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The History of England

3.1 - 60 The Plantagenets 1217 - 1399

Season 3, Ep. 1

After introducing Series 3, the Plantagents from 1217 to 1399, Henry III to Richard II, we turn to a kingdom im crisis.


A man was needed to guide England through a civil war and minority. So who do you think they picked? The answer was of course William the Marshal who was now a very old man by the standards of the time. The Earl of Chester was politely asked, given the size of his holdings, but there was no holding William. In the two and a half years left to him, William was able to throw Louis out of the England and establish Henry as the rightful king. But he left an awful lot more for his successors to do. 


Series 3, The Plantagents (1217-1399) Starts in Crisi - the Minority of Henry III with a foreign army in England - and ends in Crisi with the usurpation of Henry Bolingbroke.

60 - 66 Deals with the Monority of Henry III, the Regency of William Marshall and the early faltering reign of the new king

67 - 70 Is a pause to look at society in the High Middle Ages for 4 epiosdes and how people lived before launching into...

70 - 75 Is the fascinating story of Simon de Montford, the reformers and the beginnings of parliament

76 - 86 Sees the end of Henry's reign, and the reign of Edward Longshanks, with the Welsh campaign; and then the Great Cause in Sctoland from episode 81. There's time also for some social stuff about tournaments and Crime in 84 & 85

87 - 94 Concerns the scandalous reign of Edward II - and the first signs of toruble in the Great Famine of 1315

95 - 116 Is all about the glittering reign of Edward III, the start of the Hundred Years' War, a glorious life and a bad death

117 - 130 Is the reign of Richard II, including the Peasants Revolt in 119 & 120; and Wucliffe & lollardy 122-123

131-133 Are three episodes on Europe before moving on to Series 3 and the House of Lancaster





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