1.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
2.
Burgos
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Burgos is a city in northern Spain and the historic capital of Castile. It is situated on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries and it has about 180,000 inhabitants in the actual city and another 20,000 in the metropolitan area. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the community of Castile. A large number of churches, palaces and other buildings from the medieval age remain, the city is surrounded by the Fuentes Blancas and the Paseo de la Isla parks. The city forms the principal crossroad of northern Spain along the Camino de Santiago and it has a well-developed transportation system, forming the main communication node in northern Spain. In 2008, the international Burgos Airport started to offer commercial flights, furthermore, AVE high speed trains are planned to start service in the near future, stopping at the newly-built Rosa de Lima train station. The Museum of Human Evolution was opened in 2010, unique in its kind across the world, the museum features the first Europeans, which lived in this area 800,000 years ago. Burgos was selected as the Spanish Gastronomy Capital of 2013, there are several possible origins for the toponymy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the country moved into the fortified village. The city began to be called Caput Castellae, early humans occupied sites around Burgos as early as 800,000 years ago. When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, in Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. The region came to be known as Castile, i. e. land of castles, the city began to be called Caput Castellae. The county of Burgos, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was extended, one of these counts, Fernán González. In the 11th century, the city became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burgos, throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the consejo which came to dominate it, the jurado in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works, the alguacil was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements. On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct rule of Burgos through the Regimiento of sixteen appointed men. In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishorpic, Burgos has been the scene of many wars, with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession Burgos was the scene of a battle
3.
House of Plantagenet
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The House of Plantagenet was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154, with the accession of Henry II, until 1485, under the Plantagenets, England was transformed, although this was only partly intentional. The Plantagenet kings were forced to negotiate compromises such as Magna Carta. These constrained royal power in return for financial and military support, the king was no longer just the most powerful man in the nation, holding the prerogative of judgement, feudal tribute and warfare. He now had defined duties to the realm, underpinned by a justice system. A distinct national identity was shaped by conflict with the French, Scots, Welsh and Irish, in the 15th century, the Plantagenets were defeated in the Hundred Years War and beset with social, political and economic problems. Popular revolts were commonplace, triggered by the denial of numerous freedoms, the Tudors worked to centralise English royal power, which allowed them to avoid some of the problems that had plagued the last Plantagenet rulers. The resulting stability allowed for the English Renaissance, and the advent of early modern Britain, Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, adopted Plantagenet as his family name in the 15th century. Plantegenest had been a 12th-century nickname for his ancestor Geoffrey, count of Anjou, one of many popular theories suggests the common broom, planta genista in medieval Latin, as the source of the nickname. It is uncertain why Richard chose this name, although during the Wars of the Roses it emphasised Richards status as Geoffreys patrilineal descendant. It was only in the late 17th century that it passed into common usage among historians, the three Angevin kings were Henry II, Richard I and John, Angevin can also refer to the period of history in which they reigned. Many historians identify the Angevins as a distinct English royal house, Angevin is also used in reference to any sovereign or government derived from Anjou. The term Angevin Empire was coined by Kate Norgate in 1887, the Empire portion of Angevin Empire has been controversial. In 1986 a convention of historians concluded that there had not been an Angevin state, and therefore no Angevin Empire, nonetheless, historians have continued to use Angevin Empire. The later counts of Anjou, including the Plantagenets, descended from Geoffrey II, Count of Gâtinais, in 1060 the couple inherited the title via cognatic kinship from an Angevin family that was descended from a noble named Ingelger, whose recorded history dates from 870. During the 10th and 11th centuries, power struggles occurred between rulers in northern and western France including those of Anjou, Normandy, Brittany, Poitou, Blois, Maine, and the kings of France. In the early 12th century Geoffrey of Anjou married Empress Matilda, King Henry Is only surviving legitimate child and heir to the English throne. As a result of marriage, Geoffreys son Henry II inherited the English throne as well as Norman and Angevin titles, thus marking the beginning of the Angevin
4.
