, would remain out of his grasp; to remain his in name only and the ambition for greater revenue reduced to a small increase in his stipend from his father. As for Queen Eleanor, she was to be held captive for the next 16 years and moved around from castle to castle under house arrest. Moved often across the empire so as not to be able to sink her claws in any one place too deep. While in captivity see was still treated well and still maintained a semi-luxurious lifestyle, but Henry and their sons rarely saw her, only when state occasions and holidays called for Henry to have his Queen at his side. King Henry had done it, he had staved off the greatest threat his empire and known to date; at 41 he had been attacked on all sides from without and within and he had come out on top. But Eleanor was not done yet getting revenge and so from her towers and house arrests she plotted her next move.........

Angevin # 7: King Henry Part 4: Last Hurrah

When last we left the Angevins, King Henry was truly distraught over the death of his friend, now recognized martyred saint, Thomas Becket; a death Henry himself was not totally blameless and could have caused a religiously inspired revolt to his rule. But our wily king, even in the midst of being visibly shaken and grief stricken, still manged to find a way to turn the political situation to his advantage and gain more popularity among the peasantry of England than ever before. But unbeknownst to him, this would be the height of his success. Twin storms of discontent and dis-function within his own family and resentment from his age old enemies the kings of France, Louie and then his son and heir Phillip, would merge into conflict that will define the later part of his reign. But at the time it would be hard to see trouble coming as during and proceeding the whole Becket controversy Henry manged two more feats of land acquisition, in southern France and the nation of Ireland, using his now signature mixture of strategic military placement and diplomatic trickery.

By this point King Henry II already controlled a vast empire. Besides rule of England, the Welsh Princes and Scottish King were subservient to him as well and were allowed semi-autonomous status as long as they continued sending taxes to London and provided troops when ever Henry called. England was well managed at this time by the not yet ordained and still chancellor, Thomas Becket, so Henry could concentrate on his French ambitions. The Angevin/Norman French realm was massive and monstrously rich, and was beginning to dwarf that of actual France proper. Each of the duchies was manged by a seneschal who reported only to Henry in his French capital of Chinon. And like the rulers of Scotland and Wales were allowed free reign as long as taxes and troops kept flowing to their overlord. Henry also had the allegiance of the Count of Blois, Theobald and a non-aggression alliance with the counts of Flanders (modern day Belgium). Couple that with his control of the strategic Vexin that connected Normandy to the Seine river basin, he was well secure from any machinations of his supposed lord and rival the King of France, Louie VII. But for reasons unknown Henry was adamant that his French lands be connected to the Mediterranean; the three prevailing theories on his motivations are to either increase trade revenue by cutting out the French Kings' tariffs, a desire to open up a crusader port and thus again cut France and/or Italy out of the costs of sending soldiers to the holy land, or a port to help launch his own efforts in the Reconquista for the purpose of gaining his own piece of Spain from its Muslim occupiers. No matter what his reason, to do this he would need the Duchy of Toulouse. 

