Was the Angevin Empire really an 'Empire'?

YES?
1. The lands remained in tact throughout Henry II's reign as well as Richard I's and most part of John's
  1. The lands were unified under one man (Henry, Richard or John)
  2. Richard inherited all his father's lands for himself suggesting Richard regarded them as a whole. In 1199 when Richard died the lands, again, were inherited as a whole.
    1. The sustained intactness of the lands implies they were regarded as a whole.
  3. HOWEVER, Henry didn't intend for this to happen!
2. The lands appear an empire geographically
  1. They stretched from Northumbria to the Pyrenees in Southern France
  2. It was bordered by natural defences such as the Pyrenees hills.
3. The increase in trade between lands suggest they could be viewed an empire.
  1. Anjou acted as the centre of communication
    1. Anjou was the geographical 'capital of the 'empire' as it was located in the centre of the lands.
    2. Henry was born and buried in Anjou. Eleanor and Richard were also buried here suggesting this was the centre of the so called empire.
NO?
1. Henry's intention wasn't for the lands to remain a collective.
  1. He planned for them to be split up when inherited by his sons.
  2. In 1169 Henry II wrote a will where in which he divided all of his lands between his sons. Young Henry was to inherit Normandy and England, Richard Aquitaine and Geoffrey Brittany. (John was only 2 so wasn't included)
  3. Henry clearly didn't view his lands as an 'empire' or he wouldn't have planned to split them up.
2. The lands weren't ruled by an Emperor.
  1. The lands were ruled by a quarrelsome family and not an Emperor.
  2. Richard and John didn't use the title Emperor. The title isn't used in any chronicles or accounts of the time.
3. Law, customs and cultured varied greatly between the lands.
  1. Anjou and Aquitaine differed greatly from England an even Normandy. Ecclesiastical laws, feudal systems and judicial policies contrasted. If the lands were truly an empire there would have been some sort of universal law.
4. Angevin rulers were vassals to the French monarch for their continental lands.
  1. An Emperor would be the highest order yet as Dukes Henry and his sons were officially answerable to Louis/Philip.
CONCLUSION
1. The Angevin 'Empire' wasn't truly an empire. The term wasn't coined until the 19th century and was used as a form of short hand, a useful way to reference all a Plantagenet king's lands. The rulers themselves didn't refer to their lands as an empire nor themselves Emperors. The lands were NOT UNITED and differed greatly in laws and customs. They were also separate geographically as many were far apart. It is this initial disunity between the lands, just as much as their family owners, that lead to its inevitable desolation in 1204.

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Was the Angevin Empire really an 'Empire'?

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	Criado por meganswailes aproximadamente 10 anos atrás