List of monarchs of Middag (aka Insular Minyue) (NOTE: The names of the monarchs in this list used POJ romanization and Chinese characters)
110 BCE-95 BCE: Iau Ki-Ko (繇居股) (Royal Clan of Iau)[1]
[1] Previously reigned as the monarch of Minyue (閩越, Bân-oa̍t), Ki-ko and most of the Minyue royal court, joined with most of the noblemen and loyal merchants, had fled east to the island of Paiwan (OOC: OTL Taiwan), particularly in the center of the island. From the town of Middag, which was already been populated by mixed Minyue-indigenous families, he reestablished the Minyue royal court in a relatively large residence of a local aristocrat, which would become the Royal Palace of Middag. During his reign, Ki-ko has reestablished the way of life back in Minyue while at the same time he encouraged the indigenous islanders to modify their way of life by adapting agriculture, domesticating native deer and encouraging larger families. Alaready aware of what happened to his old homeland, he actively encouraged the formation of a strong and robust permanent army and navy to defend the island's west coast. Died at the age of sixty-one and succeeded by his son/daughter _____________ .
(No one's really gone with either the Korea-Alexandrian list or the list ramones proposed so I'll offer up a new one)
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest ___, ____ was crowned in Westminster.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's ___, ____.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother ___ became King when Stephen II died in 1222.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join clergy, strenghtened position of the Church in England, giving numerous priviledges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundert children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor _____.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join clergy, strenghtened position of the Church in England, giving numerous priviledges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundert children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her ______, _______
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (Ho buuse of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House od Hereford) [6]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join clergy, strenghtened position of the Church in England, giving numerous priviledges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundert children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. ]6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excomunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (Ho buuse of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, ___. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (Ho buuse of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very begining of his reign had to fight rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in decidecisive battle-Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completly anihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself to the sea. War was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days later, leaving the throne to his younger brother ____.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (Ho buuse of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford) [9]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, by whom he had four children, ___, ____, ____, and ____. He was succeeded in 1378 by his ___, ___.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford) [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, by whom he had four children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith. [10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled toghether with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually deteriorated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor ____, who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (Ho buuse of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard. [9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith. [10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled toghether with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
[11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his ________
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard. [9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith. [10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled toghether with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures. [11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John.
[12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long perion of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his ___, ____
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and
1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard. [9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith. [10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled toghether with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures. [11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John. [12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, ____.
Kings of England
1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and
1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13] 1478 - 1506: Marianne I (House of Brabant) [14]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster. [2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II. [3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222. [4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena. [5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II. [6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries. [7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down. [8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard. [9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith. [10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled toghether with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures. [11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John. [12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, Marianne of Brabant.
[14] The sole child of Baldwin I of England, Marianne I would take the throne at the age of nine, and placed under a recency of her Paternal cousin, John of Anglesey; a Bastard of King Percival. Queen Marianne Jose to marry her cousin her cousin Louis of Brabant, at the age of 16, and by the age of 19 the Royal couple had three sons.
Marianne would reign for 28 years, with the only major conflict being a small skirmishing war with the Dukes of Zütphen between 1491 and 1498.
She would be succeeded by her eldest son_______
Kings of England 1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10]
1411 - 1429: Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13] 1478 - 1506: Marianne I (House of Brabant) [14]
1506 - 1536: Stephen III (House of Brabant) [15]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster.
[2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II.
[3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222.
[4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena.
[5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II.
[6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries.
[7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down.
[8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith.
[10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled together with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
[11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John.
[12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, Marianne of Brabant.
[14] The sole child of Baldwin I of England, Marianne I would take the throne at the age of nine, and placed under a recency of her Paternal cousin, John of Anglesey; a Bastard of King Percival. Queen Marianne chose to marry her cousin her cousin Louis of Brabant, at the age of 16, and by the age of 19 the Royal couple had three sons.
Marianne would reign for 28 years, with the only major conflict being a small skirmishing war with the Dukes of Zütphen between 1491 and 1498.
She would be succeeded by her eldest son Stephen of Brabant.
[15] Stephen III, King of England was 20 years old when he rose to the throne, and knew what his place in history would be. With the death of Nicholas I, Duke of Aquitaine in 1503, the Plantagenet Empire was crumbling, and between the Kings of France, Lorraine and Navarre, the last Plantagenet heiress, the Duchess Renata of Aquitaine, turned to the English for support, 35 to the English King's 22 upon their marriage, the duo focused on holding lands connected to Normandy at the least, and thus by 1512, the two held Brittany, Anjou and a fair chunk of Maine. Flanders was lost, as was Aquitaine, but with at least those lands secure, Stephen III felt success in his endeavor.
Further success for the Brabant English royal family came when, in 1515, Stephen's youngest brother, Ferdinand, Earl of March, was able to marry Violante I, Queen of Portugal, the grandest heiress in Europe, after Stephen's own wife, and this one was of an age with her husband and wouldn't lose any of her inheritance. The marriage secured English relations with Portugal, and managed to remove the most ambitious of Stephen's nobles from his court, ensuring a safer court for himself, his wife and their 6 children.
However, in 1521, Stephen's life turned upside down with the arrival of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat, who arrived at the English court, to marry the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Earl of Cambridge. However, Stephen himself was obsessed with her beauty, and thus began an affair with her, beginning the Cambridge Civil War.
