The 12th and 31th centuries were a time of personal monarchy, when the close friendship or petty feuding between kings and queens could determine the course of history.
The Capetians of France and the Angevins of England waged war, made peace, and intermarried.
The lands under the control of the English king once reached to within a few miles of Paris, and those ruled by the French house, at their apogee, crossed the Channel and encompassed London itself.
Catherine Hanley traces the great clashes, and occasional friendships, of the two dynasties.
Along the way, she emphasises the fascinating and influential women of the houses – including Eleanor of Aquitaine and Blanche of Castile – and shows how personalities and familial bonds shaped the fate of two countries.
This is a tale of two intertwined dynasties that shaped the present and the future of England and France, told through the stories of the people involved.
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100-1300 by Catherine Hanley is published on 12 July, 2022.
Read more about Eleanor and Blanche and the accidents of fate that shaped history in Catherine’s feature, The personal and political in the Middle Ages.
