King Henry III
King Edward I
King Edward II
Deposed and murdered in 1327.
King Edward III
King Richard II
Deposed. Murdered in 1400.
Reigned Before the Plantagenets:
The Angevins (reigned reigned 1154-1216)
Reigned After the Plantagenets:
The House of Lancaster (reigned 1399-1461)
Full List of English Royal Dynasties:
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Book categories: Plantagenets, Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Isabella of France, Edward III, Order of the Garter, Black Prince, Joan of Kent, Richard II, Hundred Years' War, DVDs, Normans, Angevins, Lancastrians, Yorkists, Wars of the Roses
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones. Eight generations of the greatest and worst kings and queens England has ever seen -- from the White Ship to the Lionheart, bad King John to the Black Prince and John of Gaunt.
The Plantagenets: History of a Dynasty by J. S. Hamilton. A complete account of the rulers and politics of the Plantagenet reign.
The Demon's Brood: A History of the Plantagenet Dynasty by Desmond Seward. An overview of the whole dynasty, based on major contemporary sources and modern research.
The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain by Derek Wilson. A year-by-year chronology of a tumultuous period in the development of the English nation. Includes portraits, maps, and other images.
The Plantagenet Chronicles edited by Elizabeth Hallam. This attractively illustrated book draws on the writings of 14 contemporary chroniclers to tell the story of medieval Europe's most tempestuous family.
Four Gothic Kings: The Turbulent History of Medieval England and the Plantagenet Kings (1216-1377) edited by Elizabeth Hallam. Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III seen through the eyes of their contemporaries. Includes more than 200 illustrations.
Three Medieval Queens: Queenship and the Crown in Fourteenth-Century England by Lisa Benz St. John. How Margaret of France (wife of Henry II's son Henry the Young King), Isabella of France (wife of Edward II), and Philippa of Hainault (wife of Edward III) exercised power and authority.
The Last Plantagenet Consorts: Gender, Genre, and Historiography, 1440-1627 by Kavita Mudan Finn. Examines fabrications about 15th century English queens as reflections of questions and anxieties that haunted their writers.
The Plantagenets & Their Times
The Lordship of England by Scott L. Waugh. Royal wardships and marriages in English society and politics, 1217-1327.
Kings and Bishops in Medieval England, 1066-1216 by Roger Wickson. Explores thel relationship between the kings of England and their bishops, from the Norman Conquest to the Magna Carta.
The Rise of Alchemy in Fourteenth Century England by Jonathan Hughes. The Plantagenet kings and the search for the Philosopher's Stone.
The Fourteenth Century by May McKisack. From Oxford's "History of England" series.
Books by Thomas Costain
The Conquering Family by Thomas B. Costain. First volume in Costain's popular four-book series about the Plantagenets. This book starts with William the Conqueror and ends with the reign of King John I. Easy to read and entertaining.
The Magnificent Century by Thomas B. Costain. Covers the long reign of King Henry III.
The Three Edwards by Thomas B. Costain. As its title suggests, this third volume in Costain's series covers the reigns of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III.
The Last Plantagenets by Thomas B. Costain. Continues the family's story through the Wars of the Roses and the downfall of Richard III.
The Gothic King: A Biography of Henry III by John Paul Davis. Often overlooked by historians, Henry III was a powerful, unyielding monarch who faced down the De Montfort rebellion and hammered out the terms of the Magna Carta with the barons.
The Reign of Henry III by D. A. Carpenter. Essays on the long reign of Henry III (1216-1272) was one of the most significant in English history. This book discusses his personal rule, the revolution of 1258, the rise of Simon de Montfort, and more.
Henry III: The Son of Magna Carta by Matthew Lewis. At the age of nine, Henry was handed a monarchy in peril. As he grew into adulthood, he wrenched power from men who had held it for years. Later he was imprisoned and again had to fight for his kingdom.
Henry III: A Simple and God-Fearing King by Stephen Church. During the 56-year reign of Henry III, England was transformed from the private play-thing of a French-speaking dynasty into a medieval state with a king who answered to an English parliament.
