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On July 6, 1189 Henry II, King of England (1154-89), died of a bleeding ulcer at the age of 56. From the article:
"Henry II of England
Henry II of England ruled from 1154 to 1189 CE. He gained the throne by negotiation with his predecessor King Stephen of England (r. 1135-1154 CE) following the civil war that had raged between that monarch and Henry’s mother Empress Matilda (l. 1102-1167 CE). Henry would begin a new ruling dynasty, the Angevins-Plantagenets, and he would rule until 1189 CE, forming the largest 'empire' in western Europe and establishing himself as one of England’s greatest ever kings. Two black marks which became impossible to erase from memory, however, were the murder of his chancellor and then archbishop, Thomas Becket in 1170 CE and the rebellions led by his own sons at the end of his reign. Henry was succeeded by his son Richard I of England, aka Richard ‘the Lionheart’ (r. 1189-1199 CE) and then his other son King John of England (r. 1199-1216 CE).
Early Life - The Plantagenets
Henry of Anjou was born on 5 March 1133 CE at Le Mans, France, the son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou (l. 1113-1151 CE). Henry’s mother was Empress Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England (r. 1100-1135 CE), who had gained her title when marrying her first husband Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (r. 1111-1125 CE) in 1114 CE. After Henry V’s death, Matilda married again, this time to Geoffrey in 1128 CE. The count became known by the nickname ‘Plantagenet’ because his family coat of arms included the broom plant (planta genista). Alternative theories for the origin of the name are that Count Geoffrey wore sprigs of the plant in his hat or his lands were planted with it to provide good cover while hunting. The Plantagenets (1154-1399 CE) did not, of course, call themselves that name, the monarchs carried no surname. The first three kings of the line - Henry II, Richard I, and King John - are sometimes referred to as the Angevins after their ancestral lands in Anjou in north-west France.
Henry II was known for his good looks, intelligence, and ability to speak several languages. Credited with boundless energy and drive, the king was of stocky build and had piercing grey eyes, red hair, and a ferocious temper to match. In later life, he was said to have had a significant paunch.
Henry inherited his father’s lands in Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, and Maine in 1151 CE, but he was ambitious for much more. Following military victories in Brittany and, in May 1152 CE, his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204 CE), the former wife of Louis VII of France (r. 1137-1180 CE), Henry came to control most of France. Henry was ambitious, too, to control England, weakened as it was by years of civil war. He and Eleanor would have eight children which included Richard I the ‘Lionheart’ or Coeur de Lion (b. 1157 CE), Geoffrey, Count of Brittany (b. 1158 CE), Henry the Young King (b. 1155 CE, who reigned as junior king, 1170-1183 CE) and King John of England (b. 1167 CE).
In 1153 CE King Stephen signed with Henry the Treaty of Wallingford, which recognised him as Stephen’s official heir.
King Stephen, Empress Matilda & Succession
Returning back to 1135 CE, King Henry I of England had left no legitimate male heir and so his nominated successor was his daughter Matilda whom the king had made his barons swear loyalty to. When it came to the actual coronation, though, many barons wanted neither a woman or an Anjou count anywhere near the throne and so supported instead the dead king’s nephew and richest man in England, Stephen of Blois. Consequently, with some sharp manoeuvring, Stephen was crowned king in December 1135 CE. Empress Matilda was undeterred and a civil war broke out between barons who supported Stephen and those who favoured Matilda and her chief ally Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I. The war proved long and damaging, and neither side managed to gain the upper-hand, even if Matilda briefly became queen in 1141 CE while Stephen was imprisoned at Bristol. Matilda’s cause was gravely weakened following the death of Robert Fitzroy in 1147 CE and she now focused her attention on the promotion of her son Henry.
Henry attempted an invasion of England in 1147 CE, but his campaign came to an end when he ran out of funds, obliging his return to Normandy. Rather bizarrely, but entirely in keeping with Stephen’s reputation for clemency, the English king paid for Henry’s trip home. Another attack in 1149 CE, this time in the north of England and with the assistance of David I of Scotland (r. 1124-1153 CE), was defeated by an army of Stephen’s. At least Henry did not completely waste his time as he was knighted by the Scottish king. In any case, Henry could bide his time and once he had much greater resources at his disposal, he tried another invasion in 1153 CE which, third time lucky, finally brought an end to the civil war.
In 1153 CE, King Stephen was something of a broken man following the death of his wife and son Eustace (b. 1127 CE) that year. He now faced Henry's third invasion and hoped for a decisive pitched battle, but in the event, neither side's soldiers or leaders were very keen on a fight. Consequently, on 6 November, Stephen signed with Henry the Treaty of Wallingford, which recognised him as Stephen’s official heir. In return, Stephen was allowed to keep his crown for the rest of his life. The barons had no better candidate to support than Henry, and it was clear to all that the civil war had not done anybody any good (even if its chaos has perhaps been exaggerated by later historians) and the last thing England needed was another tussle for the throne. As one anonymous medieval chronicler put it, "For nineteen long winters, God and his angels slept" (quoted in McDowall, 26). It was time for unity and peace. Consequently, when Stephen died on 25 October 1154 CE at Dover in Kent, Henry was crowned on 19 December 1154 CE at Westminster Abbey, and he became the first undisputed king of England for over a century.
Henry was so determined to destroy the castles of the unruly barons that he gained the nickname the ‘castle-breaker.’
Consolidating Royal Power
Henry’s first important task was to bring the Anglo-Norman barons back into line after the period of civil war in England (1135-1153 CE) had enabled them to largely ignore royal authority and build castles, mint their own coinage, and generally deal with the peasantry how they wished without regard to the law. Many castles built in that period were of a temporary nature and not large stone edifices, but Henry was so determined to destroy them he gained the nickname the ‘castle-breaker.’ Some of the stronger and older castles he kept for himself such as Scarborough Castle, Nottingham Castle, Norwich Castle, and Castle Acre. To better ensure the law was equally applied everywhere in the country - a process begun by Henry I - the Assizes of Clarendon established in 1166 CE principles of Common Law, crown courts were set up, and trial by a jury of 12 men was established to punish those who broke it.
A second area where royal power had been eroded was the borders of England. Both Scottish and Welsh rulers had taken advantage of King Stephen’s preoccupation with Empress Matilda to increase their domains. Henry negotiated the return of Cumbria and Northumbria from Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153-1165 CE) but conferred on him the earldom of Huntingdon and allowed the Scottish king to keep the castle at Wark-upon-Tyne in 1157 CE. The Welsh princes, especially Owain Gwynedd (r. 1137-1170 CE), required a more militaristic approach but Henry achieved his aim of reasserting his authority in the east of his kingdom. From 1171 CE a series of invasions were launched in Ireland against the dangerous baron Richard FitzGilbert (aka Strongbow). Eventually, the king’s youngest son John was sent to rule there in place of the traditional High King (Ard Ri).
Treaties then formally recognised Henry’s overlordship over Wales (1163 CE), Scotland (1174 CE), and Ireland (1175 CE). Henry was further boosted by the support of Pope Adrian IV (r. 1154-1159 CE) who gave formal recognition of the English king’s authority over all of Britain and Ireland. The king also maintained his interest in France, indeed, he would spend 20 of his 35 years as king outside England.
Thomas Becket
A third area where Henry sought to reaffirm the power of the monarchy was its relationship with the medieval Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket (in office 1162-1170 CE), who had also been the chancellor (from 1155 CE) and a great friend of the king, proved troublesome, and his murder in 1170 CE would overshadow Henry’s reign both at the time and ever since. Thomas had tried to defend the Church’s independence and block the Crown’s attempts to extract taxes from its lands and interfere in appointments. Neither side would budge and, in 1164 CE, Thomas was obliged to flee to a Cistercian monastery in France. Six years later, Thomas returned to England in early December 1170 CE to recrown Henry the Young King after the Pope had decided the original coronation, in which the Archbishop of York had performed the ceremony, was void.
The murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral shocked the European establishment.
On his return to England Thomas immediately began to suspend or excommunicate those bishops who had not supported him against the king. When Henry remarked ‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?’ four knights took this as a literal order and so they searched out and murdered Thomas while he was praying in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 CE. The murder shocked the establishment, and the Pope even made Thomas into a saint in 1173 CE. Fortunately for Henry, Papal legates found the king innocent of Thomas’ death, although in 1174 CE he did have to perform a symbolic act of penance by visiting the dead archbishop’s tomb in the cathedral in which he was murdered; monks armed with branches performed a penitential flogging of the king for good measure.
Rebellion
1173 CE proved to be quite a bad year for the king as his sons and wife rebelled against his rule from this point onwards. Eleanor of Aquitaine had become increasingly exasperated by her husband’s unwillingness to delegate any real power to her and his infidelity, especially his public relationship with the noblewoman Rosamund Clifford (d. 1176 CE), famed for her beauty. Around 1170 CE Eleanor effectively separated from her husband and set up her own court in Poitiers. Her favourite son Richard went with her.
Meanwhile, Henry, well aware of the succession problems that had bedevilled his Norman predecessors, tried to cover himself as best he could by not only nominating his eldest son Henry as his successor but even having him crowned king-designate in 1170 CE, as we have seen (and again in 1173 CE to be absolutely sure). This was a common enough policy amongst French sovereigns and is why the heir is often referred to as Henry the Young King. Besides becoming king of England, the younger Henry was also to acquire the family lands in Anjou and Normandy. The other three sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, were to receive Aquitaine, Brittany and Ireland respectively. All these careful plans were then thrown out of the window when in 1173 CE the young Henry, Eleanor, and several prominent barons upset over Thomas Becket’s murder launched an 18-month rebellion against the king.
Despite the rebels having Sir William Marshal (c. 1146-1219 CE) on their side, often described as the greatest ever medieval knight, as well as Richard, who would earn himself a reputation as a great military leader, and his brother Geoffrey and William the Lion of Scotland (r. 1165-1214 CE), the rebellion was quashed by the end of 1174 CE. The king's preoccupation with castles had paid dividends. The trouble was a great expense for the crown, though, with huge sums of money spent on strengthening such key fortresses as Windsor Castle and Dover Castle amongst many others and building the technologically advanced Orford Castle in Suffolk. After the rebellion, Eleanor was imprisoned in various castles, only to be released in 1184 CE. Henry the Young King died of dysentery on 11 June 1183 CE. Geoffrey then died in an accident at a medieval tournament on 19 August 1186 CE, leaving Richard as the heir to the English throne despite the fact John had been (seemingly) the only one loyal to his father.
Richard remained impatient, though, and was not quite finished with his schemes to replace his father. In mid-1189 CE he joined forces with Philip II of France (aka Philip Augustus, r. 1180-1223 CE) - technically Richard’s feudal overlord of his lands in France - and the pair were even supported by John against his father. Henry II, with everyone against him, was thus obliged to sign a peace deal and formally recognise the French king as his overlord regarding those lands he still held in France and to nominate Richard as his heir in England.
Death & Successor
Henry died of natural causes on 6 July 1189 CE at Chinon Castle, Anjou. Betrayed by his own nearest and dearest, legend has it the king’s dying words were ‘Shame, shame on a vanquished king’. The dead monarch was buried at Fontevrault Abbey in France. Henry, as agreed, was succeeded by his son Richard who was crowned on 2 September 1189 CE at Westminster Abbey. The kingdom still faced a serious threat from the scheming Philip II who was ambitious to expand his own territory. Philip conspired with John to make him king instead of Richard while the latter was away on the Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) and then held in captivity by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1191-1197 CE). Richard was freed two years later thanks to the payment of a ransom organised by his mother but when he died in battle in 1199 CE, John did at last become king, reigning until 1216 CE. In all, and albeit under different house names after 1399 CE, the Plantagenets would see 14 kings rule England for 331 years, making them the longest-lasting royal dynasty in the country’s history."
"Henry II of England
Henry II of England ruled from 1154 to 1189 CE. He gained the throne by negotiation with his predecessor King Stephen of England (r. 1135-1154 CE) following the civil war that had raged between that monarch and Henry’s mother Empress Matilda (l. 1102-1167 CE). Henry would begin a new ruling dynasty, the Angevins-Plantagenets, and he would rule until 1189 CE, forming the largest 'empire' in western Europe and establishing himself as one of England’s greatest ever kings. Two black marks which became impossible to erase from memory, however, were the murder of his chancellor and then archbishop, Thomas Becket in 1170 CE and the rebellions led by his own sons at the end of his reign. Henry was succeeded by his son Richard I of England, aka Richard ‘the Lionheart’ (r. 1189-1199 CE) and then his other son King John of England (r. 1199-1216 CE).
Early Life - The Plantagenets
Henry of Anjou was born on 5 March 1133 CE at Le Mans, France, the son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou (l. 1113-1151 CE). Henry’s mother was Empress Matilda, the daughter of Henry I of England (r. 1100-1135 CE), who had gained her title when marrying her first husband Holy Roman Emperor Henry V (r. 1111-1125 CE) in 1114 CE. After Henry V’s death, Matilda married again, this time to Geoffrey in 1128 CE. The count became known by the nickname ‘Plantagenet’ because his family coat of arms included the broom plant (planta genista). Alternative theories for the origin of the name are that Count Geoffrey wore sprigs of the plant in his hat or his lands were planted with it to provide good cover while hunting. The Plantagenets (1154-1399 CE) did not, of course, call themselves that name, the monarchs carried no surname. The first three kings of the line - Henry II, Richard I, and King John - are sometimes referred to as the Angevins after their ancestral lands in Anjou in north-west France.
Henry II was known for his good looks, intelligence, and ability to speak several languages. Credited with boundless energy and drive, the king was of stocky build and had piercing grey eyes, red hair, and a ferocious temper to match. In later life, he was said to have had a significant paunch.
Henry inherited his father’s lands in Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, and Maine in 1151 CE, but he was ambitious for much more. Following military victories in Brittany and, in May 1152 CE, his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1122-1204 CE), the former wife of Louis VII of France (r. 1137-1180 CE), Henry came to control most of France. Henry was ambitious, too, to control England, weakened as it was by years of civil war. He and Eleanor would have eight children which included Richard I the ‘Lionheart’ or Coeur de Lion (b. 1157 CE), Geoffrey, Count of Brittany (b. 1158 CE), Henry the Young King (b. 1155 CE, who reigned as junior king, 1170-1183 CE) and King John of England (b. 1167 CE).
In 1153 CE King Stephen signed with Henry the Treaty of Wallingford, which recognised him as Stephen’s official heir.
King Stephen, Empress Matilda & Succession
Returning back to 1135 CE, King Henry I of England had left no legitimate male heir and so his nominated successor was his daughter Matilda whom the king had made his barons swear loyalty to. When it came to the actual coronation, though, many barons wanted neither a woman or an Anjou count anywhere near the throne and so supported instead the dead king’s nephew and richest man in England, Stephen of Blois. Consequently, with some sharp manoeuvring, Stephen was crowned king in December 1135 CE. Empress Matilda was undeterred and a civil war broke out between barons who supported Stephen and those who favoured Matilda and her chief ally Robert Fitzroy, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I. The war proved long and damaging, and neither side managed to gain the upper-hand, even if Matilda briefly became queen in 1141 CE while Stephen was imprisoned at Bristol. Matilda’s cause was gravely weakened following the death of Robert Fitzroy in 1147 CE and she now focused her attention on the promotion of her son Henry.
