The Plantagenet Kings

Book categories: Plantagenets, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Isabella of France, Edward III, Order of the Garter, Black Prince, Joan of Kent, Richard II, Hundred Years' War, DVDs, Normans, Angevins, Lancastrians, Yorkists, Wars of the Roses

The Plantagenet Dynasty

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones. Eight generations of the greatest and worst kings and queens England has ever seen.

The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty by J. S. Hamilton. A complete account of the rulers and politics of the Plantagenet reign.

The Demon's Brood: A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty by Desmond Seward. An overview of the whole dynasty, based on major contemporary sources and modern research.

The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain by Derek Wilson. A year-by-year chronology of a tumultuous period in the development of the English nation. Includes portraits, maps, and other images.

The Plantagenet Chronicles edited by Elizabeth Hallam. This attractively illustrated book draws on the writings of 14 contemporary chroniclers to tell the story of medieval Europe's most tempestuous family.

Four Gothic Kings: The Turbulent History of Medieval England and the Plantagenet Kings (1216-1377) edited by Elizabeth Hallam. Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III seen through the eyes of their contemporaries. Illustrated.

Plantagenet Queens

Queens of the Crusades by Alison Weir. The lives of five Plantagenet queens: Eleanor of Aquitaine, Berengaria of Navarre, Isabella of Angoulême, Alienor of Provence, and Eleanor of Castile.

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir. The lives of five queen consorts of the Plantagenet kings who ruled England between 1299 and 1399.

Three Medieval Queens: Queenship and the Crown in Fourteenth-Century England by Lisa Benz St. John. How Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Philippa of Hainault exercised power and authority.

Plantagenet Queens & Consorts: Family, Duty and Power by Steven J. Corvi. Examines the lives of Eleanor of Provence, Philippa of Hainault, Katherine Valois, Elizabeth of York, and others.

Norman to Early Plantagenet Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty edited by Aidan Norrie and others. Examines the emergence of the queen consort, beginning with the pre-Conquest era and ending with Edward I's wife Margaret of France in 1307.

Later Plantagenet and the Wars of the Roses Consorts: Power, Influence, and Dynasty edited by Aidan Norrie and others. Biographies challenging negative perceptions created by political circumstances and the narrow expectations of later writers.

Chaucer's Queens: Royal Women, Intercession, and Patronage in England, 1328-1394 by Louise Tingle. Investigates the influence of queens in late 14th-century England, focusing on Philippa of Hainault, Anne of Bohemia, and the princess Joan of Kent.

The Last Plantagenet Consorts: Gender, Genre, and Historiography, 1440-1627 by Kavita Mudan Finn. Examines fabrications about 15th century English queens.

The Plantagenets & Their Times

The Lordship of England by Scott L. Waugh. Royal wardships and marriages in English society and politics, 1217-1327.

Kings and Bishops in Medieval England, 1066-1216 by Roger Wickson. Explores thel relationship between the kings of England and their bishops, from the Norman Conquest to the Magna Carta.

England in the Age of Chivalry... and Awful Diseases: The Hundred Years' War and Black Death by Ed West. Covers the violent period between 1272 to 1399. Central to this time is King Edward III, whose legacy continues to shape our view of England's history.

The Rise of Alchemy in Fourteenth Century England by Jonathan Hughes. The Plantagenet kings and the search for the Philosopher's Stone.

The Fourteenth Century by May McKisack. From Oxford's "History of England" series.

Books by Thomas Costain

The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain. First volume in Costain's popular four-book series about the Plantagenets. This book starts with William the Conqueror and ends with the reign of King John I. Easy to read and entertaining.

The Magnificent Century by Thomas B. Costain. Covers the long reign of King Henry III.

The Three Edwards by Thomas B. Costain. As its title suggests, this third volume in Costain's series covers the reigns of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III.

The Last Plantagenets by Thomas B. Costain. Continues the family's story through the Wars of the Roses and the downfall of Richard III.

