Historical figures, unlike literary and mythological heroes, were not often awarded the brush of the Pre-Raphaelites. But the beautiful Rosamund and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine were lucky. The romantic stories of their enmity were preserved not only in numerous legends
The beautiful Rosamund was the mistress of King Henry II Plantagenet. According to legend, the king, fearing for the life of his beloved, built for her around the castle where she lived, a huge maze, through which it was possible only with a silver thread. But the wife of Henry treacherously seized the thread and found Rosamund. The queen offered the girl a choice between poison and a dagger. Rosamund chose poison, drank it, and died.
It should be noted that almost nothing in this legend except the names of famous beauties and the very fact of the betrayal of Heinrich II Eleanor of Aquitaine does correspond to historical truth. The beautiful Rosamund, and in the historical reality of Rosamund Clifford really existed and was the favorite of the king. But she did not die at the hands of his treacherous wife but rested peacefully in the monastery of Godstow, where she retired when Henry II chose another favorite for her.
It is curious that Henry II and Rosamund died on the same day - July 6, though with a difference of 13 years. She - in 1176, and he - in 1189. In part, it was this that served to develop the legend of their great love. Neither the existence of the legendary labyrinth nor the involvement of Queen Eleanor in the death of Rosamund, historians confirm.