Intriguing Families

Eleanor of Aquitaine Mother of English Kings

Mother of Kings Henry III Richard I and John

Wealthy educated and powerful and that was just at 15, married to the Kings of France and England, forging the most powerful alliance in Northern Europe with the Angevin Empire created with the marriage to Henry II, through their complex family relationships, two sons would be King of England and many of her grandchildren would form the basis of the bloodlines of the important European Kingdoms for centuries to come, this was a woman on which history pivots…

Read More

Henry II Plantagenet King of England

This entry is part 2 of 7 in the series Plantagenet Monarchs

Henry II creates the Anjevin Empire but by failing to unite his sons and wife in the line of succession causes more trouble than he resolves, what would happen during his reign kicks-off the English Plantagenet dynasty but also sows the seeds of it’s demise…

Read More

King Cnut Canute 995-1035

King Canute

Cnut was a strong and brutal ruler who managed to control England , Denmark and Norway having demolished the inheritance of Alfred the Great by removing Ethelred and Edmund but would he fair any better in ensuring a smooth succession down his family lines, another intriguing family?

Read More

King Stephen I of England 1135-1154

King Stephen

Stephen seized the Crown of England, but was always looking over his shoulder and battling with Empress Matilda dn Geoffrey of Anjou, only finally reaching a compromise that was to cost his son dealry just before his death…Henry de Blois is Kingmaker and swings between the parties as brother of Stephen did the family links count for so little, what an intriguing family…

Read More

Sir Robert Peel 1st Baronet a Prime Minister’s Father

Sir Robert Peel (1st Baronet) site of the original mill

What makes a Prime Minister? Why does the wealth health and education not ensure the success and happiness of future generations? Famous families as a reflection of our own and national history. Sir Robert Peel the first baronet certainly leads us into some intriguing connections…

Read More