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French
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10670/1.8tgpfi>
Abstract
In spring 1204, Aquitaine was extinguished while Philippe Auguste’s armies conquered Anjou and Normandy. The disappearance of the Queen coincides with the collapse of the Plantagenêt Empire, just as, some fifty years ago, his remarriage to Henri II was at the heart of the birth of this disparate conglomerate of western France and the British islands. Aliénor’s wife, mother or widow is the key figure in this geopolitical construction, which is above all a family history. The same is true of the harsh struggle between the Plantagena, her new adoption dynasty, and the Capetians of Louis VII, of which she was formerly a woman, and Philippe Auguste, her stepson. The conflict between the two houses directly affects the territorial principals of the continent. The aristocratic lines of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Poitou and Gascogne thus contribute to these struggles, sometimes fuelled by the sons of Henri II or the nephew of Jean Sans Terre, in the revolt against their father or uncle. Finally, to better govern and shine their courtyards, Plantagenake are surrounded by intellectuals promoting an original culture. Family, war and knowledge in the 14th and 18th centuries are at the heart of this book. [author’s summary]