France

Treaty of Troyes 1420

Treaties for peace, to resolve conflict, seal a marriage, create trade opportunities or simply to fuel naked ambition of a king? Treaty of Troyes a wedding and a truce for England or does it seal the fate of the House of Lancaster, see the sun set on York and an early dawn for a new dynasty the Tudors? Sounds far-fetched? Read-on since when did a Treaty actually create the conditions for lasting peace? Part 1 of a series of posts on Treaties and the Trouble that lies ahead.

Read More

Treaty of Amiens 1802

Treaty of Amiens

Good intentions by the British but no change of ambitions of the french, the treaty of Amiens set the course for outright war which would become known as the Napoleonic Wars, find out what lit the tinder box..with the first in our series on the human, social and economic impact of this 23 year war…

Read More

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

King John Plantagenet of England 1199-1216

King John summary and chronology
This entry is part 5 of 7 in the series Plantagenet Monarchs

John a jealous child, conspiring against kith and kin, was that so unusual, Magna Carter and the loss of the Anjevin Empire, what were the outcomes of John’s reign as heir to his brother the Lionheart…Plantagenet by birth what family traits had he inherited?

Read More

Richard I Coeur de Lion Plantagenet King

This entry is part 3 of 7 in the series Plantagenet Monarchs

Richard the First, Richard Coeur de Lion the Lionheart, hero or villain? How does he fit in history why was he so absent from England. A formative member of the House of Angevin as son of Henry II…was he a better King than his younger brother King John?

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

Angevin and Plantagenet Empire

Fontevraud Abbey

What led to the downfall of the Anjevin Empire? Where does the word Plantagenet come from? When did the French last successfully invade england? A converging and connecting point in history between empires and dynasties find out more with this linked chrnology…

Read More