Introduction to Great Lions' Hearts

Richard I (the Lionheart) said that his family was descended from the Devil, they were that temperamental and turbulent.  In fact, that's what most people know about the remarkable family that ruled an empire stretching from Ireland to the Pyrenees, at times claiming more French territory than the kings of France, at the same time demanding the Crown of Charlemagne and the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  Courtesy of films like Becket and the Lion in Winter, the Plantagenets come across as brutes who murdered family or friends when it suited them, who boozed and womanized and fought with abandon, and who traded kingdoms like playing cards.  And, that was just one side of them.  Plantagenet kings forged the beginnings of Britain's common law, patronized the arts, and earned their place in history through hard work.

The Plantagenets took their name from the common broom plant (Latin planta genista) adopted as a heraldric device by their ancestor Geoffrey, Count of Anjou (1113-1151), through whom they claimed England.  From humble beginning as Counts of Anjou and would-be claimants to the throne of England, they fought their way to the top rung of royalty through wars, marriage, diplomacy, money, whatever it took.  Members of the family included Henry II and Eleanor of Acquitaine, their sons Henry, Geoffrey, Richard and John, and John's descendants, Henrys III-VI, Edwards I-V, and Richards I-III.  Not to be forgotten were the in-laws, the long-suffering Alys of France and her brother Phillip II, Berengaria of Navarre, Eleanor of Castile, Anne of Bohemia, Margaret of Anjou and several others.  Like any large family with drama, there were extended cousins, including the Angevin Kings of Jerusalem and rulers of other European countries and Crusader states.  Then there were the artists, courtiers, soldiers and others who played their roles alongside and opposite these larger than life figures, from William Wallace and William le Marechal, to Thomas Becket to Simon de Montfort, Warwick the Kingmaker and Joan of Arc.

Finally, there was history, the Crusades, Magna Carta, the Wars of the Roses, the Hundred Years War, battles, weapons, laws, the arts and so much else that went into the backdrop of how this family lived, worked and went about the business of being legendary.  And, as with any prominent family, there's culture, from Shakespeare's plays, to Twentieth Century B-Movies and novels, poems and plays.  This blog will cover all the above, and so much more.  So hold onto your seats (or your devices), we're in for a wild ride.