Introduction

INTRODUCTION

In both the ancient world and that of the Middle Ages, Ireland had always been remote enough to be difficult to conquer or control entirely. The Romans barely got a toehold; the tribal Celts and Irish were not easily subdued on their familiar island home. The vital supply lines of the Roman Empire were stretched too thin to Britannia, let alone Ireland. The beauty of the emerald isle and the charm and winning ways of the native peoples in turn won over the Roman settlers.

St. Patrick successfully converted many of the pagan Celts to Christianity and the Church grew and developed in ways peculiar to Ireland. Monasticism was embraced. During the centuries of Viking invasion and colonization coastal Ireland was decimated, as was much of European society. But again, its remote location protected interior Ireland from such brutal devastation. It was the Irish monasteries that saved civilization during these dark ages. Preserving the ancient texts, copying and transcribing the great works and keeping the Church and language alive with beautiful illuminations. In time the coastal colonies established by the Vikings-Danes and Norwegians greatly assimilated to Irish.

Although considered part of the Norman Conquest of 1066, the Kings of England had little time to devote to controlling Ireland. Preserving the kingdom on the continent in France, and warding off the hostile Welsh and Scots gave the English monarchy little resource to spare on Ireland. The Irish kept to themselves and left England and the rest to themselves.

The local politics of Ireland were similar to that of the Scottish Clans. Each family had its own chieftains-kings. Each area was its own kingdom within Ireland or the more ancient Tara. When one man was able to exert enough power or force he would be recognized as the High King of Kings of Ireland. Unless the King of England or one of his important emissaries was present, feudal Ireland governed itself, with little regard for England.

King Henry II of England was anxious to gain rule over Ireland. Although the differences between the Church of Ireland and the Church of Rome had been amicably resolved, King Henry received a papal bull, Laudabiliter, giving him the right to assert his dominance over the island in the name of religion.

In 1169 AD Dermot MacMurrough of Leinster beseeched King Henry II to offer military support to reclaim his lands from the O’Rourke’s and O’Connor’s. Henry did not provide an army, but declared he would not stand in the way of any of his lords who wished to assist MacMurrough. Thus the Anglo-Welsh invasion of 1169 AD; generally Welsh Marcher lords hungry for land of their own. Most prominent among them was Richard FitzGilbert De Clare, known as Strongbow, for his prowess as an archer. MacMurrough promised Richard the hand of his own daughter in marriage, and upon his death, Richard would be the King of Leinster. Other families who sought their fortunes in Ireland were the Butlers, Barry’s, Fitzgerald’s, De Lacy’s and the Flemish Roche’s and Synnott’s.

As with the Romans and Vikings before them, so the Anglo-Welsh were assimilated to Irish. In the feudal society, fealty was sworn between a liege lord and his vassals. A lord’s men were loyal to him alone, not the crown. Thus a king must worry about his lords and barons amassing too large a force and being a threat to his reign.

In the wake of such prominent women as Heloise, Hildegard Von Bingen, the lusty Eleanor of Aquitaine with her daughter Marie of Champagne and their famed courts of love, women were exalted as never before in Christian society. One of the most influential men of his day, Bernard of Clairvaux’s sermons humanized women; feminine qualities of compassion, caring and domesticity were encouraged in all. The cult of the Virgin Mary became hugely popular. Woman as the mother of God was venerated. During this brief enlightenment in history women enjoyed a few decades of reverence, opportunity and limited legal rights to inherit and ascend.

Church reforms of the past century and the Norman laws brought over with the Anglo-Welsh abolished polygamy and introduced the music and poetry of the troubadours.

I have attempted to portray this narrow period in time as accurately as possible. However, except for a few historic figures represented, all others are purely fictional and not meant to mirror the Irish nobility of the time.