It’s likely you’ve heard of King Arthur and the knights of the round table even if you’ve never read the stories. You’ve probably also heard of Merlin; I might describe him as Arthur’s magic-wielding sidekick. Similar to the Lone Ranger and Tonto, except, as legend has it, Merlin engineered the birth of Arthur through magic and intrigue and Tonto was just along for the ride. Right now you might be wondering what does any of this have to do with the Plantagenets?
King Edward was famous for the number of tournaments he hosted despite disapproval of the Church. He was a clever cookie -- smart way to keep his military tuned up and in fighting condition for when they were needed. No one got fat or slacked off.
Edward's creation of the Order of the Garter was a brilliant forerunner of the devices of later autocrats, like Louis XIV, creating new functions/roles for the nobility to keep them onside and compete with one another rather than with the monarch. As for the putative Arthur, without Geoffrey of Monmouth's dodgy History of the Kings of Britain, I doubt we'd have ever heard of him let alone his equally dubious wizard. All good fun, though.
King Edward was famous for the number of tournaments he hosted despite disapproval of the Church. He was a clever cookie -- smart way to keep his military tuned up and in fighting condition for when they were needed. No one got fat or slacked off.
Edward's creation of the Order of the Garter was a brilliant forerunner of the devices of later autocrats, like Louis XIV, creating new functions/roles for the nobility to keep them onside and compete with one another rather than with the monarch. As for the putative Arthur, without Geoffrey of Monmouth's dodgy History of the Kings of Britain, I doubt we'd have ever heard of him let alone his equally dubious wizard. All good fun, though.