Review of “a Lion in Winter”
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Henry, the King of England, married Eleanor for her land; their first son
died, after him, John was Henrys favorite, Richard was Eleanors favorite,
but turned out to be homosexual, Geoffrey plotted against all of them with
the King of France who was Richards “friend;” Henry had an affair with
Rosalyn, and Eleanor, with Richard lead a couple of civil wars against him,
so Henry locked Eleanor in a tower; Henrys lover died, he bought a wife,
Alice, for the son who was to be King, but had an affair with her . . . And
so went life in the late 12th century. Involved in this complex arrangement
there are many aspects of life during this period including: the status of
women, power of the church and living conditions all of which were
illustrated in The Lion in Winter.
One of the most apparent things in The Lion in Winter was the role of women.
At first impression they did not seem significant. Eleanor was cheated on,
not an uncommon practice, and then locked in a tower to only be aloud out on
holidays. Alice was bought and then became Henrys new lover, and beyond
that no other women were mention. Despite all this, when looked at more
closely women were important to the feudal society. A king could acquire
land by conquering, or marrying the daughter who had that land in her dowry.
Also in the movie Eleanor wielded more power than one would have thought,
for one she and Richard had led civil wars against Henry before. Secondly
because of her control of the Aquataine she exercised more power than other
women of the times. Because of all this women were necessary to the feudal
system, but were still not regarded as meaningful.
The role of the church was influential in the movie, but not as prominent as
expected. It was the church that gave the king his authority and could take
it away. Henry threatened to annul his marriage with Eleanor to gain
leverage to obtain the Aquatain. There was even

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King Of England And Power Of The Church. (June 20, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.freeessays.education/king-of-england-and-power-of-the-church-essay/