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Enamel effigy on Geoffrey's tomb (Wikimedia) |
His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and relationship with their children was immortalised in the film The Lion in Winter, starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.
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Martyrdom of Thomas Becket (Wikimedia) |
Unfortunately this only made his sons want power sooner, and they attempted to oust him from the throne. Henry, the eldest son, died of a fever and Geoffrey died in a tournament accident, so when Henry II died he was succeeded by Richard. Richard may have earned the name Lionheart, but he spent nearly all his reign outside England and never learned English. His reign was only a success because he appointed capable men to run the government while he went on Crusade.
The last of the Angevin kings was John, who was not trained or equipped for the job. Recent study has suggested he may have been autistic and/or bipolar, which would go a long way towards explaining his erratic behaviour. Time after time, he mishandled and misread situations and lost many battles. By 1205, six years into his reign, only a fragment of the vast Angevin empire acquired by Henry II remained.
He was also forced to sign the Magna Carta in 1215, which restated the rights of the church, the barons and all in the land. John died in ignominy, having broken the contract, leading the nobles to summon aid from France and creating a precarious position for his young son and heir, Henry III.
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