Henry II of England
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Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mothers efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois and he inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been annulled. Stephen agreed to a treaty after Henrys military expedition to England in 1153. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his royal grandfather, Henrys desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Beckets murder in 1170, Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a cold war over several decades. By 1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the half of Ireland and the western half of France. Henry and Eleanor had eight children, as they grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henrys heir apparent, Young Henry, rebelled in protest, he was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, France, Scotland, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henrys vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them new men appointed for their loyalty, Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henrys death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, Philip successfully played on Richards fears that Henry would make John king, and a final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from an ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou. Henrys empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John, many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term consequences. Historical interpretations of Henrys reign have changed considerably over time, in the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of the Empress Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou. In theory, the county answered to the French king, but royal power over Anjou weakened during the 11th century, Henrys mother, firstly married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, was the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. She was born into a ruling class of Normans, who traditionally owned extensive estates in both England and Normandy. Geoffrey took advantage of the confusion to attack the Duchy of Normandy but played no role in the English conflict, leaving this to Matilda and her half-brother. The war, termed the Anarchy by Victorian historians, dragged on, Henry probably spent some of his earliest years in his mothers household, and accompanied Matilda to Normandy in the late 1130s
5.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Eleanor of Aquitaine was a Queen consort of France and England. As a member of the Ramnulfids rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the most powerful and she inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137, and by successive marriages became Queen of France and then of England. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure and she led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade. As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor was the most eligible bride in Europe, three months after she became duchess, she married King Louis VII of France, son of her guardian, King Louis VI. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, soon afterwards, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment, the marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, as soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to the Duke of Normandy, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was her cousin and eleven years younger. The couple married on Whitsun,18 May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanors first marriage, in a cathedral in Poitiers, over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children, five sons, three of whom would become kings, and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged, Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting their son Henrys revolt against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their son, Richard the Lionheart. Now Queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade, on his return Richard was captured, Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. She outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor, on the other hand, some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of some lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanors fourteenth birthday in 1136. This, and her age of 82 at her death. Her parents almost certainly married in 1121 and her birthplace may have been Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-lAutise, where her mother and brother died when Eleanor was 6 or 8. It became Eléanor in the langues doïl of northern France and Eleanor in English, there was, however, another prominent Eleanor before her, Eleanor of Normandy, an aunt of William the Conqueror, who lived a century earlier than Eleanor of Aquitaine. In Paris as the Queen of France she was called Helienordis, by all accounts, Eleanors father ensured that she had the best possible education. Eleanor came to learn arithmetic, the constellations, and history and she also learned domestic skills such as household management and the needle arts of embroidery, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving
6.
Henry the Young King
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Henry, known as the Young King, was the second of five legitimate sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine but the first to survive infancy. Beginning in 1170, he was titular King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, Henry the Young King was the only King of England since the Norman conquest to be crowned in the lifetime of his father, but never exercised any power. Little is known of the young prince Henry before the associated with his marriage. His mothers children by her first marriage to Louis VII of France were Marie of France, Countess of Champagne and he had one older brother, William IX, Count of Poitiers, and his younger siblings included Matilda, Richard, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan, and John. He was known in his own lifetime as Henry the Young King to distinguish him from his father, because he was not a reigning king, he is not counted in the numerical succession of kings of England. Henry did not appear to have been interested in the day-to-day business of government. His father, however, is reputed to have failed to delegate authority to his son, the majority opinion amongst historians is that of W. L. Warren, The Young Henry was the only one of his family who was popular in his own day. It was true that he was also the one who gave no evidence of political sagacity, military skill. And elaborated in a book, He was gracious, benign, affable, courteous. Unfortunately he was also shallow, vain, careless, high-hoped, incompetent, improvident, the Young Kings contemporary reputation, however, was by no means so negative. This had much to do with his place in the enthusiastic tournament culture of his own day. We can see this from his appearances in the History of William Marshal, the biography of the assigned to him as a tutor in 1170. The History depicts him as constantly moving from one tournament to another across northern, with his cousins, Philip, Count of Flanders, and Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, Flanders and Namur, he was one of the key patrons of the sport. He is said to have spent over £200 a day on the great retinue of knights he brought to the tournament of Lagny-sur-Marne in November 1179, if he lacked political weight, the Young Kings patronage gave him celebrity status throughout western Europe. The baron and troubador Bertran de Born, who knew him, said that he was the best king who took up a shield. There was a perception amongst his contemporaries and the generation that his death in 1183 marked a decline both in the tournament and knightly endeavour. His former chaplain, Gervase of Tilbury, said that his death was the end of everything knightly, the young Henry played an important part in the politics of his fathers reign. On 2 November 1160, he was betrothed to Margaret of France, daughter of King Louis VII of France and his wife, Constance of Castile
7.
