Anglo-Saxon England Kings--

Centwine of Wessex.

(d.c685)

King of Wessex

676-685.

His lover was:

Eangyth (c660-after 718)

Anglo-Saxon aristocrat & nun.

Natural offspring:

1. Edburga (c680-?)

"Eangyth was of noble birth and during her youth the mistress of Centwine, King of Wessex (676 – 685) to whom she bore a natural daughter Edburga (Bucge) (c680). Eangyth took holy orders and was placed as abbess of the convent at Minster on the island of Sheppey in Kent, where she raised their daughter. Mother and daughter were on friendly terms with St Boniface, with whom they corresponded. A surviving letter (dated c716 – 718) is written by Eangyth and her daughter jointly, and in it they apologise for writing ‘in rustic style and unpolished language.’ The abbess also speaks of problems facing the religious community, and mentions the desire of both ladies to make a pilgrimage to Rome. Eangyth died before this could be accomplished, though her daughter later travelled there." (A Bit of History)

Edgar of England

Edgar I of England (943-975)

King of England 969

Son of: Edmund the Elder & Saint Aelfgifu of Shaftesbury.

Husband of:

1) Aethelflaed of Devon, mar 963

2) Aelfthryth of Devon, mar 965.

"Edgar the Peaceful married twice, his first wife, Elfleda was divorced to enable him to marry Elfrida, daughter of Ordgar, ealdorman of Devon and Edgar's mistress, she was the widow of Ethelwald, Ealdorman of East Anglia and a woman of notorious reputation. She was said to have been the King's lover before the death of her first husband." (English Monarchs)

Edgar's physical appearance & personal qualities.

"In common with his brother Edwy and others of his predecessors in the House of Wessex, Edgar was a very small man, recorded as being less than five feet tall, although possessing great personal magnetism. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicledescribes him as being handsome and speaks highly of his achievements." (English Monarchs)

His lover was:

Wulfthryth, Abbess of Wilton (945-1000)

No saintly morals.

"The monkish writers, with whom Edgar is such a favourite, have not altogether concealed the fact that he was no saint in his morals.  Even Lingard seems to admit that one story is tolerably well authenticated, which attributes to him the violation of a lady of noble birth, and that too while she was resident in a convent.  Another is told of his having, on one occasion, ordered one of his nobles, whose guest he was, to give him his daughter for a bedfellow, and of the young lady;s honour having been saved by her mother substituting for her a handsome slave, with whom the king was so pleased that, after discovering the deception, he took her to court and retained her for some ears as his favourite mistress...."  (Long, Vol. 9: 271)

"Edgar had many mistresses, one of these was the beautiful Wulfrida, whom he carried off from Wilton Abbey, it is unsure if she had actually taken her vows as a nun. For this the King was forced to do penance for seven years, purportedly having to fast twice a week. He had 4 children in all, by his first wife Ethelflaed, he had two sons, the eldest Edward, succeeded him as King of England, and Edmund. An illegitimate daughter, Edith or Eadgyth, born to by Wilfrida, was educated at Wilton Abbey and was canonised after her death in 984. A third son, born to Queen Elfthryth succeeded his half-brother Edward as Ethelred II." (English Monarchs)

Edwy I of England
the All-Fair
@Wikipedia

Edwy I of England

(950-959)

King of the English

955-959

Son of Edmund I, King of the English & Aelfgifu of Shaftesbury

Husband of Aelfgifu, ann 958

" . . . [H]e rendered himself contemptible, by the immorality of his private life. Ardent in the pursuit of pleasure, and regardless of public decency, he abandoned himself to the most unseemly enjoyments. The language in which our ancient writers uniformly describe and reprobate this part of his conduct, is not fir for the eye of every reader; but it will be proper to delineate the real nature of his connexion with Ethelgiva, a subject, which, though unimportant in itself, has derived som interest from the embellishments with which it has been adorned by the fancy of modern historians." (Lingard. A History of England, Vol 1: 200)

His lover was:

Ethelgiva of Wessex.