Essentially, England fell into civil war the Montferrat Princess, who between 1522 and 1530, was dragged across England, Ireland and Normandy by Stephen, producing three illegitimate daughters all the while writing long, angry letters to her husband, demanding he fix the problem with her love so they could find a solution. With the death of Renata of Aquitaine in 1528 due to heart problems, the solution became obvious, and in 1531, Stephen III married Theresa Giovanna, after her marriage to the Earl of Cambridge was annulled, and two weeks later Geoffrey of Cambridge was married to the Princess Eleanor of England, and raised to the title of Duke.
England was the laughing stock of Europe.
To make matters worse, in 1533, Thomas, Duke of York, Stephen's brother and Cambridge's father, died defending Anjou, thus losing those territories to the new King of Navarre. Losing that territory was truly frustrating to Stephen, who sent his eldest son, _____, to retake it, dying in 1536 before news could arrive that the new King had been captured by the Navarrese.
Kings of England 1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois) 1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247:John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13]
1478 - 1506: Marianne I (House of Brabant) [14]
1506 - 1536: Stephen III (House of Brabant) [15]
1536 - 1540: Stephen IV (House of Brabant) [16]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster.
[2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II.
[3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222.
[4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena.
[5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II.
[6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries.
[7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down.
[8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith.
[10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled together with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
[11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John.
[12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, Marianne of Brabant.
[14] The sole child of Baldwin I of England, Marianne I would take the throne at the age of nine, and placed under a recency of her Paternal cousin, John of Anglesey; a Bastard of King Percival. Queen Marianne chose to marry her cousin her cousin Louis of Brabant, at the age of 16, and by the age of 19 the Royal couple had three sons.
Marianne would reign for 28 years, with the only major conflict being a small skirmishing war with the Dukes of Zütphen between 1491 and 1498.
She would be succeeded by her eldest son Stephen of Brabant.
[15] Stephen III, King of England was 20 years old when he rose to the throne, and knew what his place in history would be. With the death of Nicholas I, Duke of Aquitaine in 1503, the Plantagenet Empire was crumbling, and between the Kings of France, Lorraine and Navarre, the last Plantagenet heiress, the Duchess Renata of Aquitaine, turned to the English for support, 35 to the English King's 22 upon their marriage, the duo focused on holding lands connected to Normandy at the least, and thus by 1512, the two held Brittany, Anjou and a fair chunk of Maine. Flanders was lost, as was Aquitaine, but with at least those lands secure, Stephen III felt success in his endeavor.
Further success for the Brabant English royal family came when, in 1515, Stephen's youngest brother, Ferdinand, Earl of March, was able to marry Violante I, Queen of Portugal, the grandest heiress in Europe, after Stephen's own wife, and this one was of an age with her husband and wouldn't lose any of her inheritance. The marriage secured English relations with Portugal, and managed to remove the most ambitious of Stephen's nobles from his court, ensuring a safer court for himself, his wife and their 6 children.
However, in 1521, Stephen's life turned upside down with the arrival of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat, who arrived at the English court, to marry the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Earl of Cambridge. However, Stephen himself was obsessed with her beauty, and thus began an affair with her, beginning the Cambridge Civil War.
Essentially, England fell into civil war the Montferrat Princess, who between 1522 and 1530, was dragged across England, Ireland and Normandy by Stephen, producing three illegitimate daughters all the while writing long, angry letters to her husband, demanding he fix the problem with her love so they could find a solution. With the death of Renata of Aquitaine in 1528 due to heart problems, the solution became obvious, and in 1531, Stephen III married Theresa Giovanna, after her marriage to the Earl of Cambridge was annulled, and two weeks later Geoffrey of Cambridge was married to the Princess Eleanor of England, and raised to the title of Duke.
England was the laughing stock of Europe.
To make matters worse, in 1533, Thomas, Duke of York, Stephen's brother and Cambridge's father, died defending Anjou, thus losing those territories to the new King of Navarre. Losing that territory was truly frustrating to Stephen, who sent his eldest son, another Stephen, to retake it, dying in 1536 before news could arrive that the new King had been captured by the Navarrese.
[16] Nearly all of Stephen IV's reign was spent in captivity at the hands of the King of Navarre, who refused to release him without an enormous ransom. Stephen, needless to say, was furious. Thanks to his father's foolishness over "the Montferrat whore", much of his inheritance had been conquered. Anjou was gone, and he could only watch helplessly as Maine and Brittany soon followed. He knew that part of the problem was that his people could not fight effectively when they feared for his own life. By 1540, Stephen had had enough. He had been able to turn many of his jailers to his side, promising them lands and titles in England if they helped him to escape. He was able to get a message out to his younger brother, ___, informing him of what was to happen. The ensuing escape nearly went off without a hitch, but when Stephen and his allies were discovered at the worst possible moment, it fell into a bloody free-for-all. Stephen made it to the boat that his brother had sent to him, but he was mortally wounded in the process. He died on the crossing back to England, leaving his younger brother to clean up their father's mess.
Kings (and Queens) of England 1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois) 1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247:John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10] 1411 - 1429:Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13]
1478 - 1506: Marianne I (House of Brabant) [14]
1506 - 1536: Stephen III (House of Brabant) [15]
1536 - 1540: Stephen IV (House of Brabant) [16]
1540 - 1565: Baldwin II (House of Brabant) [17]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster.
