Plantagenet Saga Books In Order

Publication Order of Plantagenet Saga Books

Plantagenet Saga is a series of novels which was written by Victoria Holt. Victoria Holt is a pen name of this lady in the series of novels called Plantagenet Saga. Her name was Eleanor Hibbert but she was used to using different name in different writings. For instance, she has used, Jean Plaidy in different single novel stories like Daughter of Satan, which she had written back in the year 1952 and in the writing of the European royalty’s history. Eleanor was born in the year 1906 September 1st in England a town called Canning, London. She wrote different novels both single and series novels in which she used her fancies together with history. Many of her novels are about romance and history. In those novels she would use a different name, here are the pen names she ever uses; Kathleen Kellow, Ellalice Tate, Elbur Ford, Anna Percival, Eleanor Burford, Jean Plaidy, Philippa Carr, and Victoria Holt which she used in the Plantagenet Saga Series. ‘Beyond the Blue Mountains’ was Eleanor’s first published novel, it was done in the year 1947. Many of her novels are translated into about twenty languages. Most of the languages in which these books exist are of England’s origin, America, and some from Australia. Eleanor died the 1963 January date 18. She was at the sea between the princes of Athens and Port. At this time, she was on her winter trip when she had met her death. The cause of her death was never disclosed. Eleanor kept her real name and age from the writing industry for a long period, which shows how conservative and privacy she was.

She has used the name Victoria Holt to write many novels including the famous and among her interesting novel the Plantagenet Saga series novels. The series contains fourteen novels. The first three novels in the series are The Plantagenet Prelude which was written in the year 1976, The Revolt of the Eaglets which she had written a year later that is in the year 1977, and The Heart of the Lion which had written in the same year, that is 1977.

In the series the Plantagenet Saga by Victoria Holt, as the title itself suggest the series is majorly about the Plantagenet family. It is from this family that we find among the major characters of the series by the name Henry Plantagenet, who we find in the first novel as the King to the Kingdom of England. This King’s house in the series is portrayed as composed of very romantic members, very furious in their actions, and very stylish too. The members of this strong Plantagenet family are described as the branches originating from a very stable and mighty stem of the firm tree. Henry Plantagenet is found appealing to women so much. In the series, the Kingdom was appealing too to him. Also, Victoria uses Duke from Normandy who portrays the same traits as of Henry Plantagenet. I would not manage to leave out Eleanor of Aquitaine, a character who makes the book lively and brain boosting. Eleanor gets the powers of the kingdom of France in what is described to be a mysterious way. She a very brilliant lady with many exceptional characters. She is very young when her father dies. She grows beautiful and very romantic as a queen. It is depicted that her need for men is said to conflict with her craving for the power over the France Kingdom.

In the first novel, The Plantagenet Prelude, the King of France, William X, who is the father of Eleanor dies. Eleanor being the only child of the king she is crowned the Queen of the Kingdom and the powers are bestowed upon her. During the time the king is dying the Eleanor was just fourteen years of age. Considering her age and the powers she is given, this puts the whole of the king in a dilemma situation. During the death times of the king, it is said that he knew he will die and to secure his kingdom and his daughter he had decided to associate her with the prospected King for that kingdom of France. He had given a promised to her daughter that he would like her to be married to that future King. During his deathbed time, he gave his hand in that future marriage. In this novel, it is depicted that Eleanor grew into the most beautiful and was among the very romantic ladies. Following her possession of the King’s desire and will that she marries a King in addition to the power bestowed on her by the King himself, she is confident and determined to rule the Kingdom of France. In this novel Eleanor, The Queen of France is involved in love with someone related to the throne of the Kingdom of England. It is said romance took over her. She is very deterministic up to the extent of knowing that nothing limits her. In the novel there are traits of Eleanor becoming a historic scandalous leader, and more so a queen.

In the novel, The Revolt of the Eaglets, in the series Plantagenet Saga Thomas Becket spreads the news all over the Christendom and Henry Plantagenet’s feet who is the King of the kingdom of England is accused of the news. After two years Henry Plantagenet was canonized. The position of Henry as the King of the Kingdom of England was declared unwarranted and rebuked by the Pope. The Pope did this claiming that it was because Henry had taken part the murder of Thomas Becket who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. The action provokes Queen Eleanor’s anger and this makes her start planning vengeful activities.

Victoria Holt’s Plantagenet Saga Series is the most interesting fiction. The novels contain historical and romantic stories. The Plantagenet Saga Series involves Kingdom and their leader and their associations. If you want to read a novel which can keep you busy and instill your mind with some interesting and evoking story have Victoria’s Plantagenet Saga Series.

Eleanor Alice Burford was a British author with nearly two hundred novels under her pseudo, Jean Plaidy. The Plantagenet Saga has fourteen editions detailing stories about the English kingdoms in the 12 Century. Jean Plaidy has so far sold more than fourteen million novels before her death.

