Angevin (Plantagenet) Empire

AbstractThe Angevin Empire was a collection of territories ruled by the Angevin or Plantagenet dynasty, originally counts of Anjou in western France, but from 1154 also kings of England. Under Count Geoffrey V (d.1151) and his son King Henry II of England (1154–1189), the dynasty's lands expanded through marriage and conquest to include England, Ireland, and most of western France, including Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Brittany, Poitou, and Gascony. At its height the “empire” dominated Western European politics, but it eventually collapsed in 1202–1204 under pressure from the king of France, Philip Augustus, who was lord of the Angevins for their continental lands. The “empire” was culturally and politically fragmented, as each of its provinces retained its own laws and traditions, and its history was scarred by numerous baronial revolts as well as quarrels within the ruling dynasty; but some unity was provided by the Angevin court and by the cadre of officials who governed these disparate territories.