[2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II.
[3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222.
[4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena.
[5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II.
[6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries.
[7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down.
[8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith.
[10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled together with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
[11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John.
[12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, Marianne of Brabant.
[14] The sole child of Baldwin I of England, Marianne I would take the throne at the age of nine, and placed under a recency of her Paternal cousin, John of Anglesey; a Bastard of King Percival. Queen Marianne chose to marry her cousin her cousin Louis of Brabant, at the age of 16, and by the age of 19 the Royal couple had three sons.
Marianne would reign for 28 years, with the only major conflict being a small skirmishing war with the Dukes of Zütphen between 1491 and 1498.
She would be succeeded by her eldest son Stephen of Brabant.
[15] Stephen III, King of England was 20 years old when he rose to the throne, and knew what his place in history would be. With the death of Nicholas I, Duke of Aquitaine in 1503, the Plantagenet Empire was crumbling, and between the Kings of France, Lorraine and Navarre, the last Plantagenet heiress, the Duchess Renata of Aquitaine, turned to the English for support, 35 to the English King's 22 upon their marriage, the duo focused on holding lands connected to Normandy at the least, and thus by 1512, the two held Brittany, Anjou and a fair chunk of Maine. Flanders was lost, as was Aquitaine, but with at least those lands secure, Stephen III felt success in his endeavor.
Further success for the Brabant English royal family came when, in 1515, Stephen's youngest brother, Ferdinand, Earl of March, was able to marry Violante I, Queen of Portugal, the grandest heiress in Europe, after Stephen's own wife, and this one was of an age with her husband and wouldn't lose any of her inheritance. The marriage secured English relations with Portugal, and managed to remove the most ambitious of Stephen's nobles from his court, ensuring a safer court for himself, his wife and their 6 children.
However, in 1521, Stephen's life turned upside down with the arrival of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat, who arrived at the English court, to marry the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Earl of Cambridge. However, Stephen himself was obsessed with her beauty, and thus began an affair with her, beginning the Cambridge Civil War.
Essentially, England fell into civil war the Montferrat Princess, who between 1522 and 1530, was dragged across England, Ireland and Normandy by Stephen, producing three illegitimate daughters all the while writing long, angry letters to her husband, demanding he fix the problem with her love so they could find a solution. With the death of Renata of Aquitaine in 1528 due to heart problems, the solution became obvious, and in 1531, Stephen III married Theresa Giovanna, after her marriage to the Earl of Cambridge was annulled, and two weeks later Geoffrey of Cambridge was married to the Princess Eleanor of England, and raised to the title of Duke.
England was the laughing stock of Europe.
To make matters worse, in 1533, Thomas, Duke of York, Stephen's brother and Cambridge's father, died defending Anjou, thus losing those territories to the new King of Navarre. Losing that territory was truly frustrating to Stephen, who sent his eldest son, another Stephen, to retake it, dying in 1536 before news could arrive that the new King had been captured by the Navarrese.
[16] Nearly all of Stephen IV's reign was spent in captivity at the hands of the King of Navarre, who refused to release him without an enormous ransom. Stephen, needless to say, was furious. Thanks to his father's foolishness over "the Montferrat whore", much of his inheritance had been conquered. Anjou was gone, and he could only watch helplessly as Maine and Brittany soon followed. He knew that part of the problem was that his people could not fight effectively when they feared for his own life. By 1540, Stephen had had enough. He had been able to turn many of his jailers to his side, promising them lands and titles in England if they helped him to escape. He was able to get a message out to his younger brother, ___, informing him of what was to happen. The ensuing escape nearly went off without a hitch, but when Stephen and his allies were discovered at the worst possible moment, it fell into a bloody free-for-all. Stephen made it to the boat that his brother had sent to him, but he was mortally wounded in the process. He died on the crossing back to England, leaving his younger brother to clean up their father's mess.
[17] Its tough to sat when Baldwin's reign began - whether it began in 1536 when his brother was captured and made prisoner of the King of Navarre, or whether it began four years later when he formally ascended the throne. As Lord Protector he had composed a good council of nobles to advise him, a council - or Parliament - that continued once he had been crowned. It was much that the council could do to continue keeping England out of the French conflicts as their running foe continued to form a combined entity - an actual Kingdom of France rather than the aligned and minor Kingdoms with Sub-King that existed heretofore. Likewise, they turned their attention north to Scotland and west to Wales and Ireland to strengthen bonds and alliances there. Baldwin married Princess Euphemia of Rothesay, son of Andrew, Duke of Rothesay and granddaughter of King Andrew II of Scotland (of the reborn House of Balliol) - selected to strengthen the bonds but far enough away from the Scottish crown to avoid a personal union.
Baldwin and Euphemia of Rothesay had several children and when Baldwin succumbed to what modern medical historians suspect was cancer, the throne passed to ______, his _______.
