When Count Henry of Anjou and his formidable wife Eleanor of
Aquitaine became king and queen of England, they amassed an empire
stretching 1,000 miles from the Pyrenees to the Scottish border,
including half of France. Henry's grandmother Empress (of Germany)
Mathilda had taught him that ruling is like venery: show the hawk
the reward, but take it away at the last moment, to keep the bird
eager to please. To sons and vassals alike, Henry promised
everything but gave nothing, keeping the three adult princes hating
him and the other siblings all their lives. Plantagenet Princes
traces the lives and infamous webs of mistrust and intrigue among
them. What sons they were! Henry (b. 1155), 'the Young king' was
entitled to succeed his father, yet was a rich playboy who died
crippled by debt before his thirtieth birthday, after living the
life of a robber baron. Richard (b. 1157), 'the Lionheart' was lord
of his mother's duchy of Aquitaine and became, thanks to her,
England's most popular king despite bankrupting the Empire twice in
his disastrous 10-year reign. Geoffrey (b. 1158), count of
Brittany, was the cleverest, but was trampled to death by horses
aged 32 in a pointless melee at Paris, leaving his wife Constance
to act as regent for their son Arthur in a long power struggle
between Philip Augustus, king of France, and the Plantagenets. The
runt of the litter, John (b. 1166) was nicknamed Lackland, since no
inheritance was initially promised him. He proved the longest-lived
by far, dying at the age of fifty after signing Magna Carta, losing
the key duchy of Normandy and most of the other continental
possessions - also murdering his nephew Arthur, imprisoning
Arthur's sister for life and waging war against his barons,
continued by Henry III. The Plantagenet line continued with Richard
of Cornwall, Edward I conquering Wales, gay Edward II, Edward III,
Edward the Black Prince and Richard II, who died in prison while
his usurper sat on the throne.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