Books About the Normans
Books About Stephen and Matilda
Books About the Angevin Kings

King Henry III

The Gothic King: A Biography of Henry III by John Paul Davis. Often overlooked by historians, Henry III was a powerful, unyielding monarch who faced down the De Montfort rebellion and hammered out the terms of the Magna Carta with the barons.

Henry III: The Great King England Never Knew It Had by Darren Baker. Henry III is dismissed by scholars as weak and inept, but this biography shows that he was a more than capable ruler.

Henry III: The Rise to Power and Personal Rule by David Carpenter. The first in a two-volume history of the king's rule, using rich source material to bring to life Henry's character and reign as never before.

The Reign of Henry III by D. A. Carpenter. Essays on the long reign of Henry III (1216-1272) was one of the most significant in English history. This book discusses his personal rule, the revolution of 1258, the rise of Simon de Montfort, and more.

Henry III: The Son of Magna Carta by Matthew Lewis. At the age of nine, Henry was handed a monarchy in peril. As he grew into adulthood, he wrenched power from men who had held it for years. Later he was imprisoned and again had to fight for his kingdom.

Henry III: A Simple and God-Fearing King by Stephen Church. During the 56-year reign of Henry III, England was transformed from the private play-thing of a French-speaking dynasty into a medieval state with a king who answered to an English parliament.

His Court and Times

Eleanor of Provence: Queenship in Thirteenth-Century England by Margaret Howell. About the wife of King Henry III.

The Two Eleanors of Henry III: The Lives of Eleanor of Provence and Eleanor de Montfort by Darren Baker. Tells the story of the English king's wife and sister, whose close but doomed relationship reflected the turbulence of their times.

The Holy Blood: King Henry III and the Blood Relics of Westminster and Hailes by Nicholas Vincent. In 1247, English king Henry III gave Westminster Abbey a relic said to contain the blood of Christ. The author investigates the background of this relic and others like it.

Henry III of England and the Staufen Empire, 1216-1272 by Bjorn K. U. Weiler. Using Henry's dealings with the rulers of the Staufen Empire (Germany, Northern France, Northern Italy and Sicily) as a case study, the author shows that the English king acted within the same parameters as his peers.

The Growth of Royal Government Under Henry III edited by David Crook and Louise J. Wilkinson. Essays about such topics as 13th century developments in legal and financial administration, the roles of women and the church, and the office of escheator.

Simon de Montfort

Simon De Montfort by J. R. Maddicott. Biography. Once a favorite of Henry III, De Montfort led a revolt against the king, took him prisoner, and ruled England himself for a time.

The Song of Simon de Montfort: England's First Revolutionary and the Death of Chivalry by Sophie Thérèse Ambler. In 1258, frustrated by King Henry III's refusal to take the advice of his nobles, Montfort seized the reins of power.

Eleanor de Montfort: A Rebel Countess in Medieval England by Louise Wilkinson. Biography. As sister of Henry III, Simon's wife Eleanor of England was at the heart of the conflict between the Crown and the barons.

Eleanor of Provence in Fiction

The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot. Novel about 13th century sisters Margaret of Provence, wife of King Louis IX of France, and Eleanor of Provence, wife of King Henry III of England.

The Silken Rose by Carol McGrath. Ailenor is only 13 when she marries Henry III. Can she find the strength to control her destiny?

Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones. Raised by an ambitious mother, Eléonore is betrothed to Henry III and pitted against her sisters for the prize of Provence itself.

Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman is a novel about Henry III and Simon de Montfort. This is a sequel to Here Be Dragons, which focuses on Welsh royalty. The third book in the series is The Reckoning, about Edward I's conquest of Wales.

The Queen From Provence by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Eleanor of Provence.

King Edward I

Edward I by Michael Prestwich. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.

A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris. Biography of a formidable king who believed it was his right to rule all of Britain.