Kings (and Queens) of England 1135 - 1163: Stephen I (House of Blois)
1163 - 1179: William III (House of Blois) [1]
1179 - 1201: William IV (House of Blois) [2]
1201 - 1222: Stephen II (House of Blois) [3] 1222 - 1247: John I (House of Blois) [4]
1247 - 1276: Helena (House of Blois) [5] 1276 - 1300: John II (House of Hereford) [6]
1300 - 1355: Edward I (House of Hereford) [7]
1355 - 1356: Arthur I (House of Hereford) [8]
1356 - 1378: Richard I (House of Hereford [9] 1378 - 1413: Judith (House of Hereford) and 1378 - 1411: John III (House of Luxembourg) [10]
1411 - 1429: Percival (House of Luxembourg) [11]
1429 - 1474: John IV (House of Luxembourg) [12]
1474 - 1478: Baldwin I (House of Luxembourg) [13] 1478 - 1506: Marianne I (House of Brabant) [14]
1506 - 1536: Stephen III (House of Brabant) [15]
1536 - 1540: Stephen IV (House of Brabant) [16]
1540 - 1565: Baldwin II (House of Brabant) [17] 1565 - 1598: Henry I (House of Brabant) [18]
[1] Stephen I recovered from the illness that would have killed in 1154 and lived another nine years, in that time his remaining son William I, Count of Boulogne became more interested in the throne of England as his father managed to solidify the Blois's grip on the country in the lull of peace that came from the Treaty of Winchester (1153) with Henry Fitzempress and his land-wealthy wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine. Stephen found cause to renege on the treaty in 1162 as he was dying and proclaimed his son William his heir. This detonated the 'Second Phase' of The Anarchy and William III became King on horseback, fighting the forces of Henry Fitzempress and his Aquitanian army (borrowed from his wife). William would leave much of the governance of England in the hands of his wife, Isabel de Warenne as Regent and caregiver to their four children after a swift coronation. William's entire reign was spent fighting 'Henry II' and the war continued onward in an ugly stalemate as William's eldest son, another William, was crowned in Westminster.
[2] Whereas his grandfather and father fought militarily for their right to England, William IV chose instead to fight a more defensive war, knowing that he had only to outlast Henry Fitzempress' attempts to claim the throne instead of outright stopping and pushing him out. The situation worked, to an extent. Henry's armies wore themselves out chasing William and his allies all over England, and many (particularly those from Aquitaine, his wife's home province) deserted him to return to their homes. Henry Fitzempress was well known to be a man of unflagging strength, but even he was tiring of the decades of warfare trying to add England to the empire he sought to create. By 1182, both sides were so utterly exhausted they could fight no more, and England was a flaming ruin. The ensuing London Accord (1183) formally ended the Anarchy that had devastated so many lives, with William marrying Henry's second daughter, Aelinor, who brought Normandy (long ago conquered by Henry's father) as her dowry. Henry would never give Normandy up in his lifetime, but slowly, bit by bit, the county was brought back under English rule, despite the grumblings of Aelinor's brothers (who ended up fighting one another over Anjou, Aquitaine, Brittany, and perhaps even the weather). William's marriage to Aelinor was a fruitful one, bearing ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. The rest of William's reign saw him focus primarily on rebuilding England and arguing with his barons, who had amassed a great deal of power, land, and castles during the Anarchy. Though he improved much in his final years, the arguments with the barons would continue into the reign of William's eldest son, Stephen II.
[3] Stephen II spent most of his reign reasserting the royal authority over the vassals of the English crown, this meant dealing with the over powerful Barons, the Welsh marcher-lords who had become independent in all but name, and the Church which was seeking greater autonomy and power over appointments to Bishoprics. What assisted Stephen II in focusing on domestic matters, and continuing to heal the realm from the ravages of the Anarchy, was that perennial enemy of England, France, was having to deal with the powerful 'Plantagenet brothers', the sons of the deceased Henry Fitzempress and his wife, Aelinor of Aquitaine, and Louis VII and Philip II of France being dragged into Crusades in the Kingdom of Jerusalem against the forces of Islam. Stephen II managed to establish a Common Law for the whole of England and managed to find a balance between himself and the Barons, a few Baronal families had died out during the Anarchy and their lands had reverted to the crown, with the English kingdom rebounding the Crown grew in power, so Stephen found himself able to begin enforcing his will and forced several barons to tear down illegal castles and accept the King's Common Law. He was less successful with the Welsh marcher-lords, and plans for an invasion of Ireland fell threw due to continuing problems with the northern reaches of England and Scottish raids against his border lords. While Stephen II had three daughters, his only son Prince Baldwin died of an unknown disease at age 14, and so Stephen II's eldest brother John became King when Stephen II died in 1222.
[4] King John, during his youth prepared to join the clergy, strengthened position of the Church in England, giving numerous privileges to clergy. John regarded non-hereditary hierarchs of Catholic Church as lesser danger to his rule than barons. As result he was praised by chroniclers (who were mostly clergymen) and was later known as 'John the Just' or 'John the Good', despite his rather not very pious lifestyle-John was allegedly father of over hundred children, but only one of them was legitimate-his successor Helena.
[5] Daughter of an outwardly pious father who was incredibly promiscuous and father dozens of illegitimate children could only lead to her being a little conflicted - and as a result she tried to forge a happy medium between her father' extremes, between the barons and the clergy her father had promoted to power, opening avenues of conversation between the two faction. At the time of her accession there was even questions as to her suitability to rule - many elders could not concieve of a woman in control of England and championed Stephen and John's brother Thomas to be King, but given John had long been setting up his daughters accession by insertinh supporters of the idea in key positions, they relented and despite the religious/political tensions, her reign proved to be comparatively peaceful. Married to an obscure continental noble, she had several children and when she died of a sweating sickness, the throne passed to her son, John II.