"Ethelgiva was a lady of noble birth, who had conceived the design of securing the dignity of queen for herself or for her daughter. With the view of captivating Edwy's affections, the one of the other was constantly in his company; and, if we may credit the scandal of the age, neither of them hesitated to sacrifice her honour to the hope of obtaining the object of her ambition. . . ." (Lingard. A History of England, Vol 1: 200)

" . . . His short reign was fraught with scandal and crisis. Edwig was a troublesome youth, and led a dissolute life. He was early seduced and had become besotted on a widow, Ethelgive, who was twice his age, and resolved to cover their connection by marrying her daughter Elgive. After his coronation Edwig openly lived with the two women at once, which caused an enormous scandal that brought him into conflict with the Arch-Bishop Oda. The affair shook the nation. It became public knowledge on the very day of his coronation. That evening, during the coronation-banquet, the king quietly slipped-off with his mistress and her daughter. The Arch-Bishop, Oda, noticing the king's absence, sent two clerics, to enquire after the king and remind him of his duties requesting his return to the banquet. To their horror, they found the king and his mistress, and her daughter, in the king's chamber, all three on a sofa with their clothes disheveled engaged in sordid behavior. The clerics physically separated the king from the two women, dragging the king from their arms, and forced him to return to the banquet. The assembled nobles and clerics at the banquet were dumbfounded with shock and dismay by the actions of the two clerics, and even more appalled by the lack of the king's sense of decorum. The next year, in 957, Edwig married the daughter of his mistress, Elgive, whose father, Ethelred, Earl of Wessex, had been a relative of the royal family. . ."  (Hugues. The British Chronicles, Vol. 1: 291)

Affair's end & aftermath.

"Soon after this transaction Edwy appears to have married, an event which might have been expected to put an end to the connexion between him and his mistress. Whether on that occasion Ethelgiva was committed to the care of her relations or of her husband, we are ignorant; but he king, either instigated by his passion, or moved by her solicitations carried her off by force, and placed her in one of the royal farms. Archbishop Odo undertook to remove the scandal by enforcing the punishment, which the laws awarded against women living in a state of concubinage. Accompanied by his retainers, he rode to the place, arrested Ethelgiva, probably in the absence of her lover, conducted her to the sea-side, and put her on board a ship, in which she was conveyed to Ireland. At his return to court, he waited on Edwy, and in respectful and affectionate language endeavoured to justify his own conduct, and to sooth the exasperated mind of the young prince. X X X Ethelgiva, who had returned from Ireland, was the companion of his flight. At Gloster she fell into the hands of the pursuers, who with their swords divided the sinews of her legs, a cruel but not unusual mode of punishment in the age. After lingering in great torment for a few days, she expired." (Lingard. A History of England, Vol 1: 200)

Gunhild Haroldsdotter of England (1061-1095)

Her lovers were:

1) Alain Niger de Bretagne, Lord of Richmond.

2) Alain Rufus de Bretagne, Lord of Richmond.

" . . . She became a nun, but left her convent to live with the count of Brittany as his mistress. . . ." (abitofhistory.com) [Ref1]

His lover was: 

Edith Swan's Neck (1025-1086)

"Less obscure, and even more tragic, was the story of Eadgyth Swanneheshals, or Edith of the Swan-neck, who was the concubine of Harold Godwinson, Duke of Wessex, later King Harold II. Whilst Harold was Earl of Wessex she lived happily with him, having at least six children, once of whom, Gytha, married Waldemar, King of Novgorod (now in Russia), while another became a nun closer to home at Wilton. . . ."  (Carlton: 10)

"She it was who is said to have identified his body after the battle of Hastings. Nothing more than this is known about her." (Pulling: 405)

" . . .Harold Godwinson, the last king of Anglo-Saxon England, only repudiated his charmingly named mistress, Edith Swan's Neck, after he seized the the throne in 1066, in order to gain the support of the northern earls Edwin and Morcar by marrying their sister (also called Edith). . . ."  (Given-Wilson and Curteis: 21)

Norman Kings of England----

William I of England
the Conqueror
@Wikipedia

William I of England

(1028-1087)

Son of Robert I de Normandie & Herleva de Falaise

Husband of Matilda of Flanders (1031-1083), mar 1051

His lover was:

Maude.

Daughter of: Ingelric, a Saxon nobleman.

