Princess Marie de France, Countess de Champagne, passed away on the 11th of March, 1198. She was the first and oldest daughter of King Louis VII of France known as the Young (‘le Jeune’) and his first and legendary consort – Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, or Aliénor d’Aquitaine. According to...
King Richard the Lionheart: birth, life, personality
King Richard I of England was born on the 8th of September 1157 in the King’s House (later Beaumont Palace). He was the 3rd legitimate son of King Henry II of England and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine; Eleanor’s 6th child as she had previously been married to King Louis VII of France and...
Coronation of Richard the Lionheart
On the 3rd of September 1189, King Richard I of England known as the Lionheart was crowned as King of England at Westminster Abbey. At the age of 32, he was still relatively young, vigorous, and ready to lead the Angevin empire to her new heights. Tall with reddish-blonde hair,...
The Drama of Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany
On the 10th of August 1241, Eleanor Fair Maid of Brittany (House of Plantagenet) died as a nun at the age of 57 or 59. Originally buried at St James’ Priory, Bristol, her remains were then exhumed and reburied at Amesbury Abbey by King Henry III of England (her cousin),...
Eleanor of Aquitaine and Louis VII of France: an ill-fated royal match
On the 25th of July 1137, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, and the future Louis VII of France married in the Cathedral of Saint-Andre in Bordeaux. The marriage between was arranged by Louis VII’s father – King Louis VI of France known as the Fat....
Philippe II of France: a monarch rightfully deserving the epithet ‘Augustus’
Born on the 21st of August 1165, King Philippe II of France died on the 14th of July 1223 in Mantes-la-Jolie en route to Paris at the age of 58. When his father, Louis VII of France, fell ill, he had his only son crowned at Reims in 1179, making...
Birth of Geoffrey Plantagenet, second son of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Empress Matilda
Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Nantes, was born in Rouen on the 1st of June 1134. He was second of the three sons of Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou and Empress Matilda. Also known as Geoffrey of Anjou and Geoffrey FitzEmpress, he was Count of Nantes from 1156 to 1158. Geoffrey’s...
Release of ‘Robin Hood’s Widow’ (part 2 of our Robin Hood Trilogy)
Attention! Our New Novel was released on the 8th of May 2020! Robin Hood’s Widow (The Robin Hood Trilogy Book 2) by Olivia Longueville and J. C. Plummer is now available in both e-book and paperback formats from Amazon. You can learn more information about our Robin Hood project on...
Death in Youth: Henry the Young King
Henry the Young King was born on the 28th of February 1155. At the time of his birth, he was the second son, so he was not expected to become king. However, his elder brother, William, passed away in 1156 at the age of three, making Henry the eldest son...
A fateful royal marriage only a few weeks after Eleanor’s annulment
Today marks another anniversary of a royal marriage that helped create the vast and once very powerful Angevin Empire. On the 18th of May, 1152, Henry Plantagenet, also known as Henry Curtmantle and Henry FitzEmpress who would soon become King Henry II of England, married Eleanor (Aliénor) of Aquitaine in a private ceremony...