The Angevin Empire, A Symbole of a long Rivalry Between France and England (Part 1)
France and England are pretty famous rivals. Today this rivalry is more likely to be limited to Friday night soccer games, but things used to be much more intense between the two nations. We can count, for example, the Napoleonic wars, the 7 Years War, the war of Spanish Succession and the 100 Years War amongst all the moments the two came into conflict. However, today we will go over the biggest middle-finger England gave to France in the form of the Angevin Empire. For the French readers, don't worry, this is more of a 'settling the score' action anyway.
The Foundations
The “empire” (historians can't seem to agree whether it was one or not), was actually formed in 1154. Henry II, duke of Normandy and count of Anjou, married the duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor, which set the foundation for the Angevin Empire. The weird thing is that the Angevin territories were seen as an English nation from the beginning. However, England entered the fray much later. This may be explained by the fact that it became the central seat of power as soon as it joined the empire. But enough with boring talks, let's go back to the two founders of the Angevin Empire.
To say that Eleanor was a significant figure would be an understatement. First because she was also called the mother of Empires as she birthed an insane number of future kings and queens. Second, she was one of the most, if not the most, powerful woman in Europe at the time. Indeed, thanks to the region not being as misogynistic as the rest of the continent, Eleanor became the duchess of Aquitaine after her father died. However, she got married to Prince Louis VII shortly after becoming a duchess. The King (father of Louis) died not long after. Being called “Le Gros”, aka “The Fat”, might have something to do with it! The two teenagers, both still under 20, were now the new rulers of France.
How to roast your ex-husband
Unfortunately for Louis, the marriage was doomed from the start and Eleanor divorced him without losing her land after 15 years. How did she do this? Well, it could be because the couple didn’t manage to birth a son to take over their kingdom. Louis was neither the healthiest nor “manly” king ever. Back to Eleanor, she got in touch with Henry II and got married to him shortly after her divorce. This union was mostly political, like many marriages at the time. From now on, the lands of Aquitaine, Normandy and Anjou were under the control of the newlywed couple. Then, Henry returned to England and defeated the current King of England. Indeed, this King usurped the throne from Henry's grandmother. This all happened within three years of Eleanor leaving Louis VII. Oh, and to add insult to injury, Henry used to be a good friend of Louis, as the King of France helped Henry become duke of Normandy. Also, Eleanor birthed a son not long after marrying Henry, embarrassing her ex-husband even more!
As a final note, Britany joined the empire a few years later.
Power Struggles
Okay, we have England controlling more than half of the Kingdom of France. Now what?
First of all, the reason why many debated the title of 'empire' toward the Angevin territories was that Henry didn't directly control all of his domain. Sure, he was the King of England and duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, but he didn't directly hold his French territories. Normandy remained under his patronage due to political marriage, and Eleanor still retained her authority in Aquitaine.
Henry's reign was paved with troubles, both internationally and domestically. First, he was never able to get along with Louis VII, the King of France. In return, Louis had the nasty habit of getting friendly with all of Henry's enemies, including a particular bishop, Thomas Becket. The latter's (accidental) murder would also cause a rift between Henry and the papal states.
On the other hand, his personality directly reflects his internal struggles. Outside of being a blatant womanizer and having severe anger management issues, Henry was also a pathological control freak. Do you remember when I said that Henry technically didn't control all of his territories? Well, that was on paper. Out of all of his sons, the youngest (also named Henry) was supposed to become the ruler of England, Richard had Normandy, and Geoffrey had Brittany. His fifth son, John, had to live with the embarrassing nickname of “Lackland”. You can figure this one out.
To be continued…!