"The name of Peverel is closely identified with the ancient history of this county. One of the most celebrated possessors of that name was the natural son of William the Conqueror, by Maude, the daughter of Ingelric, a Saxon nobleman, related to Edward the Confessor. This lady, who possessed great personal beauty, appears, according to some historians, to have been the wife of Ranulph Peverel, Elderman of the hundred of Dengy, in the county of Essex, and resident at Hatfield Peverel, in that county. It is probable she became the mistress of William of Normandy during his visit at the court of the Confessor, and that he gave her in marriage to his companion in arms, Ranulph Peverel, son of Payne Peverel, standard bearer to Robert, Duke of Normandy, the father of William I. The king's son by Maude, at the desire of his mother, assumed the name of his father-in-law, Peverel. According to the monk Vitalis, the newly built castle of Nottingham was committed to the custody of Peverel, in the second year of the reign of the Conqueror, but it is not stated which Peverel is meant; and we find that Castellane, one of the sons of Maude, was living in Dover, and that another, named Payne, was Lord of Brun, in the county of Cambridge. There is no difficulty in the supposition that William Peverel, the natural son of the Conqueror, was advanced nearly to the age of manhood, at the period of his father's successful enterprise, and we accordingly find that immense possessions were bestowed upon him immediately after the conquest. . . ." (Glover. The History of the County of Derby, Part 2: 197)

Stephen of England

Stephen of England

(1092-1154)

King of England

Duke of Normandy

1135-1154

Count of Boulogne & Lens 1125

Count of Mortain 1113.

Son of: Etienne de Blois & Adela of Normandy.

Husband of: Mathilde de Boulogne (1105-1152), Comtesse de Boulogne 1125, mar 1125, daughter of Etienne III de Boulogne

& Matilda of Scotland.

His lover was:

Dameta (fl. 1115-1125)

Natural offspring:

1. Gervase of Blois, Abbot of Westminster

2. Ralph of Blois

3. Americ of Blois.

"As has been said, King Henry was not much of an example of sexual morality to his courtiers. He had been involved with a series of mistresses since the mid-1080s, showing a particular liking for women from English landholding families of modest means, such as the mother of Robert of Gloucester. Stephen was happy to follow his example, and formed a long-term liaison with a woman known as 'Damette' (the 'Little Lady') with whom he had a son, Gervase, at some time in the mid- to late 1110s and possibly also a daughter. He acknowledged his son, arranged for his entry into a monastery and made him abbot of Westminster in 1138. Abbot Gervase used his good fortune to settle on his mother the perpetual lease of the abbey's manor of Chelsea at a preferential rent. The grant caused some little scandal, and may have been used later by King Henry II to oust Gervase from Westminster in 1157. Damette, the mistress of Count Stephen, seems (from what little we know about her) to have lived quietly with him and been decently put aside on or before his marriage in 1125. But she seems to have been left with some endowment, for she was able to produce foty shillings in case and a silk cloth worth 5li as a payment on entry into her lease on the manor of Chelsea." (Crouch. The Reign of King Stephen: 1135-1154: 18)

"Dameta was the mistress of Stephen of Blois, King of England (1135–1154) during his youth. She became the mother of his illegitimate son, Gervaise of Blois (c1118–1160), who became a monk and was later appointed abbot of Westminster, London by his royal father (1136). He was later deposed from office by Henry II (1157). Charter evidence reveals that Dameta had two other sons, Almaric and Ralph, who were called brothers of abbot Gervaise when they witnessed a charter, but whether they were fathered by Stephen, or by a prior or later husband, remains unknown. Dameta may also have been the mother of an unnamed natural daughter of King Stephen, who became the wife (before 1139) of Hervey, Vicomte of Leon, in Brittany."  (Women of History - D)

Natural offspring:
1. Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall.

Personal and Family Background:  

" . . . Henry I's known mistresses included women of aristocratic birth such as Sybil Corbet. . . ."  (Green. The Aristocracy of Norman England: 357).

