England under the Angevin Kings, Volumes I and II

Medieval England's growth within the dominions of the house of Anjou provides the central problem of Kate Norgate's history. Beginning with the England of Henry I, the account also traces the earlier fortunes of the Angevin counts and their connections with Normandy. Chapters on Stephen, the barons, the English Church and Henry II place royal power among competing institutions, family claims and territorial interests.

Maps, town plans and extensive source references accompany the narrative across the two volumes. The passage on Thomas Becket follows his attempts to leave England and the legal dispute that draws him before the king's court. Henry's concern about relations with France gives this personal conflict a wider political setting. For readers interested in medieval government, the detailed treatment shows how questions of authority emerge through court procedure, disputed land and the uneasy relationship between a king and an archbishop.