Edward I: A Second Arthur? by Andy King. This short biography brings to life a strange, complex man who ruled with ruthlessness and confidence.

Edward I's Regent: Edmund of Cornwall, the Man Behind England's Greatest King by Michael Ray. Biography of a key figure in the late 13th century.

The Letters of Edward I: Political Communication in the Thirteenth Century by Kathleen B. Neal. The king's correspondence varied in tone, vocabulary and structure across his reign and between recipients.

Edward I and the Governance of England, 1272-1307 by Caroline Burt. Through three detailed case studies, the author re-evaluates the king's motivations and achievements.

The King's Jews: Money, Massacre and Exodus in Medieval England by Robin R. Mundill. In July 1290, Edward I ordered all Jews expelled from England and their houses confiscated.

England Under Edward I and II by Sandra Raban. Examines the key events and institutions of the period and uses a wealth of artistic material to capture the era's color and diversity.

Books About Robert the Bruce & William Wallace

Edward's Wife & Daughters

Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen by Sara Cockerill. The wife of England's King Edward I, Eleanor was her husband's close adviser, ventured on Crusade, and endured captivity amid a civil war.

Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I by Kelcey Wilson-Lee. Eleanora, Joanna, Margaret, Mary and Elizabeth had the courage to defy their father.

Daughters of Edward I by Kathryn Warner. The lives of five capable women, including Joan of Acre, who defied her father by choosing a husband, and Mary, who lived her own life despite being forced to become a nun.

The Eleanor Crosses by Decca Warrington. The story of King Edward I's lost queen, Eleanor of Castile, and the elaborate stone crosses the king built around her funeral cortege's route.

Edward in Fiction

Edward Longshanks by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward I.

The Chronicles of Pauncefoot and Longshanks: The Making of a King by David Stedman. Tells the story of a (fictional) jester who insinuates himself into the service of England's future king Edward I, known as Longshanks.

King Edward II

Edward II: The Terrors of Kingship by Christopher Given-Wilson. The reign of England's King Edward II (1307-27) was a series of disasters almost without equal.

Edward II by Seymour Phillips. This biography takes account of the problems Edward II faced, and examines whether he was murdered in 1327 or lived on as a captive and then a wanderer.

Edward II, the Man: A Doomed Inheritance by Stephen Spinks. This biography shows the human side of the controversial king, whose belief in his right to rule and thirst for revenge created a 14th-century tragedy.

The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 by Natalie Fryde. Reassesses the violent rule of Edward II and the Despensers, and examines Queen Isabella's contribution to the king's overthrow.

King Edward II: His Life, His Reign, and Its Aftermath, 1284-1330 by Roy Martin Haines. A biography that examines Edward II's character and reign in the context of his times.

Edward II, 1307-1327 by Mary Saaler. This short account of Edward's life and reign covers Piers Gaveston, the Templars, military and political conflicts, and the death of the king.

Books by Kathryn Warner

Edward II: The Unconventional King by Kathryn Warner. Focuses on the king's relationships with his male favourites and his wife, his unorthodox hobbies, and the mystery surrounding his death, using 14th century sources and Edward's own letters and speeches.

Hugh Despenser the Younger and Edward II: Downfall of a King's Favourite by Kathryn Warner. Tells the story of "the greatest villain of the 14th century," his dazzling rise as royal favorite, and his disastrous fall.

The Rise and Fall of a Medieval Family: The Despensers by Kathryn Warner. The Despensers were a baronial family who rose to prominence in the reign of Edward II, when Hugh Despenser the Younger became the king's favorite and perhaps lover.

Long Live the King: The Mysterious Fate of Edward II by Kathryn Warner. Explores in detail Edward's downfall and forced abdication, and the possibility that he lived many years after his official funeral was held in 1327.

Isabella of France

Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England by Alison Weir. Biography of Isabella of France, wife of 14th century English king Edward II.