Duchy of Toulouse

The position of Duke of Toulouse was currently unoccupied, but one of the Duchy's minor lords, Count Raymond V was making a claim for the entire region. Henry, again, tried to play for a puppet ruler, supporting a cousin of Queen Eleanor's, Raymond Berenguer's claim to the Duchy. However he lost interest soon after and set off for Spain were he would, for his deeds against the Muslims, be made Count of Barcelona. So in 1159, Henry threatened invasion, under the pretext that Raymond V was usurping the Duchy from his wife Eleanor. Henry and Eleanor claimed that she had familial ties all over northern and western Toulouse and so with hers being the greater family, had a stronger claim than that of Raymond. But the ambitious count would receive a bit of propping up from an unlikely source, the French King. Even though Raymond was from a lesser noble family, Louie offered his sister Constance for marriage to Raymond. It seems the French king was not going to let yet another region go so easily to Henry as he had done in Brittany and Blois. Henry immediately called for a meeting with Louie, where at, Louie made reassurances that he was not dismissing Eleanor's claim and that he as King would stay a neutral arbitrator in these competing claims. He also claimed that the marriage was merely trying to preserve Raymond's title and lands for if Henry does invade and takes the rest of the Duchy; helping to preserve the ancestral rights of a loyal vassal as a good liege lord should. Henry left satisfied and began his preparations for an invasion. It all turned out to be a big lie; Henry, for the first time had been played. He arrived with his forces and a force of Scotsmen lead by King Malcolm IV, outside the Duchy's capital, the city of Toulouse, to find Raymond and King Louise already there, as Louie gave the city to Raymond as a belated wedding gift. Louise again claimed that he was not naming Raymond as Duke, just giving control of the capital and its surrounding territories revenues to his new brother-in-law. Henry was livid, he could not attack Raymond for a gift received by the French King, nor could he attack the French King as he would be labeled as a traitor by the church since technically all his French lands were part of France, if in just name only. Henry took out his frustrations on the northern half of the Duchy, destroying nearly all the castles near Toulouse's border with Aquitaine and even taking the entire county of Quercy and several towns and villages in the surrounding counties. For his part, Malcolm finally earned what he always wanted, a knighting by Henry. Louie knew he had pushed Henry into the famed rage of the Plantagenets of Anjou.  With the Scottish king in thrall and awe of his new status and his admiration of Henry, willing to follow him into whatever bloody deed, Henry and Malcolm's troops could ravage the entire duchy into ash and who knows how far this English, Scottish, Norman horde would go if Henry was not calmed. He offered peace terms with Henry: firstly, he could keep the County of Quercy as a permanent part of Aquitaine; next, Raymond would not be named Duke of Toulouse, instead Raymond would hold Toulouse in the name of the French King until his death, when Louie will decide who is the rightful ruler (whom he hinted would be Eleanor), but Raymond's heirs would still hold ancestral titles of counts of the city of Toulouse and the city of Lombers under whomever would be named Duke or Duchess; and lastly, the arranged marriage between Henry's son Henry and the French princess Margaret was reaffirmed and Margaret given to Eleanor to care for as a daughter. This last part was the clincher, Henry would essentially have a royal hostage and the dowry of the all important Vexin was guaranteed. And so a peace treaty was signed in 1160.

Princess Maragret and Prince Phillip of France

 But again it was more French trickery; a delaying tactic for Louie's plan to contain the Angevin expansion. When the English and Scottish went back home, troops loyal to the French king poured into Toulouse along the northern border with Aquitaine. Meanwhile the now widowed Louie married the sister of Count Theobald of Blois, shifting his allegiance away from Henry. Louie had weighed losing the Vexin, his gateway to Normandy, in favor of the ability to threaten southern Aquitaine, the richest and most prosperous of Henry's realms and through Theobald, threatened the eastern border of the Plantagenet homeland, the County of Anjou. Henry immediately responded by a extremely controversial move even by those times standards, he bullied the papal legates to marry his five year old Henry with three year old Margaret. He now could potentially make a legal claim for a just war against Louie, without fear of condemnation from the church of being named a traitor, all in the name of pressing his sons new claim to French throne. It was now just a matter of who would blink first, who would trigger a massive war that could see all of France in engulfed in the flames of war. It would be Count Theobald who flinched, he moved his troops to the south west corner of his county of Blois, its borders meet Anjou and Aquitaine, but he miscalculated where his border ends and Anjou's begin and camped his troops just inside Anjou. Henry immediately claimed his rightful territory was being invaded and launched of Norman, Anjou, and Brittany surprise attack on the Blois capital of Chaumont, taking Theobald's castle and household. Wider war seemed inevitable as Henry sent messengers back to England to call up English, Scottish, and Welsh troops and Louie called upon his loyal vassals, the powerful dukes of Burgundy and Champagne, as well as negotiating a price for Italian mercenaries. It is at this point Pope Alexander III stepped in and called Henry and Louie to peace talkes in the forest of Freteval, in Anjou. The 1162 peace arbitrated directly by the Pope saw the Vexin and Blois legally bound to Henry, meanwhile Eleanor was forced to abandon all claim to Toulouse, which would now be in the direct hands of King Louie. Eleanor was furious, not only did she lose what she felt was rightfully her county of Toulouse and the ability to hold southern ports over her husband, but also her beloved ancestral home of Aquitaine would be forever threatened at its southern border. Henry on the other hand was more than pleased, he now had rightful and church recognized ownership of counties that gave him a permanent staging ground to threaten Paris from the North and the West.

