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Medieval Succession: When Henry II’s Empire Imploded
When Succession first aired, audiences were transfixed by its portrait of a modern dynasty at war with itself: scheming heirs, a manipulative patriarch, and a fortune vast enough to make loyalty negotiable. But centuries before Logan Roy was terrifying his children in glass-walled boardrooms, another ruthless family feud was playing out across medieval Europe.
In 1173, the most powerful man in Christendom—King Henry II of England—faced a rebellion led not by rivals or barons, but by his own wife and sons. Chroniclers called it the Great Rebellion; historians often dub it the Revolt of the Eaglets, after the young “eagles” who turned on the parent bird.
And just like in Succession, the real question was: who inherits the empire?
Richard de Brito: The Forgotten Killer; and a very Dangerous Friend
In legend he struck the final blow; in fiction, he will cause a torrent of trouble for his friend William FitzErneis in Lady of Lincoln.
When Archbishop Thomas Becket was cut down before the altar of Canterbury Cathedral in December 1170, the man who delivered the fatal stroke was Richard de Brito—sometimes styled le Breton. His sword, witnesses said, split Becket’s skull so deeply that the blade snapped on the flagstones.
Unlike the other knights, de Brito cried out as he struck:
“Take that for the love of my lord William FitzEmpress!”
The words stunned those who heard them. He was killing the archbishop not in Henry II’s name, but in that of Henry’s brother—the late William FitzEmpress, Henry II’s brother.
Hugh de Morville: The Knight Who Would Not Repent
Lord of Westmorland and Knaresborough, de Morville escaped execution, but not history’s judgment.
When Thomas Becket fell beneath the knights’ swords on that winter night in Canterbury, Hugh de Morville was there, but whether he struck or simply stood aside remains one of history’s greyest shadows.
He was the oldest of the four and the most powerful: Lord of Westmorland and Knaresborough, baron of the north, and keeper of one of the most formidable castles in England. While Reginald FitzUrse raged, William de Tracy hesitated, and Richard de Brito delivered the fatal blow, de Morville watched . But his silence proved to be as damning as any sword.
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.
Why the Angevins (Plantagenets) Ruled Half of Europe
When we think of medieval kings, we often picture a crown perched over a single kingdom. But Henry II of England—first of the Angevin kings—was no ordinary ruler. By the 1170s, he commanded more territory than any other monarch in Christendom, stretching from the wild hills of Northumberland to the sunlit vineyards of Aquitaine. His dominion was so vast that chroniclers called it an “empire,” though it was stitched together by marriage, inheritance, and sheer force of will.
So how did a French count’s son come to rule half of Europe?
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.
The Battle of Fornham: When a Countess Rode to War and Changed Medieval England Forever
In the mist-shrouded dawn of October 17, 1173, near the quiet Suffolk village of Fornham St. Genevieve, history was about to witness something remarkable. Not just another medieval battle between king and rebels, but the extraordinary tale of a countess who donned armor, took up lance and shield, and rode into battle alongside her husband against the Crown itself.
This is the story of Petronilla de Grandmesnil, Countess of Leicester – a woman whose courage would echo through the centuries, and whose fall into a muddy ditch would become one of the most memorable moments of medieval English warfare.