Joan of England, Queen of Sicily
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Joan of England was a queen consort of Sicily and countess consort of Toulouse. She was the child of Henry II, King of England and his queen consort. Joan was born at Château dAngers in Anjou, and spent her youth at her mothers courts at Winchester, in 1176, William II of Sicily sent ambassadors to the English court to ask for Joans hand in marriage. The betrothal was confirmed on 20 May and on 27 August Joan set sail for Sicily, escorted by John of Oxford, the bishop of Norwich and her uncle, Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. In Saint Gilles, her entourage was met by representatives of the Kingdom of Sicily, Alfano, Archbishop of Capua, and Richard Palmer, Bishop of Syracuse. After a hazardous voyage, Joan arrived safely, and on 13 February 1177, Joan produced no surviving heir, although there were rumours that she had given birth to a boy called Bohemond. Finally, her brother Richard I, King of England arrived in Italy in 1190 and he demanded her return, along with every penny of her dowry. When Tancred balked at these demands, Richard seized a monastery and he decided to spend the winter in Italy and attacked and subdued the city of Messina, Sicily. Finally, Tancred agreed to the terms and sent Joans dowry, in March 1191 Eleanor of Aquitaine arrived in Messina with Richards bride, Berengaria of Navarre. Eleanor returned to England, leaving Berengaria in Joans care, Richard decided to postpone his wedding, put his sister and bride on a ship, and set sail. Two days later the fleet was hit by a storm, destroying several ships and blowing Joan. Richard landed safely in Crete, but they were stranded near Cyprus, the self-appointed despot of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus was about to capture them when Richards fleet suddenly appeared. The princesses were saved, but the despot made off with Richards treasure, Richard pursued and captured Isaac, threw him into a dungeon, married Berengaria on 12 May 1191 at Limasol, Cyprus and then sent Joan and Berengaria on to Acre. Joan was Richards favourite sister, but he was not above using her as a chip in his political schemes. He even suggested marrying her to Saladins brother, Al-Adil, King Philip II of France also expressed some interest in marrying her, but this scheme, too, failed. Joan was married in October 1196, at Rouen, as his wife, to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, with Quercy. She was the mother of his successor Raymond VII of Toulouse, and a daughter, Joan and she therefore took arms against the lords of Saint-Felix, and laid siege to a castrum belonging to them known as Les Cassés. Her efforts were of little avail, some of those with her treacherously and secretly provided arms, greatly aggrieved, she abandoned the siege, and was almost prevented from leaving her camp by a fire started by the traitors
8.
Wallingford Castle
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Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire, adjacent to the River Thames. Held for the Empress Matilda during the war years of the Anarchy. Over the next two centuries it became a castle, used by royalty and their immediate family. After being abandoned as a residence by Henry VIII, the castle fell into decline. Refortified during the English Civil War, it was slighted, i. e. deliberately destroyed. The site was left relatively undeveloped, and the limited remains of the castle walls. Wigod of Wallingford, who controlled the town, supported William the Conquerors invasion, Wallingford Castle was probably built by Robert DOyly between 1067 and 1071. Robert had married Wigods daughter Ealdgyth, and ultimately inherited many of his father-in-laws lands, unusually, it appears that the castle was constructed on top of high-status Anglo-Saxon housing, probably belonging to former housecarls. The motte today is 60 metres across and 13 metres high, Robert endowed a sixteen-strong college of priests within the castle, which he named St Nicholas College. Wallingford Castle passed from Robert to first his son-in-law Miles Crispin, and then Brien FitzCount, Brien, an important supporter of Henry I, was the son of the Duke of Brittany, and probably strengthened the castle in stone in the 1130s. After the death of Henry, however, the situation in England became less stable. Stephen attacked the castle in 1139, initially intending to besiege it, the next year, Miles of Gloucester, possibly acting under orders from Robert of Gloucester, struck east, destroying one of the counter-castles outside Wallingford. After the fall of Oxford to Stephen in 1141, Matilda fled to Wallingford, around this time Brien established a notorious prison within the castle, called Cloere Brien, or Briens Close, as part of his efforts to extract money and resources from the surrounding region. The nobleman William Martel, Stephens royal steward, was one of the most high-profile prisoners to be kept there, contemporary chroniclers reported the cries of tortured prisoners in the castle disturbed the inhabitants of the town of Wallingford. There was not enough space in the castle for all of Briens forces, Brien, supported by Miles son, Roger of Hereford, who had also become trapped in the castle, attempted to break through the blockade, but without success. By 1153, the garrison was running very low on food. Henry, the Empress son and the future Henry II, then intervened, marching his forces to relieve the castle, King Stephen marched back from Oxford, and the two forces confronted each other on the meadows outside the castle. Brien, who had no children, chose to enter a monastery, at the end of the 12th century, the castle become closely associated with King John, who had been granted the town by Richard I in 1189
9.
