In this podcast, Liam Cuff and Katarina Birimac explore peace treaties in the Angevin period - what they were, who made them, how they evolved, and why they were often pivotal in defining the course of Angevin history. By focusing on some of the most interesting examples of treaties from the reigns of Henry II, Richard I, John I, and Henry III, this podcast charts the development of treaties into sophisticated binding agreements, which reflects the growing legal and written culture of the Empire.
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Further Reading: 
​Benham, Jenny. Peacemaking in the Middle Ages: Principles and Practice. Manchester Medieval Studies. Manchester University Press, 2011.

Chaplais, Pierre. 2003. English Diplomatic Practice in the Middle Ages. London; New York : Hambledon and London, 2003

Gillingham, John. Richard I. Yale English Monarchs. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999.

Hoveden, Roger of. The Annals of Roger de Hoveden: Comprising the History of England and of Other Countries of Europe from A.D. 732 to A.D. 1201. Translated by Henry T. (Henry Thomas Riley. London: H.G. Bohn, 1853. 

Malý, Jan. “Two Treaties of Messina 1190-1191: Crusading Diplomacy of Richard I.” Prague Papers on History of International Relations, no. 1 (January 2017): 23–37.

Although often overshadowed by the relations between its powerful neighbor, the Capetian kingdom of France, the county of Flanders played a crucial role in the history, economy, and culture of the Angevin empire. Emily Varker explains how relatikons with Flanders played a critical role first in the emergence of the Anglo-Norman kingdom, and then continued to powerfully influence the Angevin realm. From tournaments, to the Becket controversy, to the emergence of a medieval English identity, the importance of Flanders in Angevin history cannot be overstated. 

Further Reading: 

Primary Source:

"The Battle of Bouvines According to William the Breton" (prose account). Translated by Catherine Tihanyi. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990

Secondary Sources:

Baldwin, John. The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages (Berkeley: University of California, 1986.) 


France, John. "The Battle of Bouvines 27 July 1214". In Halfond, Gregory I. (ed.). The Medieval Way of War: Studies in Medieval Military History in Honor of Bernard S. Bachrach. (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate Publishing, 2015,) 251–271.

Nicholas, David. “Foreign Trade, Diplomacy and Dependence: The Catastrophe of Medieval Flanders.” In Medieval Flanders. The Medieval World. Longman, 1992.


Oksanen, Eljas. Flanders and the Anglo-Norman World, 1066–1216. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.)

Schofield, Hugh. "The most important battle you've probably never heard of." BBC News. July 26, 2014. https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28484146
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(This article by the BBC discusses the battle with John France for its 800th anniversary, and it might be a bit more accessible to a general audience. Looking at previous podcasts, I know no one else has included a source like this, but I thought I'd send it over anyway.)

 
Episode Summary: Matthew Paris was a thirteenth century English chronicler, cartographer, artist, illustrator, and Benedictine monk. Paris’ thirteenth-century history, Chronica Maiora, is a major source in the study of medieval English history. Within this work, Matthew Paris chronicled centuries of English history including events that occurred during his lifetime. Among these events he chronicled was the First Barons’ War during the period of the Angevin Empire. This war was fought between the Kingdoms of England and France, alongside English barons opposed to the reign of King John of England, from 1215 to 1217. Two notable items in his chronicle of the First Barons’ War are illustrations of the 1217 Battles of Lincoln and Sandwich. These illustrations depict warfare on land and at sea, respectively, and align with Matthew Paris’ written chronicle in the text of Chronica Maiora II. In this episode, Nick Pisano examines Matthew Paris’ illustrations of the Battles of Lincoln and Sandwich. He discusses the broader historical context of the First Barons’ War, emphasizing the importance and value of these items and the larger source in their chronicle of events in the history of the Angevin Empire.   
 

