From Acorn TV:
Out of the chaos, darkness, and violence of the Middle Ages, one family seizes control of England, holding onto power and ruthlessly crushing all competition for more than 300 years. They are the Plantagenets.
If you subscribe to Acorn TV and are a fan of British history, you may well love this 4 episode series streamable from Acorn TV. The title of the series is really “Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty”. Each episode lasts 45 minutes. Contents are as follows:
- Henry II who kills Becket.
- Henry III battles Simon de Montfort.
- Edward II lets his obsessions lead him to ruin.
- Richard II puts down the Peasant Revolt and launches a reign of terror until his cousin Henry Bolinbroke defeats him to become Henry IV the first of the Lancaster dynasty in 1399.
So think of the Plantagenets as running from 1150 to 1400. They spoke French (except when the vicious Richard II lied to the Peasant Revolt in English). Henry IV was the first king in 300 years (that is to say, after the Norman conquest of 1066) to use English.
These episodes are more than mere lectures. Because they are dramatized they become more memorable. Nothing presented is fictional. Children should probably not watch these episodes because the Plantagents were ruthless savages that used torture and murder to achieve their ambitious ends.
Stories as chilling as they are fascinating.