Isabella of France: The Rebel Queen by Kathryn Warner. Wife of King Edward II, Isabella of France (c. 1295-1358) rebelled against her husband and forced the first-ever abdication of an English king.

Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II by Paul Doherty. Biography of Edward II's wife Isabella. She and her lover, Roger Mortimer, deposed Edward, who died mysteriously.

The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England 1327-1330 by Ian Mortimer. Biography of Roger Mortimer, the lover of Edward II's wife Isabella of France. After deposing and apparently killing the king, Mortimer ruled England for three years.

Fiction About Edward II & Queen Isabella

Harlot Queen by Hilda Lewis. Novel about Isabella of France, wife of King Edward II of England. Rejected by her husband, she would tear England in half to quench her rage.

A Secret Chronicle: Edward II by Jane Lane. Joanna, exiled daughter of Edward II, orders a writer to go to investigate what happened to her father, uncovering a horrific plot born from a struggle for power.

The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II by Susan Higginbotham. Novel about Eleanor de Clare, niece of Edward II and wife of his favorite Hugh le Despenser.

The Confession of Piers Gaveston by Brandy Purdy. The history books tell us that Piers Gaveston enticed and enslaved King Edward II. In this novel, the king's favorite tells his side of the story.

Queen of Shadows: A Novel of Isabella, Wife of King Edward II by Edith Felber. In 14th-century England, beautiful Queen Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, plot to take power.

The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover: A Knights Templar Mystery by Michael Jecks. It is 1325, and England's Queen Isabella is dispatched to France to negotiate peace. Murder, betrayal, adultery, and evil ensue.

Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. A 16th century play about the king.

The Follies of the King by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward II and his wife, Isabel of France (also called Isabelle and Isabella).

Isabel the Fair by Margaret Campbell Barnes. Novel about Isabel of France.

The She-Wolf by Maurice Druon. Another novel about Queen Isabella.

King Edward III

Biographies

The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation by Ian Mortimer. Biography. He ordered his uncle beheaded and usurped his father's throne. Yet under Edward III, England experienced its longest period of domestic peace in the Middle Ages.

Edward III by W. Mark Ormrod. Biography that emphasizes how the warrior king's rule was affected by his family relationships.

Edward III: A Heroic Failure by Jonathan Sumption. Edward ruled England for 50 years and was regarded with awe. But he lived too long, and saw 30 years of conquests reversed in less than five years. From the Penguin Monarchs series.

Philippa of Hainault: Mother of the English Nation by Kathryn Warner. The first full-length biography of Edward III's wife, who stood in the middle of the some English history's most dramatic events.

The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III by Gemma Holmann. About Philippa of Hainault, the king's wife of 40 years, and wily Alice Perrers, the young woman who took his fancy.

Edward III and War

The Wars of Edward III: Sources and Interpretations by Clifford J. Rogers. Tells the story of all the warrior king's battles.

Crécy: Battle of Five Kings by Michael Livingston. The decisive victory of England's King Edward III in the Battle of Crécy changed the course of the Hundred Years' War.

Edward III and the Triumph of England: The Battle of Crecy and the Company of the Garter by Richard Barber. Recreates the world of King Edward III, who founded one of the most famous knightly orders, the Company of the Garter.

War Cruel and Sharp by Clifford J. Rogers. English strategy under Edward III, 1327-1360.

Other

Edward III's Round Table at Windsor: The House of the Round Table and the Windsor Festival of 1344 edited by Julian Munby and Richard Barber. In 1344, King Edward III ordered the construction of a 'House of the Round Table' to show off his power.

St George's Chapel, Windsor, in the Fourteenth Century edited by Nigel Saul. Essays examine the early history of the Chapel, its role in the history of the Order of the Garter, and the building campaign started by Edward III.

The Order of the Garter

The Most Noble Order of the Garter: 650 Years by Peter J. Begent and Hubert Chesshyre. The Order of the Garter was founded by King Edward III in about 1348. This is the first comprehensive survey of the history of the Order.

