Boydell Press The Angevin World, 1154-1204: New Interpretations

Fresh perspectives on how we understand the complex nature of the Angevin lands. At the time of his death in 1189, the lands which Henry II had brought under his rule through inheritance, marriage, and military might stretched from Northumbria to Gascony, and across the Irish Sea. This vast agglomeration, often described in English as "the Angevin empire", and in French as "l'espace Plantagenêt", was a dominant force in the politics of western Europe until its fragmentation under John, beginning with the loss of Normandy to the French king Philip Augustus in 1204. Yet beyond the forceful personalities of its rulers, what - if anything - bound these wide and disparate lands together? To what extent were they interconnected politically, economically and culturally? This multi-disciplinary volume brings together specialists in history, literature, material culture, art history, and manuscript studies to approach these questions from a range of different perspectives. From the cultural interactions of courts, to political thought and symbols of power, the diffusion of historical writing, and practical responses of the Angevins to the challenges of governing, whether in Aquitaine or in Ireland, and of waging war in expansion or defence of their territories, this book aims to provoke fresh thinking regarding how we understand the complex nature of the Angevin lands.