An Update

Well, Oxford sure knows how to write a very, very, very long book.  It's not surprising, seeing as how it's encompassing a thousand odd years or so of a very complex history, but I didn't anticipate how long it would take for me to get through it.


The book is organized in such a way that important information about each ruler is put into their own little box. This box does not always have anything to do with text surrounding it. This can be a little confusing, because the box for Henry II may not have any surrounding text that has much to do with him.


In fact, sometimes, it goes back to Henry I or Edward the Confessor, or even Cnut. I'm still not even sure who Cnut is, but apparently he was king of a ton of places, including England. I'm not going back that far, so it was a little disconcerting to see his name brought up so much when I still don't understand the full implications/complications of his rule. And to go back even further would be impossible and ridiculous. 


I also did not realize how...let's say complex, that some of these rulers were. So far, it seems that King John and his line had plenty of problems with the English people, not even counting the Irish, Welsh and Scottish people who they had control over. Combined with the land in France (Gascon) that they had, the monarchy, its dominions, and lands had a lot of complexity surrounding them. 


It's kind of interesting to see how the shaping of these countries still had an effect today. England claiming  that the Irish, Scottish and Welsh fell under their dominion has caused a lot of rustle throughout history, including but not limited to the Irish rebellion, Scottish battles and a whole lot of complex marriages. 


I don't regret going so far back in history because it really is fascinating to see the shaping of such an influential country being made by seemingly incompetent or plain selfish leaders. Each king has had their own agenda thus far, which has caused many tensions with the people. In fact, Henry III's own brother-in-law lead a civil war against the throne, and won. Yet, the brother-in-law (Simon deMontfort) died, putting Henry III back on the throne. Interesting, right? The book explains the tensions that built to this, yet the resolution seems rushed, as though there is more to say about it. Perhaps it will come up in a couple dozen pages? By then, the whole conflict will be almost forgotten to me, and I'd have to go back and read about the background again. 


I'm hoping that the format of the book will change as it goes on, and that it will become more fluid in its timeline. Though there are 500 more pages or so to skim through, I know I need to move on to other sources, so I'll work my hardest to get through it by the weekend, and provide an update after. 


Time to get back to reading!


P.S. I'm glad I'm just focusing on English kings, rather than Scottish/Irish/Welsh ones as well. My brain would have exploded from all of the information. Also, Welsh names are hard to pronounce.