[6] Son of Helena and her husband, Herbert, Earl of Hereford. His father was obscure nobleman from Normandy, whom King John II has given Earldom of Hereford and whom he later married to his only legitimate daughter and heiress. According to rumors, Herbert was King's illegitimate son and because of this John of Blois elevated him to Earldom and pushed for pharaonic marriage between his kids to keep his bloodline on the throne, although these rumors of incest between his parents likely were part of John II's black legend spread later by clergy, unhappy with his policy-John II, unlike his grandfather, tried to limit Church's influence in the Kingdom and was conflicted with Pope and threatened with excommunication due to controversy over taxation of clergy and seizure of property of some monasteries.
[7] The third son of John II and his wife, Catherine of Scotland (their first two sons having died young), Edward's early reign was beset by troubles. Many of the clergy, who were unhappy with the reversal of the policies of John I by John II (something that Edward himself was continuing), began to whisper in the ears of several of Edward's distant cousins who had distant claims to the throne via their descent from William IV's many offspring. It was one of them who should be sitting on the throne of England, not this untried boy whose only claim to the throne came through a woman who had likely married her own half-brother to secure her own power. The first decade of Edward's reign saw several rebellions on the part of many of these distant cousins, each determined to claim what many clergymen were claiming was rightfully theirs. Each of them, however, failed. While Edward himself was not the most martial of men (at least, compared to men like Richard Fitzhugh, a famous knight of the day who was often called "the paragon of war and knightly values"), a legacy left to him by his father was a strong government able to ward off threats like this. Combined with a keen insight into people (thus allowing him to replace good, competent men on his council with other good, competent men when the need arose), and Edward was able to navigate this difficult period with relative success. As a result, though, the ranks of the nobility were severely pruned, as those who joined in the rebellions were either killed on the battlefield, executed afterward, or were scattered into exile. The clergy too suffered. Edward refused to have "a flock of rebellious monks spreading poison instead the values of Christ" in his kingdom. He might have executed them too, but having no desire to continue the conflict with the Pope that had so mired his father, Edward settled for stripping them of their offices and exiling them. The Pope grumbled about this, but was made to see it was the lesser of two evils at this point in time. The rest of Edward's reign was comparatively peaceful. Being not a man who embraced war, Edward instead focused on the arts of peace and plenty. He founded several schools and universities, urged his nobility to send their sons there (which many of them did, given that these nobles had been given what they had by Edward after the various rebellions by his Blois cousins), and also expanded England's trading network beyond just the coast of France. Goods from places like Italy, Greece, and various eastern European countries began to appear in England. Edward's personal life was perhaps a little more fraught. His first wife, Edith of Gloucester, bore him only one child, a daughter, Margaret. When Edith died in 1326, Edward remarried Urraca of Aragon two years later, and together they had five children, four of them sons. Margaret's vehement dislike of her stepmother was only matched by Urraca's disdain for Margaret. All attempts at mediation on Edward's part failed, and when he died in 1355, the stage was set for another round of civil war, as Margaret had long claimed to be his successor despite Edward's proclamations of his eldest son with Urraca, Arthur. All of Edward's hard work in keeping England safe and at peace seemed on the verge of crashing down.
[8] Arthur, named after his father's favourite hero, legendary King Arthur, from the very beginning of his reign had to fight against a rebellion of his sister's supporters. Being a skilled commander, he was able to crush his opponents in the decisive Second Battle of Hastings, where forces led by Margaret's husband, Conan of Brittany, called 'Conan the Barbarian' due to his violent temper, were almost completely annihilated-Conan was killed in the battle, Margaret, informed about her husband's death, threw herself into the sea. The war was over, but Arthur, wounded with spear during late stage of battle, died just three days after later, leaving the throne to his younger brother, Richard.
[9] The younger twin of Arthur I, Richard I was left to clean up the mess of the thankfully brief rebellion of their older half-sister. Though Margaret and her husband were both dead, there still remained their young children, the eldest of which, Geoffrey, had been with his parents for the battle (though not involved directly due to his age). With his father's death and his mother's suicide, Richard had the new Count of Brittany in his custody as a hostage, a potent political tool in his dealings with both Brittany itself and with France. Richard considered restoring Geoffrey to Brittany after the payment of a significant ransom and with a bride of Richard's own choice to hopefully prevent any future incursions, but the sudden invasion of Brittany by the combined forces of Anjou, Maine, and Aquitaine put paid to that plan. Geoffrey's four younger siblings were all forced to flee to England and into Richard's waiting hands. Brittany was then carved up between the three invaders, all of them led by descendants of Henry Fitzempress and Aelinor of Aquitaine (just as Geoffrey himself was, via his father). That bloodline still proved particularly troublesome, even nearly two centuries later. To prevent problems in the future, Richard decided then to nip the problem in the bud. His half-nieces were all packed into separate convents, and Geoffrey's younger brother became a clergyman. Geoffrey himself remained titular Count of Brittany, but he was kept in close confinement for the rest of his days and he never married nor had any children. Thus Margaret's line was ended without bloodshed. Richard spent the rest of his reign defending Normandy, which was being subjected to attacks from the Plantagenet families as they attempted to conquer it as they had Brittany. He married Isabella of Bohemia in 1360, a daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor and had children, Judith, Isabella, Maud, and Arthur. He was succeeded in 1378 by his oldest surviving child, Judith.
