Wars of the Roses: Stormbird (Conn Iggulden) Flashcards
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after the disastrous and unorthodox reign of his father, Edward II. Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. His fifty-year reign was one of the longest in English history, and saw vital developments in legislation and government, in particular the evolution of the English Parliament, as well as the ravages of the Black Death. He outlived his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, and the throne passed to his grandson, Richard II.
Who were the Plantagenets?
The Plantagenets were a huge powerful family not just in England but throughout Europe. The first Plantagenet was King Henry 2nd whose father owned vast lands in Anjou an area as big as Normandy around the modern town of Tours. Henry’s wife Eleanor ruled the even larger territory to the south called Aquitaine. Plantagenet Kings were thus the richest family in Europe and ruled England and half of France.
Their name came from planta genista, the Latin for yellow broom flower, which the Counts of Anjou wore as an emblem on their helmets.
This dynasty is normally subdivided into three parts.
1154-1216 - The first Plantagenet kings were the Angevins
1216-1399 - The Plantagenets
1399-1485 - The Houses of Lancaster and of York.
Normally separated from main stream Plantagenets because they are considered the first truly English rather than French Kings.
Altogether the House of Plantagents ruled for 331 years (includes The Houses of Lancaster and of York).
Who were the sons of Edward III?
John of Gaunt (sharp, black beard)
Edmund of York (slim, black haired)
Thomas
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (French: le Victorieux)[1] or the Well-Served (le Bien-Servi), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461.
Reign: 21 October 1422 – 22 July 1461
Predecessor: Charles VI
Successor: Louis XI
Born: 22 February 1403
Paris, France
Died: 22 July 1461 (aged58)
Spouse: Marie of Anjou (m.1422)
Father: Charles VI of France
Mother: Isabeau of Bavaria
Religion: Catholicism
In the midst of the Hundred Years’ War, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances. Forces of the Kingdom of England and the duke of Burgundy occupied Guyenne and northern France, including Paris, the most populous city, and Reims, the city in which French kings were traditionally crowned. In addition, his father, Charles VI, had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown. At the same time, a civil war raged in France between the Armagnacs (supporters of the House of Valois) and the Burgundian party (supporters of the House of Valois-Burgundy, which was allied to the English).
With his court removed to Bourges, south of the Loire River, Charles was disparagingly called the “King of Bourges”, because the area around this city was one of the few remaining regions left to him. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a spiritual leader in France.
Joan and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift the sieges of Orléans and other strategic cities on the Loire river, and to crush the English at the battle of Patay. With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates, which enabled the coronation of Charles VII at Reims Cathedral in 1429.
Six years later, he ended the English-Burgundian alliance by signing the Treaty of Arras with Burgundy, followed by the recovery of Paris in 1436 and the steady reconquest of Normandy in the 1440s using a newly organized professional army and advanced siege cannons. Following the battle of Castillon in 1453, the French expelled the English from all their continental possessions except the Pale of Calais.
The last years of Charles VII were marked by conflicts with his turbulent son, the future Louis XI of France.
