What is the main message of The Plantagenets?

The main message of The Plantagenets is a fascinating exploration of the rise and fall of the powerful Plantagenet dynasty.

How long does it take to read The Plantagenets?

The reading time for The Plantagenets varies depending on the reader's speed, but it typically takes several hours. The Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Is The Plantagenets a good book? Is it worth reading?

The Plantagenets is a captivating read that brings history to life. It's definitely worth diving into for history buffs and enthusiasts alike.

Who is the author of The Plantagenets?

The author of The Plantagenets is Dan Jones.

The Plantagenets Summary of Key Ideas and Review

Name: The Plantagenets
Rating: 4.5 (209 reviews)
Author: Dan Jones

Introduction

What’s in it for me? A rip-roaring romp through medieval England and Europe.

The House of Plantagenet produced the greatest kings to ever rule England. It also produced the most terrible. These kings were as famous for their restlessness and charisma as they were for their quick tempers and cruelty. During the Middle Ages, they ruled England for more than a quarter of a millennium, a period that saw the country transform from a civil war–plagued island backwater into an organized, highly-legislated European power.

In these blinks, we’ll journey through the Plantagenet story. It’s a tale of high drama – including daring escapes, dangerous liaisons, and diabolical violence. We’ve got 250 years of history and eight kings to get through, so let’s get going!

In these blinks, you’ll learn

how the Plantagenets came to be named after the hairstyle of a dapper young noble;
that there’s a very thin line between having too many royal progeny and not enough; and
how critical it was for Plantagenet kings to keep their wives onside.

Key idea 1 of 10

The beginning of a dynasty

The year is 1120 and King Henry I of England is inconsolable. His beloved son, and heir apparent, has just drowned crossing the English Channel.

King Henry is forced to look in a new direction to secure his dynasty: toward his daughter Matilda. Like her recently deceased brother, Matilda is haughty and arrogant, and she doesn’t inspire confidence among her father’s barons. To improve her claim to England’s throne, King Henry organizes a marriage between Matilda and the powerful landowner, Geoffrey of Anjou. Geoffrey’s a dapper fellow. He’s especially fond of wearing a yellow broom flower in his hair – a flower that, in Latin, is called planta genista. The House of Plantagenet is born.

Geoffrey and Matilda don’t much care for each other, but that doesn’t matter. Their marriage is an important political match, and they have basically one objective. In 1133 they achieve it; their first child is born. They name him Henry, like his grandfather.

But the barons still aren’t convinced. When the old king dies, the barons reject Matilda. They throw their weight behind another claimant, Matilda’s cousin Stephen.

Stephen becomes king, but he’s not very good at his job. His weak leadership soon destabilizes England. Matilda – brooding in France – perks up her ears. Maybe here’s a chance for her to regain what she considers rightfully hers: the crown of England.

What happens next proves disastrous for England. Matilda’s and Stephen’s forces chase each other throughout the countryside for nine years, spreading devastation everywhere they go. Endless battles are fought, but the two sides remain at a stalemate. English society collapses. This period of chaos gets an ominous name: The Anarchy.

Meanwhile, Matilda’s son Henry is coming into his own. He’s gangly, ginger-haired, and whip-smart with a large chip on his shoulder. He’s built a reputation for himself around France as a precocious youth with a keen head for strategy. He’s been leading military expeditions across the Channel into England since he was 13. None has been very successful, but Henry has still shown bravery and a decent sense of war and diplomacy.

Henry’s reputation catches the attention of a remarkable woman: the 28-year-old Eleanor of Aquitaine. She’s a powerful noblewoman, recently cast aside by the king of France for being too worldly and politically opinionated. But the ascendant youth with an ax to grind seems much more her style than the monkish French king. For the 19-year-old Henry, Eleanor has significant territory and a royal pedigree to offer – as well as all the worldliness of an older woman.

It’s a match that will spawn a dynasty.