[10] Judith became heiress of his father, after her only brother Arthur died as result of horse ridding accident. She ruled together with her husband, John, Count of Luxembourg, cousin of her mother from cadet branch of Imperial House of Luxembourg. Judith and John were both ambitious and power hungry, and shared desire to join thrones of England and HRE, spending vast sums of money from Royal treasure to bribe Electors with little effect. After death of her husband Judith's menthal health gradually degenerated, she remained titular Queen Regnant untill her death in 1413, although power was taken de facto by her son and successor Percival who had hellish job to repair England's finances, damaged by his parents' HRE adventures.
[11] Following the political upheaval in France, and the machinations and power struggles of the House of Hereford it must gave felt like a breath of fresh air to have a raven haired handsome, well spoken and educated youth on the throne - having clearly inherited his mothers good looks rather than his fathers pallid complexion, he was popular with women of all ages. But we'e they popular with him? Court gossip abounded that he was rather too fond of Thomas, Earl of Huntingdon - with both Thomas and his sister the ironically named Marion spending frequent weekends with the young King. Whatever may be the case, Percival married Marion and produced an heir - the future of the House of Luxembourg was secure, for the time being - and over the next several years, several more issue was produced. Court gossip was hushed sufficiently for the rumours to never reach the public at large - but never entirely hushed and not sufficiently to halt any estrangement between Percival and Marion who attempted to manipulate evidence of collusion in a plot with religious extremists to blow up the King during a meeting of the Privy Council. Percival was put to the test - wife or lover - and with a stranger stepping forward to accuse Marion of witchcraft, Percivals choice seemed clear cut. But it wasn't - because the Earl of Huntingdon was mysteriously shot and the title shifted to one of Percivals own sons, the shooter was never found and later historians suggest he was one of Marions lovers, a court musician. By this point, the accusation against Marion had made it to the privy council and, with the King effectively emotionally crippled, and with the evidence seemingly abundant, they convicted her and she was beheaded. In emotional distress, the King resorted to drink and debauchery and fifty days after his wife was beheaded, and sixty days after his possible lover was shot, Percival hung himself from a tree whilst out hunting. He left behind several children and was succeeded on the throne by his son John.
[12] John IV had many interest (he was poet, painter, even amateur alchemist), but ruling the country definitely wasn't one of them-he let his advisors to took the reins. But despite his passive nature, he was generally remembered as good king-his reign was long period of peace and fast cultural development of the Kingdom. John IV was succeeded by his son, Baldwin I.
[13] Baldwin I, the oldest remaining son of John IV took the throne in his fourties and bedridden from a jousting accident that broke his leg and infection set in and just wouldn't heal properly. Four years of agony saw Baldwin I finally succumb to death at age 45 and was succeeded by his only surviving child, Marianne of Brabant.
[14] The sole child of Baldwin I of England, Marianne I would take the throne at the age of nine, and placed under a recency of her Paternal cousin, John of Anglesey; a Bastard of King Percival. Queen Marianne chose to marry her cousin her cousin Louis of Brabant, at the age of 16, and by the age of 19 the Royal couple had three sons.
Marianne would reign for 28 years, with the only major conflict being a small skirmishing war with the Dukes of Zütphen between 1491 and 1498.
She would be succeeded by her eldest son Stephen of Brabant.
[15] Stephen III, King of England was 20 years old when he rose to the throne, and knew what his place in history would be. With the death of Nicholas I, Duke of Aquitaine in 1503, the Plantagenet Empire was crumbling, and between the Kings of France, Lorraine and Navarre, the last Plantagenet heiress, the Duchess Renata of Aquitaine, turned to the English for support, 35 to the English King's 22 upon their marriage, the duo focused on holding lands connected to Normandy at the least, and thus by 1512, the two held Brittany, Anjou and a fair chunk of Maine. Flanders was lost, as was Aquitaine, but with at least those lands secure, Stephen III felt success in his endeavor.
Further success for the Brabant English royal family came when, in 1515, Stephen's youngest brother, Ferdinand, Earl of March, was able to marry Violante I, Queen of Portugal, the grandest heiress in Europe, after Stephen's own wife, and this one was of an age with her husband and wouldn't lose any of her inheritance. The marriage secured English relations with Portugal, and managed to remove the most ambitious of Stephen's nobles from his court, ensuring a safer court for himself, his wife and their 6 children.
However, in 1521, Stephen's life turned upside down with the arrival of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat, who arrived at the English court, to marry the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Earl of Cambridge. However, Stephen himself was obsessed with her beauty, and thus began an affair with her, beginning the Cambridge Civil War.
Essentially, England fell into civil war the Montferrat Princess, who between 1522 and 1530, was dragged across England, Ireland and Normandy by Stephen, producing three illegitimate daughters all the while writing long, angry letters to her husband, demanding he fix the problem with her love so they could find a solution. With the death of Renata of Aquitaine in 1528 due to heart problems, the solution became obvious, and in 1531, Stephen III married Theresa Giovanna, after her marriage to the Earl of Cambridge was annulled, and two weeks later Geoffrey of Cambridge was married to the Princess Eleanor of England, and raised to the title of Duke.
England was the laughing stock of Europe.
To make matters worse, in 1533, Thomas, Duke of York, Stephen's brother and Cambridge's father, died defending Anjou, thus losing those territories to the new King of Navarre. Losing that territory was truly frustrating to Stephen, who sent his eldest son, another Stephen, to retake it, dying in 1536 before news could arrive that the new King had been captured by the Navarrese.