​Primary Sources
 
Paris, Matthew. Chronica Maiora II. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 016II: Matthew Paris OSB, Chronica maiora II. https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/rb378fk5493
 
Paris, Matthew, and Henry Richards Luard, ed. Matthaei Parisiensis, Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora. Rerum Britannicarum Medii Aevi Scriptores, or Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland during the Middle Ages. Burlington, Ont: TannerRitchie Publishing, 2008
 
Battle of Lincoln (1217) and the Death of Count Thomas of Perche, Matthew Paris, Chronica Maiora II, f. 51v. Battle of Lincoln (1217)
 
Battle of Sandwich (1217) and the Execution of Eustace the Monk, Matthew Paris, Chronica Maiora II, f. 52r. Battle of Sandwich (1217)
 
Scholarship & Secondary Sources
 
Hanely, Catherine. 1217: The Battles that Saved England. Oxford: Osprey, 2024
 
Lewis, Suzanne. The Art of Matthew Paris in the Chronica Majora. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987
 
McGlynn, Sean. Blood Cries Afar: The Magna Carta War and the Invasion of England, 1215-1217. United Kingdom: History Press, 2013.
 
Stanton, Charles D. Medieval Maritime Warfare. South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2015
 
Music Credit: “EGLAIR,” by Alex-Productions. https://onsound.eu/track/eglair/. Cinematic Epic Emotional | Eglair by Alex-Productions Cinematic Epic Emotional by Alex-Productions ( No Copyright Music )| Free Cinematic Music | EGLAIR |
Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/
 
 
 

The rapacious but hapless king who usurps the English crown from his brother cruelly seizing the property of his subjects. A noble outlaw opposed to this evil king, and his adventures in Angevin England. If this story sounds familiar,  it's not the story of Robin Hood, but of a hero who was arguably more famous in medieval England: Fulk FitzWarin. Curtis Rager and Dia Kefalas explain the historical background to the romance, its form and crazy manuscript context, and how it fits into the real world of baronial revolt and the Robin Hood mythology. 

Bibliography: 

Keen, Maurice. “The Romance of Fulk Fitzwarin.” In The Outlaws of Medieval Romance. New York: Routledge, 2000.

White-Le Goff, Myriam. "Entre Histoire et mythe: Quand il faut être un héros pour être hors-la-loi." Cahiers de recherches médiévales et humanistes, no. 18 (November 20, 2009): 293–305. https://doi.org/10.4000/crm.11714.

Pensom, Roger. "Inside and Outside: Fact and Fiction in 'Fouke le Fitz Waryn.'" Medium Ævum 63, no. 1 (1994): 53–60. https://doi.org/10.2307/43629615.

Dolmans, Emily, "Locating the Border: Britain and the Welsh Marches in Fouke le Fitz Waryn." New Medieval Literatures 16 (2016): 109–134.


Williams, Alison. “Stories within Stories: Writing History in Fouke le Fitz Waryn.” Medium Ævum 81, no. 1 (2012): 70–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/43632901.

In the twelfth century, the city of Limoges was the site of the mass production of beautiful and ornate metal champlevé boxes, over 700 of which have survived. Many of these boxes were used as reliquary caskets. But how were these intricate boxes built? Why in Limoges?And what does the wide diffusion of these objects say about the cults of particular saints, like that of Saint Thomas Becket? Carmeliz Ramas-Fisk, Frances Eshleman, and John Keirouz walk us through the technical, religious, cultural, and political aspects of these fascinating objects. 

While you're listening, check out the links to a thirteenth-century reliquary casket in Edinburgh, a reliquary of Saint Valerie currently in Limoges, and a reliquary of Saint Thomas Becket now in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. 

Bibliography: 

“13th Century Reliquary Casket.” National Museums Scotland. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/global-arts-cultures-and-design/13th-century-reliquary-casket/ 

“Châsse reliquaire de Sainte-Valérie.” Centre de la Culture de Limousin Médiéval. Accessed November 16, 2022. https://en.limousin-medieval.com/chsses-sainte-valerie.

Hahn, Cynthia. 2010. “What Do Reliquaries Do for Relics?” Numen 57 (3/4): 284–316.

