John Yowan                                                                                                                 Hour 1

Mrs. Keeley                                                                                                                 Type 3

Freshman English                                                                                                                     

13 October 2002

 

Title The Fatal Crown

 

                                          Author: Ellen Jones

There is no information available about the author's birth date and she is still living.

Books by Author Ellen Jones: Beloved Enemy: The Passions of Eleanor of Aqutane, The Fatal Crown.

That is all the information that I can find about the Author of this book.

About the Author: Ellen Jones is a new fiction writer. Her research for this novel took her to throughout France and England. Ellen Jones lives in Los Angeles, California.

The most important characters in the book are Henry 1st, Maud, Stephen, Geoffrey, Robert, Heinrich, Matilda, Henry Archbishop of Winchester and Hugh.

The book starts in the year 1111 with Maud a nine-year-old princess daughter of Henry the 1st, King of England and Duke of Normandy getting ready to go to Germany to marry the Holy Roman Emperor. King Henry wants Maud to marry Heinrich to make peace with Germany. Maud did not want to leave England, but she has no choice but to leave in March to marry against her wishes. Maud arrived in Germany in May of that year, Heinrich got there the day after and later they got married. 

Nine years later Maud was eighteen and well educated. The Emperor had taken charge of her learning and taught her German, math, politics and to play chess, a very important game at that time. The Emperor had also let Maud help in the affairs of state helping her learn how to rule.

Five years later in the year 1125 the Emperor died. When this happened a cousin of the emperor took over because Maud had not had any children from her marriage to inherit the throne. Everyone in Germany wanted Maud to stay, but her father makes her come back to Normandy. King Henry wanted her to come back so he could use her for a new alliance later. After some time Maud met her cousin Stephen of Blois and it was like love at first sight. King Henry decides to after much thought to have Maud declared as heir to the throne. Henry talks to the Bishop Henry who is Stephen's brother about making Maud queen after he dies, since he had no living legitimate sons. King Henry does have a son named Robert, but he was born out of wedlock so cannot become King. Bishop Henry does not agree with the idea of Maud as queen. He thinks Stephen should be the next King of England. Then later in the year of 1125 everyone went back to England.

The King then plans a proclamation to tell all of nobles of England and Normandy that Maud will inherit the throne of England when he dies, only if he does not produce any living legitimate sons. King David of Scotland is also invited to attend the proclamation. Later Stephen invites Maud to his home because his wife Matilda wants to meet Maude and become friends with her. Maud goes to meet Matilda but does not really want to because she is in love with Stephen. While she was there Stephen and Maud kissed and two guards saw them kissing. Because of this Maude leaves the next morning.

Three months later King Henry has the proclamation on Christmas Eve. All of the nobles arrived and King David of Scotland. The King told everyone if he has no sons Maud would become the Queen of England when he dies. Because of this Stephen got mad because he thought that he would become the next King of England. Then a few days later the King makes all the nobles including Stephen and the King of Scotland swear loyalty to Maud. If someone refused to swear loyalty King Henry would take away all of that persons power, so everyone agreed and swore loyalty to Maud. Stephen early on had made a plan on how to become the next King of England with his brother Bishops Henry's help.

The day after the proclamation King Henry tells Maud that she is to marry Geoffrey a fourteen-year-old boy who is the Count of Anjou. Maud does want to marry Geoffrey because he is too young. Since Maud refused to marry Geoffrey, King Henry locks her in a castle since he does not want anyone to know about the marriage and is afraid Maud will tell people. While Maud is locked away in the castle Stephen came to visit her dressed as a priest. The guards let Stephen in to visit Maud and she tells him what is going on and why she is locked away. After talking for a while their passion for each other becomes known to each and they make love. When Stephen was leaving the guards capture him and hold him until they see it really is Stephen and they let him go. Maud did not know they let him go and was unable to sleep she was so worried. Later she found out that Stephen was safe and soon after she talked to her father. Maud still did not want to marry Geoffrey, but King Henry made her go to Anjou anyway. She left England in 1126 to meet Geoffrey and she did not like him that much. They did get married although Maud was not happy about it.

Maud and Geoffrey moved to Angers where they would live. Maud and Geoffrey tried to consummate the marriage, but Geoffrey acted like he could not and this led to a fight. One day Maud caught Geoffrey having sex with another girl much younger than Maud, so Maud knew he able to do his duty in producing an heir to the throne. Maud and Geoffrey got in a fight over this and she was forced to leave. Maud sent a letter to her father King Henry and told him what had happened to her. Henry got very upset and shortly after he became ill. Maud went to Normandy hoping she can go home to England and King Henry lets her come back. King Henry held a special court for her homecoming in the year 1129. Shortly after Maud's return Stephen and she get together in a house in the woods that was prepared by a friend of Stephens. Maud and Stephen tried to make love but Stephen was not able to.

One year later Maud was going to Winchester and Stephen was her escort. On their first night together and over a period of the next few days they made love several times. In July the court moved to Normandy and Maud realizes that she is pregnant. Maud wanted to tell Stephen but decided to go back to Geoffrey in Anjou so that he would think the baby was his. Stephen was upset with Maud for going back to Geoffrey because he loved her. Geoffrey is nineteen when Maud returns to him and they consummate the marriage.

