Plantagenet
The Plantagenet family is without a doubt one of the most interesting families of Europe. They became the ruling family of England for over three hundred years through the marriage of Geoffrey Plantagenet to Matilda, daughter of Henry I and granddaughter of William the Conqueror.
Many of the Plantagenet Kings suffered from quick tempers and violent rages. A legend tells of an ancestor in the family, an Angevin Count, that had brought a strange bride home. She rarely attended mass and if she did, she left before the consecretion. Four knights tried to detain her by standing on her cloak, but she was able to free herself and broke through a window to escape. The rumor began that she was "Melusine", Satan's daughter. This is the explanation given for the temperaments of the Plantagenet men.
The Plantagenet period was dominated by three major conflicts at home and abroad. Edward I began the first conflict by trying to conquer Wales and attacking Scotland. He believed that England should be the dominate entity in a British empire. Edward did succeed in taking over Wales and pronounced his oldest son Prince of Wales.
The Hundred Years War began during Edward III reign. This war was a struggle between England and France.
Toward the end of the Plantagenet reign, Richard II saw the beginning of a long period of civil unrest known as the War of the Roses. The Lancastrians and the Yorkists would, for the next 100 years, make repeated attempts to take over the crown.
This period in history saw many new social institutions and the distinctive English culture emerge. It was during this time that Parliament grew and the judicial reforms that had begun during the reign of Henry II were completed by Edward I. Three of the Plantagenet kings were patrons of Geoffrey Chaucer, the reknown "father of English poetry". The Gothic period in architecture started, the likes of which were Salisbury Cathedral. Westminster Abbey was rebuilt and many of the old English cathedrals were remodeled. Also beginning during this period were Oxford and Cambridge universities.
Although England was becoming "cultured", there were several new phenomenon taking place. The Bubonic plague or "Black Death" as it has been called, underming countless military campaigns and wiping out half of the country's population. The rise in prices and the shortage of labor culminated into the Peasants' Revolt in 1381.