Henry's good mood would be shot down a few pegs upon his return to Chinon at the news from messengers of the disturbing activities of his friend Becket, whom he recently appointed archbishop of Canterbury. He returned to London to sort things out, meanwhile, Eleanor returned to her beloved Aquitaine. Unbeknownst to Henry this was the beginning of the end for his relationship with the increasingly bitter Eleanor, as will come to see. But for now, having spent so much time in France it was time for the King to put things in order in the northern half of his domain, England. While he was concerned about his friends new found piety and what it was doing to the realm, the timing of his return could not have been more fortuitous. The little island next-store, the realm of the last remnants of Celtic self rule was in dynastic turmoil and with turmoil and chaos comes opportunity.

Ireland at the time was composed of dozens of kingdoms, each with their own king. They in turn were lorded over by the four Over-Kingdoms of Munster, Leinster, Connaught, and Ulster. Title of these kingdoms was hereditary, but to keep the peace between all these royal lines, a ultimate arbitrator, known as the High King, was appointed to be the final authority in all disputes. All the kings would gather and vote on which one would be high king, the over kings votes counting more than the lesser kings. It was a lifetime appointment, but not hereditary and so when the high king died the kings would vote again. It was system that had been in place since 1022 when the Ui Neill (O'Neill) dynasty, who dominated Ireland for 100s of years as High-Kings by blood, lost the right for the title to be hereditary under the controversial rule of Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, a member of the O'Neill through is mother. He lost the throne and was only allowed to reclaim it if the clan adhered to the new power sharing system. Members of the O'Neill clan would find themselves to be voted High-King on a couple of occasions since. But for where our story is at, in 1166, the current high king is Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (Rory O'Connor), of clan Ui Briuin (O'Brian). High King Rory conspired with a couple of the minor kings of Leinster to oust the Lienster Over-King Diarmait Mac Murchada (Dermot MacMurragh). Dermot was seen as the next choice for high king after Rory's death, and so the high king fearful that Dermot might someday try to have him assassinated and also to try and steer who would be his successor, instigated a revolt seeking Dermot to step down as over-king and resign himself to being just king of Uí Ceinnselaig (modern day County of Wexford). Instead Dermot fled Ireland to seek help from the Welsh, long seen as cousins of the south eastern Irish. But upon arriving in Wales he learned of the Welsh nobles subservience to the English, in particularly to the powerful and militant Marcher lords. Dermot knew just a few of these battle hardened families could help him turn the tide and retake his crown.