Maud gave birth to a son eight months later in 1131 and named him Henry after her father. Maud took the baby to her father for a visit and remained in Normandy. Again Maud found herself to be pregnant this time by Geoffrey and she went back to Anjou. She gave birth in 1135 to her second son and they named him Geoffrey. Not long after the birth of Geoffrey, King Henry got sick while on a hunting trip after eating to many lampreys. King Henry became very ill and all the people with him including Stephen were very worried. The Kings physician told them that the King was dying and that he needed the Bishop of Rouen for last rites. Stephen said he would go get the Bishop and left. He found the Bishop and told him he was needed to give the King last rites and the Bishop immediately left. Stephen then ran into Hugh Bigod the Kings seneschal and told him what was going on. Stephen had made the decision to take the throne of England from Maud and got Hugh Bigod to go to King Henry before he died and pretend that on his deathbed he had whispered to Hugh that he wanted Stephen to be King of England not Maud. Hugh finally agreed after Stephen had promised the Earldom of Norfolk with titles and lands to him. Stephen then quickly left for England to take over the throne. When he got to England he sent a message to his brother Henry Bishop of Winchester on the events that had taken place in Rouen and that King Henry was dead. Stephen then went on to Dover Castle held by Maud's brother, Robert of Gloucester's men. He wanted to enter the castle and told them that the King was mortally ill and had already surely died. They told him that if the King was dead then Maud was the queen and that Robert would have already sent a message to them, and turned Stephen away. Stephen then rides to Canterbury to get support there but forgot that Robert's men also held Canterbury castle and they already had a message from Dover not to let him in.

Stephen had no choice but to go on to London were he found support for him to take the throne, as most of the people did not want a woman ruling England. Soon Hugh Bigod showed up and told the people and the Archbishop's that King Henry had renounced Maud with his dying words.  Maud had found out about the death of her father in Angers and that Stephen had taken over the throne. At first she was very upset that Stephen would do something like that to her. But soon she became mad and she, her brother Robert of Gloucester and her husband Geoffrey decide to fight for the throne knowing that Stephen had lied.

The one person on the isle of England that did not support Stephen was Maud's uncle David the King of Scotland. King David believes that Maud should still be Queen of England and crosses the border into England with a troop of Highlanders and captures Newcastle. Stephen raises a large army and marches to Newcastle to fight King David, but David knows his army is not big enough to beat Stephen so he sues for a truce and peace. King Stephen and King David agree on a truce, but David will not swear fealty to King Stephen. Stephen also makes his brother Archbishop of Winchester mad by not naming him Archbishop of Canterbury, a more important position. So Stephen has begun to make some enemies that keep quiet about their unhappiness with Stephen.

Robert of Gloucester returns to England and pretends that he backs Stephen as king. Secretly he is working with Maud and Geoffrey to make Maud the queen. In the year 1134 Maud comes to England to try to get people to support her with Robert's help. Stephen has a battle with the Norman army sent to support Maud that he loses. Stephen is captured and put in prison at a castle. Henry, Stephen's brother had joined forces with Maud but decides to leave and not support her anymore. Robert of Gloucester goes to see Archbishop Henry to see if he can get him back but Henry will not join him. Maud and her army go to the castle where Henry is and finds that Matilda, Stephen's wife is protecting Henry. Matilda's army out numbers Maud's so Maud retreats. Robert is captured while he stays behind to help Maud get away.

Maud is upset that Robert is a prisoner and to free him she agrees to let Stephen go to get Robert back. Robert goes to Normandy to get arms and men for Maud and while he is there he convinces Geoffrey to let Maud and Geoffrey's young son Henry to go back to England with him. Maud under siege in Oxford and running low on food escapes and goes to Wallingford. While at Wallingford she and young Henry are reunited. Stephen at this time is again King of England.

In 1145 Stephen decides he wants his son Eustace to be crowned in his lifetime so he will be the next King. By the year 1147 Maud's son Henry has his own army and plans to use it against Stephen. Later that year Robert of Gloucester dies and within the year King David of Scotland knights Henry. In 1151 Henry and his father Geoffrey go to France to pay homage to King Louis. Henry and King Louis wife Eleanor fall in love and she leaves the King for Henry. Henry is now Duke of Normandy after his father dies from a fever.  Henry goes to England to fight for the throne. In 1155 a treaty is signed between Henry and Stephen making Henry the King of England and he becomes known as King Henry the 2nd.  

 

The book The Fatal Crown is Historical Fiction.

 

I chose the book because the cover of the book looked interesting

I liked how it had a lot of historical facts and details.  I liked the war at the end of the book.

I did not like the parts of the book when the people just talked and did nothing else for more than ten pages at a time.

I would recommend this book only to people very interested in the Middle Ages and in fictional books, but not to people whom only want the facts.

Maud changed in The Fatal Crown because at the begging of the book she did everything people of authority told her to do. Later near the end of the book Maud would fight for what she believed in. She would not do things just because someone told her it was right. Maud did what she thought was best.  One example is when her father forced her to merry the Emperor at the beginning of the book, but at the end when Stephen took over England she would not let him keep ruling. Instead she fought him in a war and won.

The ending of the book is appropriate and believable because that is what really happened in real life. I am satisfied with the ending.

The setting suits the plot of the book because this is what really happened in the Middle Ages when the book took place. I don't think any other setting would have been appropriate.

HOME