The House of Plantagenet, a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house established by Geoffrey V of Anjou. He sired Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings reigned in England in the 12 Century; their ancestor first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originally came from Gaitanis, France and acquired Anjou County through marriage in the 11th Century. The dynasty later enlarged its territory; the Angevin empire from the regions of the Pyrenees to Ireland cumulated several other holdings, building the Angevin Empire, which at its peak stretched from the Pyrenees to Ireland. The Plantagenets ruled England from the year 1154-1485, through fifteen monarchs.

Plantagenet Saga Best Books

The Plantagenet Prelude#1 Plantagenet Saga

When William X dies, his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eleanor inherits the duchy of Aquitaine. However, the young queen cannot stake such a position, as she is not married and may attract enemies from Europe, putting the Kingdom at risk. William foresaw this scenario and secured Eleanor’s protection by promising her hand in marriage to King Louis of France. They sired two lovely princesses, but that is not enough for the young queen.

Eleanor grew into a charming beauty, the queen of England married to the King of France. She has high ambitions and sets a record as the most despicable queen of her time. Louis does not fulfill his insatiable wife’s passionate desires, so Eleanor philanders with a close relative and a foreign spy. In Eleanor’s quest for power and her insatiable lust for men, she falls in love with King Henry of England, divorces Louis and goes ahead to marry King Henry. The marriage creates a strong alliance, with several children but it begins to crumble due to Henry’s philandering ways.

Plaidy portrays Queen Eleanor as a self-centered woman. She is depicted as a cruel, domineering and shallow woman than any other queen who reigned after her. King Henry is no better, serving up Eleanor the karma she deserves after walking away from her former husband, the King of France. Henry is a reckless fool, unlike Louis who was considerate and more sympathetic.

The murder of Thomas Becket turns the tables and does not quite reveal Eleanor’s hand in the matter. As an iconic woman of the 12th Century, Eleanor secured her place in history as one of a fascinating queen of England. Her son King Henry III, and King John ruled England for a time, while Richard remained a State prisoner for sixteen years. Eleanor was an exciting, yet thrilling, and hot-tempered woman. Plaidy describes her as a vain and inane, in part due to the humiliation of putting up with an extreme wreckless impious King

The actual bit of the story brings forth an enjoyable read, but the repetitions of Henry’s escapades and Eleanor’s tantrums become a bit of a drag later on in the book. The defining moment was when King Henry’s most trusted and loved confidant Sir Thomas Beckett dies mysteriously after a fallout with the King. Henry was greatly fond of Beckett for his wittiness.

The Revolt of the Eaglets #2 Plantagenet Saga

News of Thomas Becket’s murder spreads fast through the Kingdom with rumors of King Henry as the main suspect to the martyrdom. Two years later, Thomas Becket receives canonization from the Pope, and King Henry’s position grows weak because of Becket’s death. When Eleanor of Aquitaine learns about her husband’s scandalous escapade, she becomes furious with him for sleeping with a child, and a persistent affair with Rosamund Clifford. Determined to avenge the King’s hideous actions, Eleanor viciously conspires with King Philip of France, and lures her sons to connive, both against their father and against each other. The old King struggles to put out the feud between his sons and the unending rebellion from his own sons.

King Henry comes off as an arrogant, selfish sod and still seeks approval and love from his children. It, however, doesn’t make him appear weak and apologetic. This, still, does not make him sympathetic. In Plaidy’s depiction, Henry comes off as a terrible person. He is self-centered, sleeps with a child, and ever complaining about trivial things. Queen Eleanor is also exasperating, in this book, she spends most of her time in confinement.

Nonetheless, this is a good read for a twist of fiction mixed well with facts of the early English monastery during the reign of King Henry II. The Plantagenet saga second edition details Henry II reign as king of England, the imprisonment of his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, his scandalous affairs with Rosamund Clifford and Prince Richard’s betrothed bride, the French princess Alice and the years of fighting with his sons and his eventual death.

The Heart of the Lion #3 Plantagenet Saga

At 32 years, Richard the Lionhearted Prince, takes up the throne as King after the death of his brother, Henry II. Against his father’s will, Richard plans to marry King Navarre’s daughter, Berengaria, but first, he must realize his promise to prevail in Jerusalem and save Christianity from the shackles of pagans. King Richard departs from England to begin his crusade, leaving his brother, Prince John in charge of the English throne. Meanwhile, Prince John secretly covets the crown, and his sister, Joanna, does not hold Richard in high esteem.

Of all the Kings in this book series, Richard was the greatest leader and soldier. He spent time with his subjects and went to war to support the Christian fraternity. Richard was however not famous for burdening the people with heavy taxes to fund his crusades to Jerusalem. He also neglects his wife, preferring instead, to stay away in the battlefields fighting for his country. We also encounter Eleanor of Aquitaine as the tenacious queen who has survived great turmoil under the leadership of her husband and her two sons.

There are little details on Richard’s sister Joan in the storyline. She has her mother’s tendencies, except that she is distant and dull as a character. Prince John desperately hopes for his brother’s early death to claim the English crown. He’s a dangerous conniving character, but also fascinating and full of zest. The story of King Henry II and his children is no doubt thrilling and highly entertaining, despite the disdainful repertoire in the narrative which makes some parts long and boring due to the heavy usage of fluff.