chard, in contrast, was probably indifferent at best to women. The contemporary view is that he was probably a homosexual, and while our categories and assumptions regarding sexual preference are not those of his own time, but it is conspicuous that his name was never associated with that of any women other than his mother and a fiancee and wife with whom he was associated for political reasons. His wife Berengaria was a Queen of England who never even visited that country, and she had no children by him. Nor, in an age when such things were a commonplace, did he have any known illegitimate children.
He did evidently enjoy decorating his chapel, much loved music, and left behind him two estimable examples of his poetry. The chief sign of his intellect, however, was his deep mastery of siege craft and military engineering. He built at Chateau Gaillard one of the finest castles of the Middle Ages (to no purpose, as it was soon lost under King John).3 No nonmilitary buildings are credited to him, however.
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