The Plantagenets: The Kings Who Made England

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Even though the Tudors are known for their drama-filled (albeit, somewhat short) dynasty; there was already a family making waves before them: the Plantagenets. Dan Jones explains those historical figures who paved the road for England in, “The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England”. Larman, Alexander (3 June 2012). "The Plantagenets by Dan Jones – review". The Guardian . Retrieved 15 August 2020. There are many highlights, but I especially enjoyed the sections that covered the reigns of Edward II and Richard II, two disastrous rulers. Fans of Shakespeare’s play RICHARD II will want to revisit that text after reading this book, and the revisit will be richer for it. a tall, bumptious teenager [who] liked to wear a sprig of bright yellow broom blossom (Planta genista in Latin) in his hair...Despite all this [his bride, Henry I's daughter] Mathilda was underwhelmed. Geoffrey was eleven years her junior, and Normans saw Angevins as barbarians who murdered priests, desecrated churches, and had appalling table manners.

It is no small task to give adequate coverage to prolific characters such as Henry II, Richard I, Edward III, and all who came in between in one installment. Jones does so with just enough detail of each king to understand their reign without including so much as to overwhelm the reader who is looking for an overview of the dynasty. In his prologue, Jones tells us his intention with The Plantagenets is to tell the story in an entertaining way. In this I think he is successful. I liked some of the writing, which was clear and fluid. I found I enjoyed the stories of Henry II, Richard I and Richard II, because these were the reigns that I knew least about, whereas I think Jones did. I found however I learned nothing new about John, Henry III, Edward I and Edward II. This is perhaps because I knew about these reigns before reading; but also because I think Jones doesn't like these kings very much and therefore didn't really 'get into' their stories (I'll go into detail about this shortly).His son Edward II is a weak, ineffectual ruler who surrounds himself with his young peers who prove to be unsuccessful in guiding Edward or the affairs of England. He prefers the company of his friends, such as Piers Gaveston, rather than his Queen Isabella, daughter of the King of France. She is not amused with his behavior nor in the way he treats her. She feels more like a maidservant who is getting bent over a chaise lounge from time to time rather than a daughter of a king. When the time is ripe, with the help of her husband’s numerous enemies, she overthrows him and installs her son as king. Rumor has it that she had her husband killed by having a hot poker inserted up his rectum as a commentary on his preference for his male friends, but Dan Jones believes this is just a story to further discredit her husband and strengthen her son’s hold on power. Henry II, the first son conceived in that frigid marriage bed of Matilda and Geoffrey, now King of England after some more bloody fighting with King Stephen, marries the amazing Eleanor of Aquitaine. I believe she is the only woman to marry the King of France and the King of England in history. She is intelligent, educated, and powerful in her own right. She is a catch for any man, even a king. ”Eleanor had been a magnificent queen whose influence had straddled three important reigns and who had loved and guided her sons even when they behaved unwisely.” gave a reprieve to a little boy who had accidentally killed a friend by throwing a stone. He dismissed a case against a mentally deficient man who had confessed to a crime of which he was clearly innocent. The Plantagenets: The Kings and Queens Who Made England is divided into seven sections, termed by Jones as "ages". These sections successively deal with periods in the history of the Plantagenet dynasty's rule over England. [5] Reception [ edit ]

This book is not academically referenced, although the author does utilise historical records and extracts from letters/diaries. I have to say I would have liked it if the author had provided references simply because it would have made it easier for me to look up what books I may like to read. All in all, a very good book on an extraordinary family. The writing involved me and made history more accessible. In telling the story, the author makes good use of sources from the time of the various Kings, from which he quotes liberally. I found that these quotes made the narrative more interesting for me. When quoting from the sources, Mr. Jones is careful to say if they supported or were against the King. THE PLANTAGENETS, THE WARRIOR KINGS AND QUEENS WHO MADE ENGLAND is a marvelous read. Full of intrigue, drama, and human emotion it is a pretty darn good overview of the 245 years of the Plantagenet dynasty and the politics of medieval Europe.