Shame and Honor: A Vulgar History of the Order of the Garter by Stephanie Trigg. Did the Order really originate in a 14th century wardrobe malfunction? This history ranges from medieval romance to contemporary culture.

The Order of the Garter 1348-1461: Chivalry and Politics in Late Medieval England by Hugh E. L. Collins. Scholarly study from Oxford University Press.

History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter & the Several Orders of Knighthood in Europe by Elias Ashmole. First published in 1715.

Fiction & Drama About Edward III

The Vow on the Heron by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward III.

The Boy King's Tale: As Told By Geoffrey Chaucer by Michael January. Crowned at the age of 13, English king Edward III comes of age in the twisted labyrinth of medieval politics.

The King's Mistress by Emma Campion. Edward III's mistress Alice Perrers tells her story.

The King's Concubine: A Novel of Alice Perrers by Anne O'Brien. Mistress of King Edward III and confidante of the king's wife, Alice Perrers faces a threat worse than the malicious whispers of the court.

The People's Queen by Vanora Bennett. Alice Perrers, mistress of 14th century England's Edward III, becomes the virtual ruler of the country when the king falls ill.

The First Princess of Wales: A Novel by Karen Harper. High-spirited Joan of Kent is sent to the politically charged court of King Edward III of England, where treachery runs rampant. First published in 1984 under the title Sweet Passion's Pain.

King Edward III edited by Giorgio Melchiori. The author of this play is uncertain, but many experts believe it was written by William Shakespeare.

Edward the Black Prince

The Black Prince: England's Greatest Medieval Warrior by Michael Jones. The military achievements of Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, captured the imagination of Europe.

Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine by Richard Barber. Biography that separates the legendary prince's image from reality.

In the Steps of the Black Prince: The Road to Poitiers, 1355-1356 by Peter Hoskins. The author walked more than 1,300 miles across France, retracing the routes of English king Edward III's son Edward the Black Prince.

The Image of the Black Prince in Georgian and Victorian England: Negotiating the Late Medieval Past by Barbara Gribling. Explores the uses of Edward the Black Prince's image in debates about politics, character, war and empire.

Battle of Poitiers

Victory at Poitiers: The Black Prince and the Medieval Art of War by Christian Teutsch. In 1356, the small English army of Edward, the Black Prince, crushed the forces of the French King Jean II. This book reassesses the classic battle.

The Black Prince and the Capture of a King: Poitiers 1356 by Marilyn Livingstone and Morgen Witzel. The capture of King Jean brought France to the brink of defeat. This book offers a day-by-day description of the campaign of July-September 1356 and a detailed description of the Battle of Poitiers itself.

Joan of Kent

Joan of Kent: First Princess of Wales by Penny Lawne. Born in 1328 and brought up at English court after the execution of her father, Joan secretly married at age 12 and refused to deny her first love despite imprisonment. She went on to marry the Black Prince, and became the mother of King Richard II.

Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent: A Fourteenth-Century Princess and Her World by Anthony Goodman. Notorious for her scandalous marriages, Joan of Kent was the mother of England's King Richard II.

Edward & Joan in Fiction

As a Black Prince on Bloody Fields by Thomas W. Jensen. An uncertain 16-year-old steels himself to lead the vanguard of his father's army. He is Edward Plantagenet, the Black Prince. This is his story as he tells it, from a childhood in the Tower of London to his love for Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent.

A Triple Knot: A Novel by Emma Campion. Joan, the "Fair Maid of Kent," secretly pledges herself to one of Edward III's knights, but the furious king wants to marry her off to someone else.

The Black Prince by Adam Roberts and Anthony Burgess. Brings to life the campaigns of medieval England's Black Prince, from battles to court intrigues and betrayals.

King Richard II

Richard II by Nigel Saul. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.