Dermot MacMurragh pleads with Henry

So in 1167 Dermot appeared before King Henry and asked his permission to recruit some of the Marcher and Welsh lords to help his just pursuit. He applied to Henry's sense of justice, that he had never plotted against his liege lord High King O'Connor, and that this was all being done in the name of an irrational paranoia and hatred from a man he never offended. Dermot knew better than to ask Henry for direct help, as it would be seen as betraying his country to foreign invaders and would look treasonous to not only his people but again to that almighty arbitrator, the church. Thus why he was only asking to recruit his lords as mercenaries. But unbeknownst to Dermot he was in over his head dealing with such a man as Henry. Henry agreed to allow his men, those that chose to be recruited, to go to Ireland and help the deposed Over-king. He asked for no payment for himself, just that his men be generously compensated for their efforts. This should have been Dermots first clue that he was leading his people into a trap; that there was a reason people claimed the Plantagenets where "born of the devil". What sort of king renders aid with no price? Why a king that had long made plans with his lords and the church to bring the Celts and there wayward church to heel. The Catholic church, for decades, have had no luck in trying to exert control over the Irish clergy and to bring Irish Christianity more in line with the wider Latin community. Henry, being the insistently informed of all goings on in western Europe was well aware of what was happening and so made a secret deal with the church: that in exchange for funds under the table and for the church's assurance that no ecclesiastical legal objections get thrown his way in how he accomplishes Ireland's compliance, he in turn would open up positions within the Irish church to be filled with Rome sympathizers and appointees. So when Dermot landed in Wales, naturally the clergy pointed in Henry's direction as the man Dermont should talk to for the manpower he needed.

With Henry's blessing and "recommendations" of who he should look to recruit, Dermot obtained the support of four prominent marcher lords and their armies: Maurice de Prendergast, Maurice Fitzgerald, Robert Fitzstephen, and the leader of the bunch and most powerful of them all Richard "Strongbow" de Clare. They all swore there swords to Dermots cause, but together had a secret agenda on Henry's behalf, to establish a strong Norman position and presence within Ireland. They landed in May of 1169 in Bannow Bay and immediately made themselves indispensable to Dermot, out preforming any of his Irish commanders and gaining more and more of an influence. The swift results the Normans were making for him even enchanted Dermot to offer his daughter in marriage to Strongbow. This shocked and worried all the Irish on both sides of the conflict, worried about Norman's receiving land rights in Ireland and so compelled High King O'Connor to make peace with Dermot and end the war before more Normans arrived. O'Conner offered Dermot re-installment as Over-King of Leinster as long as he sent his Norman mercenaries home. While Dermot was about to accept the offer, Maurice Fitzgerald landed more men outside of Dublin where he claims he was under constant attack. Fearing how Henry would react if one of his nobles was killed by those he was currently making peace with, Dermot marched on Dublin to find out what was going on as the High-King's allies claimed no knowledge of such attacks. Seeing the arrival of Dermots army spooked Dublin's militia, barred the city, and attacked as if trying to deter an invader. Dermot, shocked and angered by his own peoples reaction to him linked up with Fitzgerald's men and raided the surrounding countryside. At news of this the High-King rescinded his peace offer and hostilities restarterd. As for Fitzgerald's claim of being under attack, who knows if it was ever true. Strongbow arrived in the spring of 1170 with an overwhelming force to take the city of Dublin by force and scare any of the High-Kings armies in the area into full retreat further into Ireland. As a reward Dermot finalazed Strongbow's marriage to his daughter Aife. Things moved at an accelerated pace form there on in, and out of the control of Dermot, who looked in confusion as the Normans, with speed and determination (and per-planning) took over the reconstruction of Dublin, building improved, massive fortifications. He did not know that the money, material, and plans, for this new stronghold had secretly come from Rome through Henry to Strongbow. The Normans now had their foothold. An combined army of several Irish Kings attacked the newly erected fortress city of Dublin and were not only repulsed but chased out of Leinster all together. For the next year the Normans took more and more control of Dermot's war out of his and his Irish commanders hands; more Norman fortifications where erected throughout the coast of Leinster. Dermot had began to see the consequences of his deal with the devils of Anjou. He mysteriously died in May of 1171 and Richard "Strongbow" de Clare declared himself King of Leinster by way of his marriage to Dermot's daughter Aife. Richard even said he would pay homage to O'Connor as his High-King, but the Irish would have none of it, demanding the Normans all leave Ireland and that Dermot's younger brother Murchad was the rightful Over-King. The full might of Ireland pushed the Normans to their coastal strongholds of Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford. Again, Strongbow sued for peace, but all High-King O'Connor would offer was rule of the small city Waterford only, not even his wife ancestral home of Wexford. The final peace of the long trap had been sprung, and Ireland's fate would be sealed.

