Summary of Thomas B. Costain's The Last Plantagenets

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 Richard, the son of the Black Prince, was born in 1367. His mother, who had been a widow when she married Edward the Black Prince, had no doubts that the boy was the most beautiful baby ever born in a royal bed. His father shared this satisfaction, but he did not smile often.

#2 The Black Prince’s second son, Richard of Bordeaux, was born in 1330. The prince acted quickly because he had only a few hours left before he began his costly and injudicious Spanish adventure. He announced that two of his favorite campaign companions, Sir Guichard d’Angle and Sir Simon Burley, would share the tutoring of the little prince.

#3 Richard of Bordeaux was a king who had been raised by his mother. He was a perceptive child, and he developed a taste for the artistic aspects of life when he was young. He was not fit to lead the proud but unlettered baronage of England.

#4 The Black Prince’s days were numbered. He had returned from Spain with a walnut-colored face from exposure to the Castilian sun, and his physicians advised that he return home immediately. He prepared reluctantly to leave the softer airs of Bordeaux for what he remembered as the rigors of England.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Feb 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669353706

IRB Media

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Insights on Thomas B. Costain's The Last Plantagenets

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

Richard, the son of the Black Prince, was born in 1367. His mother, who had been a widow when she married Edward the Black Prince, had no doubts that the boy was the most beautiful baby ever born in a royal bed. His father shared this satisfaction, but he did not smile often.

#2

The Black Prince’s second son, Richard of Bordeaux, was born in 1330. The prince acted quickly because he had only a few hours left before he began his costly and injudicious Spanish adventure. He announced that two of his favorite campaign companions, Sir Guichard d’Angle and Sir Simon Burley, would share the tutoring of the little prince.

#3

Richard of Bordeaux was a king who had been raised by his mother. He was a perceptive child, and he developed a taste for the artistic aspects of life when he was young. He was not fit to lead the proud but unlettered baronage of England.

#4

The Black Prince’s days were numbered. He had returned from Spain with a walnut-colored face from exposure to the Castilian sun, and his physicians advised that he return home immediately. He prepared reluctantly to leave the softer airs of Bordeaux for what he remembered as the rigors of England.

#5

The boy prince was given a poor picture of England when he arrived, as Burley explained that the country was a land of the strongest soldiers and sailors, and that it was bountiful beyond belief.

#6

The boy heard about the order of which his father spoke with such loftiness, chivalry. It was not an order in the sense that it had definite form, with a code written down fair in black and white and with acknowledged leaders. Rather, it was a state of mind, a passionate belief which had grown out of crusading faith.

#7

In 1374, the Black Prince was required to preside over a meeting of the bishops and barons to discuss a demand from Pope Gregory XI for a large subsidy. The bishops decided that the Pope was within his rights, and the country had to pay a large share of the subsidy.

#8

The people of London were extremely hostile to the new Bishop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury, for many reasons. He was French in his views and sympathies, and he stood shoulder to shoulder with John of Gaunt, whom they had forgiven but never forgotten.

#9

The Black Prince was a great leader, but he was also a great administrator. He tried to direct affairs into the right channels from his sickbed. He understood the possibility that a boy of Richard’s tender years might be pushed aside in the matter of the succession.

#10

The House of Commons has always taken the liveliest interest in the British people, because they were largely responsible for this form of government. The name seems to be of Italian origin and was in use in England in 1246.

#11

The succession was now a matter of legal record. But the old king was still alive, and in his befuddled mind, there seemed to be a certain reservation based on his liking for the most congenial of his sons, the plausible Duke John.

#12

John, the son of Edward III, was the first Duke of Lancaster. He was the richest man in England, and he had acquired all of his possessions through royal grants and a genius for acquisitive marriages. He was a man of sophisticated taste and discernment.

#13

The Good Parliament was dismissed and everything it had done was declared illegal. The Bad Parliament was then called, and it carefully hand-picked members who were strongly Lancastrian in sentiment.

#14

The deputation from the city went to visit the king at Shene. They were surprised to find him in good health, and he even showed some amiability. However, he did not make any concessions.

#15

The people of England were very excited about the young prince, Richard, and his achievements. They were indifferent to the other members of the royal family, as no one had any desire to see a woman on the throne.

#16

The coronation of a king in England was usually held on a Sunday, but as the feast of Saint Kenelm fell on a Thursday in 1216, it was decided to crown the new king on that date. The ceremony was conducted in an excess of enthusiasm and with the Crown jewels lost in the Wash, a plain gold circlet was used as a crown.