the rebellion referenced at the end of the queen’s pawn 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 reign. in my novel, i have offered the possibility that alais and henry’s liaison 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 annulment 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 fictitious. 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 imprisoned 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 haven and a prison for alais, princess of france. the historical alais knew many other prisons and havens 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 christians on his way home so that eleanor had to pay his ransom. 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 betrothal 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 vassal 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 symbolize 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.