Henry arrived at Waterford with the might of England. He proclaimed he was there to render aid to a vassal in danger, Richard de Clare and to protect the hereditary rights of de Clare's wife Aife. The clergy that Henry brought with him agreed, that by the recognized laws of western Christendom Richard and Aife were the rightful rulers of Wexford, and that the High-King of Ireland was guilty of unjustified usurpation after Richard had promised to recognize O'Connor as his liege lord in Ireland. Henry's forces swept through Leinster, with many of the Irish Kings of Leinster paying homage to Henry and making marriage alliances with Norman lords. Others Irish lords who did not submit found themselves quickly deposed and a Norman made a count of baron of the area in their place. Strongbow was made Duke of Leinster, holding the former kingdom in Henry's name. The Normans and the Irish collabrators drove the High King and any of his supporters completly out of Leinster and even created and held buffer areas in the other three over kingdoms. But the biggest piece of the conquest was Latin clergy's conversion of the Irish clerics to Rome's way of thinking. The church proclaimed in a document called Laudabiliter were they named Henry as savior of the Irish Church and gave him dominion to call and oversee the Synod of Cashel, where Irish and English clergy met to bring Irish Christians more in line with Rome's teaching and authority. Surprisingly the clergy liked what their English counterparts had to say and saw it as a great opportunity to bring more stability in their parishes and drive out more of the remaining pagan influences throughout all of Ireland. One Irish chronicler had even gone so far as to say "Henry has completed what St. Patrick had started."

It would be the reformed clergy that would apply the political pressure to bring High King O'Connor to the negotiating table. Henry Plantagenet and Rory O'Connor met and signed the Treaty of Windsor on October 6, 1175. Leinster was to stay under the control of English, the High-King would remain in control of the other three over-kingdoms but like Scotland and Wales was to pay homage and yearly tribute to Henry, effectivly making Ireland a client state. Ireland had been added to the Angevin Empire. Though there would be continuing and everlasting border disputes between the Norman and Irish lords as long as tribute and man power came to London when Henry called he did not care who was abusing the terms of the treaty. Just like the Welsh Princes and the Marcher Lords it would be a chaotic mess for years to come, but in the end there was no doubt who the final say rested with in disputes all over Ireland, and it never from the seat of a High-King ever again.

Badass Women of History # 6: Lady Triệu

A Vietnamese Amazon

Lady Trieu also known as Trieu Thi Trinh was born Ba Trieu and would come to be known as the Vietnamese Joan of Arc. When it comes to these women warriors in history there seems to be a lot of that the "insert nationality here" Joan of Arc titles going around (Lozen). I swear one day I will publish an article on said French maiden so we can all see what all the fuss is about. But for now I think our current subject has more in common with our last badass lady Emilia Plater, as in she defied her well to do family to lead a short lived rebellion against foreign overlords; and while not realizing their goals in life, would become legendary symbols of those who succeed later on. But you be the judge. Like so many of our other martial ladies, to understand her story we need a little background on how this all came about........

General Ma Yuan

Throughout recorded history, China and Vietnam have repeated a cycle of the former invading and conquering the later and sitting in occupation for about a century; a revolt would ensue, the Chinese would be driven out only to return a number of decades later. Rinse, repeat. But there was something different about the invasion of 43 AD. The Chinese Han emperor had sent general Ma Yuan's army to retake Vietnam from it's current co-rulers, the Trung Sisters. It was a relatively short campaign as the general traveled elusively through the wilderness, avoiding populated areas and limiting contact with civilians until he finally arrived at the sister's capital. And so at the battle of Giao Chi, surprised, outnumbered, and outmatched, with only their personal guard in the immediate area, the sisters were easily defeated. General Yuan had the Trung sisters brought before a massive assembly of Vietnamese civilians and told them to spread the word that the people were not the Han emperor's enemy, that even though Chinese military would garrison in their villages and cities, the Prefects, Governors, and other such officials would be chosen amongst them. He then had the Trung sisters publicly executed as enemies of the emperor's peace and unity of his people. Having their own people govern them seemed to take the sting out of being a conquered nation; as far as most were concerned what difference did it make whether they had to pay homage to who ever sits in Giao Chi or to the far off Han emperor. Talk of rebellion did not exist for the first time during Chinese occupation.