Henry attempted an invasion of England in 1147 CE, but his campaign came to an end when he ran out of funds, obliging his return to Normandy. Rather bizarrely, but entirely in keeping with Stephen’s reputation for clemency, the English king paid for Henry’s trip home. Another attack in 1149 CE, this time in the north of England and with the assistance of David I of Scotland (r. 1124-1153 CE), was defeated by an army of Stephen’s. At least Henry did not completely waste his time as he was knighted by the Scottish king. In any case, Henry could bide his time and once he had much greater resources at his disposal, he tried another invasion in 1153 CE which, third time lucky, finally brought an end to the civil war.
In 1153 CE, King Stephen was something of a broken man following the death of his wife and son Eustace (b. 1127 CE) that year. He now faced Henry's third invasion and hoped for a decisive pitched battle, but in the event, neither side's soldiers or leaders were very keen on a fight. Consequently, on 6 November, Stephen signed with Henry the Treaty of Wallingford, which recognised him as Stephen’s official heir. In return, Stephen was allowed to keep his crown for the rest of his life. The barons had no better candidate to support than Henry, and it was clear to all that the civil war had not done anybody any good (even if its chaos has perhaps been exaggerated by later historians) and the last thing England needed was another tussle for the throne. As one anonymous medieval chronicler put it, "For nineteen long winters, God and his angels slept" (quoted in McDowall, 26). It was time for unity and peace. Consequently, when Stephen died on 25 October 1154 CE at Dover in Kent, Henry was crowned on 19 December 1154 CE at Westminster Abbey, and he became the first undisputed king of England for over a century.
Henry was so determined to destroy the castles of the unruly barons that he gained the nickname the ‘castle-breaker.’
Consolidating Royal Power
Henry’s first important task was to bring the Anglo-Norman barons back into line after the period of civil war in England (1135-1153 CE) had enabled them to largely ignore royal authority and build castles, mint their own coinage, and generally deal with the peasantry how they wished without regard to the law. Many castles built in that period were of a temporary nature and not large stone edifices, but Henry was so determined to destroy them he gained the nickname the ‘castle-breaker.’ Some of the stronger and older castles he kept for himself such as Scarborough Castle, Nottingham Castle, Norwich Castle, and Castle Acre. To better ensure the law was equally applied everywhere in the country - a process begun by Henry I - the Assizes of Clarendon established in 1166 CE principles of Common Law, crown courts were set up, and trial by a jury of 12 men was established to punish those who broke it.
A second area where royal power had been eroded was the borders of England. Both Scottish and Welsh rulers had taken advantage of King Stephen’s preoccupation with Empress Matilda to increase their domains. Henry negotiated the return of Cumbria and Northumbria from Malcolm IV of Scotland (1153-1165 CE) but conferred on him the earldom of Huntingdon and allowed the Scottish king to keep the castle at Wark-upon-Tyne in 1157 CE. The Welsh princes, especially Owain Gwynedd (r. 1137-1170 CE), required a more militaristic approach but Henry achieved his aim of reasserting his authority in the east of his kingdom. From 1171 CE a series of invasions were launched in Ireland against the dangerous baron Richard FitzGilbert (aka Strongbow). Eventually, the king’s youngest son John was sent to rule there in place of the traditional High King (Ard Ri).
Treaties then formally recognised Henry’s overlordship over Wales (1163 CE), Scotland (1174 CE), and Ireland (1175 CE). Henry was further boosted by the support of Pope Adrian IV (r. 1154-1159 CE) who gave formal recognition of the English king’s authority over all of Britain and Ireland. The king also maintained his interest in France, indeed, he would spend 20 of his 35 years as king outside England.
Thomas Becket
A third area where Henry sought to reaffirm the power of the monarchy was its relationship with the medieval Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket (in office 1162-1170 CE), who had also been the chancellor (from 1155 CE) and a great friend of the king, proved troublesome, and his murder in 1170 CE would overshadow Henry’s reign both at the time and ever since. Thomas had tried to defend the Church’s independence and block the Crown’s attempts to extract taxes from its lands and interfere in appointments. Neither side would budge and, in 1164 CE, Thomas was obliged to flee to a Cistercian monastery in France. Six years later, Thomas returned to England in early December 1170 CE to recrown Henry the Young King after the Pope had decided the original coronation, in which the Archbishop of York had performed the ceremony, was void.
The murder of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral shocked the European establishment.
On his return to England Thomas immediately began to suspend or excommunicate those bishops who had not supported him against the king. When Henry remarked ‘Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?’ four knights took this as a literal order and so they searched out and murdered Thomas while he was praying in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December 1170 CE. The murder shocked the establishment, and the Pope even made Thomas into a saint in 1173 CE. Fortunately for Henry, Papal legates found the king innocent of Thomas’ death, although in 1174 CE he did have to perform a symbolic act of penance by visiting the dead archbishop’s tomb in the cathedral in which he was murdered; monks armed with branches performed a penitential flogging of the king for good measure.
Rebellion
1173 CE proved to be quite a bad year for the king as his sons and wife rebelled against his rule from this point onwards. Eleanor of Aquitaine had become increasingly exasperated by her husband’s unwillingness to delegate any real power to her and his infidelity, especially his public relationship with the noblewoman Rosamund Clifford (d. 1176 CE), famed for her beauty. Around 1170 CE Eleanor effectively separated from her husband and set up her own court in Poitiers. Her favourite son Richard went with her.
Meanwhile, Henry, well aware of the succession problems that had bedevilled his Norman predecessors, tried to cover himself as best he could by not only nominating his eldest son Henry as his successor but even having him crowned king-designate in 1170 CE, as we have seen (and again in 1173 CE to be absolutely sure). This was a common enough policy amongst French sovereigns and is why the heir is often referred to as Henry the Young King. Besides becoming king of England, the younger Henry was also to acquire the family lands in Anjou and Normandy. The other three sons Richard, Geoffrey, and John, were to receive Aquitaine, Brittany and Ireland respectively. All these careful plans were then thrown out of the window when in 1173 CE the young Henry, Eleanor, and several prominent barons upset over Thomas Becket’s murder launched an 18-month rebellion against the king.
Despite the rebels having Sir William Marshal (c. 1146-1219 CE) on their side, often described as the greatest ever medieval knight, as well as Richard, who would earn himself a reputation as a great military leader, and his brother Geoffrey and William the Lion of Scotland (r. 1165-1214 CE), the rebellion was quashed by the end of 1174 CE. The king's preoccupation with castles had paid dividends. The trouble was a great expense for the crown, though, with huge sums of money spent on strengthening such key fortresses as Windsor Castle and Dover Castle amongst many others and building the technologically advanced Orford Castle in Suffolk. After the rebellion, Eleanor was imprisoned in various castles, only to be released in 1184 CE. Henry the Young King died of dysentery on 11 June 1183 CE. Geoffrey then died in an accident at a medieval tournament on 19 August 1186 CE, leaving Richard as the heir to the English throne despite the fact John had been (seemingly) the only one loyal to his father.
Richard remained impatient, though, and was not quite finished with his schemes to replace his father. In mid-1189 CE he joined forces with Philip II of France (aka Philip Augustus, r. 1180-1223 CE) - technically Richard’s feudal overlord of his lands in France - and the pair were even supported by John against his father. Henry II, with everyone against him, was thus obliged to sign a peace deal and formally recognise the French king as his overlord regarding those lands he still held in France and to nominate Richard as his heir in England.