" . . . His mistress Sybil Corbet...the daughter of Sir Robert Corbet, was probably the mother of at least five of the king's spurious blood. . . ."  (Given-Wilson & Curteis. The Royal Bastards of Medieval England: 9)

Offspring: " . . . Herbert the Chamberlain's son and heir, Herbert FitzHerbert, married Sibyl (alias Adela of Lucy), daughter of Robert Corbet. She was one of Henry I's numerous mistresses, and she bore him no fewer than five illegitimate children. . . ."  (Norton. St. William of York: 15)

Plantagenet Kings of England--

Richard I of England

Richard I of England

(1157-1199)

King of England

1189-1189

Richard I of England
@Ancient History

"The evidence that survives suggests that, as Richard grew older, he gained a reputation for promiscuity. He did not scruple to resort to rape: 'he carried off the wives, daughters and kinswomen of his freemen by force, and made them his concubines, and when he had sated his lust on them, he handed them over to his knights for whoring'. He was once accused by a preacher, Ful of Neuilly, of begetting three shameless daughters: Pride, Avarice and Sensuality -- to which he cynically retorted, 'I gave my daughter Pride to the Knights Templar, my daughter Avarice to the Cistercians, and my daughter Sensuality to the princes of the Church.' Unlike his father, he had only one acknowledged bastard, Philip, born of an unknown mistress before 1189, who perhaps married Amelie, heiress of Cognac, and became Lord of Cognac. It has been suggested by later writers that a noblewoman, Jeanne de St. Pol, bore Richard a son called Fulk, but there is no contemporary evidence for this." (Eleanor of Aquitaine: 200)

Richard I of England
@Google

Richard I's lovers were:
1) Joan de St. Pol (?).

Natural offspring:
a. Fulk (?)

2) Philippe II Auguste de France.

(Reston) (Crusades History)

"After this time Richard and Philip were great friends. Both of them were young and unmarried, and they had already been allies in waging war against Richard's father, Henry II. Their temperaments were different, however. Philip, blind in one eye, had no real love of fighting, being quieter and more of a diplomat than Richard. Richard, by everyone's accounts, was a man of superb physique, tall, incredibly handsome, strong, and talented in the arts of poetry and music as well as in the skills of battle. He had unbounded energy and a ferocious and violent temper. Normally he was generous, but his moods were unpredictable and he could be callous and cruel. Above all, he was a natural leader, and he adored the excitement of war. He had acquired his nickname, Coeur de Lion, or 'Lionheart' because of his bravery in combat." (Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade)

3) Raife de Clermont.

"...Richard wed Berengaria in 1191 on the island of Cyprus while en route to the Holy Land for a Crusade, and took her with him when he resumed his journey. However, it's not clear how long they remained together since they returned separately with Richard in the company of a lover, Raife de Clermont, a young knight whom he had rescued from captivity by the Saracens." (Neill: 345).

"Although Richard I spent the vast majority of his reign from 1189 t0 1199 outside England, either on a crusade or putting down rebellion in his French dominions, the crown none the less managed to retain much of the power Henry III had won. Rumours of an affair with Raife de Clermont, a young knight whom he had rescued from Saracen captivity, did nothing to tarnish the Lionheart's reputation as the epitome of medieval chivalry." (Carlton: 18)

4) Unknown woman.

Natural offspring:
a. Philippe, Lord of Cognac (d. after 1201)
Probably husband of Amelia of Cognac.

Edward I of England

Edward I of England

(1239-1307)

King of England

1272-1307

Son of: Henry III of England & Eleonore de Provence.

Husband of:

1. Eleanor of Castile (1244-1291) mar 1254.

"Eleanor was the beautiful dark-haired daughter of Ferdinand III, King of Castile and his second wife, Jeanne, Countess of Ponthieu. Eleanor was also descended from Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, through their second daughter, Eleanor, who had married Alphonso VIII of Castile. Although their marriage was a political alliance the pair became deeply attached. She bore him sixteen children. The couple's first two sons, Henry and John died in infancy, their third son, Alphonso, the heir to the throne and Eleanor's favourite died at twelve years old, leaving their fourth son, Edward as his father's heir." (English Monarchs)

"Peace was so far established in 1265 as to warrant the return of Queen Eleanor, who took her daughter-in-law home with her. Prince Edward the ladies at Dover, and was delighted to welcome his wife, who had, during her absence, developed into a remarkably handsome woman. She had clear cut, delicate features, a fine figure, and a magnificent black hair, peculiar to Spanish ladies." (Agnes Strickland's Queens of England: 163)