Sun Jian

In and around 185-186, southern China and Vietnam saw a rise in raids from barbarian jungle tribesmen. It played hell with the Vietnamese peasants as they were forced to find places to hide, not being allowed to enter Chinese forts. And even when raids ended, the Chinese troops would do nothing to help rebuild. It was also beyond the ability of the garrisons to defeat the raiders, as they would slip back into the dense jungles and the Chinese troops were loath to follow to far from the towns and cities. Enter the Chinese general Sun Jian, descendant of the legendary philosopher general and author of the revered tome "The Art of War", Sun Tzu. Jian was sent by the Han not only because of his esteemed heritage, but also he was known to the Vietnamese, as he and his father put down pirates in the area in his youth. Sun Jian had already earned a fearsome yet honorable reputation in his role for helping put down the religiously fanatical Yellow Turban Rebellion in North West and central China, and was respectably called the "Tiger of Jiangdong". His forces scoured the jungles for the tribesman, slaughtering any they found and burning their villages. But it took its toll and he demanded from the local government officials money, food, and supplies, in addition to what they were already paying to the central government. The Vietnamese prefects raised taxes, and while it hurt, the peasantry seemed to understand as it was going toward protecting them and securing the land. But this had set a damaging precedent that would come back to haunt the future relations between the Vietnamese and their Chinese overlords. After the carnage was over and not a single tribe was to be heard from again, Sun Jian left, leaving a sort of air that the people of Vietnam owed the Sun family for his efforts. Whether this was intentional or not who can say. 

Emperor Sun Quan of Wu

For the next couple of decades life went back to normal for the people of Vietnam, meanwhile a series of events were playing out in China that would usher in an age chaos and civil war known as the Three-Kingdoms Era. The Han dynasty collapsed and three great families, the Cao, Liu, and Vietnam's so called saviors, the Sun, vied for control of China; forming their own nations of Wei, Shu, and Wu, respectively. Sun Jian's son Sun Quan claimed the title of Emperor of Wu in 229, which included Chinese occupied Vietnam. Representatives of Emperor Quan came south to tell the everyone the good news, that they no longer lived under the yoke of the old regime and that for now on there was no segregation of peoples; Chinese, Vietnamese, or otherwise; everyone in the Kingdom of Wu were now to be just the people of Wu. It was nice propagandized way of saying that the people of Vietnam had just lost their semi-autonomous status, as Chinese overseers were now brought in to supervise or advise Vietnamese government officials. There was also another new snag, besides the taxes and other tribute now to go to the Wu capital of Wuchang, for the purposes of funding everyday governance, the Wu Emperor also expected additional money and supplies be sent to support his war efforts against his rivals, Liu Bei of the Kingdom of Shu and Cao Cao of the Kingdom of Wei. The imperial officials used Sun Jian's demands for extra supplies during his war with the tribes as a precedent for such confiscation during war time. They also related Emperor Quan's claim that it would be a personal insult to the Sun family to not give him everything he asks after all his father had done for them. For the next 2 decades Vietnam would be relentlessly drained of money, conscripts, food, and natural resources to support Wu war efforts. But unlike last time the people saw no visible benefit; they saw these wars as a Chinese problem, not a Vietnamese problem. And so for the first time in almost 200 years since the start of the current occupation the people of Vietnam started to truly resent their Chinese overlords. Small scale rebellions and riots started breaking out all over.