Koopmans, Rachel. 2015. “Visions, Reliquaries, and the Image of ‘Becket’s Shrine’ in the Miracle Windows of Canterbury Cathedral.” Gesta 54 (1): 37–57. https://doi.org/10.1086/679400.

O’Neill, John Philip, ed. Enamels of Limoges, 1100–1350. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/metpublications/enamels_of_limoges_1100_1350.

“Reliquary Casket of St Thomas Becket: Commemorating the death of St Thomas Becket.” c. AD1200. Accession AN2008.36. The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK. https://www.ashmolean.org/reliquary-casket-st-thomas-becket.

“Reliquary of the Journey and Adoration of the Magi.” c. 1200.  Accession 2019.423a, b.  The Met 
Cloisters, New York, NY.  https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/834048.
 
Rubinstein, Stella.  “Some Limoges Reliquaries of the Late Twelfth Century.” Arts & Decoration 
(1910-1918) 7, no. 6 (1917): 304–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43799792.

Slocum, Kay Brainerd. The Cult of Thomas Becket: History and Historiography through Eight Centuries. London and New York: Routledge, 2019.

Stohlman, W. Frederick. “A Limoges Reliquary.” Record of the Museum of Historic Art, Princeton 
University 3, no. 1 (1944): 5–7. https://doi.org/10.2307/3774119.

Swarzenski, Georg. 1951. “A Masterpiece of Limoges.” Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts 49 (275): 17–25.

Webster, Paul. “Introduction. The Cult of St Thomas Becket: An Historiographical Pilgrimage.” In The Cult of St Thomas Becket in the Plantagenet World, c. 1170–1220. Paul Webster and Marie-Pierre Gelin, eds. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2016. 1–24.

Yvernault, Martine. “Reading History in Enamel: The Journey of Thomas Becket’s Experience from Canterbury to Limoges. In Canterbury: A Medieval City. Catherine Royer-Hemet, ed. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010. 137–59.

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In this podcast Kelly Kornell and Peter DeBaecke explore the lai Lanval by Marie de France. Composed in the later twelfth century, this shorter work of Anglo-Norman literature explores the adventures of a poor and friendless knight at the court of king Arthur who experiences a tremendous reversal of fortune and is caught between a negligent lord and a vindictive lady. Kelly and Peter discuss noble beauty, largesse, and the cosmopolitan nature of the Angevin court- how might all of this have reflected the experiences of the mysterious Marie de France, whoever she was? 

In this podcast, Maria Carriere and Rose Rugendorf introduce us to the  tombs of two members of the Angevin dynasty, Count Geoffrey V the Fair of Anjou (d. 1151) and William Longespée, Earl of Salisbury. (d. 1226)  They discuss the significance of their tombs, and their survival, and what we can learn from the heraldic decoration –most notably the patterned lions or lioncels– that appear on both men's shields. You can consult high quality images of the tombs as they look today: Geoffrey V in Le Mans cathedral (credit: Wikimedia Commons) and William Longespée in Salisbury Cathedral (credit: Wikimedia Commons) . 

Bibliography: 

Amt, Emilie. "Ela Longespée's Roll of Benefits: Piety and Reciprocity in The Thirteenth Century," Traditio 64 (2009), 1-56. 

Brown, Elizabeth A.R., "The Oxford Collection of the Drawings of Roger de Gaignières and the Royal Tombs of Saint-Denis," Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 78:5 (1988), 1-74. 

Christophe, Delphine A.R., "La plaque de Geoffroy Planatenêt dans la cathédrale du Mans," Hortus Artium Medievalium 10 (2005), 75-80. 

Dressler, Rachel, "Cross-Legged Knights and Signification in English Medieval Tomb Sculpture," Studies in Iconography 21 (2000), 91-121. 

Fox, Paul A., "Crusading Families and the Spread of Heraldry," The Coat of Arms 3, 8.2 (2012),  59-84. 

Taburet-Delahaye, Elisabeth, "Effigy of Geoffrey Plantagenet," in Enamels of Limoges, 1100-1350. Edited by John P. O'Neill. (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1996)