Tales From the Long Twelfth Century: The Rise and Fall of the Angevin Empire

324 Pages·2016·3.52 MB·English

by  Richard Huscroft

Copyright © 2016 Richard Huscroft
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Set in Adobe Caslon Pro by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd Printed in Great Britain by Gomer Press,
Llandysul, Ceredigion, Wales Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Huscroft,
Richard, author.
Title: Tales from the long twelfth century : the rise and fall of the Angevin Empire / Richard Huscroft.
New Haven : Yale University Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references.
LCCN 2015035080 | ISBN 9780300187250 (alk. paper)
LCSH: Great Britain—History—Angevin period, 1154-1216. | Anjou, House of. | Great Britain—History—
12th century.
Classification: LCC DA205 .H87 2016 | DDC 942.03/1—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015035080
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
A Note on Money
Prologue: A Diabolical Dynasty
Part One: The Birth of an Empire
1 The Prince’s Tale: William Atheling and the White Ship Disaster
2 The Earl’s Tale: Hugh Bigod, Civil War and Royal Recovery
Part Two: The Growth of an Empire
3 The Disciple’s Tale: Herbert of Bosham and the Becket Dispute
4 The Warrior’s Tale: Strongbow and the Invasion of Ireland
5 The Young King’s Tale: Henry Fitzroy and his Troublesome Family
6 The Princess’s Tale: Joan, the Crusade and the Politics of Europe
Part Three: The Death of an Empire
7 The Nephew’s Tale: Arthur of Brittany and the Collapse of Angevin Power
8 The Friend’s Tale: William de Briouze and the Tyranny of King John
9 The Exile’s Tale: Stephen Langton and the Road to Magna Carta
10 The Matron’s Tale: Nicola de la Haye and the Defence of England
Epilogue: Dreams and Fortune
Abbreviations
Notes
Suggestions for Further Reading
Index
Illustrations
Plates
1. King Henry I on the throne, mourning. Peter de Langtoft, Chronicle of
England (c. 1307–27). © The British Library Board (Royal MS 20 A. II, f.
6v).
2. Aerial view of Framlingham Castle from the west. © Skyscan Balloon
Photography. Source: Historic England.
3. Daniel Maclise, The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (c. 1854). © National
Gallery of Ireland.
4. Coronation of Henry the Young King. From La Vie de Seint Thomas de
Cantorbéry (c. 1220–40). British Library, Loan MS 88 f. 3r.
5. The death of King William II of Sicily. From Peter of Eboli, Liber ad
honorem Augusti (1196). Burgerbibliothek Bern, Cod. 120.II, f. 97r.
6. Thomas Becket, mosaic in Monreale Cathedral, Palermo, Sicily. Courtesy of
Louis Mendola.
7. Joan of Sicily and Richard I meeting Philip Augustus II of France. From
William of Tyre, Histoire d’outremer (c. 1232–61). British Library, Yates
Thompson MS 12, f. 188v.
8. Silver double seal of Joan (c. 1196–9). British Museum.
9. James Fittler, Death of Arthur, engraving after William Hamilton. From
Bowyer’s History of England (1793). © Trustees of the British Museum.
10. John George Murray, ‘Archbishop Stephen Langton showing Magna Carta to
the Barons’, engraving (1833) after Arthur William Devis. © Trustees of the
British Museum.
11. Seal of Archbishop Stephen Langton (1228). British Library.
12. The Battle of Lincoln, thirteenth century. From Matthew Paris, Chronica
Majora. Parker Library – MS 16, f. 51v. Reproduced with permission of the
Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Genealogies
The Kings of France, 1060–1226
The Rulers of England, Normandy and the Angevin Empire, 1066–1272
Maps
England and Wales
Normandy in the Twelfth Century
The Continental Possessions of the English Kings, c. 1200
Ireland, c. 1200
Sicily and the Holy Land at the Time of the Third Crusade