Death & Successor
Henry died of natural causes on 6 July 1189 CE at Chinon Castle, Anjou. Betrayed by his own nearest and dearest, legend has it the king’s dying words were ‘Shame, shame on a vanquished king’. The dead monarch was buried at Fontevrault Abbey in France. Henry, as agreed, was succeeded by his son Richard who was crowned on 2 September 1189 CE at Westminster Abbey. The kingdom still faced a serious threat from the scheming Philip II who was ambitious to expand his own territory. Philip conspired with John to make him king instead of Richard while the latter was away on the Third Crusade (1189-1192 CE) and then held in captivity by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (r. 1191-1197 CE). Richard was freed two years later thanks to the payment of a ransom organised by his mother but when he died in battle in 1199 CE, John did at last become king, reigning until 1216 CE. In all, and albeit under different house names after 1399 CE, the Plantagenets would see 14 kings rule England for 331 years, making them the longest-lasting royal dynasty in the country’s history."
Henry II of England
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Facts You Didn’t Know about the Norman Invasion of Ireland
Guest Author Site: https://www.ruadhbutler.com/ Ireland was the first foreign shore where English adventurers landed with the aim of conquest in the mid-12th...
Facts You Didn’t Know about the Norman Invasion of Ireland
"Ireland was the first foreign shore where English adventurers landed with the aim of conquest in the mid-12th century. The Emerald Isle would prove infuriatingly unruly and their people almost impossible to govern. Battles, blood feuds, wars and rebellions raged almost constantly for eight centuries as the would-be conquerors and independent-minded native populace fought for supremacy."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhgxyjMf83I
Images
1. The medieval castle in the English county of Kent.
2. Cong canal Ashford Castle
3. Pope Adrian IV, born Nicholas Breakspear, is the only Englishman to have been pope.
4. King Henry II of England presents the papal bull ‘Laudabiliter’ to the Archbishop of Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland, 1172.
5. Graphical representation of the British Bull by Pope Adrian VI
Biographies:
1. yourirish.com/history/medieval/king-henry-ii-invades-Ireland
2. historyextra.com/period/medieval/Anglo-Norman-invasion-Ireland-when-England-English-intervention
Background from [https://www.yourirish.com/history/medieval/king-henry-ii-invades-ireland]
King Henry II of England Invades Ireland
King Henry II
As Richard de Clare (Strongbow) enjoyed life in Ireland, married into Irish Kingship and gaining land, King Henry II of England became unnerved that some of his loyal subjects were becoming too accustomed to Ireland’s way of life. The only solution was for King Henry to invade Ireland himself.
The arrival of King Henry II in Ireland
King Henry of England organized a large fleet of 400 ships to transport his army and weapons, its believed he had as little as 500 mounted knights and 4,000 men-at-arms along with archers. They set sail from Wales landing on Irish shores in October of 1171, the first time a King or Queen of England set foot in Ireland.
When King Henry II arrived in Ireland they already settled Normans submitted to remain loyal and handed over any land they gained from their previous invasion. Richard de Clare (Strongbow) promised to remain loyal to King Henry II if he was allowed to keep what he had already gained in Ireland. Irish Kings would also have to make an oath to the King of England and pay a tax, most Irish Kings agreed but others wouldn’t.
The construction of castles
During his time Henry II set about constructing castles in Ireland to better protect his newly conquered territories and he built some of the finest examples of castles such as Ashford Castle which was built by the de Burgo’s in 1228.
The majority of castles would be built as fortified homes to protect the Lords and most powerful Anglo-Normans in Ireland at the time. These fortifications would be typical in design, a strong-wall surrounding a tower-house, and would prove very effective.'
2. Background from {[https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/anglo-norman-invasion-ireland-when-england-english-intervention/}}
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: 850 years on
In the middle of the 12th century, England's King Henry II (seemingly with the permission from the pope) turned his attention to an invasion of Ireland. As the complex negotiations around the Irish border continue to dominate Brexit negotiations, Arthur Snell considers the start of English intervention in Ireland, 850 years ago in early May 1169
May 9, 2019 at 10:53 am
Debates rage over the division of authority between Westminster and Europe. A document of international law purports to regulate the relationship between England and Ireland, but nobody can agree on its true meaning. As tensions rise, imperialistic rhetoric becomes commonplace. European negotiators fail to quell tensions. Violence breaks out in Ireland. There is fighting between Gaelic Irish and the descendants of settlers who had arrived from Scotland. Soldiers of the English Crown join the battle and become an army of occupation.
In the 1160s, England’s king Henry II was at the height of his powers, arguably the greatest monarch of Europe. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine had brought dominion over the Atlantic coast of France in addition to his existing lands in England, Normandy and Anjou. With a mixture of military force and shrewd matchmaking of his many children, he expanded his authority over Brittany and large areas of southern France. This ‘Angevin Empire’, named for Henry’s title as Count of Anjou, was England’s first imperial moment. It was an unprecedented projection of power by an English ruler into Europe.
Henry’s attention soon turned to England’s neighbouring island, Ireland. In 1155, the only ever English pope, Adrian IV, issued a papal ‘bull’ entitled Laudabiliter. According to subsequent accounts sympathetic to Henry, the bull gave the English king the right to invade and rule Ireland – and sought to enforce Roman church norms on Ireland’s semi-autonomous Gaelic church. The bull coincided with a proposed invasion of Ireland that Henry had discussed and then dismissed on the advice of his mother, Empress Matilda.
Internal tensions and divided kingdoms
After a false start in 1155, it was internal tensions in Ireland that facilitated the Anglo-Norman invasion. Gaelic Ireland was made up of a series of kingdoms, interspersed with settlements of mixed Norse-Scottish populations. The various kingdoms were often at war with one another and as a result, Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster, was exiled in the 1160s and appealed to Henry for support. Henry offered little, but it was enough: in return for Diarmait’s loyalty, he was allowed to recruit Norman mercenaries.
On 1 May 1169, a small force of Anglo-Normans joined Diarmait to reconquer Leinster. Their first military engagement was against the Viking settlement in Wexford, but they soon confronted the combined Irish kingdoms under High King Ruaidri. In 1170, the Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard de Clare – better known as Strongbow – utilised a larger army against the Irish, but ultimately failed to defeat Ruaidri. In 1171, King Henry arrived in force – largely to prevent Strongbow from declaring himself king of Ireland. This is an important point: Henry invaded as much to control Strongbow, who looked increasingly powerful, as he did to take possession of the territory for himself. (The analogies with the British army’s initial deployment to Northern Ireland in 1969 to protect Catholic communities are striking.)
In 1171, many Irish and Norman leaders recognised Henry’s overlordship and Henry brought the Irish church into line with Roman authority. In return, the new pope Alexander III wrote letters confirming Henry’s rights over the “barbarous” land.
Did Laudabiliter exist?
Laudabiliter had done its job: the English king was Ireland’s overlord and the Irish church under Rome’s authority, with a tax for the papacy to be collected by the English crown. But was this a faithful execution of the original intention of Pope Adrian IV? There is no way of knowing: no verified copies of Laudabiliter exist. John of Salisbury, who met Henry in 1159, wrote of the existence of Laudabiliter in a contemporary account of his dealings with Pope Adrian. But John did not record the actual text. Despite its usefulness to Henry’s cause, Henry never used Laudabiliter to justify his invasion, nor is it quoted in the letters of pope Alexander III of 1172 confirming Henry’s rule over Ireland, an inexplicable oversight. There was no copy of Laudabiliter in the English crown’s archives and nor was it used by King John who, in the early 13th century, had a ‘Black Book’ compiled of all the crown’s precedents and privileges.
