ROSAMOND, Mistress of Henry II of England

(Rosamond Clifford), d. 1176, mistress of Henry II of England. She was not openly acknowledged by the king until 1174, after he had imprisoned his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. On Rosamond's death soon afterward she was buried in Godstow Abbey, but her remains were removed to the chapter house after Henry's death. Many stories were written about Rosamond by later chroniclers, the best-known involving variations on a tragic death. She was supposedly murdered at Woodstock by Eleanor of Aquitaine, either by poison, stabbing, beheading, or being bled to death in her bath.

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