Planet Faculty

In the mid-1100s, if you were to travel from the mist-shrouded cliffs of Brittany down through the lush valley of the Loire and into the sun-drenched vineyards of Aquitaine, you wouldn’t just be crossing geographical borders. You would be traversing the heart of the most powerful empire in Western Europe. Modern history often focuses on the, "Kings of England", but for a century, the power centre of Europe wasn't London—it was the corridor connecting Angers, Normandy, and Bordeaux. To understand how these distinct regions—Aquitaine, Brittany, and the Angevins—became inextricably linked, we have to look at the master weavers of this political tapestry: The House of Plantagenet. 1. The Anchor: Angers and the Norman Connection The story begins in Angers, the capital of the County of Anjou. The Angevins were ambitious, ruthless, and tactically brilliant. For centuries, Anjou had been a rival to the Duchy of Normandy to its north. The relationship between Angers and N...