Sovereignty Unbound? When William I died in 1087 England appeared to be a unified state. This was an illusion. Between the issue of sovereignty was an elusive matter that decided the fate of the British nations. Would England dominate a ‘Britain’ or would a collection of sometimes warring, sometimes united states emerge? Henry II By the Grace of God, King of the English and Duke of the Normans and Aquitanians and Count of the Angevins, Poitou, Maine, Gascony, Touraine, Bearne, & Brittany The Murder of Beckett-13 th century manuscript.

Angevin Empire ‘ Angevin Empire’ is a modern term, applied to the territories under the personal rule of Henry II. It is generally considered the height of Plantagenet power.

Angevin Empire contd. William I was followed by his 2 nd son William II ‘Rufus’ who was killed in a ‘hunting accident’ in Following Rufus was Henry I, youngest of the Conqueror’s sons. Henry seized the treasury & then married Matilda, the daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland. Matilda’s mother was a Wessex, thus Henry, in two days seized England’s £ & tied together blood lines. Henry I had no sons-throne was left to his daughter Matilda.. The barons swore to uphold Matilda, who proclaimed herself ‘Empress’, but her cousin Stephen of Blois staged a coup. Matilda was victorious but alienated everyone, and was eventually rejected in favor of Stephen.