An illegitimate daughter with a serious grudge against dad.
Henry I of England is well known for his numerous bastard children. Most of English nobility descends from Henry through his bastard lines. He only had two legitimate children survive to adulthood, and only one, his daughter, Matilda, produced any children. Matilda’s son would eventually reign over England as Henry II after a nasty civil war called the Anarchy.
However, it wasn’t his legitimate daughter that caused Henry grief. That honor went to his bastard daughter, Juliane de Fontevrault. Juliane’s mother is unknown, although historians speculate she was Ansfrida, one of the king’s mistresses who bore him other children. Her mother was described as a concubine, and she was born before Henry took the throne, around 1090.
Not much is known about the relationship between father and daughter; however, Henry arranged advantageous marriages for his illegitimate children and Juliane was married to Eustace of Bretuil, the illegitimate son of a noble Benedictine abbot.
By February of 1119, the relationship between father and daughter had certainly deteriorated. Juliane and Eustace threatened to rebel against Henry, now king, unless he turned over the castle of Irvy. To ensure his daughter and son in-law’s loyalty, Henry took…