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While the author does recount the various wars the Kings fought, he also looks at how they ruled. The Good Kings while for the most part winning their wars also kept good relations with the nobility, while the bad kings did not. The story of the Magna Charta is a good example of this. From the time it was signed, John was trying to figure a way out of it. It really only became important later as his successors republished it and vowed to follow its strictures. Richard the Lionhearted," who rebelled against his old man, then took his crown upon Henry's death, then went off crusading in the Holy Lands, leading England to be ruined by his younger brother, King John, who was openly treasonous and by all accounts a coward and a weasel pretty much his entire life. And yet, when Richard returned, he forgave his brother, and John assumed the throne after his death. This wasn't great for England. Richard is the Robin Hood guy. He also exchanged correspondence with his arch-rival in Jerusalem, Saladin, but the two never actually met, counter to various historical fantasies. Maybe Henry just didn't know there were other names for girls because Matilda was also the name of: his mother/one-time Queen of England, Matilda of Flanders; his first wife, Matilda of Scotland; and the daughter they had, who became Empress Matilda. After William's death (FYI, his wife was also named Matilda), Henry appointed his only other legitimate child (the aforementioned Empress Matilda) as his heir. However, her cousin and his wife, Matilda of Boulogne, took over leaving us with King Stephen (not to be confused with Stephen King). I don't know that I entirely agree with the blurb of Dan Jones' The Plantagenets. Compelling and fascinating are certainly accurate, but gripping and vivid are a bit of a stretch. I mean no offense to Jones, his work is really very interesting, but we are talking about a piece that covers more than three hundred and sixty years of history. It's a lot to absorb and doesn't lend itself to edge-of-your-seat, obsessive, got-to-know-what-happens-next, must-finish-this-chapter-before-going-to-bed type reading.

Unlike most historians, Mr. Jones ends the story of the Plantagenets with the disposition of Richard II, another king who irritated his nobles and lost his wars, by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke ( Henry IV ). He justifies this with the fact the Richard II was the last king of the senior male Plantagenet line. Henry was the son of one of Edward III’s younger sons, John of Gaunt – Duke of Lancaster The author and I can at least agree on one thing: we both admire Edward III, whom I described in a recent English Standard article as the real father of the English nation. Although his ambitions in France were fruitless his time saw great innovations in both military and parliamentary affairs. It was a time that saw the beginning of the end of the old England of humble peasants and hungry barons, never the twain to meet. The publishers have managed to stamp the book with the imprimatur of some impressive heavyweights, including David Starkey and Simon Sebag-Montefiore. These things always seem slightly over the top to me - clearly solicited in advance rather than drawn from a published review - , almost hysterical in their approbation. The latter, for example, describes The Plantagenets as ‘outstanding’, a judgement echoed by Helen Castor, the best-selling author of She Wolves. (It must be so: it says so on the cover!) He spent the rest of the day and also the whole of the following night in bitterness of soul, given over to prayer and sleeplessness, and continuing his fast for three days...With this extraordinary show of public penance Henry had won the most important propaganda battle of the war.

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There are so many points in the Plantagenet era when they should have lost power. John, Henry III, Edward II, and Richard II are all legitimately bad kings who could have ended the reign of the Plantagenet family. Fortunately, there are strong kings, such as Henry II, Richard I, Edward I, and Edward III, who prove to be powerful, capable rulers who, especially in the case of the two Edwards, overcome the incompetencies of their immediate predecessors. Combined with some of the other histories I've read, I've come to one firm conclusion: never, ever name a prospective British monarch "Arthur." He won't make it to his twenties. It's actually impressive how many Arthurs have failed to make it to the throne. I have read a few of Dan Jones' books and have concluded that he is a rare, very rare, scholar. Jones understands that histories should never be written for the benefit of other scholars. What purpose does a history serve if only a small group of academics ever read it? Jones clearly thinks otherwise and writes his books to be read by the average book-buying reader that also might be a history geek or could become one if histories weren't so esoteric. Because of this attitude I will buy anything this man writes. What I learned from this book: the Plantagenets were so batshit crazy that they make the situations in Game of Thrones (ASoIaF) look comparatively mundane. A number of those decisions, and their consequences, have parallels here in our time and place. More than one took me to current events in an instant.

A king who fights to defend his right has a better claim on his inheritance. Struggle and largesse allow a king to gain glory and territory.” --Bertran de Born I would have loved to learn more about the powerful spouses and confidants behind each reign, but this book has done well in whetting my appetite for more.The sinking of the White Ship is one important marker; the other is Matilda’s marriage in 1128 to one Geoffrey of Anjou. It was a marriage made in hell, or at least Matilda might have thought so. A widow of twenty six, previously married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, she now found herself bound to a red-headed teenager of fourteen, a marriage arranged by her father for the sake of the peace. Geoffrey, son of the count of Anjou, had taken to sporting a sprig of yellow broom as his personal emblem- the planta genista in Latin, hence the name of the ensuing dynasty. Dan Jones has done something with this book that is not usually achieved. He has taken almost three centuries of history and made them accessible and understandable to the non-historian. His style of narrative nonfiction was at times as captivating as any novel with brilliant analysis of what drove people to the roles that they played. of the most beautiful and powerful men and women of England and Normandy board The White Ship to travel from Normandy to England. They are exuberantly drunk, and the crew of the ship is also three sheets to the wind. Out of all of these important people, there is one who is head and shoulders more important than the rest...William the Aetheling, named for his grandfather William the Conqueror. He is the heir apparent to the throne of England.