The earliest recorded version of the Laudabiliter text comes from Gerald of Wales, writing in 1188 and seeking to justify his own relatives’ role in Ireland, as well as to burnish his credentials with King Henry. Gerald’s account gives the English king and the Roman church everything they want, and has been treated as the foundation for English (and later British) rule over Ireland. But it has also been dogged by accusations that it is a forgery, or at least a heavily-edited version of Pope Adrian’s original document – its structure and wording are very different to other papal pronouncements from the same period. It seems reasonable to conclude that Laudabiliter may have existed, but whatever it might have originally said, it did not suit the Normans to publicise its contents.
Nonetheless, the text recorded (or created) by Gerald acquired credibility over time. By the 14th century, Laudabiliter was frequently cited as the document governing England’s rule over Ireland and it has come to have immense significance in the tangled history of England and Ireland. Its primary purpose may have been to reassert Roman control over the Irish church, but its lasting role has been as the English kings’ title deed to the kingdom of Ireland, the establishment of centuries of English intervention and domination. Even in the reign of Henry VIII, Laudabiliter remained significant: England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 led Irish nobles to argue they no longer owed allegiance to the English king whose power in Ireland depended on papal authority.
As Irish nationalism grew during the 19th century, the possibility that the original presence in Ireland of English invaders might have been based on a ‘dodgy dossier’ began to be explored by new generations of historians. One of the leading exponents of this view was Laurence Ginnell, who in 1899 published The Doubtful Grant of Ireland By Pope Adrian IV to King Henry Investigated. It is simplistic to lay the entire complexity of Anglo-Irish relations at the door of a questionable document of the mid-12th century. Undoubtedly, the specific complexity of sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland relates more directly to the Plantation of Ulster by Scottish settlers in the 17th century. And the longest shadow is cast by the Irish famine of 1845–1849 and the British government’s inadequate response. But all these events were ultimately shaped by that first invasion, exactly 850 years ago. And 850 years after the first Anglo-Norman invasions, the relationship between Britain and Ireland reminds us why history always matters.
FYI SGM Gerald Fife MSG Felipe De Leon Brown LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC (Join to see)Lt Col Charlie Brown PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell SGT Denny Espinosa ] SSG Robert Mark Odom SP5 Michael Rathbun COL Ted Mc Sgt Kelli Mays LTC Bill Koski LTC (Join to see) MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. COL (Join to see) Alan K.
"Ireland was the first foreign shore where English adventurers landed with the aim of conquest in the mid-12th century. The Emerald Isle would prove infuriatingly unruly and their people almost impossible to govern. Battles, blood feuds, wars and rebellions raged almost constantly for eight centuries as the would-be conquerors and independent-minded native populace fought for supremacy."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhgxyjMf83I
Images
1. The medieval castle in the English county of Kent.
2. Cong canal Ashford Castle
3. Pope Adrian IV, born Nicholas Breakspear, is the only Englishman to have been pope.
4. King Henry II of England presents the papal bull ‘Laudabiliter’ to the Archbishop of Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland, 1172.
5. Graphical representation of the British Bull by Pope Adrian VI
Biographies:
1. yourirish.com/history/medieval/king-henry-ii-invades-Ireland
2. historyextra.com/period/medieval/Anglo-Norman-invasion-Ireland-when-England-English-intervention
Background from [https://www.yourirish.com/history/medieval/king-henry-ii-invades-ireland]
King Henry II of England Invades Ireland
King Henry II
As Richard de Clare (Strongbow) enjoyed life in Ireland, married into Irish Kingship and gaining land, King Henry II of England became unnerved that some of his loyal subjects were becoming too accustomed to Ireland’s way of life. The only solution was for King Henry to invade Ireland himself.
The arrival of King Henry II in Ireland
King Henry of England organized a large fleet of 400 ships to transport his army and weapons, its believed he had as little as 500 mounted knights and 4,000 men-at-arms along with archers. They set sail from Wales landing on Irish shores in October of 1171, the first time a King or Queen of England set foot in Ireland.
When King Henry II arrived in Ireland they already settled Normans submitted to remain loyal and handed over any land they gained from their previous invasion. Richard de Clare (Strongbow) promised to remain loyal to King Henry II if he was allowed to keep what he had already gained in Ireland. Irish Kings would also have to make an oath to the King of England and pay a tax, most Irish Kings agreed but others wouldn’t.
The construction of castles
During his time Henry II set about constructing castles in Ireland to better protect his newly conquered territories and he built some of the finest examples of castles such as Ashford Castle which was built by the de Burgo’s in 1228.
The majority of castles would be built as fortified homes to protect the Lords and most powerful Anglo-Normans in Ireland at the time. These fortifications would be typical in design, a strong-wall surrounding a tower-house, and would prove very effective.'
2. Background from {[https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/anglo-norman-invasion-ireland-when-england-english-intervention/}}
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: 850 years on
In the middle of the 12th century, England's King Henry II (seemingly with the permission from the pope) turned his attention to an invasion of Ireland. As the complex negotiations around the Irish border continue to dominate Brexit negotiations, Arthur Snell considers the start of English intervention in Ireland, 850 years ago in early May 1169
May 9, 2019 at 10:53 am
Debates rage over the division of authority between Westminster and Europe. A document of international law purports to regulate the relationship between England and Ireland, but nobody can agree on its true meaning. As tensions rise, imperialistic rhetoric becomes commonplace. European negotiators fail to quell tensions. Violence breaks out in Ireland. There is fighting between Gaelic Irish and the descendants of settlers who had arrived from Scotland. Soldiers of the English Crown join the battle and become an army of occupation.
In the 1160s, England’s king Henry II was at the height of his powers, arguably the greatest monarch of Europe. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine had brought dominion over the Atlantic coast of France in addition to his existing lands in England, Normandy and Anjou. With a mixture of military force and shrewd matchmaking of his many children, he expanded his authority over Brittany and large areas of southern France. This ‘Angevin Empire’, named for Henry’s title as Count of Anjou, was England’s first imperial moment. It was an unprecedented projection of power by an English ruler into Europe.
Henry’s attention soon turned to England’s neighbouring island, Ireland. In 1155, the only ever English pope, Adrian IV, issued a papal ‘bull’ entitled Laudabiliter. According to subsequent accounts sympathetic to Henry, the bull gave the English king the right to invade and rule Ireland – and sought to enforce Roman church norms on Ireland’s semi-autonomous Gaelic church. The bull coincided with a proposed invasion of Ireland that Henry had discussed and then dismissed on the advice of his mother, Empress Matilda.
Internal tensions and divided kingdoms
After a false start in 1155, it was internal tensions in Ireland that facilitated the Anglo-Norman invasion. Gaelic Ireland was made up of a series of kingdoms, interspersed with settlements of mixed Norse-Scottish populations. The various kingdoms were often at war with one another and as a result, Diarmait Mac Murchada, king of Leinster, was exiled in the 1160s and appealed to Henry for support. Henry offered little, but it was enough: in return for Diarmait’s loyalty, he was allowed to recruit Norman mercenaries.
On 1 May 1169, a small force of Anglo-Normans joined Diarmait to reconquer Leinster. Their first military engagement was against the Viking settlement in Wexford, but they soon confronted the combined Irish kingdoms under High King Ruaidri. In 1170, the Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard de Clare – better known as Strongbow – utilised a larger army against the Irish, but ultimately failed to defeat Ruaidri. In 1171, King Henry arrived in force – largely to prevent Strongbow from declaring himself king of Ireland. This is an important point: Henry invaded as much to control Strongbow, who looked increasingly powerful, as he did to take possession of the territory for himself. (The analogies with the British army’s initial deployment to Northern Ireland in 1969 to protect Catholic communities are striking.)
In 1171, many Irish and Norman leaders recognised Henry’s overlordship and Henry brought the Irish church into line with Roman authority. In return, the new pope Alexander III wrote letters confirming Henry’s rights over the “barbarous” land.