 And so we come to 246 AD and the Trieu family of Cu'u Chan province, Vietnam. Nothing is really known about the Trieu family except that the Vietnamese family have held favor with the Chinese since the 43 invasion and have been given prominent government positions since. The current head of the family was Ba Trieu's older brother, name unknown, who was prefect of the province. While most of the rest of the country was in chaos, his province was in relative peace. So when the Wu emperor sent General Lu Yin, his army, and a bevy of minor Chinese nobles as officers, to regain control, naturally it was the Trieu compound in the city of Jiazhou that was made the base of operation. Yin was making great progress, regaining provinces and territories by a mix of diplomacy and force. It was soon apparent the reason for the number of  young minor nobles that had come with the army, they started to take direct control of some government functions in re-acquired towns and were brow-beating their way into marriages with the upper class Vietnamese. The prefect himself was forced to marry the sister of one of the Chinese lord-lings to insure his compliance. Ba's new sister-in-law now set her sights on Ba, determined to marry her off to one of her fellow Chinese. But each time a suitor was presented, the Lady Trieu refused, even publicly saying to her pushy new relative,

"I only want to ride the wind and walk the waves, slay the big whales of the Eastern sea, clean up frontiers, and save the people from drowning. Why should I imitate others, bow my head, stoop over and be a slave? Why resign myself to menial housework?"

The Lady Trieu was known for her wild spirit and her skill in hunting and fishing, and she had the physique to match any man. According to most accounts she was athletically fit and extremely tall. How tall? Accounts vary, from between a head taller then any of her male counterparts to one tall's ridiculous claim of 9 feet tall. From taking details from the more historic, less poetic accounts and combing that with anthropological data of the time, historians believe she stood about 6 foot, give or take an inch, in a time when most males stood at 5' 4". She had long black hair and a "harmonic voice like a large tolling bell", whatever that' suppose to mean. Her other notable feature that ever single tale, poem, legend, and chronicle also all agree on and point out, forgive me for saying, is an extremely well endowed female chest. A statuesque beauty like that with a commanding presence to match was not something the Chinese nobles were willing to give up getting control of. So her Chinese sister-in-law tried to force a marriage between Ba and the son of general Lu Yin. Ba Trieu would have non of it and in full view in the public square murdered her sister-in-law and called on any able body willing to fight against the Chinese to follower her into the mountains. Her brother arranged a secret meeting between the two, trying to convince her to come back, that he could convince the Chinese that it was all an accident. But Lady Trieu would have none of it:

"I'd like to ride storms, kill sharks in the open sea, drive out the aggressors, reconquer the country, undo the ties of serfdom, and never bend my back to be the concubine of whatever man."

Glaive

Her words were enough to move him to full support and he himself went back to Jiazhou and the surrounding villages and was able to recruit about a 1000 men to add to his sisters bandits. Cu'u was now added to the list of Vietnam provinces in open revolt. Her brother differed command of their little army to her and she lead them on numerous raids against Chinese patrols and outposts. Chinese troops would report the same scenario after every attack. The rebels would come rushing out of no were with Lady Trieu at the front, astride a war elephant, wearing a yellow tunic, and wielding a spear or glaive. Her men called her Nhuy Kieu Tu'ong Quan (the Golden Robed Lady General) and they carried the banner of the old Shih dynasty, the late Trung sisters family. For about a year this went on; Lady Trieu won skirmish after skirmish and the scions of Chinese noble houses deserted back to China in embarrassment at being defeated by a woman. Her forces even manged to take the walled capital of the province, her former home Jiazhou. About a third of her foot soldiers, lead by her brother, manged to scale the walls of the city. They were suppose to make a made dash for the gate to let the rest of the rebels in but were held up in deadly street fighting. His men backed up against the wall they had scaled but now had no way of getting back over. He called for help. So the Golden Lady charged her elephant at the gate, bashing it down. The rebels won the day as the Chinese and General Yin retreated. The Trieu siblings knew they could not hold the city, so they took what supplies they could, recruited some of the city inhabitants to replenish their forces and headed back to their mountain hideouts. After that, General Yin was recalled and it was about to become a whole other ball game.

