The Empire Plantagenêt is the whole of States extending from the Scottish borders anglo- with the the Pyrenees and of the Ireland to the the Limousin and joined together in the middle of the 12th century by Henri II Plantagenêt.
The constitution of the “empire”
In ten years, the duke of Normandy and count d' Anjou, Henri II Plantagenêt, succeeds in constituting this “empire” which will make of him the most powerful sovereign of Occident. This success does it have with the chance or the skill of the prince? Henri profits initially from the heritage of his father: the Anjou and the Normandy whose his/her father Geoffroi Plantagenêt was respectively the count and the duke. It is the initial core of its power. With died of Geoffroi in 1151, Henri, already Duke of Normandy since 1150, becomes count d' Anjou.Second reason with the fortune of the Plantagenêt: a skilful matrimonial alliance. In 1152, the king of France Louis VII repudiates Aliénor, duchess of Aquitaine and countess of Poitou. Henri II hastens to require the hand of the young woman. He obtains it at once and thus controls the south-west of the kingdom of France. Because at that time, large the Aquitaine includes/understands also the Gascogne, the Poitou, the the Limousin, the Saintonge, the Aunis and the Comté of Angouleme.
Lastly, opportunism explains the success of Henri II. His/her grandfather, Henri I {{er}} Beauclerc, was duke of Normandy and king d' Angleterre. With its death in 1135, Etienne of Blois, nephew of late, recovered the English crown. Henri II would like to reconstitute the Anglo-Norman union with its profit. It unloads in England but does not succeed in depositing its adversary. At this point in time the chance changes gives it: the son of Etienne of Blois, the heir to the throne of England, dies. In 1153, Etienne, not having others wire, signs the Traité of Wallingford, and accepts that Henri II Plantagenêt succeeds to him after his death. Died which intervenes the following year.
On the whole, in 1154, Henri II dominates a vast whole of States: north in the south, the kingdom of England, the Duchy of Normandy, the County of Anjou, the County of Poitou and the Duchy of Aquitaine.
This extraordinary power makes it possible Henri II to advance his pawns. In 1166, it forces the duke Conan IV of Brittany to abdicate with the profit of his/her daughter Constance of Brittany which it promises in marriage with his son Geoffroy. In 1169, Henri II celebrates engagement official of his son who, only eleven years old, lets his father control the Duché of Brittany in his place. Lastly, in 1171, Henri II fact of recognizing his domination on the Ireland.
All in all, the constitution of the “Plantagenêt empire” in ten years only is explained by an incredible coincidence. But the chance does not explain only this success. It is necessary to underline the will and the skill of Henri II to seize all the occasions presented.
A true empire?
The expression “worsens Plantagenêt” is an invention of the historians. The contemporaries never used of these terms to indicate the whole of the possessions gathered by Henri II.
The historians regard it as an empire so much its dimensions are tall. It indeed takes several weeks to go north of England to the Gascogne, the English Channel creating a true barrier. But it is not a true empire since its holder was never emperor. The “Plantagenêt empire” is actually an assembly of several States: a kingdom (England), two duchies (Aquitaine and Normandy) and several counties. Its unit comes owing to the fact that the same character, in fact Henri II, is at their head.
Even if it employs the expression, the historian medievist Jean Favier finds more exact to speak about “feudal complex” than of empire. He on the other hand rejects the expression of “State Plantagenêt” because that would suppose the existence of a unit administration, of a centralized political structure, a single capital. However, the “Plantagenêt empire” is an assembly of States which preserve each one its specificity, its right, its habit and its culture. So during its reign, Henri II attempts to harden the administration of its kingdom and of its French principalities, he never seeks to unify the unit. One speaks English on the other side of the channel, French in the North-West and Occitan in south-west.
Obviously, the “Plantagenêt empire” is a rather wobbly unit since it is composed of a sovereign part (England) and of a continental part included/understood in the kingdom of France. So in London, Henri II Plantagenêt is the equal one of king de France, with Angers or with Rouen, it is the vassal one.
1204, end of the Plantagenêt empire?
Richard Lion-hearted (1189-1199) succeeds his father Henri II with the head of the empire. It succeeds, except for some fortified towns, to preserve the whole of the paternal possessions vis-a-vis the ambitions of king de France. It is not the case of the successor of Richard, his younger brother Jean without Ground. In 1202, Philippe Auguste pronounces the Commise (seized) of the continental strongholds of king d' Angleterre because this one was not presented at its court for a judgment. In 1204-1205, the king of France seizes Normandy, of Maine, of Anjou, of Touraine and Poitou. The “is Plantagenêt empire” collapsed? Not exactly since Jean without Ground still preserves the large Duché of Aquitaine. The blow is however severe because the king of England lost the floret of his empire, Normandy, and his cradle, the Anjou.
Then 1204 rather do mean the end of the apogee of the “Plantagenêt empire”? Yes, it is more exact. By specifying however that the Guerre One hundred Year old makes it possible to king d' Angleterre to temporarily stop the decline. In 1356, the king of France Jean the Good east demolishes with Poitiers and made captive by the English. N the other hand of its release and peace, the treated of Brétigny and Calais are signed in 1360. The king of France gives up with the king d' Angleterre Edouard III widened Aquitaine since it includes/understands the Poitou, the the Limousin, the Périgord, the Quercy, the Rouergue and the Bigorre. Which are added in the north of the kingdom Calais and the Ponthieu. The Aquitaine is yielded in all sovereignty i.e. without homage on behalf of the king of England. The concessions are important even if they remain in on this side dominated territories 200 years before by Henri II.
Then at when the end of the “Plantagenêt empire”? 1399 are a rather legitimate date since in this year, the last king of the dynasty Plantagenêt is reversed. A prince of the family Lancaster, Henri, replaces it on the throne.
The historian Martin Aurell places this end in 1224 in his book the Empire of Plantagenêt . With this date, the widow of Jean without Ground assistance indeed the king of France to conquer the Poitou.
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