abbey in spring

Hookykate says:
"Fair Rosamund , the mistress of Henry II, was, according to legend, murdered by Henry's wife, Queen Eleanor, who offered her the choice between a dagger and a cup of poison.

Rosamund took the poison and died straight away. This was at Woodstock, where Henry had 'made her a bower'. But it seems that she actually died here at the convent at Godstow and was buried with honour before the high altar. But not for long. Bishop Hugh of Lincoln, in 1191, asked whose tomb it was, covered in silk and lit by candles, and told the nuns to take the harlot out and bury her outside! So she was buried in the cloisters. But that tomb too was destroyed, at the Reformation. The convent had become a private dwelling, and was burnt down during the Civil War. So only these ruins remain.

But that doesn't answer why the ghost of Fair Rosamund is said to walk, rustling in a silk gown, at Creslow Manor, Bucks. Dates all wrong for that, but probably because Rosamund's surname was Clifford (as was the later Creslow Manor's lot). It is certain that Rosamund did withdraw to live at Godstow Nunnery after Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine, and she died there in 1177, but i don't know what became of the two children she bore Henry. Perhaps Eleanor got rid of them, too!"

Lovely!

adorable view, delightful compo and framing !