Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
A History of France and England, 1100-1300
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Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
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Narrated by:
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Jennifer M. Dixon
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By:
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Catherine Hanley
About this listen
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.
©2022 Catherine Hanley (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Two Houses, Two Kingdoms
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ambrose Duffy
- 22-01-23
Very good
Very interesting book with a unique premise to compare in depth the rivalry between these two great nations in the high medieval era.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mild Max
- 20-12-24
Fascinating historical account
Really enjoyed this which helped understand the complex interwoven history of the French and English royal and leading families, recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 03-10-22
fascinating
Genuinely fascinating...Hanley doesn't get bogged down in minutie or distracted by other diverting but irrelevant topics. Her focus is laser like on her subject which is the relationship between the House of Capet and plantagenet. very good 👍
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jean McEwan
- 28-02-23
Great book but not worth listening to on Audible
Interesting part of history but really struggled due to the monotonous, flat voice of the narrator.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Christie
- 20-09-24
The narrator gets a lot better and the narrative is solid…
…if containing little we’ve not heard before. Still, a fresh perspective on well known rivalries with a sympathetic, detailed perspective on the lesser known female protagonists… and wonderfully pitiless accounts of male ‘hero’ warlords.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JCM
- 03-12-24
A fresh angle on a familiar period
By focusing firmly on the interactions between the French and English royal houses, with minimal focus on the wider machinations of the countries' respective nobilities or other polities except where it impacted that relationship, this offers up an interesting new (to me) view on an interesting, significant period. I studied this at A-level some 30-odd years ago, but it all felt fresh.
What's particularly helpful is the author's empathy for the various players as human beings - something that can often be lost in histories of this period. This especially comes out when looking at the various royal women - some great leaders and politicians in their own right, many treated as just baby-making machines, almost all of whom (bar the Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Blanche of Castillo) tend to get overlooked or dismissed in more traditional histories.
Despite this greater emphasis on the individual personalities and perspectives, however, this can still be hard to follow at times - far too many people called Henry, Louis, Phillip, William, Hugh, Arthur, and more. Without a handy timeline of who died when and family trees of both houses, it's extremely hard to keep track.
This makes an audiobook a poor format for consuming this one - especially as the narrator has a very harsh voice and a decidedly unempathetic tone, like an old-fashioned schoolmistress lecturing and hectoring,with some odd intonation and pronunciation.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 28-12-22
Decent
Decent book love the subject narration was good I hope this is part one of two if not the ending is very rushed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A. Dyson
- 24-08-23
Excellent fresh perspective
Great level of detail and insights into the characters' possible motives. Well worth putting up with the terrible narrator.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- YV
- 22-11-22
Narration was awful
Fascinating topic marred by terrible narration, spoiling the whole listening experience. I'll read it instead.
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1 person found this helpful