Richard II: A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe. Richard II (1377-99) came to the throne as a child with an exalted sense of his own power, only to succumb to a coup, imprisonment and murder. (From Penguin's British Monarchs series.)

Richard II: Manhood, Youth, and Politics 1377-99 by Christopher Fletcher. Far from being the effeminate tyrant of historical imagination, Richard was a typical young nobleman of his time, trying to establish his manhood by conventional means.

Richard II: A True King's Fall by Kathryn Warner. Biography of a complex and conflicted man who was thrust into a role that demanded greatness.

His Wives

Anne of Bohemia by Kristen L. Geaman. How Richard II's first queen used patronage to reward supporters and influence court life.

The Sister Queens: Isabella & Catherine de Valois by Mary McGrigor. Catherine de Valois was bride of Henry V. Her sister Isabella was married aged seven to Richard II.

Richard's Reign

Richard II and the Irish Kings by Darren McGettigan. In the late 14th century, England's King Richard II led two expeditions to Ireland. This book tells the story of the encounters between the king and his reluctant Gaelic Irish vassals.

The Reign of Richard II: From Minority to Tyranny 1377-97 translated and annoted by Alison K. McHardy. Material from chronicles and records arranged chronologically to form a coherent narrative of the first 20 years of Richard II's reign.

Richard II and the Rebel Earl by A. K. Gundy. An in-depth survey of Richard's reign from the perspective of one of his opponents, Thomas Beauchamp, the Appellant Earl of Warwick. It explores not only why the Earl rebelled against the King, but also why Richard lost his throne.

Richard II: The Art of Kingship edited by Anthony Goodman and James Gillespie. The record of Richard II's reign was muddied by hostile chroniclers. This collection of essays by leading historians aims to present a more accurate version of the king's reign.

Chronicles of the Revolution, 1397-1400: The Reign of Richard II translated and annotated by Chris Given-Wilson. Includes all the principal contemporary chronicles, from the violently partisan Thomas Walsingham, who saw Richard as a tyrant and murderer, to the Dieulacres chronicler, who claimed that the 'innocent king' was tricked into surrender.

Summer of Blood: England's First Revolution by Dan Jones. In the summer of 1381, ravaged by poverty, the people of England rose up against 14-year-old King Richard II and his most powerful lords and knights.

The Age of Richard II edited by James L. Gillespie. Historians appraise Richard's diverse reputation: tyrannical opponent of the Peasants' Revolt, the great literary patron of Chaucer, inventor of the handkerchief.

Richard II and the English Royal Treasure by Jenny Stratford. This richly illustrated book reveals the remarkable treasure of gold and silver Richard II amassed.

The Peasants' Revolt

England, Arise: The People, the King and the Great Revolt of 1381 by Juliet Barker. The dramatic and shocking Peasants' Revolt is the backdrop for this look at everyday life in the Middle Ages, exploring why ordinary men and women united in armed rebellion against church and state.

Summer of Blood: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 by Dan Jones. Examines village life and the failings of government from the perspective of the Revolt's key players.

Fiction

Within the Hollow Crown: A Valiant King's Struggle to Save His Country, His Dynasty, and His Love by Margaret Campbell Barnes. First published in 1941, this novel tells the story of England's King Richard II.

Passage to Pontefract by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Richard II.

Queen of the North by Anne O'Brien. In 1399, England's crown is under threat. For Elizabeth Mortimer, there is only one rightful king - her eight-year-old nephew, Edmund.

Richard II by William Shakespeare. Play.

Related Topics

Books About the Hundred Years' War
Books About the Lancastrians
More Books About English Royal History

---

Movies & Documentaries

These DVDs are formatted for North American audiences.

Edward II. Steven Waddington stars as Edward II, who upset England's noblemen by sharing his throne with his lover, Piers Gaveston (Andrew Tiernan). Tilda Swinton costars as Edward's scorned wife, Queen Isabella.

DVDs About the Angevins
DVDs About the Lancastrians