Did Laudabiliter exist?
Laudabiliter had done its job: the English king was Ireland’s overlord and the Irish church under Rome’s authority, with a tax for the papacy to be collected by the English crown. But was this a faithful execution of the original intention of Pope Adrian IV? There is no way of knowing: no verified copies of Laudabiliter exist. John of Salisbury, who met Henry in 1159, wrote of the existence of Laudabiliter in a contemporary account of his dealings with Pope Adrian. But John did not record the actual text. Despite its usefulness to Henry’s cause, Henry never used Laudabiliter to justify his invasion, nor is it quoted in the letters of pope Alexander III of 1172 confirming Henry’s rule over Ireland, an inexplicable oversight. There was no copy of Laudabiliter in the English crown’s archives and nor was it used by King John who, in the early 13th century, had a ‘Black Book’ compiled of all the crown’s precedents and privileges.
The earliest recorded version of the Laudabiliter text comes from Gerald of Wales, writing in 1188 and seeking to justify his own relatives’ role in Ireland, as well as to burnish his credentials with King Henry. Gerald’s account gives the English king and the Roman church everything they want, and has been treated as the foundation for English (and later British) rule over Ireland. But it has also been dogged by accusations that it is a forgery, or at least a heavily-edited version of Pope Adrian’s original document – its structure and wording are very different to other papal pronouncements from the same period. It seems reasonable to conclude that Laudabiliter may have existed, but whatever it might have originally said, it did not suit the Normans to publicise its contents.
Nonetheless, the text recorded (or created) by Gerald acquired credibility over time. By the 14th century, Laudabiliter was frequently cited as the document governing England’s rule over Ireland and it has come to have immense significance in the tangled history of England and Ireland. Its primary purpose may have been to reassert Roman control over the Irish church, but its lasting role has been as the English kings’ title deed to the kingdom of Ireland, the establishment of centuries of English intervention and domination. Even in the reign of Henry VIII, Laudabiliter remained significant: England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 led Irish nobles to argue they no longer owed allegiance to the English king whose power in Ireland depended on papal authority.
As Irish nationalism grew during the 19th century, the possibility that the original presence in Ireland of English invaders might have been based on a ‘dodgy dossier’ began to be explored by new generations of historians. One of the leading exponents of this view was Laurence Ginnell, who in 1899 published The Doubtful Grant of Ireland By Pope Adrian IV to King Henry Investigated. It is simplistic to lay the entire complexity of Anglo-Irish relations at the door of a questionable document of the mid-12th century. Undoubtedly, the specific complexity of sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland relates more directly to the Plantation of Ulster by Scottish settlers in the 17th century. And the longest shadow is cast by the Irish famine of 1845–1849 and the British government’s inadequate response. But all these events were ultimately shaped by that first invasion, exactly 850 years ago. And 850 years after the first Anglo-Norman invasions, the relationship between Britain and Ireland reminds us why history always matters.
FYI SGM Gerald Fife MSG Felipe De Leon Brown LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson PO1 William "Chip" Nagel LTC (Join to see)Lt Col Charlie Brown PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell SGT Denny Espinosa ] SSG Robert Mark Odom SP5 Michael Rathbun COL Ted Mc Sgt Kelli Mays LTC Bill Koski LTC (Join to see) MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. COL (Join to see) Alan K.
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Becket Complete Peter O Toole Richard Burton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmTHwLwyt_I
Images:
1. Chinon Castle, primary residence of King Henry II, where he died in 1189
2. Eleanor of Aqiutaine, tomb effigy at Fontevault
3. Thomas a Becket and Henry II in stained glass from Chester Cathedral
4. Tomb of Henry II at Fontevrault
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Kim Patterson Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi SGT Steve McFarland SPC Woody Bullard SGT Denny Espinosa TSgt David L. SPC Margaret Higgins Cynthia Croft SGT Cynthia Barnard SPC Nancy Greene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmTHwLwyt_I
Images:
1. Chinon Castle, primary residence of King Henry II, where he died in 1189
2. Eleanor of Aqiutaine, tomb effigy at Fontevault
3. Thomas a Becket and Henry II in stained glass from Chester Cathedral
4. Tomb of Henry II at Fontevrault
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Col Carl Whicker LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown Maj Kim Patterson Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SFC David Reid, M.S, PHR, SHRM-CP, DTM MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi SGT Steve McFarland SPC Woody Bullard SGT Denny Espinosa TSgt David L. SPC Margaret Higgins Cynthia Croft SGT Cynthia Barnard SPC Nancy Greene
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Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that on July 6, 1189 Henry II, King of England (1154-89), died of a bleeding ulcer at the age of 56.
King Henry II of England
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM_5BAcjZQU
Images
1. Henry II of England
2. 12th-century depiction of Henry and Eleanor holding court
3. Angevin Empire circa 1174 and The Kingdom of France map
4. Henry II of England (1133-1189) on engraving from 1830. King of England during 1154-1189
Biographies
1. englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet.htm
2. historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-II-of-England/
1. Background from {[http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet.htm]}
Henry II [1154-89]
Parentage and Early Life
Arguably one of the most effective Kings ever to wear the English crown and the first of the great Plantagenet dynasty, the future Henry II was born at Le Mans, Anjou on 5th March, 1133. He was the son of that ill-matched pair, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Matilda, (known as the Empress, from her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor) the daughter of Henry I of England.
Henry's parents never cared for each other, their's was a union of convenience. Henry I chose Geoffrey to sire his grandchildren because his lands were strategically placed on the Norman frontiers and he required the support of Geoffrey's father, his erstwhile enemy, Fulk of Anjou. He accordingly forced his highly reluctant daughter to marry the fifteen year old Geoffrey. The pair disliked each other from the outset of their union and neither was of a nature to pretend otherwise and so the scene was set for an extremely stormy marriage. They were, however, finally prevailed upon by the formidable Henry I to do their duty and produce an heir to England. They had three sons, Henry was the eldest of these and always the favourite of his adoring mother.
When the young Henry was a few months old, his delighted grandfather, Henry I, crossed over the channel from England to see his new heir and is said to have dandled the child on his knee. He was to grow very attached to his new grandson, the old warrior was said to spend much time playing with the young Henry.
Henry's father Geoffrey's nickname derived from a sprig of bloom, or Planta Genista, that he liked to sport in his helmet. Thus was coined the surname of one of England's greatest dynasties, which ruled the country for the rest of the medieval era, although Plantagenet was not adopted as a surname until the mid fifteenth century. Henry's was a vast inheritance, from his father, he received the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the Duchy of Normandy and his claim to the Kingdom of England. Henry married the legendary heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine, which added Aquitaine and Poitou to his dominions. He then owned more land in France than the French King himself.
Reign
On the death of King Stephen in 1154, Henry came to the English throne at the age of 21 in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford. He landed in England on 8 December 1154 and took oaths of loyalty from the barons after which he was crowned at Westminster Abbey alongside his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine on 19 December.
A short but strongly built man of leonine appearance, Henry II was possessed of an immense dynamic energy and a formidable temper. He had the red hair of the Plantagenets, grey eyes that grew bloodshot in anger and a round, freckled face. Described by Peter of Blois as:-
"The lord king has been red-haired so far, except that the coming of old age and gray hair has altered that color somewhat. His height is medium, so that neither does he appear great among the small, nor yet does he seem small among the great. His head is spherical...his eyes are full, guileless, and dove-like when he is at peace, gleaming like fire when his temper is aroused, and in bursts of passion they flash like lightning. As to his hair he is in no danger of baldness, but his head has been closely shaved. He has a broad, square, lion-like face. Curved legs, a horseman's shins, broad chest, and a boxer's arms all announce him as a man strong, agile and bold... he never sits, unless riding a horse or eating... In a single day, if necessary, he can run through four or five day-marches and, thus foiling the plots of his enemies, frequently mocks their plots with surprise sudden arrivals...Always are in his hands bow, sword, spear and arrow, unless he be in council or in books."