[16] Nearly all of Stephen IV's reign was spent in captivity at the hands of the King of Navarre, who refused to release him without an enormous ransom. Stephen, needless to say, was furious. Thanks to his father's foolishness over "the Montferrat whore", much of his inheritance had been conquered. Anjou was gone, and he could only watch helplessly as Maine and Brittany soon followed. He knew that part of the problem was that his people could not fight effectively when they feared for his own life. By 1540, Stephen had had enough. He had been able to turn many of his jailers to his side, promising them lands and titles in England if they helped him to escape. He was able to get a message out to his younger brother, Baldwin, informing him of what was to happen. The ensuing escape nearly went off without a hitch, but when Stephen and his allies were discovered at the worst possible moment, it fell into a bloody free-for-all. Stephen made it to the boat that his brother had sent to him, but he was mortally wounded in the process. He died on the crossing back to England, leaving his younger brother to clean up their father's mess.
[17] Its tough to sat when Baldwin's reign began - whether it began in 1536 when his brother was captured and made prisoner of the King of Navarre, or whether it began four years later when he formally ascended the throne. As Lord Protector he had composed a good council of nobles to advise him, a council - or Parliament - that continued once he had been crowned. It was much that the council could do to continue keeping England out of the French conflicts as their running foe continued to form a combined entity - an actual Kingdom of France rather than the aligned and minor Kingdoms with Sub-King that existed heretofore. Likewise, they turned their attention north to Scotland and west to Wales and Ireland to strengthen bonds and alliances there. Baldwin married Princess Euphemia of Rothesay, daughter of Andrew, Duke of Rothesay and granddaughter of King Andrew II of Scotland (of the reborn House of Balliol) - selected to strengthen the bonds but far enough away from the Scottish crown to avoid a personal union.
Baldwin and Euphemia of Rothesay had several children and when Baldwin succumbed to what modern medical historians suspect was cancer, the throne passed to Henry, his grandson.
[18] Born Henry of Mar, Henry I of England became the King of England by chance, because his father had married his mother. Now, this might seem a strange turn of phrase, but James, Duke of Mar was the youngest son of Percival, Earl of Kent when, in 1532, he fell in love with Helena of England, the youngest of then Prince Baldwin's three daughters by his first wife, Marie of Poitiers, a French noblewoman who had brought with her support for what was considered to be the obvious French/English War for Aquitaine, before Stephen IV's capture. Helena of England, then Helena of Norfolk, was thus a catch for the half-Scottish nobleman, who wooed her considerably, before being offered a choice by Baldwin as Regent to the throne. He could either (a) marry Helena, but give up his Scottish title, invest what money he had into the ongoing English War, and potentially become ennobled by a grateful King Stephen when he OBVIOUSLY would be returned to England, or (b) marry the eldest daughter of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat, Joan of England, take her and her mother back to Scotland, and forget about Helena. Baldwin was, at this time, pursuing his brother's decidedly anti-Scottish foreign policy, and was currently housing the Welsh Princess Aelinor of Gwent, who was Stephen's betrothed, who would ultimately marry Baldwin's youngest brother, John, Duke of Bedford and produce no children.
Both options were harsh, and for a time it looked like James, Duke of Mar would give signs that he was considering returning to Scotland, potentially to marry his first cousin, the Lady Juliana Stewart, who would in 1540 marry her other first cousin, Thomas of Kinross. Instead, the Duke of Mar found himself a suddenly valuable ally when, in 1535, Marie of Poitiers died in childbirth to what would have been a son, and in 1536, Baldwin, Duke of Norfolk became Baldwin II, King of England and suddenly was able to ally himself with the Scots. Plans for a match between his eldest daughter Mary of England and
James, Duke of Mar was the cousin of the King of Scots, and thus in 1537 was one of 4 noblemen tasked with escorting the Princess Euphemia of Rothesay to England, as not only were they cousins, but they actually descended from the same Scottish King on their father's sides, with the Mar dynasty coming from Robert III's second marriage as King of Scotland, while the Rothesay's came from his first marriage, which thus fathered Andrew II of Scotland, and his son and thus Euphemia. Thus, they were somewhat closely related, and had known each other somewhat well as children, and at one point Euphemia was to have been betrothed to James' elder brother Andrew, before his untimely passing. Thus, when in 1538 the Duke of London, heir to the throne was born, Helena of England was granted permission to marry the Duke of Mar, no commitments needed, and in 1540 they celebrated their birth of their first child, young Henry of Bar. He would be their only child.
Helena of England would come to the forefront of the Succession by 1550, with 4 deaths in a row. The first, her elder sister to still be living, Catherine of England, married the King of Barcelona in 1540, dying in childbirth in 1544 with a stillborn son. Next, her brothers by Euphemia of Rothesay, the Duke of London and Duke of Norfolk both died of the measles, leaving, at that point, only Helena and her younger sister Renata as heirs to the throne. And then, finally, John of Cambridge, the last scion of the Duke of Cambridge, who had marry Stephen III's youngest daughter and, for a time, was considered Baldwin's next heir, died in a hunting accident in which his third wife seems to have accidentally shot him with an arrow. As his first to brides, Francesca of Sicily and Hannah of Gloucester had both failed to produce children, it was thus only Helena, Duchess of Mar, her son and the infant Princess Renata to inherit the crown.
