William de Mandeville: The King’s Confidant and Cross-Channel Power Broker
William de Mandeville was more than just an ambitious noble; he was a trusted confidant, skilled diplomat, and key player in the turbulent court of Henry II. His rise to power through loyalty, military prowess, and strategic alliances shaped the cross-Channel politics of medieval England and beyond.
Geoffrey: the Prodigal Son of Henry II
Geoffrey’s devotion to Henry II and the favored status which saw him rise high in his father’s reign
Hamelin de Warenne: The Devoted Black Sheep
Hamelin is something of an anomaly, being the only illegitimate royal family member raised to an earldom during the twelfth century who was not the son of a king.
The Thirteenth Century International System and the Origins of the Angevin-Piast Alliance
The central question of this study is what inspired Charles I and Władysław Łokietek to establish a dynastic marriage in 1320 and in what context it happened.
Renaissance Contacts Between Dubrovnik (Ragusa) and the Kingdom of Hungary
During the rule of the Angevin dynasty (1308-82) in Hungary, towns and cities increasingly assumed greater political influence. The first treaty between the King of Hungary and Dubrovnik (in those days Ragusa) was signed in 1358, during the reign of Louis (Lajos) the Great.
Irish Hagiographical Lives in the Twelfth Century: Church Reform before the Anglo-Norman Invasion
In order to further disentangle the reality and fiction of this view of culture versus barbarity and of reform versus wickedness, I shall analyse twelfth-century Irish vitae.
The Journey of Charles I, King of Hungary, from Visegrád to Naples (1333): Its Political Implications and Artistic Consequences
The aim of this article is to reconstruct the journey of Charles I, King of Hungary (1310– 1342), from Visegrád to Naples in the year 1333.
Analyzing History: Bertran de Born – Innocent Poet or Inciter of Revolt
While words are powerful tools that can invoke emotions ranging from jubilation to revulsion, could they be the cause of a rebellion against Henry II of England by his children and wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine? Could the words of a mere troubadour drive the revolt of a family against their king?
Agatha, Clerical ‘Wife’ and Wet Nurse to King John of England, Longtime Companion to Godfrey de Lucy, Bishop of Winchester
Agatha’s life, like that of her mistress Eleanor of Aquitaine, is remarkable in an age when women’s innate inferiority and wives’ subordination to their husbands were almost universally accepted, and discussions of women and marriage in learned treatises, sermons, and vernacular stories were ‘at worst misogynistic and at best ambivalent.’
Queen’s Gold and Intercession: The Case of Eleanor of Aquitaine
This essay will consider basic questions about queen’s gold and intercession. First it will address the mechanics of the levy and collection of queen’s gold, beginning with fundamentals such as the nature of the levy and who paid. An investigation into the origins of queen’s gold will follow.
Empress Matilda, Lady of the English
Here lies the daughter, wife, and mother of Henry.
How did the expansion of royal authority affect the traditional ruling institutions during the reigns of Henry II and Philip II Augustus?
The study of the Angevin kings can be seen as effectivelyseparating Henry II and his successors from mere kings of England and can be seen asresponsible for highlighting the continental origins of these kings.
King and magnate in medieval Ireland: Walter de Lacy, King Richard and King John
Perhaps the best way to capture the essence of the relationship between Richard, John and their magnates is to focus on one such relationship and to analyse the changes it underwent over the twenty-seven years the two brothers ruled England. The career of Walter de Lacy provides an excellent opportunity for such an analysis.
Feudal Strength! Henry II and the Struggle for Royal Control in England
Henry II ruled over a vast empire that no English king before could match. Through his inheritance, military success, and political cunning he managed to wield power and influence on a level that no future medieval English monarch would.
The Fall of the Angevin Empire
A damned inheritance, hopelessly over-extended and out-resourced by the kings of France? Or an effective empire thrown away by incompetence and harshness? John Gillingham weighs the blame for John’s loss of the Angevin dominions.
The Meetings of the Kings of France and England, 1066-1204
Between 1066 and 1154 the kings of France and of England are known to have met each other on five occasions: in 1079, 1109, 1113, 1120, and 1137.