His Court and Times
Eleanor of Provence: Queenship in Thirteenth-Century England by Margaret Howell. About the wife of King Henry III.
Eleanor de Montfort by Louise Wilkinson. Biography. As sister of Henry III and aunt of the future Edward I, Eleanor de Montfort was at the heart of the bloody conflict between the Crown and the English barons.
Simon De Montfort by J. R. Maddicott. Biography. Once a favorite of Henry III, De Montfort led a revolt against the king, took him prisoner, and ruled England himself for a time.
The Holy Blood: King Henry III and the Blood Relics of Westminster and Hailes by Nicholas Vincent. In 1247, English king Henry III gave Westminster Abbey a relic said to contain the blood of Christ. The author investigates the background of this relic and others like it.
Henry III of England and the Staufen Empire, 1216-1272 by Bjorn K. U. Weiler. Using Henry's dealings with the rulers of the Staufen Empire (Germany, Northern France, Northern Italy and Sicily) as a case study, the author shows that the English king acted within the same parameters as his peers.
The Growth of Royal Government Under Henry III edited by David Crook and Louise J. Wilkinson. Essays about such topics as 13th century developments in legal and financial administration, the roles of women and the church, and the office of escheator.
Henry III in Fiction
The Sister Queens by Sophie Perinot. Novel about 13th century sisters Margaret of Provence, wife of King Louis IX of France, and Eleanor of Provence, wife of King Henry III of England.
Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones. Amid the lush valleys of Provence, Marguerite, Eléonore, Sanchia, and Beatrice are raised by an ambitious mother. Marguerite marries King Louis IX of France. Soon Eléonore is betrothed to Henry III of England. Shy, devout Sanchia and tempestuous Beatrice will also become queens. Enemies are everywhere, and sister is pitted against sister for the prize of Provence itself.
Falls the Shadow by Sharon Kay Penman is a novel about Henry III and Simon de Montfort. This is a sequel to Here Be Dragons, which focuses on Welsh royalty. The third book in the series is The Reckoning, about Edward I's conquest of Wales.
The Queen From Provence by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Henry III's wife, Eleanor of Provence.
Edward I by Michael Prestwich. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.
A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris. Biography of a truly formidable king who believed it was his right to rule all of Britain. His reign was one of the most dramatic and important of the entire Middle Ages.
Edward I: A Second Arthur? by Andy King. This short biography brings to life King Edward I (1272-1307), a strange, complex man who ruled with ruthlessness and confidence, undoing the chaotic failure of his father, Henry III.
Eleanor of Castile: The Shadow Queen by Sara Cockerill. The wife of England's King Edward I, Eleanor was her husband's close adviser, ventured on Crusade, and endured captivity amid a civil war.
Edward I and the Governance of England, 1272-1307 by Caroline Burt. Through three detailed case studies, the author re-evaluates the king's motivations and achievements.
The King's Jews: Money, Massacre and Exodus in Medieval England by Robin R. Mundill. In July 1290, Edward I ordered all Jews expelled from England, their houses confiscated by the king.
England Under Edward I and II by Sandra Raban. Examines the key events and institutions of the period and uses a wealth of artistic material to capture the era's color and diversity.
Edward Longshanks by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward I.
The Chronicles of Pauncefoot and Longshanks: The Making of a King by David Stedman. Tells the story of a (fictional) jester who insinuates himself into the service of England's future king Edward I, known as Longshanks.
King Edward II: His Life, His Reign, and Its Aftermath, 1284-1330 by Roy Martin Haines. A biography that examines Edward II's character and reign in the context of his times.
Edward II: The Terrors of Kingship by Christopher Given-Wilson. From the Penguin British Monarchs series. The reign of England's King Edward II (1307-27) was a series of total disasters, making him unsuccessful to an extent almost without equal.
Edward II, 1307-1327 by Mary Saaler. This account of Edward's life and reign covers all the main issues, including Piers Gaveston, the Templars, military and political conflicts, and the death of the king.
