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How a Birthday Party at Chinon Kickstarted a Civil War (5 March 1173)
Today is my birthday 😁. And as birthdays go, I could have shared mine with worse people, because 5 March 1133 was also the birthday of Henry II of England, born at Le Mans, one of the most formidable rulers medieval Europe ever produced.
Henry II’s Birthday was 5th March
Soldier, lawgiver, empire-builder, father of eight legitimate children (and countless illegitimate ones), and a man whose family would become both his greatest weapon, his biggest headache, and eventually most spectacular downfall.
Which makes today a good day to talk about what happened on his fortieth birthday, in 1173. Because that evening a feast was held at Château de Chinon. The great hall would have been ablaze with candlelight and Henry, thinking he’d managed to control his spoiled, entitled (but courteous and generous) namesake son, allowed the goblets to be repeatedly refilled by his son’s own hand.
The drunkenness that followed led to everything that followed: the Great Rebellion, where Henry’s family were torn apart, and his throne would never feel secure again.
This event, and the Great Rebellion itself, runs through the heart of my novel Lady of Lincoln.
Eleanor of Aquitaine: Queen, Duchess, and Mother of Rebels
When their sons grew to manhood, Eleanor encouraged them to demand their inheritance. Henry the Young King, Richard, and Geoffrey wanted lands to rule; Henry II refused. In 1173, when the princes fled to France, Eleanor supported them. Chroniclers later claimed she disguised herself as a man to join them—an image that has haunted legend ever since.
Her rebellion failed. Henry II’s forces captured her later that year while she travelled through Poitou. For the next sixteen years she was kept under guard, a queen turned prisoner. Yet even captivity could not erase her influence: her sons would continue to fight in her name.
Henry II of England – The Jailer of Queens
When Henry of Anjou (later Henry II, also known as Henry Plantagenet) married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, they created a political alliance of breath taking scale. Henry was heir to the English throne; Eleanor, just divorced from King Louis VII of France, brought with her the duchy of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most independent regions in Europe.
For a time, their marriage was a true partnership. Eleanor rode beside Henry on campaign, governed Aquitaine in his name, and bore him eight children. Together, they forged the Angevin Empire stretching from the Scottish borders to the Pyrenees.
But power and passion soured into mistrust. By the 1170s, the marriage had collapsed into open hostility.
Geoffrey of Anjou: The Handsome Count Who Founded the Plantagenet Dynasty (Died 7th September 1151)
On September 7, 1151, Geoffrey of Anjou — known as “le Bel” or “the Handsome” — collapsed with a sudden fever and died at just 38 years old.
He was never king. He never wore a crown.
And yet, Geoffrey Plantagenet shaped the medieval world more than many monarchs.
Without him, there would be no Henry II, no Richard the Lionheart, no King John and Magna Carta, and no centuries-long Plantagenet dynasty. Geoffrey’s story isn’t just a footnote — it’s the spark that set medieval England ablaze.