Historians have attributed the rise of the Angevin Empire to a mixture of calculation, skill, luck and respect of the local customs of the conquered lands. The Angevin Empire territory extending from Ireland to Pyrenees. At its height, it was ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty. The ruling Plantagenets were Richard I of England, John of England, and King Henry II of England.

Henry II

King Henry II

The King Henry II had a pivotal role in the formation of the Angevin empire. In the period 1120-1154, France was not united. Powerful nobles had dominion over separate regions. When his father died, Henry inherited his seat of power and married Eleanor of Aquitaine. By the year 1154, Henry II had emerged as the most powerful lord in France by seizing control of other territories through death, and marriages.

Geoffrey

In the period 1154-1172, Henry extended his sphere of influence by having control over northern England, Normandy, Brittany, east Ireland, and south Wales. However, the seed of destruction of the empire germinated in the period 1172-1189.  During this time, King Henry II power had increased tremendously he had land and power and many sons.

His constant conflict with his wife was to prove disastrous for the Angevin Empire. When a civil war erupted in England, Henry sons Geoffrey, Richard, and young Henry so this as a window of opportunity for them to have control over Normandy.

This was the beginning of Anarchy for Henry II family. Richard was to emerge victorious at the end when he forced his father to submit. Shortly, Henry II died of exhaustion, and the empire was passed to Richard.

King Richard

with the support of his mother Eleanor was to hold the Angevin Empire in the period 1172-1189 despite being imprisoned and ship wrecked while returning from a crusade.

When King Richard passed on, he was succeeded by his brother John. King John leadership was very weak and lost much territory of the Angevin Empire and losing control of areas such as Aquitaine and Brittany.

Under the leadership of King John, the empire crumbled. Six years into his reign, much of the territory king II had captured was lost. He also had constant quarrels with the archbishop of Canterbury.

He was later forced to sign the Magna Carta. Under the leadership of his son, Henry III, the French forces were driven across the English Channel marking the fall of the Angevin Empire.

The Angevin Empire was not exactly an empire in the sense that it had never named itself as such.  Rather, it was a dynasty of acquired and inherited lands that existed from the twelfth to the thirteenth century.

Henry II, Plantagenet, became King of England in 1154, but this was only one part of what is often known as the ‘Angevin empire’ which included much of France including the south-west which he gained on marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152. There was, however, continual friction between Henry and the King of France of whom he was by far the most powerful vassal.

Henry made a great impression on his contemporaries, most of whom disliked him, fearing both his ability and his temper. After the troubles of Stephen’s reign Henry was determined to assert the rights of the crown in respect of both the barons and the church. Henry also reformed the judicial system.

Henry’s relations with the church were soured by the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket challenged Henry’s view of the rights of the church. A crisis was reached in 1170 when Henry had his son ‘Young’ Henry crowned joint king by the Archbishop of York. In a fit of temper Henry gave the impression of wanting to be rid of Becket altogether. Four knights took him at his word, murdering the archbishop in his cathedral.

In 1170 also Henry became concerned that Anglo-Norman barons were carving out territory for themselves in Ireland. In October 1171 Henry invaded and took the submission of both Irish and Anglo-Norman leaders in Dublin. This opened the way for a period of Anglo-Norman colonisation of the island.

Henry allowed his sons little share in power and in 1173 they staged a revolt in Normandy supported by their mother, Eleanor, and Louis VII, King of France. The next King of France Philip Augustus also tried to sow discord between father and sons which was made worse by the death of Young Henry in 1183. No resolution of the conflict had been reached by the time Henry died in 1189 when his sons, Richard and John, supported Philip Augustus against their father.