Sable, a lion rampant or, armed and langued gulesJames of Abingdon
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The Earl of Abingdon has served as such for many years, since the death of his father Godfrey of Abingdon in the field, campaigning against the royal forces. Despising the old monarch, Earl Godfrey had joined forces with Eleanor of Aquitaine and her three princely sons Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, in an attempt to crown the Young King. Much like men such as Robert de Beaumont, Hugh Bigod, William de Ferrers and Hugh de Kevelioc (Earls of Leicester, Norfolk, Derby and Chester, respectively) he had been eager to take up arms in the name of profit - unlike his noble peers, he failed to make it out alive.
The heir of a long Anglo-Norman line, the Earl holds many a bloodline in his veins - Normans, Saxons, Frenchmen, Scots and Danes, all. His paternal line descends from a knight under the command of William the Conqueror, and the family chronicles claim ancestry from the legendary Rollo himself, by way of a daughter, albeit admittedly somewhat hazily so. These are facts that James is intensively proud of, and frequently makes reference to. A knight as well as a nobleman, driven in battle by scorching lust and in politics by cold calculation, he likewise holds himself to be a relatively pious man, if unorthodox at times. The saints are with him, through sorrow and success.
A stern ruler but by no means cruel, his interest in administrating the family fiefs has decreased in recent years, no doubt due to his own personal decline following the death of Lady Abingdon in childbirth. Following this, he increasingly took part in the plots of the realm. His actions during the Battle of Ballans, when the
Cœur de Lion finally defeated his father Henry II once at for all, could be seen as suspiciously unstable. This all changed when the newly crowned King Richard began raising an army, to march on the Holy Land. Renewed with energy, the proud lord once more appeared to become his former self, and set off.
