Eleanor of Aquitaine was Duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the heiress of the House of Poitiers, which controlled much of southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
John was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empire and contributing to the subsequent growth in power of the French Capetian dynasty during the 13th century. The baronial revolt at the end of John's reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, a document considered an early step in the evolution of the constitution of the United Kingdom.
Philip II, also known as Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself "King of France". The son of King Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed 'God-given' because he was a first son and born late in his father's life. Philip was given the epithet "Augustus" by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the crown lands of France so remarkably.
Richard I, known as Richard Cœur de Lion or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine, and Gascony; Lord of Cyprus; Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes; and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. He was the third of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and was therefore not expected to become king, but his two elder brothers predeceased their father.
Louis VII, called the Younger or the Young to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees.
Marie of France was a Capetian princess who became Countess of Champagne by her marriage to Henry I of Champagne. She served as regent of the County of Champagne three times: during Henry I's absence from 1179-1181; during the minority of their son Henry II from 1181–1187; and during Henry II's absence from 1190-1197. The daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France, she was the sister of Alice of France and the half-sister of: William IX, Henry the Young King, Richard I, Geoffrey of Brittany, Matilda of England, Eleanor of England, Joan of England, John of England; Margaret of France, Alys of France, Agnes of France, Philip II of France; and the stepdaughter of Henry II of England, and Constance of Castile, and Adela of Champagne.
Arthur I was 4th Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany between 1196 and 1203. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and Constance, Duchess of Brittany. Through Geoffrey, Arthur was the grandson of Henry II, King of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the nephew of King Richard I of England.
Raymond VI was Count of Toulouse and Marquis of Provence from 1194 to 1222. He was also Count of Melgueil from 1173 to 1190.
The term Angevin Empire describes the possessions held by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly all of present-day England, half of France, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. It may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy. The empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, and inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, and at Chinon in Touraine.
Philip of Poitou was Bishop of Durham from 1197 to 1208, and prior to this Archdeacon of Canterbury.
Peter de Preaux was a Norman knight in the service of the Angevin kings of England. Given control of the Channel Islands by King John, he was the first recorded lord of the Isles outside the royal family.
Joan of England was by marriage Queen of Sicily and Countess of Toulouse. She was the seventh child of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. From her birth, she was destined to make a political and royal marriage. She married William II of Sicily and later Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, two very important and powerful figures in the political landscape of Medieval Europe.
The Château de Falaise is a castle from the 12th-13th century, located in the south of the commune of Falaise in the département of Calvados, in the region of Normandy, France. William the Conqueror, the son of Duke Robert of Normandy, was born at an earlier castle on the same site in about 1028. William went on to conquer England and become king, and possession of the castle descended through his heirs until the 13th century, when it was captured by King Philip II of France. Because of his association to the location it is also known as Château Guillaume le Conquérant or William the Conqueror's Castle.
William des Roches was a French knight and crusader who acted as Seneschal of Anjou, of Maine and of Touraine. After serving the Angevin kings of England, in 1202 he changed his loyalty to King Philip II of France and became a leading member of his government.
Peter of Capua was an Italian scholastic theologian and prelate. He served as cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria in Via Lata from 1193 until 1201 and cardinal-priest of San Marcello al Corso from 1201 until his death. He often worked as a papal legate. He wrote several theological works and was a patron of his hometown of Amalfi.
Philip of Dreux was a French nobleman, Bishop of Beauvais, and figure of the Third Crusade. He was an active soldier, an ally in the field of Philip Augustus, the French king and his cousin, making him an opponent in campaigns in France and elsewhere of Richard I of England. He was also in demand as a priest, to make and break marriages. He presided over that of his cousin Conrad of Montferrat at the Siege of Acre, marrying him to Isabella I of Jerusalem, daughter of Amalric I, whose marriage he annulled. He was also a party to the annulment of the marriage between Philip Augustus and Ingeborg of Denmark.
The Invasion of Normandy by Philip II of France were wars in Normandy from 1202 to 1204. The Angevin Empire fought the Kingdom of France as well as fighting off rebellions from nobles. Philip II of France conquered the Anglo-Angevin territories in Normandy, resulting in the Siege of Château Gaillard. The Normandy Campaigns ended in a victory for France when the Anglo-Angevin territory was greatly diminished.
The Battle of Mirebeau was a battle in 1202 between the House of Lusignan-Breton alliance and the Kingdom of England. King John of England successfully smashed the Lusignan army by surprise.
The First Hundred Years' War was a series of conflicts and disputes during the High Middle Ages during which the House of Capet, rulers of the Kingdom of France, fought the House of Plantagenet, rulers of the Kingdom of England. The conflict emerged over the Plantagenet-held Angevin Empire formed by Henry II of England which at its peak covered around half of the territory within France. The ongoing conflict between the two dynasties resulted in the gradual "reconquest" of most of their kingdom by the Capetians, and later, the Plantagenet's attempts to retake what they believed to be their rightful claims in western France.
Amaury IV was the Count of Évreux in France from about 1191 until 1200 and then Earl of Gloucester in England from 1200 until his death. Although he was the fourth Count of Évreux named Amaury, he is sometimes numbered Amaury VI de Montfort, as the sixth of his lineage in the House of Montfort.