Reading Abbey
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Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. Reading Abbey is currently the focus of a major £3 million project called Reading Abbey Revealed and this project is conserving the ruins so that they can be re-opened to the public. Alongside the conservation, new interpretation of the Reading Abbey Quarter will be installed, Abbey Ward of Reading Borough Council takes its name from Reading Abbey, which lies within its boundaries. The abbey was founded by Henry I in 1121, as part of his endowments, he gave the abbey his lands within Reading, along with land at Cholsey. He also arranged for land in Reading, previously given to Battle Abbey by William the Conqueror, to be transferred to Reading Abbey. Following its royal foundation, the abbey was established by a party of monks from Cluny Abbey in Burgundy, the abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist. The first abbot, in 1123, was Hugh of Amiens who became archbishop of Rouen and was buried in Rouen Cathedral, the adjacent rivers provided convenient transport, and the abbey established wharves on the River Kennet. The Kennet also provided power for the water mills, most of which were established on the Holy Brook. When Henry I died in Lyons-la-Forêt, Normandy in 1135 his body was returned to Reading, other royal persons buried in the abbey include parts of Matilda of Scotland, William of Poitiers, and Constance of York. The abbey also held over 230 relics including the hand of St James, a shrivelled human hand was found in the ruins during demolition work in 1786 and is now in St Peters RC Church, Marlow. The song Sumer is icumen in, which was first written down in the abbey about 1240, is the earliest known six part harmony from Britain, the original document is held in the British Library. Reading Abbey was frequently visited by kings and others, most especially by Henry III who often visited three or four times a year staying several weeks on each visit, the abbey was largely destroyed in 1538 during Henry VIIIs Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, was tried and convicted of high treason and hanged, drawn. After this, the buildings of the abbey were extensively robbed, with lead, glass, some twenty years after the dissolution, Reading town council created a new town hall by inserting an upper floor into the former refectory of the hospitium of the abbey. The lower floor of this continued to be used by Reading School. For the next 200 years, the old building continued to serve as Readings town hall. Between 1785 and 1786, the old hall was dismantled and replaced on the site by the first of several phases of building that were to make up todays Reading Town Hall. St Jamess Church and School was built on a portion of the site of the abbey between 1837 and 1840 and its founder was James Wheble, who owned land in the area at that time
10.
Henry I of England
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Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death. Henry was the son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin. On Williams death in 1087, Henrys elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but William and Robert deposed him in 1091. Henry gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert, Henry was present when William died in a hunting accident in 1100, and he seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of Williams less popular policies. Henry married Matilda of Scotland but continued to have a number of mistresses. Robert, who invaded in 1101, disputed Henrys control of England, the peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life, following Henrys victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. Considered by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skilfully manipulated the barons in England, Normandy was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henrys system were new men of obscure backgrounds rather than families of high status. Henry encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury. He supported the Cluniac order and played a role in the selection of the senior clergy in England. Henrys only legitimate son and heir, William Adelin, drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, Henry took a second wife, Adeliza, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. In response to this, Henry declared his daughter, Matilda, his heir, the relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness, despite his plans for Matilda, the King was succeeded by his nephew, Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. Henry was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire. His father was William the Conqueror, who had originally been the Duke of Normandy and then, following the invasion of 1066, became the King of England, the invasion had created an Anglo-Norman elite, many with estates spread across both sides of the English Channel. These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the kingdom of France, Henrys mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France. Henry was the youngest of William and Matildas four sons, physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, short, stocky and barrel-chested, with black hair
