The Plantagenets

The year is 1120 and King Henry I of England is inconsolable. His beloved son, and heir apparent, has just drowned crossing the English Channel.

King Henry is forced to look in a new direction to secure his dynasty: toward his daughter Matilda. Like her recently deceased brother, Matilda is haughty and arrogant, and she doesn’t inspire confidence among her father’s barons. To improve her claim to England’s throne, King Henry organizes a marriage between Matilda and the powerful landowner, Geoffrey of Anjou. Geoffrey’s a dapper fellow. He’s especially fond of wearing a yellow broom flower in his hair – a flower that, in Latin, is called planta genista. The House of Plantagenet is born.

Geoffrey and Matilda don’t much care for each other, but that doesn’t matter. Their marriage is an important political match, and they have basically one objective. In 1133 they achieve it; their first child is born. They name him Henry, like his grandfather.

But the barons still aren’t convinced. When the old king dies, the barons reject Matilda. They throw their weight behind another claimant, Matilda’s cousin Stephen.

Stephen becomes king, but he’s not very good at his job. His weak leadership soon destabilizes England. Matilda – brooding in France – perks up her ears. Maybe here’s a chance for her to regain what she considers rightfully hers: the crown of England.

What happens next proves disastrous for England. Matilda’s and Stephen’s forces chase each other throughout the countryside for nine years, spreading devastation everywhere they go. Endless battles are fought, but the two sides remain at a stalemate. English society collapses. This period of chaos gets an ominous name: The Anarchy. 

Meanwhile, Matilda’s son Henry is coming into his own. He’s gangly, ginger-haired, and whip-smart with a large chip on his shoulder. He’s built a reputation for himself around France as a precocious youth with a keen head for strategy. He’s been leading military expeditions across the Channel into England since he was 13. None has been very successful, but Henry has still shown bravery and a decent sense of war and diplomacy.

Henry’s reputation catches the attention of a remarkable woman: the 28-year-old Eleanor of Aquitaine. She’s a powerful noblewoman, recently cast aside by the king of France for being too worldly and politically opinionated. But the ascendant youth with an ax to grind seems much more her style than the monkish French king. For the 19-year-old Henry, Eleanor has significant territory and a royal pedigree to offer – as well as all the worldliness of an older woman.

It’s a match that will spawn a dynasty.