Key idea 2 of 10

The rise of King Henry II

By 1153, after nine years of The Anarchy, England is exhausted. The English barons are sick of war. And so Henry offers them peace. He’ll stop fighting if they agree to allow him to become king. It’s not too long before the barons have come over to his side.

Stephen dies in 1154, and Henry is crowned King Henry II soon after. He’s received by the English people as a conquering hero. A new age begins.

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Key idea 3 of 10

Family feuds

The family feud starts with a gift. King Henry decides to give his son John some castles in France. This makes John’s older brother – another Henry, who’s styled himself as “the Young King” – jealous. Their mother, Eleanor, is also frustrated by Henry and her lack of power.

She fans the flames of ambition in each of her sons, and they rebel en masse. Their first action is to flee to the court of the French king and seek refuge from Henry’s ire.

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Key idea 4 of 10

The treacherous brother

Richard isn’t making things easy for Philip II. For starters, he’s broken off the long engagement he’s had with Philip’s sister. Also, on the way to the Holy Land, he’s taken to invading whatever city he wishes, not bothering to share the spoils as agreed. Then, upon arrival in the Holy Land, Richard starts poaching away Philip’s mercenaries.

After a few months, Philip’s had enough humiliation; he sails home. Richard’s glad to be rid of his French counterpart: he likens his relationship with Philip in the East to being a cat with a hammer tied to its tail.

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Key idea 5 of 10

Bad King John

John’s the first English king in generations who’s forced to remain in his own realm. And as he learns to rule, England learns what it’s like to have a restless, bellicose Plantagenet king in its midst.

John’s a great student of English justice. He sits in judgment everywhere he goes and seems concerned with the plight of the poor – both highly unusual for English kings. John’s actions aren’t that altruistic though: justice is a lucrative proposition, as any fines and forfeitures of property revert back to the Crown. This, and new taxes levied on all movable goods in the country, make John a very rich king.

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Key idea 6 of 10

King versus barons

True to his treacherous nature, no sooner has Magna Carta been signed than John violates it. Civil war escalates once again.

But then, a reprieve: shortly after war resumes in 1215, John dies of dysentery.

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Key idea 7 of 10

Edward Longshanks

Prince Edward doesn’t stay captive for long. After a few months, he makes a dramatic escape and begins plotting with barons unhappy with de Montfort to restore the Plantagenet crown.

Once again, the two sides raise armies. The final showdown comes on a freezing day at Evesham in 1265. The battle is fierce, but this time Prince Edward comes out on top. De Montfort isn’t so lucky: he’s hacked to pieces on the battlefield.

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Key idea 8 of 10

A weak king

Edward II is tall and fair and looks a lot like his father. But that’s where the similarities end. By all accounts, he’s a poor candidate for king. For one thing, he spends all his time on frivolous pursuits. But most damaging is his proclivity for favorites.

His first favorite is Piers Gaveston, a clever and ambitious French knight. He inspires an unhealthy obsession in the young king, and many speculate that the two are lovers.

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Key idea 9 of 10

The great Plantagenet

Queen Isabella meets Roger Mortimer at the French court in 1325. It’s an auspicious meeting: first, they become lovers, and then they bring down the king of England.

A few months after she meets Mortimer, Isabella’s in France on diplomatic business when she senses an opportunity. She calls for her son with Edward II, also named Edward, to join her. Once mother and son are safe under the protection of Isabella’s family in France, she refuses to return.

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Key idea 10 of 10

From hubris to downfall

Edward’s war gets off to a good start, with a decisive naval victory over the French at Sluys. He then delivers another crushing defeat to the French at Crécy in 1346. This time, he has the help of his teenage son, who’s nicknamed the Black Prince.

For the next decade, Edward goes from strength to strength: victories against foreign opponents as well as reforms at home that shore up the barons’ wealth. In a crowning achievement to Edward’s age of glory, the French king is actually captured at the battle of Poitiers. It’s obvious to everyone: England is once again ascendant.

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