page_title: Angevin Empire
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Angevin Empire / Geography and administration / Economy
caption_attribution_description: Chateau - Forteresse Chinon- Val de Loire - www.logis-saint-mexme.fr B&amp;B Loire Valley (4)
context_page_description: The Angevin Empire describes the possessions of the Angevin kings of England who held lands in England and France during the 12th and 13th centuries. Its rulers were Henry II, Richard I, and John. The Angevin Empire is an early example of a composite state.
  The Angevins of the House of Plantagenet ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. The empire was established by Henry II, as King of England, Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, as well as Duke of Aquitaine by right of his wife, and multiple subsidiary titles. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Angevins held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, and Chinon in Touraine.
  The influence and power of the House of Anjou brought them into conflict with the kings of France of the House of Capet, to whom they also owed feudal homage for their French possessions, bringing in a period of rivalry between the dynasties.
context_section_description: The economy of the Angevin Empire was quite complicated due to the varying political structure of the different fiefdoms. England and Normandy were well administered and therefore would be able to generate larger revenues than areas such as Aquitaine. This is because England and Normandy were home to more officials to collect taxes and, unlike Aquitaine, local lords were unable to mint their own coins, allowing the Angevin kings to control the economy from their administrative base of Chinon. Chinon's importance was shown by the fact that Richard seized Chinon first when he rebelled against his father in 1187, and then when John immediately rushed to Chinon after his brother's death.
  Money raised in England was used mostly for continental issues. Also, due to the high level of administration of England and, to a lesser extent, Normandy, these areas were the only lands where revenue was consistently and relatively high.
  The English revenues themselves varied from year to year. When financial records begin in 1155 to 1156, the annual income of England was £10,500, or around half what the revenue had been under Henry I. This was due in part to The Anarchy and King Stephen's loose rule resulting in the reduction of royal authority. As time went on, royal authority improved and the revenue consequently went up to an average of £22,000 a year. Due to the preparation for the Third Crusade, revenue then increased to over £31,000 in 1190 under Richard. The number fell again to £11,000 a year whilst Richard was abroad. Between 1194–1198, revenue averaged £25,000. Under Richard's successor John, income fluctuated between £22,000 and £25,000 from 1199–1203. In order to fund for the reconquest of France, English income increased to £50,000 in 1210 but then rose to over £83,000 in 1211 before falling back down to £50,000 in 1212. Revenue then fell down to below £26,000 in 1214, and then further to £18,500 in 1215. The first three years of Henry III's reign brought in £8,000 on average due to the fragility the civil war had brought to England.
  In Ireland, the revenue was fairly low at £2,000 for 1212; however, all other records did not survive. For Normandy, there were a lot of fluctuations relative to the politics of the Duchy. The Norman revenues were only £6,750 in 1180, then they reached £25,000 a year in 1198, higher than in England. What was more impressive was the fact the Norman population was considerably smaller than England's, an estimated 1.5 million as opposed to England's 3.5 million. This period has become known as the 'Norman Fiscal Revolution' due to this increase in revenue.
  For Aquitaine and Anjou, no records remain. However, it is not because that these regions were poor; there were large vineyards, important cities and iron mines. For example, this is what Ralph of Diceto, an English chronicler, wrote about Aquitaine:
  Aquitaine overflows with riches of many kinds, excelling other parts of the western world to such an extent that historians consider it to be one of the most fortunate and flourishing of the provinces of Gaul. Its fields are fertile, its vineyards productive and its forests teem with wild life. From the Pyrenees northwards the whole countryside is irrigated by the River Garonne and other streams, indeed it is from these life-giving waters that the province takes its name.
  The Capetian kings did not record such incomes, although the royal principality was more centralized under Louis VII and Philip II than it had been under Hugh Capet or Robert the Pious. The wealth of the Plantagenet kings was definitely regarded as bigger; Gerald of Wales commented on this wealth with these words:
  One may therefore ask how King Henry II and his sons, in spite of their many wars, possessed so much treasure. The reason is that as their fixed returns yielded less they took care to make up the total by extraordinary levies, relying more and more on these than on the ordinary sources of revenue.
  Petit Dutailli had commented that: "Richard maintained a superiority in resources which would have given him the opportunity, ha
caption: Chinon Castle, the administrative centre and location of the main treasury in the Angevin Empire.[27]
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