4i6 OiLtlines of Europe a7i Histor}' The French possessions of the Plantagenets Philip Au- gustus of France, 1180-1223 Although Henry II was one of the most important kings in English history, he spent a great part of his time across the Channel in his French possessions. A glance at the accompany- ing map will show that rather more than half of his realms lay to the south of the English Channel. He controlled more territory in France than the French king himself. As great-grandson of William the Conqueror, he inherited the duchy of Normandy and the suzerainty over Brittany. His mother, Matilda, had mar- ried the count of Anjou and Maine, so that Henry II inherited these fiefs along with those which had belonged to William the Conqueror. Lastly, he had himself married Eleanor, heiress of the dukes of Guienne, and in this way doubled the extent of his French lands.^ Henry II and his successors are known as the Plantag- enets, owing to the habit that his father, the count of Anjou, had of wearing a bit of broom Q^2Xm pi anta genista) in his helmet. So it came about that the French kings beheld a new State, under an able and energetic ruler, developing within their bor- ders and including more than half the territory over which they were supposed to rule. A few years before Henry II died, an ambitious monarch, Philip Augustus, ascended the French throne, and made it the chief business of his life to get control of his feudal vassals, above all, the Plantagenets. 1 WilUam the Conqueror, king of England (1066-1087) William II (Rufus) (1087-1100) Henry I (1100-1135), m. Matilda, daughter of Malcolm, king of Scotland I Matilda (d. 1167), m. Geoffrey Plantagenet, count of Anjou I Henry II (i 154-1 189), the first Plantagenet king, m. Eleanor of Aquitaine Adela, m. Stephen, count of Blois I Stephen (1135-1154) Richard (1189-1199) Geoffrey (d. ii8b) Arthur John (1199-1216) Henry III (1216-1272)
