Two Houses, Two Kingdoms, Catherine Hanley
Two Houses, Two Kingdoms, Catherine Hanley
List: $24.99 | Sale: $17.50
Club: $12.49

Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
A History of France and England, 1100-1300

Author: Catherine Hanley

Narrator: Jennifer M. Dixon

Unabridged: 15 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/20/2022


Synopsis

An exhilarating, accessible chronicle of the ruling families of France and England, showing how two dynasties formed one extraordinary story

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were a time of personal monarchy, when the close friendship or petty feuding between kings and queens could determine the course of history. The Capetians of France and the Angevins of England waged war, made peace, and intermarried. The lands under the control of the English king once reached to within a few miles of Paris, and those ruled by the French house, at their apogee, crossed the Channel and encompassed London itself.

In this lively, engaging history, Catherine Hanley traces the great clashes, and occasional friendships, of the two dynasties. Along the way, she emphasizes the fascinating and influential women of the houses—including Eleanor of Aquitaine and Blanche of Castille—and shows how personalities and familial bonds shaped the fate of two countries. This is a tale of two intertwined dynasties that shaped the present and the future of England and France, told through the stories of the people involved.

About Catherine Hanley

Catherine Hanley is a writer and researcher specializing in the Middle Ages. She is the author of Matilda, Louis, and War and Combat, 1150-1270, and is a contributor to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rachel on August 04, 2022

Houses, Two Kingdoms: A History of France and England, 1100–1300 by Catherine Hanley is a wonderful nonfiction that dives into the two royal dynasties of England and France. Just wonderful! I am a huge fan of English history, so I knew quite a bit about the monarchy during these two centuries, but I......more

Goodreads review by Emily on December 03, 2024

Another brilliant history book I’ve got to explore this year! As my reading lists suggest I love Plantagenets history and have read many books about it! What makes this book even more brilliant is seeing the same events from the French perspective. I’ve never read a book which delves into both sides......more

Goodreads review by Anne on July 20, 2022

I first came across Catherine Hanley when she was speaking about Louis VIII at Gloucester History Festival in 2020 when everything was online. I enjoyed it so much that I went on to listen to her excellent book about Empress Matilda and read the first of her novels set in the period covered by this......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on October 13, 2024

A strong and well-written narrative of two centuries of development in England and France. This is well-trodden ground for me, but I appreciated the way that Hanley sought to demonstrate the similarities between the countries’ development and how this more often than not tied into the close relation......more