Young King Henry, Part 1

Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine were married in 1152 and had a son in 1153, but William died in 1156 at the age of two. On 28 February 1155, their second child, Henry, was born.

Henry doesn't have any history recorded about his childhood, but in 1170 when he was 15 he was crowned king. (The illustration shows the coronation, with Henry II serving his son at the banquet.) This was a custom of the Capetian dynasty: to ensure and publicly proclaim the succession. Normal practice would have been to allow the son to assume some of the roles of government in preparation for assuming the throne, but Henry II retained control of his government. This not only made junior less capable when the time would come, but also annoyed him to the point where he thought he could take matters into his own hands.

He was given over to William Marshall in 1170 to be trained in the knightly arts. Marshall managed young Henry's "tournament team" (until 1182) and made sure he did not get severely hurt. Going to tournaments and jousts across northern and central France brought young Henry an admirable reputation. A contemporary Occitan troubadour, Bertran de Born, called him:

...the best king who ever took up a shield, the most daring and best of all tourneyers. From the time when Roland was alive, and even before, never was seen a knight so skilled, so warlike, whose fame resounded so around the world – even if Roland did come back, or if the world were searched as far as the River Nile and the setting sun.

This may have been true, or it may have been an attempt to curry favor with the man who would become a powerful ruler in both England and on the continent. To be fair, after his death, Gervase of Tilbury (who acted as Henry's chaplain) said 

Assuredly, as he was a solace to the world while he lived, so it was a blow to all chivalry when he died in the very glow of youth.

During this time, he had funds allocated to him by his father. For a tournament in 1179 held at Lagny-sur-Marne by King Louis VII to commemorate the coronation of his son, Philip II, young Henry brought 200 knights at the cost of 20 shillings per knight per day. Henry led the English team against a Flemish team led by his and Marshal's friend Baldwin of Béthune, whose later life was in the service of English kings, not French.

This extravagance was not to last, however. Lack of funds as well as lack of his own lands to rule would be part of his reason for rebelling against his father. But more on that tomorrow.

Medieval Werewolves

The European Middle Ages had plenty of werewolf stories, but they were notably different from what we portray about modern werewolves. Let's talk about some of the differences.

First, how does one become a werewolf? In the Middle Ages, it was not a curse passed along by the bite of a werewolf, but either placed on you by a spell, as in the story of William and the Werewolf, or a "lifestyle choice" by putting on a wolf skin. Gerald of Wales tells the story of a priest who encountered a werewolf couple in Ireland who needed last rites for the she-wolf. When the priest refuses, the wolf skin is opened like opening a coat to reveal an old woman.

In the tale of Bisclavret, we do not know how he became a werewolf, but he explains to his wife that he has to hide his clothes so that he can return to them after three days and become human again. In this situation, the werewolf "curse" is innate, and negated after the period is over by wrapping himself in his original human clothing.

The medieval werewolf also retained its human understanding, and did not simply become a ravenous wolf. When a werewolf in medieval tales attacks someone, it is out of a sense of revenge due to wrongs done to the human host. Bisclavret demonstrates this, and I will go into those details next time.

Regarding phases of the moon: Gervase of Tilbury tells the story of Chaucevaire, who transforms according to the phases of the moon; however, it is the dark of the moon, not the light of a full moon. The moon link may also be part of the werewolf condition in Bisclavret because he transforms without his own choice every week for three days. The author does not specify that there is a lunar link—especially since it is each week, not month—but three days is there length of time often attributed to the full moon. 

The word werewolf includes the Old English wer- meaning "man." In the Middle Ages, a werewolf is a man who becomes a wolf. Modern horror films often have werewolves, but in many cases they are larger and more monstrous-looking than ordinary wolves, often standing on two legs. For the Middle Ages, the werewolf literally became a wolf, indistinguishable from other wolves until it acted in ways that wolves would not act.

You will see this tomorrow in what is perhaps the best-known werewolf story from the Middle Ages.