2. Marguerite de France.

Edwards physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Edward I was a tall man of six feet two inches (1.88 metres), with long arms and legs from which his nick-name, Longshanks, was derived. His hair was black like his Provencal mother's, his complexion swarthy and his eyes fiery in anger. He inherited a drooping eyelid from his father Henry III, Edward spoke with a pronounced lisp, but possessed the fierce Plantagenet temper in full measure. The Song of Lewes in 1264 described him as a leopard, an animal regarded as particularly powerful and unpredictable. It was recorded of Edward that 'He was tall of stature, higher than ordinary men by head and shoulders, and thereof called Longshank; of swarthy complexion, strong of body, but lean; of a comely favour; his eyes in his anger sparkling like fire; the hair of his head dark and curled. concerning his conditions, as he was in war peaceful, so in peace he was warlike, delighting specially in that kind of hunting , which is to kill stags or other wild beasts with spears. In Incontinence of life he was equal to his father; in acts of valour, far beyond him. He had in him the two wisdoms, not often found in any single; both together seldom or never; an ability of judgement in himself, and a readiness to hear the judgement of others. He was not easily provoked into passion, but once in passion not easily appeased.'" (English Monarchs)

His lover was:
Alice de Lusignan, Countess of Glouceste (1236-1290)

Daughter of: Hugues XI de Lusignan, Comte de La Marche & Angouleme & Yolande de Dreux, Comtesse de Penthievre & Porhoet

Gilbert de Clare
7th Earl of Gloucester 

Wife of: Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester (1243-1295) mar 1253, div 1284.

"Alice was described as being very beautiful with dark hair and dark eyes. She was also flirtatious and provocative. She was said to strongly resemble her grandmother Queen Isabella. In the late summer of 1259, she formed a friendship with her half first cousin, Prince Edward who would later ascend the throne as King Edward I. When civil war broke out and the barons rose up against the King led by Simon de Montfort, Alice's husband supported them. Prince Edward, who headed the Royalist Army, quickly went to war against the traitors who had betrayed his father. Tonbridge Castle, one of Gloucester's properties was captured by Prince Edward's troops and Alice, who was resident in the castle at the time, taken prisoner. It is alleged that the Prince and his cousin became lovers while she was imprisoned. Edward's young wife, Eleanor of Castile was in France at the time. Alice was released shortly afterward." (Wikipedia)

Edward III of England
in NPG
@Wikipedia

Edward III of England

(1312-1377)

King of England

Lord of Ireland

1327-1377

Son of Edward II of England & Isabelle of France.

Husband of Philippa of Hainaut.

A mid-13th century illustration of Edward III
by Philip De Bay/Historical Picture Archive/Corbis
@The Guardian

His lover was:

Alice Perrers (1348-1400)

Lover in 1363 or 1366.

English royal mistress.

Lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa.

"A name given to Alice Perrers (or Pierce), a mistress of Edward III of England, and a married woman of great beauty, who had been lady of the bed-chamber to Queen Philippa. Although Edward lavished upon her both honors and riches, yet at his death she stole his jewels, taking even the rings from his fingers." (An Explanatory and Pronouncing Dictionary of the Noted Names of Fiction: 204)

Wife of: Sir William Windsor, Royal Lieutenant of Ireland

Natural Offspring: 

1. Sir John de Southeray (1364-1383) mar Maud Percy, daughter of Henry Percy, 3rd Baron Percy & Mary of Lancaster.

2. Nicholas Lytlington, Abbot of Westminster

3. Jane Plantagenet mar Richard Northland

4. Joan Plantagenet mar Robert Skerne.

" . . . Called Dame Alice. Mistress to Edward III, king of England. She came to court as a ward of Queen Philippa and became Edward's mistress after Philippa's death. Like most royal favorites, she was despised at court. She was not of noble birth, which was also a cause of resentment. Alice exercised enormous influence over the king and was a good friend to Chaucer and to John of Gaunt. Eventually, she married Sir William Windsor, who had served the king's sons in the military, and continued as the king's mistress. Intelligent and clever, Alice was notorious for her manipulation of the king. An act of Parliament finally banished her from court in 1376, but she was brought back by the duke of Lancaster to keep the king occupied during his declining years as the nobles sought to gain power at the expense of the English Crown. Alice's life is an example of the few routes women had to gain power and influence. . . ." (Encyclopedia of Women in the Middle Ages: 15)

Edward's most notorious mistress.

