The Plantagenet dynasty began in the year 1152 with the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Geoffrey Plantagenet. Eleanor was the daughter of The Duke of Burgundy, the divorced wife of Louis VII, King of France. Geoffrey was the son of The Prince of Anjou and the grandson of William The Conqueror. The Prince was known as Plantagenet because he always wore a piece of plant stuck in the rim of his hat. The name Plantagenet remained with this family to this day. Also, the parliament army used the same plant on their hats at the battle of Knocknanuss in 1647. Geoffrey Plantagenet was crowned Henry I in 1154. His reign lasted 35 years. He had two sons Richard and John. Henry introduced great reform for the working people. He reduced the power of the Barons and gave tax Charters to towns while he completely reformed the justice system and put all forms of Government under the King. He was also responsible for developing trial by petty jury (12) and Curea Regis and brought all clergy under the law of the land. In 1187, at sixteen years of age John arrived in Ireland under instruction from his father, the King , to grant lands to his fathers friends and to build a line of castles along the dividing line between Gaelic and Norman property in Cork and Limerick. These were located at Carraigtwohill, Lohort, Lisgriffin, Liscarrol, Kilbolane and Limerick City. Henry I was succeeded by his eldest son Richard (The Lion Heart) in 1189. Richard spent most of his time on the crusades and his mother Eleanor ruled England. Richard died in 1199 John, Richard's younger brother became king in 1199. He was a weak ruler and was responsible for the undoing of much of the good done by his father. Circumstances deteriorated so much that the people drew up a charter and forced John to sign it. This charter was called the Magna Carta. John as King lost Anjou, Main, Normandy, and Touraine in 1204. His mother died in 1205 , as did his friend Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury. The death of the archbishop led to a conflict between the then pope and King John. Pope Innocent III elected Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. As a result of John's objection to this appointment England was placed under Interdict (all churches closed). In addition John was excommunicated. This incident illustrates the enormous power that the pope wielded at this time. King John agreed to hold England as a fief of the Pope at a cost of 1000 marks per year. John died on October 19, 1216, he was succeeded by his eldest son who was crowned Henry III. The reign of Henry III was a troublesome time in England. The Pope extracted vast amounts of money from the King for very dubious reasons at the Council of Lyon in 1245 Henry complained that he was paying the Pope 60,000 marks per year. By 1257 he was paying 135,000 marks per year. The following year, England was so much in debt that a parliament known as "The Mad Parliament of Oxford" was convened. It was convened by Simon de Montfort and Richard Earl of Gloucester to reform the administration. This was the first parliament. The first reform provided for 24 persons to reform the grievances of state and church. Another body of 15 men was to advise the King. These two bodies were to meet 3 times a year. They also ordered that sheriffs be elected annually by vote and that sheriff's treasurers, chancellors and justices should hand up their account each year. De Mountfort and his friends summoned two knights from each Shire, principal City and Borough [fortified towns]. Two elected representatives together with an Archbishop, a Bishop, a Bishop's Abbot, Earls and Barons were also summoned. For the next 7 years England enjoyed great prosperity and the country was at peace when Henry III died after a reign of 56 years. Edward Plantagenet was crowned King of England in 1272. He was the first King to reign from the death of the last monarch. Two important statutes were passed in 1279: Mort Main to do with church law Statute of Winchester dealing with defence Edward's first of three sons was born at Carnavon in 1284, he was the first Prince of Wales. Edward I called a parliament in 1295. He called spiritual piers, archbishops, bishops, bishop's abbots and heads of military orders. Each bishop was ordered to bring 1 member elected by the dean and chapter of the cathedral and 2 members from each diocese elected by the clergy. The lay piers, earls and great barons were summoned by writ. Knights of the Shires elected 2 citizens from each borough or city. This assembly was known as The Model Parliament. Edward I was nicknamed "Longshanks". It was he who executed Sir William Wallace (Braveheart) in 1306. Edward was named after Edward the Confessor. He died in 1307 after a reign of 35 years. His oldest son, Edward Prince of Wales. was crowned Edward II (aged 23) in 1307. Edward Prince of Wales' reign is considered to have been the worst in English history. His friend Piers Gavestan ran the country for the first 2 years of his reign. Gavestan/The King ended the Knights Templar in Subulter. During his reign, England had to endure defeat by the Scots at Bannockburn in 1314 (under Robert Bruce) and famine from 1314-15. In 1327 he was deposed in favour of his son, Edward III, and subsequently murdered at Berkley Castle near Bristol. Edward III was crowned in 1327 aged 15 years. The Knights of the Shires met separately for the first time in 1332. The following year they joined with the citizens and Burgesses so that parliament separated into two houses as it is today. The Knights of the Shires, the citizens and the Burgesses formed the House of Commons. The spiritual piers and lay piers formed the House of Lords. The 100 years war began during his reign in 1339. The Black Death struck in 1349. Under the Statutes of Provisors of 1351 all persons in the Popes service and living in England were put in prison. Statutes of Treason defined the meaning of treason in 1352. The wealth and corruption of the clergy led to the formation of the Lollards in 1356. The Lollards were led by John Wycliffe of York, a master of Balliol College in Oxford. This man translated the New Testament of the bible to english. The Black Prince died in 1376, he was the oldest of Edward III sons and was very popular with the people. Edward III died in 1377 after a reign of 50 years. Richard II, son of The Black Prince, was crowned in 1377. There were troubled times ahead for the young King as four of his father's brothers were still alive. One of these, John of Gaunt, took care of the affairs of state until 1389 when Richard took over. A Parliament called "The Merciless" was convened in 1388 and charged Richard's friends with treason some were executed while others were banished After a reign marked by family rivalry and intrigue, Richard was deposed by his cousin the Duke of Lancaster in 1399 after a reign of 22 years. The next King was Henry 4th of the House of Lancaster, a Plantagenet from his fathers' side. Family rivalry continued with the war of the Roses. The York's were also descended from the Plantagenet family.