He spent so much time in the saddle that his legs became bowed. Henry's voice was reported to have been harsh and cracked, he did not care for magnificent clothing and was never still. The new King was intelligent and had acquired an immense knowledge both of languages and law.
Eleanor of Aqiutaine
Eleanor of AquitaineEleanor of Aquitaine (depicted right), Henry's wife, was the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Aenor de Chatellerault. She had previously been the wife of Louis VII, King of France, who had divorced her prior to her marriage to Henry. It was rumoured that the pair had been lovers before her divorce, as she had reportedly also been the paramour of Henry's father, Geoffrey. (The formidable Matilda's reaction to this event has unfortunately not been recorded.)
Eleanor was eleven years older than Henry, but in the early days of their marriage that did not seem to matter. Both were strong characters, used to getting their own way, the result of two such ill matched temperaments was an extremely tempestuous union. Beautiful, intelligent, cultured and powerful, Eleanor was a remarkable woman. One of the great female personalities of her age, she had been celebrated and idolized in the songs of the troubadours of her native Aquitaine.
Henry was possessed of the fearful Angevin temper, apparently a dominant family trait. In his notorious uncontrollable rages he would lie on the floor and chew at the rushes and was never slow to anger. Legend clung to the House of Anjou, one such ran that they were descended from no less a person than Satan himself. It was related that Melusine, the daughter of Satan, was the demon ancestress of the Angevins. Her husband the Count of Anjou was perplexed when Melusine always left church prior to hearing of the mass. After pondering the matter he had her forcibly restrained by his knights while the service took place. Melusine reportedly tore herself from their grasp and flew through the roof, taking two of the couple's children with her and was never seen again.
Henry and Eleanor had a large brood of children. Sadly, their first born, William (b.1153) created Count of Poiters, the traditional title of the heirs to the Dukes of Aquitaine, died at the age of 2 at Wallingford Castle. He was buried at the feet of his great-grandfather, Henry I.
Like his grandfather before him, Henry was a man of strong passions and a serial adulterer. When Henry introduced his illegitimate son, Geoffrey, to the royal nursery, Eleanor was furious, Geoffrey had been born in the early days of their marriage, the result of a dalliance with Hikenai, a prostitute. Eleanor was deeply insulted and the rift between the couple grew steadily over time into a gaping gulf.
On inheriting England's crown, the young Henry Plantagenet eagerly and with characteristic energy set about restoring law and order in his new kingdom. All illegal castles erected in King Stephen's anarchic reign were demolished. He was a tireless administrator and clarified and overhauled the entire English judicial system.
Henry II and Thomas à Becket
Henry's quarrels with Thomas Becket have cast a long shadow over his reign. The son of a wealthy London merchant of Norman extraction, Becket was appointed Chancellor.
Becket was at first worldly and unlike the King, dressed extravagantly. A story is related that riding through London together on a cold winters day, Henry saw a pauper shivering in his rags. He asked Thomas would it not be charitable for someone to give the man a cloak, Becket agreed that it would. Whereupon Henry laughingly grasped Thomas' expensive fur cloak. There followed an unseemly struggle in which the King attempted to wrest the unwilling Becket's cloak from him. Finally succeeding and most amused at Thomas's reaction, he threw it to the beggar.
Becket was sent on a mission to the court of France to negotiate a marriage between Henry and Eleanor's eldest surviving son, known as Young Henry and Margaret, the daughter of the King of France by his second marriage. This he carried out with aplomb, travelling with a great retinue, his lavish style made a vivid impression on the French.
On the death of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, Henry II decided to appoint Thomas Becket to the position. He assumed that Thomas would make an amenable Archbishop through whom he could gain control of the churches legal system. Becket, however, was unwilling to oblige and on his appointment resigned the Chancellorship. Henry flew into a furious rage. Becket, undeterred, then entered into disagreement with the king regarding the rights of church and state when he prevented a cleric found guilty of rape and murder from recieving punishment in the lay court.
A council was held at Westminster in October 1163, Becket was not a man to compromise, neither, however, was Henry. Eventually Becket agreed to adhere to the 'ancient customs of the realm'. Adamant to win in the matter, Henry proceeded to clearly define those ancient customs in a document referred to as the Constitutions of Clarendon. Becket did eventually back down, but their quarrel continued and became more embittered, culminating in Beckett fleeing the country.
Four years later, Henry was anxious to have his eldest son, the young Henry, crowned in his own lifetime to avoid a disputed succession, such as occurred after the death of his grandfather, Henry I. In January 1169, Henry and Becket met again at a conference at Momtmirail in Normandy, which broke up in quarrels between the pair, with the immovable Becket angrily excommunicating some of Henry's followers. Irritated at such behaviour and refusing to be thwarted, Henry had the coronation of his son carried out by the Archbishop of York to insult Thomas further. In a resultant meeting, a compromise was finally reached and Thomas returned to England.
Disputes again arose between them over similar issues and Henry, exasperated and enraged at Becket's intransigence, (which matched his own ) uttered those final, fatal words "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?". Four knights, taking him at his word, proceeded to England. They rode to Canterbury where they confronted the Archbishop in the Cathedral calling him a traitor, they attempted to drag him out of the building. Thomas refused to leave and inviting martyrdom, declared himself as "No traitor but a priest of God." When one of the knights struck him on the head with his sword the others joined in and Thomas fell to the Cathedral floor having suffered fatal head injuries.
Europe was a-buzz with the scandal, Henry's fury subsided into grief. England fell under threat of excommunication. In order to weather the storm, the King did public penance for his part in the affair, walking barefoot into Canterbury Cathedral, where he allowed the monks to scourge him as a sign of contrite penance.
The Rebellion of Henry's Sons
Henry was faced with a new threat, this time it came from within his own dysfunctional family, in the form of his malcontented Queen, Eleanor and his unruly sons. Henry, the Young King, "A restless youth born for the undoing of many", was dissatisfied, he possessed grand titles but no real power. When Henry II tried to negotiate a marriage for his youngest son, John, the prospective father-in-law asked that John be given some property. The King responded by granting John three castles in Anjou. The young Henry promptly objected and demanded either England, Normandy or Anjou to rule in his own right and fled to the French court. Led on by his father-in -law, the King of France, who had his own axe to grind, the young Henry rebelled against his father. He was joined at the court of France by his equally turbulent brothers, Richard, Duke of Aquitaine and Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany since his marriage to the heiress Constance of Brittany.
Henry's relationship with his wife had deteriorated after the birth of their last child, John. Eleanor, twelve years older than Henry, was now decidedly middle aged. She was grievously insulted by Henry's long affair with the beautiful Rosamund Clifford, the mother of two of his illegitimate sons, whom he was said to genuinely love. Eleanor was captured attempting to join her sons in France dressed as a man. She was imprisoned by her husband for ten long years. Normandy was attacked, but the French King then retreated and Henry was able to make peace with his rebellious brood of sons.
Further disputes arose between young Henry and his equally fiery tempered brother, Richard. The Young King objected to a castle Richard had built on what he claimed to be his territory. Henry, aided by his brother Geoffrey, attempted to subdue Richard and the affair provided a further excuse to rebel against their father. Richard allied himself with their father. The Young King began to ravage Aquitaine.