Luc Dan

It was now 248, Lady Trieu, now 21 was riding high and was now looking to set her sights on expanding her rebellion to other provinces, hoping to assimilate other rebel groups into her own. However, as much as Vietnam was small potatoes to Emperor Quan compared to the three way civil war he was engaged in for control of all of China, some were taking notice. The emperor's son Sun Liang decided not to bother his father with the petty problems of their southern territories. He wanted it moped up quickly so as not to distract from the more important conflict with Wei and Shu. He turned to general Luc Dan. Where general Yin was some what of a diplomat and administrative general, Luc Dan was a battle hardened and ready warrior. Well accomplished but known to be brutal and taking a total no holds bar approach to warfare, he had been sidelined in the on going conflicts as to not complicate emperor Quan's plans of making some sort of alliance with Liu Bei, Emperor of Shu. So Sun Liang saw fit to unleash him on the Vietnamese. Luc Dan wanted nothing more than an open field blood bath of a battle to put the upstart Lady Trieu in her place. The problem was drawing her out. He started to viciously pillaging and burning villages all over Cu'u, ruthlessly slaughtering villagers; but leaving enough alive to get word back to the Trieu siblings that he would only stop if they faced him in a proper battle. The Trieus, in the face of watching so many innocents needlessly die, reluctantly accepted. Brother and sister each seated on a war elephant with an army of around 800 at this point faced Luc Dan and his 2000 infantry and 300 cavalry. As always the rebels charged on mass as they usually did. The elephants gained ahead of the rest of the soldiers. When Luc Dan felt the gap between the elephants and the rebel foot soliders was enough he sent his cavalry in and they cut the legs out from under prefect Trieu's elephant. The beast came tumbling down crushing Lady Trieu's brother and tripping up her elephant. As she tried to regain control over her mount, Luc Dan's professional infantry  charged right into her peasant army. Seeing their leaders down and facing a trained and skilled proffesional force, the rebels panicked and tried to flee just to turn around and see the Chinese cavalry, after its initial attack had wheeled around the battlefield and came up behind them. It was a bloodbath and as was his style Luc Dan afforded no quarter, accepted no surrenders. Lady Trieu escaped with only a handful of followers. She once again fled up into the mountains; there she took her own life, throwing herself into the rapids of a near by river, riddled form the guilt she felt for all the lives lost in her name and for failing her people's dream of independence.

Her story would galvanize the people's resolve to drive out the Chinese, as they had done in times before. It would take another 200 years before the last Chinese solider would leave but it was always the image of the giant in a golden tunic that compelled the Vietnamese to push on and not give up. Many Vietnamese soldiers and commanders had claimed that the Golden General had visited them in dreams, telling them to not give up, that she would provide them with her courage when they were in battle, In 544 a new Vietnamese dynasty, the Ly, would come to power and it first king would build a Buddhist temple in her name. Almost every year since its founding the temple holds a festival on April 3rd, Lady Trieu's theorized birthday, to celebrate her and the ideal of Vietnamese independence.

On a side note, as stated in the article, these events occur in the shadow of the monumental War of the Three Kingdoms happening just north, in China. The Three Kingdoms era is another one of those times that I find absolutely fascinating and so expect to see that series sometime in the future; certainty not until I finish up with the Angivens, though God knows when that will be. Speaking of which, I know I had hinted in the last few of my posts that my next Badass Women entry was going to be Empress Matilda and/or Eleanor of Aquitaine. But I figured we all needed a break from jolly old England for now and besides the story of Eleanor will have to come a little later as it would contain spoilers for whats coming in the Angevin series as I try and wrap up Henry II.