Edward II: The Unconventional King by Kathryn Warner. Focuses on the king's relationships with his male favourites and his disaffected wife, his unorthodox hobbies, and the mystery surrounding his death, using almost exclusively 14th century sources and Edward's own letters and speeches.
The Tyranny and Fall of Edward II, 1321-1326 by Natalie Fryde. Reassesses the violent rule of Edward II and the Despensers, showing how a grasping courtier, the younger Despenser, worked with an equally grasping king. Examines Queen Isabella's contribution to the king's overthrow.
Edward II by Seymour Phillips. Conventionally viewed as a worthless king, Edward II was not fundamentally different from most English monarchs. This biography takes account of the problems he faced, and examines whether he was really murdered in 1327 or lived on as a captive and then a wanderer.
Queen Isabella: Treachery, Adultery, and Murder in Medieval England by Alison Weir. Biography of Isabella of France, wife of 14th century English king Edward II.
Isabella of France: The Rebel Queen by Kathryn Warner. Wife of King Edward II, Isabella of France (c. 1295-1358) rebelled against her husband and forced the first-ever abdication of an English king.
Isabella and the Strange Death of Edward II by Paul Doherty. Biography of Edward II's wife Isabella. She and her lover, Roger Mortimer, deposed Edward, who died mysteriously.
The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England 1327-1330 by Ian Mortimer. Biography of Roger Mortimer, the lover of Edward II's wife Isabella of France. After deposing and apparently killing the king, Mortimer ruled England for three years.
Fiction About Edward II & Queen Isabella
Harlot Queen by Hilda Lewis. Novel about Isabella of France, wife of King Edward II of England. Rejected by her husband, she would tear England in half to quench her rage.
A Secret Chronicle: Edward II by Jane Lane. Joanna, exiled daughter of Edward II, orders a writer to go to investigate what happened to her father, uncovering a horrific plot born from a struggle for power.
The Traitor's Wife: A Novel of the Reign of Edward II by Susan Higginbotham. Novel about Eleanor de Clare, niece of Edward II and wife of his favorite Hugh le Despenser.
The Confession of Piers Gaveston by Brandy Purdy. The history books tell us that Piers Gaveston enticed and enslaved King Edward II. In this novel, the king's favorite tells his side of the story.
Queen of Shadows: A Novel of Isabella, Wife of King Edward II by Edith Felber. In 14th-century England, beautiful Queen Isabella and her lover, Roger Mortimer, plot to take power.
The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover: A Knights Templar Mystery by Michael Jecks. It is 1325, and England's Queen Isabella is dispatched to France to negotiate peace. Murder, betrayal, adultery, and evil ensue.
Edward II by Christopher Marlowe. A 16th century play about the king.
The Follies of the King by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward II and his wife, Isabel of France (also called Isabelle and Isabella).
Isabel the Fair by Margaret Campbell Barnes. Novel about Isabel of France.
The She-Wolf by Maurice Druon. Another novel about Queen Isabella.
The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III, Father of the English Nation by Ian Mortimer. Biography. He ordered his uncle beheaded and usurped his father's throne. Yet under the rule of Edward III, England experienced its longest period of domestic peace in the Middle Ages.
Edward III by W. Mark Ormrod. Biography that emphasizes how the warrior king's rule was affected by his family relationships.
Edward III: A Heroic Failure by Jonathan Sumption. Edward ruled England for 50 years and was regarded with awe even by his enemies. But he lived too long, and saw 30 years of conquests reversed in less than five years. From the Penguin Monarchs series.
Edward III and the Triumph of England: The Battle of Crecy and the Company of the Garter by Richard Barber. This book recreates the world of King Edward III, who founded one of the most famous of all knightly orders, the Company of the Garter. It is a book about knighthood, battle tactics and grand strategy, but also about fashion, literature and the privates lives of everyone from queens to freebooters.
