The Devil's Brood

Book Three of SKP's Triology

   
     The last post left off with establishing Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine as the founders of the Plantagenet Dynasty.  Initially, in spite of their age difference (his 19 to her 31) their marriage was successful, at least if judged by the number of children they produced: eight in all with the last son born when Eleanor was forty-four!

     However, their amorous endeavors were far more fruitful than their parenting skills.  In today's terminology, Henry might be considered a control freak. Instead of raising his sons to become effective in ruling over his extensive domain, which stretched from the Scots border to the Mediterranean, Henry hoarded his power.  As the boys grew to adulthood, they rebelled against their father's tight rein and quarreled among themselves over their lands, thus the sobriquet, the devil's brood.

Plantagenet Lands in Orange

     The firstborn, William, sadly died when only three years old. Young Henry, as the next in line, grew up a spoiled brat expecting to become king after his father and lorded it over everyone. Richard excelled in the military arts and as his mother's favorite was bestowed with her lands in Aquitaine. Geoffrey married early and took on the mantle of Duke of Brittany, which left baby John, with nothing. Hence, his nickname, John Lackland.

     However, I must digress a bit here. Shortly before Eleanor gave birth to John, Henry hooked up with a younger woman, the Fair Rosamund, which, as you might imagine, caused no end of grief to Eleanor.  About this same time, the boys banded together and took up arms against their father and while Henry eventually put down their rebellion, he blamed their uprising on Eleanor, believing she encouraged them.  The boys were forgiven but Eleanor was held in isloation, royally imprisoned, for the next sixteen years!

     Ok, so are you getting the picture here?  The Plantagenet family dynamic was so dysfunctional, might you now understand how I got hooked on their shenanigans!  And we're only at the beginning of a 300+ reign!

     I've said it before and I know I'll repeat myself, but Hollywood screen writers couldn't imagine more devious characters or twisted plot lines ... but these were real.