The Angevins (Plantagenets)

Henry II is considered the founder of the Plantagenet Dynasty. The Plantagenet is in fact the alternative name for the Angevin Dynasty. The Plantagenets were the longest-ruling dynasty over a period of 331 years including the period of the Angevins.

Angevins: Henry II, Richard I, John the Lackland.

Henry II ascended the throne in 1154 - 1189. He spent most of his time travelling because it encouraged people to be loyal to the king. Was a man of a fiery temper, very intelligent, he made several important legal and military reforms.

Henry II introduced royal law courts, the jury system: the investigation was carried out by 12 ordinary people. The system of common law, based on the decisions of the king's judges appeared. Common law reflected the customs and instincts of the English people.

Henry II carried out a military reform. Knights were allowed to pay to the king.

Henry was opposed by his own sons who had been given important titles but were denied power.

Richard I was king of England from 1189 to 1199. He is known in history as Richard the Lion-Hearted. He was well-educated to speak Latin, to write verses in French. But above all he was educated in the art of war. As soon as he became king, he set off for the Holy Land to join the third Crusade against the Moslems (1189 - 1192). He spent most of his time fighting abroad. After Richard’s death John became king in 1199. John increased the amount of money the sons of the dead nobles were to pay to inherit their father’s lands. He taxed the merchants at a higher level than before.

In 1215 Magna Carta was granted by King John, which set forth certain “liberties”. The point had been made that the king governed under law, and that unlawful royal action could not be tolerated. The document was the charter of English liberties granted by King John. But he was not going to keep his promise and waged a war against his opponents, but he died in the course of the war.

The 1^st Platagenet king was Henry III, John’s son, who was weak-willed and under the influence of Regents.

At this time Parliament was in origin, an extension of the royal council. Universities are another legacy from the Middle Ages. In the 1160s students began to form a university at Oxford, and in the early 13th century a group emigrated from Oxford to start another university at Cambridge. In the 13th century new religious orders, the Dominicans and Franciscans, were established. The architectural achievements of the age included Westminster Abbey and Salisbury Cathedral.

6 The Hundred Years’ War with France

The conflict with France known asThe Hundred Years’ War, began during the reign ofEdward III.He ascended the throne in 1327. Edward III claimed that he was the heir to the French throne through his mother Isabella of France. The French said that the crown could not descend through the female line and there began the Hundred Years' War with France in 1337. An important economic cause of the war was the rivalry between England and France for the trade of Flanders. The French king wanted to win Aquitaine back from England: France could not be united without it. In 1338, Edward III declared himself king of France and invaded France from the North. There was a sea battle near the coasts of Flanders where The English defeated the French fleet in 1340. Thereafter the English controlled the English Channel. A three-year truce was signed between England and France in 1343. But in 1345 Edward again invaded France. In 1346 Edward led his army in a great victory at Crecy. In 1347 Edward took the city of Calais. Bordeaux was captured by Edward the Black Prince (the eldest son) and their second great victory was at Poiteres (Пуатье). In this battle they captured King John II of France. Between 1347 and 1349 the Black Death killed a quarter of the English population. In 1360 the peace of Bretigny ended this phase of the 1^st period of the war. The terms of the treaty were generally favourable to Britain, which was left in possession of great areas of French territory. In 1369 Charles VI renewed the war. English strength was weakened by the loss of strong leadership. (Black Prince died in 1376, Edward in 1377). Richard II (Edward III’s grandson) ascended the throne. Besides, guerrilla movement won back for France most of the territory ceded to England by the Treaty of Bretigny.

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