To make matters more complicated, in 1552, Afonso II of Portugal, great-grandson of the Earl of March, who had become King of Portugal through marriage, demanded his right to the English Throne be admitted, and thus in 1553, Baldwin II of England had the "Grand Matter of the English Succession" drawn up, listing the succession as:
Any son hereby fathered on Euphemia of Rothesay by King Baldwin.
Any son hereby fathered by King Baldwin on any true wife of his under the Catholic Church.
Helena of England, and her descendants legitimately begotten.
Renata of England, and her descendants legitimately begotten.
Any daughter hereby fathered on Euphemia of Rothesay by King Baldwin.
Any daughter hereby fathered by King Baldwin on any true wife of his under the Catholic Church.
The eldest legitimate descendant of Ferdinand, Earl of March, should he not hold a foreign throne of his own.
Prince Francis of Lorraine, only son of Joan of England, daughter of Stephen III of England, and his descendants legitimately begotten.
John, Duke of Brabant, and his heirs legitimately begotten.
Geoffrey, Count of Castilla, and his heirs legitimately begotten.
Now this line of succession frustrated not only the King of Portugal, but also the Duke of Gloucester and many others in and out of England. In particular Simon of Maine, married to Isabeau of England, daughter of Theresa Giovanna of Montferrat and Stephen III of England demanded to know why he had been left out. Not only was his wife technically legitimate, as the marriage of Stephen III and Theresa Giovanna was recognised by the Pope, but he himself was a descendant of John IV through his second son, who's line was now Counts of Maine. Afonso of Portugal would have started a war over the whole thing, but in 1555 his eldest son was betrothed to Renata of England with the promise that, potentially Helena of England and her son might be skipped over.
Thus, when Helena of England died in 1562, the 22 year old Henry of Bar was heir to the throne, with all subsequent pregnancies of Euphemia of Rothesay producing either daughters (Mary, born 1552, Anna, born 1555, and Eleanor, born 1560) or stillborn/short-lived sons (1549, 1554, 1556, 1561 and a final one in 1564). He was treated as such, and in 1563, at his grandfather's urging, he married French Princess Louise d'Angouleme, the granddaughter of Charles X of France, and sister to the Dauphin. The girl in question was 12 when the marriage took place, and the Pope himself spoke out against "child brides", causing Henry of Bar some embarrassment.
Thus, when he succeeded to the throne in 1565, he had by his side a 13 year old wife, unable to produce children or lay with him for another 4 years by current Church law, and a whole royal family to quietly get rid of. In 1568, he convinced Euphemia of Rothesay to retire to a convent, taking with her Mary of England, who had always shown a vocation for a religious life. In 1570, a 15 year old Anna of England was betrothed to Henry of Bar's current ally, Nicholas of Burgundy, and in 1573, shortly after the birth of his first child, Eleanor of England was betrothed to Sigismund II, King of Hungary, and sent to live in the Regency Court of Hungary with his mother, the domineering Eleanora d'Este, an Italian princess.
Henry I of England was not a man for which power came lightly. His father, forever sure his son would be ousted from his rightful place on the throne, had become his strongest advisor, to the point where upon his death, the King of England was said to have refused for him to be buried until the stench of death was overpowering. Regardless, he saw that his father was buried with his mother, and in 1580, a year after James, Duke of Mar's death, he was retroactively given the title Duke of London, as was his right as husband to an heir to the throne.
The King of England went far to reward his loyal family. In 1574, the Earl of Kent, his uncle (his father coming from the this Earl's father's second marriage) was married to heiress Alice Percy, and made Viceroy of Normandy. Meanwhile, Thomas of Kent was awarded the title Count of Mayenne and sent as Viceroy of Anjou, replacing John of Gloucester, who found himself tasked with acting as dignitary to the Irish Lords, because Henry wanted to invade Ireland but needed to know if it would simply be easier to have them bow to him. In 1583, with the birth of Henry's daughter Charlotte of England, a distant cousin of the King's, George Bullen, was made the Baron Choulet, sent to Anjou and made a part of the Count of Mayenne's entourage.
There was a mindfulness to the way the King rewarded his family, sending them to do the hard work in foreign places, to prevent them from growing to powerful at home. He also moved people frequently to prevent power bases from forming. in 1584 He removed the Earl of Kent from Normandy, replaced him with George Bullen, who he felt had done good work in Anjou, and Kent replaced Mayenne in Anjou, while Mayenne acted as his advisor until 1587, when he was moved to Maine. This standard of frequent moves led to some hostility amongst those who lost lucrative positions, but the King made sure none were moved too low or too high, with exception to George Bullen, who never was removed from Normandy due to his amazing track recorded, but instead sent young men to train as future advisors.
In 1590, at the age of 50, Henry I of England replaced himself, when he positioned his heir ______ as Regent to England while he travelled across the continental positions of England to ensure everything ran as well as he had been told. He travelled with his wife, who remained in Calais after discovering herself pregnant. However, in 1591, after his wife's birth to a daughter named Violante, he felt the need to rush back to London, and it was soon discovered why. In 1592, only barely making it back to England, Henry I of England died. It's unsure what killed him, but it seems likely that a slow working illness had been taking his health slowly, and his work to delegate had been, in part, to ensure England was prepared at his death. Thus, England fell to his heir.
