The consequences of Henry's sons' rebellion weakens the Angevin empire. The four sons each want to rule a piece of territory and war breaks out among the sons as they plot with their mother and enter into a rebellion against Henry, in the process aligning themselves with France's king Louis VII-England's enemy. Rumours abound that Eleanor had her poisoned out of jealousy in a rage, Henry has her imprisoned, first in France and then in England, while he goes to war against France. This conflict reaches it peak with the death of Rosamund Clifford, a mistress who he flaunted at court. During the final 18 years of Henry's life conflict builds with Eleanor, beginning with her desire to choose her successor for Aquitaine. The novel opens in 1172 when Henry and Eleanor have been married for decades and have four grown sons: Henry the Young King, Richard the Lionheart, Geoffrey II and John Lackland. Devil's Brood opens with the conflict between Henry II, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their four sons, which escalates into a decade of warfare and rebellion pitting the sons against the father and the brothers against each other while the mother spends the period imprisoned by her husband. Generally the novel received good reviews and became a New York Times bestseller.ĭevil's Brood continues the story of King Henry II and his Queen Eleanor that began in When Christ and His Saints Slept and continued in Time and Chance. The historical details of the 12th century Angevin kings are detailed. Penman explores the tensions that built in the royal marriage and the deconstruction of the marriage.
The novel is about the last two decades in Henry II's life, his imprisonment of his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, and his sons who undertake a decade-long rebellion against their father.
First edition dustjacket for Devil's Broodĭevil's Brood is a historical novel written by Sharon Kay Penman, published in 2008, and is the third volume in her Plantagenet series, preceded by When Christ and His Saints Slept and Time and Chance, and followed by Lionheart (2011).
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