The Wars of Edward III: Sources and Interpretations by Clifford J. Rogers. When Edward III came to the throne in 1327, England's military reputation had reached a low ebb. His first campaign was a complete failure, but 22 years later he was considered the most skilful warrior in the world. This book tells the story of his battles.
War Cruel and Sharp by Clifford J. Rogers. English strategy under Edward III, 1327- 1360.
Edward III and the English Peerage: Royal Patronage, Social Mobility and Political Control in Fourteenth-Century England by J. S. Bothwell. Detailed analysis of how Edward III used royal favor to create a new nobility and control the established peerage.
Edward III's Round Table at Windsor: The House of the Round Table and the Windsor Festival of 1344 edited by Julian Munby and Richard Barber. In 1344, King Edward III ordered the construction of a 'House of the Round Table' to show off his power and rally support for his military adventures.
St George's Chapel, Windsor, in the Fourteenth Century edited by Nigel Saul. Essays examine the early history of the Chapel, its role in the history of the Order of the Garter, and the building campaign started by Edward III which made Windsor the grandest royal residence of its day.
The Most Noble Order of the Garter: 650 Years by Peter J. Begent and Hubert Chesshyre. The Order of the Garter was founded by King Edward III in about 1348. This is the first comprehensive survey of the history of the Order from its inception to modern times.
Shame and Honor: A Vulgar History of the Order of the Garter by Stephanie Trigg. Did the Order really originate in a 14th century wardrobe malfunction? This history ranges from medieval romance to Victorian caricature, from imperial politics to medievalism in contemporary culture, exploring the Order's attempts to modernize itself while holding on to its past.
The Order of the Garter 1348-1461: Chivalry and Politics in Late Medieval England by Hugh E. L. Collins. Scholarly study from Oxford University Press.
History of the Most Noble Order of the Garter & the Several Orders of Knighthood in Europe by Elias Ashmole. First published in 1715.
Fiction & Drama About Edward III
The Vow on the Heron by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Edward III.
The King's Mistress by Emma Campion. Edward III's notorious mistress Alice Perrers tells her story.
The King's Concubine: A Novel of Alice Perrers by Anne O'Brien. Mistress of King Edward III and confidante of the king's wife, Alice Perrers faces a threat worse than the malicious whispers of the court.
The People's Queen by Vanora Bennett. Alice Perrers, mistress of 14th century England's Edward III, becomes the virtual ruler of the country when the king falls ill.
The First Princess of Wales: A Novel by Karen Harper. High-spirited Joan of Kent is sent to the politically charged court of King Edward III of England, where treachery runs rampant. First published in 1984 under the title Sweet Passion's Pain.
King Edward III edited by Giorgio Melchiori. The author of this play is uncertain, but many experts believe it was written by William Shakespeare.
Edward the Black Prince: Power in Medieval Europe by David Green. Biography of of the most controversial and flamboyant characters in English history, Edward the "Black Prince," son of King Edward III.
Edward, Prince of Wales and Aquitaine by Richard Barber. Biography that separates the legendary prince's image from reality.
Victory at Poitiers: The Black Prince and the Medieval Art of War by Christian Teutsch. In 1356, the small English army of Edward, the Black Prince, crushed the forces of the French King Jean II. This book reassesses the classic battle.
In the Steps of the Black Prince: The Road to Poitiers, 1355-1356 by Peter Hoskins. The author walked more than 1,300 miles across France, retracing the routes of English king Edward III's son Edward the Black Prince.
The Image of the Black Prince in Georgian and Victorian England: Negotiating the Late Medieval Past by Barbara Gribling. Explores the uses of Edward the Black Prince's image in debates about politics, character, war and empire.
Joan of Kent: First Princess of Wales by Penny Lawne. Born in 1328 and brought up at English court after the execution of her father, Joan secretly married at age 12 and refused to deny her first love despite imprisonment. She went on to marry the Black Prince, and became the mother of King Richard II.
Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent: A Fourteenth-Century Princess and Her World by Anthony Goodman. Notorious for her scandalous marriages, Joan of Kent was the mother of England's King Richard II.