" . . . His most notorious mistress was Alice Perrers, Queen Philippa's chief lady-in-waiting. She was the mother of at least four of Edward III's bastards. After Queen Philippa died, Alice took on royal airs, and used power over members of Parliament to enrich her own purse. . . ." (Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens: 156)

From the queen's lady-in-waiting to the king's bedmate.

"Another lady-in-waiting to the queen who made her way to the king's bed was Alice Perrers, mistress of Edward III of England, who served in the household of Edward's queen, Philippa of Hainaut, and was a young widow at the time their sexual relations began. She had a son and two daughters by the king, was publicly acknowledged after Philippa's death in 1369 and was notorious for accumulating lands and wealth. This made her vulnerable when the king was no longer there to protect her, and soon after his death in 1377 Alice was tried, condemned and deprived of all her lands. She spent the rest of her life -- more than twenty years -- trying to recover what she could. Unlike most royal mistresses of the period, she was not from a noble or knightly background but from a family of London goldsmiths and jewellers, who provided her first link with the royal court. . . ." (Blood Royal: Dynastic Politics in Medieval Europe: 164)

Personal and family background.

"Alice Perrers was the daughter of a Hertfordshire knight, but her surname Perrers may have come from a first husband. She was also known by the name Alice de Windsor for a second husband named William de Windsor. Both of her marriages came before she was lady-in-waiting to Queen Philippa. She became the mistress of King Edward III around 1369. Edward recognized four of her children as his own... She is reputed to have used bribes, and personal influence to force financially favorable legal decisions for herself and her favorites... She died in 1400, but lives on as England';s most egregiously calculating ambitious scheming and greedy woman of disrepute." (Lives of England's Reigning and Consort Queens: 156)

First encounter.

" . . .Alice Perrers' affair with Edward is usually said to have begun around 1364.  If John was born in late 1364 or 1365, he would have been seventeen at the time he led the mutiny. This is not impossible: boys became men quickly in the Middle Ages, and perhaps his behaviour in 1382 smacks of youthful impetuosity. Yet it would be difficult to imagine that he was much younger then seventeen. Thus we know of John's career suggests that Alice became the king's mistress not later than 1364, and possibly earlier. . . ." (Given-Wilson and Curteis: 141)

Affair's benefits to the mistress.

" . . . Edward gave her the manor of Wendover, many of his late wife's jewels, and an annuity worth 100 pounds. So rich did Alice become that in 1375 she was able to lend Walter FitzWalter 1,000 pounds secured on Egremont Castle. . . ." (Carlton: 23).

A manor, an annuity & the dead queen's jewels.

" . . . Alice Perrers, for example, was quite well compensated for her lost virtue when she became the mistress of King Edward III of England. Among other gifts, she received the manor of Wendover, a large annuity, and many of the late queen's jewels from her royal lover. Alice became so wealthy that she could afford to lend a thousand pounds to Lord FitzWalter in 1375---a wise investment since she subsequently collected his castle of Egremont when he was unable to repay her." (Williams & Echols: 90)

References:

[Bio2:History & Women]

[Bio2: Luminarium]

Irish Royals--

Diarmait Mac Murchada of Leinster (1110-1171).

King of Leinster.

His lover was:

Derbforgaill of Meath (1108-1193)

Daughter of: Malachy, King of Meath.

"It's doubtful that Dervorgilla had any say in the matter. O'Rourke was not the handsomest of men; in fact his nickname was Monoculus, meaning 'one eye.' Besides which, Dervorgilla already had a lover, Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster." (Robbins, 2004, p. 93)

[Bio2:History of Ireland] [Ref1:Atkins] [Ref2:Kinsella] [Bio2:Kinsella] [Re1:93:Robbins]