Edward & Joan in Fiction
As a Black Prince on Bloody Fields by Thomas W. Jensen. An uncertain 16-year-old steels himself to lead the vanguard of his father's army. He is Edward Plantagenet, the Black Prince. This is his story as he tells it, from a childhood in the Tower of London to his love for Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent.
A Triple Knot: A Novel by Emma Campion. Joan, the "Fair Maid of Kent," secretly pledges herself to one of Edward III's knights, but the furious king wants to marry her off to someone else.
Richard II by Nigel Saul. Biography from the Yale English Monarchs series.
Richard II: A Brittle Glory by Laura Ashe. Richard II (1377-99) came to the throne as a child with an exalted sense of his own power, only to succumb to a coup, imprisonment and murder. (From Penguin's British Monarchs series.)
Richard II: Manhood, Youth, and Politics 1377-99 by Christopher Fletcher. Far from being the effeminate tyrant of historical imagination, Richard was a typical young nobleman of his time, trying to establish his manhood by conventional means.
The Sister Queens: Isabella & Catherine de Valois by Mary McGrigor. Catherine de Valois, bride of Henry V, conducted a passionate love affair that founded the Tudor dynasty. Her sister Isabella was married aged seven to Richard II and fled England following his murder.
Richard II and the Irish Kings by Darren McGettigan. In the late 14th century, England's King Richard II led two expeditions to Ireland. This book tells the story of the encounters between the king and his reluctant Gaelic Irish vassals.
The Reign of Richard II: From Minority to Tyranny 1377-97 translated and annoted by Alison K. McHardy. Material from chronicles and records arranged chronologically to form a coherent narrative of the first 20 years of Richard II's reign.
Richard II and the Rebel Earl by A. K. Gundy. An in-depth survey of Richard's reign from the perspective of one of his opponents, Thomas Beauchamp, the Appellant Earl of Warwick. It explores not only why the Earl rebelled against the King, but also why Richard lost his throne.
Richard II: The Art of Kingship edited by Anthony Goodman and James Gillespie. The record of Richard II's reign was muddied by hostile chroniclers. This collection of essays by leading historians aims to present a more accurate version of the king's reign.
Chronicles of the Revolution, 1397-1400: The Reign of Richard II translated and annotated by Chris Given-Wilson. Includes all the principal contemporary chronicles, from the violently partisan Thomas Walsingham, who saw Richard as a tyrant and murderer, to the Dieulacres chronicler, who claimed that the 'innocent king' was tricked into surrender.
Summer of Blood: England's First Revolution by Dan Jones. In the summer of 1381, ravaged by poverty, the people of England rose up against 14-year-old King Richard II and his most powerful lords and knights.
The Age of Richard II edited by James L. Gillespie. Historians appraise Richard's diverse reputation: tyrannical opponent of the Peasants' Revolt, the great literary patron of Chaucer, inventor of the handkerchief.
Richard II and the English Royal Treasure by Jenny Stratford. This richly illustrated book reveals the remarkable treasure of gold and silver Richard II amassed.
The Peasants' Revolt
England, Arise: The People, the King and the Great Revolt of 1381 by Juliet Barker. The dramatic and shocking Peasants' Revolt is the backdrop for this look at everyday life in the Middle Ages, exploring why ordinary men and women united in armed rebellion against church and state.
Summer of Blood: The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 by Dan Jones. Examines village life and the failings of government from the perspective of the Revolt's key players.
Fiction About Richard II
Within the Hollow Crown: A Valiant King's Struggle to Save His Country, His Dynasty, and His Love by Margaret Campbell Barnes. First published in 1941, this novel tells the story of England's King Richard II.
Passage to Pontefract by Jean Plaidy. Novel about Richard II.
Richard II by William Shakespeare. Play.
These DVDs are formatted for North American audiences.
Edward II. Steven Waddington stars as Edward II, who upset England's noblemen by sharing his throne with his lover, Piers Gaveston (Andrew Tiernan). Tilda Swinton costars as Edward's scorned wife, Queen Isabella.