The Death of Henry, 'the Young King'
The Young King plundered the rich shrine of Rocamadour, after which he fell mortally ill. When he knew death was inevitable, he asked his followers to lay him on a bed of ashes spread on the floor as a sign of repentance and begged his father to forgive and visit him. The King, suspecting a trap, refused to visit his son, but sent a sapphire ring, once owned by his grandfather Henry I, to the young Henry as a sign of his forgiveness. A few days later the Young King was dead, Henry and Eleanor mourned the loss of their errant son sincerely.
Henry planned to re-divide the Angevin Empire, giving Anjou, Maine, Normandy and England to Richard and asking him to relinquish his mother's province of Aquitaine to John. In the finest Plantagenet tradition, Richard, incensed, absolutely refused to do so. John and Geoffrey were dispatched to Aquitaine to wrest the province from their brother by force but were no match for him. The King then ordered all of his turbulent sons to England. Richard and Geoffrey now thoroughly detested each other and arguments, as ever, prevailed amongst the family. Geoffrey, a treacherous and untrustworthy youth, was killed at a Paris tournament in 1186.
The Death of Henry II
Phillip Augustus of France was eager to play on the rifts in the Plantagenet family to further his own ends of increasing the power of the French crown by regaining the Plantagenet lands. He planted further seeds of distrust by suggesting to Richard that Henry II wished to disinherit him, in favour of his known favourite, John. Richard, who now totally distrusted his father, demanded full recognition of his position as heir to the Angevin Empire. Henry haughtily refused to comply. Further rebellion was the inevitable result.
The ageing King began to feel the weight of his years and fell sick whilst at Le Mans. Richard believed him to be creating delays. He and his ally Phillip attacked the town, Henry ordered the southern suburbs of Le Mans to be set on fire to impede their advance, but it must have seemed as if the elements themselves had also conspired against him when the wind changed, spreading the fire and setting alight his much loved birthplace. Henry, greatly aggrieved, was forced into flight before his son. Pausing on a hill top to watch the blaze, with bruised pride, he raged against God in an outburst of Plantagenet passion and fury and in his immense bitterness, frenziedly denied him his soul.
A conference was arranged between the warring parties, near Tours, at which King Henry was humiliatingly forced to accept all of Richard's terms. Phillip of France, shocked at the King's gaunt appearance, offered his cloak to enable him to sit on the ground. With a flash of his old spirit, Henry proudly refused the offer. Compelled to give his son the kiss of peace, Henry whispered in his ear "God grant that I die not until I have avenged myself on thee". Henry's only request was to be provided with a list of those who had rebelled against him.
Grievously sick, the ailing lion retreated to Chinon to lick his wounds. The requested list arrived, the first name on it was that of his beloved John, the son he had trusted and fought for had deserted him to join the victors.
Utterly crushed, he wished to hear no more. The faithful William Marshall and his illegitimate son Geoffrey Plantagenet remained by him to the end. "You are my true son," he told Geoffrey bitterly, "the others, they are the bastards" As his condition continued to deteriorate he was heard to utter "now let everything go as it will, I care no longer for myself or anything else in this world".
Suffering from a perforated ulcer, he lingered semi-conscious, breathing his last on 6th July, 1189. His last words were "Shame, shame on a conquered King". King Henry II, defeated at last, turned his face to the wall and died. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Richard I
The king's body was laid out in the chapel of Chinon Castle, where the corpse was stripped by his servants. William Marshall and Geoffrey found a crown, sceptre and ring, which were probably taked from a religious statue. It was then taken to the Abbey of Fontevraud, located in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou for burial.
The new King Richard I was summoned by William Marshall and gazed at his father's corpse without emotion. After lying in state the body of the great Henry II was buried, according to his wishes, at the Abbey of Fontevrault, which was to become the mausoleum of the Angevin Kings."
2. Background from {[ https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-II-of-England/]}
Henry II seems to struggle to make an impact upon popular history. His reign falls in a century flanked by the Norman Conquest and Magna Carta. As great grandson of William the Conqueror, husband to Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of two of our more familiar monarchs, Richard the Lionheart and King John, it would seem understandable that he is often forgotten.
Born to Count Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda in 1133, Henry inherited his father’s duchy and became Duke of Normandy by the age of 18. At 21 he succeeded to the English throne and by 1172, the British Isles and Ireland had acknowledged him as their overlord and he ruled more of France than any monarch since the fall of the Carolingian dynasty in 891. It was Henry who set England on a path to becoming one of the world’s most dominant nations.
Henry’s reign was littered with continuing disputes with his main rival, King Louis VII of France. In 1152, before he became king of England, Henry had dealt Louis the ultimate blow by marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine, only eight weeks after the annulment of her marriage to the French king. The problem for Louis was that he had no son and if Eleanor was to have a boy with Henry, the child would succeed as Duke of Aquitaine and remove any claim from Louis and his daughters.
Henry claimed the royal succession from King Stephen (pictured right) in 1154 after a long and destructive civil war, ‘The Anarchy’. On Stephen’s death, Henry ascended to the throne. Immediately he was faced with problems: a large number of rogue castles had been built during Stephen’s reign and there was widespread devastation as a result of the destructive war. He realised that to restore order he needed to retake power from the powerful barons. He therefore undertook a massive reconstruction of royal government, overthrowing all changes made after the death of Henry I in 1135.
Henry reinvigorated England financially and effectively laid the basis for English Common Law as we know it today. Within the first two years of his reign he had torn down almost half the castles that had been illegally constructed by land owners during the civil war and stamped his authority upon the nobility. New castles could now only be built with royal consent.
Changing the relationship between church and monarchy had also been on Henry’s agenda. He introduced his own courts and magistrates, roles traditionally played by the church. He often rejected any Papal influence in order to enhance his own royal authority over the church.
The 1160s were dominated by Henry’s relationship with Thomas Becket. After the death of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, Henry wanted to exert his control over the church. He appointed Thomas Becket, who was at the time his chancellor, to the position. In Henry’s eyes he thought this would place him in charge of the English church and he would be able to retain power over Becket. However, Becket seemed to change in his role and became a defender of the church and its tradition. He consistently opposed and quarrelled with Henry, not allowing him to assert royal authority upon the church.
By the year 1170 Henry’s relationship with Becket had deteriorated still further and during a session of royal court he is supposed to have said, ‘someone rid me of this turbulent priest.’ These words were misinterpreted by a group of four knights who proceeded to murder Thomas Becket in front of the high alter at Canterbury Cathedral. This event caused shockwaves throughout Christian Europe and has tended to overshadow the great things Henry managed to achieve.
The land under Henry’s control became known as the ‘Angevin’ or ‘Plantagenet’ empire and was at its greatest extent in 1173 when Henry faced the biggest threat in all of his reign. It did not come from abroad or from the church. It came from within his own family. Henry’s sons opposed their father’s intention to split his lands equally amongst them. The eldest son, known as Henry the Young King did not want his inheritance broken apart.
The revolt was led by the Young King and he was assisted by his brother Richard, the kings of France and Scotland as well as many barons from England and Normandy. Defeating this year-long rebellion was perhaps Henry’s greatest accomplishment. Despite having to defend himself on nearly every front of his empire, one by one Henry forced his enemies to retreat and accept that his dominance would not be broken easily. In this revolt, he successfully captured and imprisoned King William of Scotland at the Battle of Alnwick, forcing him to once again accept his overlordship of Scotland. Just before the battle Henry publicly repented for the death of Thomas Becket who had since become a martyr. He claimed the rebellion was his punishment. The resulting capture of William was seen as divine intervention and Henry’s reputation dramatically improved.
In the wake of this great victory, Henry’s dominance was recognised across the continent with many seeking his alliance so as not to fall out of favour with him. However, the family fractures never truly healed and any grievances Henry’s sons held were only temporarily resolved. In 1182 these tensions reached breaking point again and open war broke out in Aquitaine which ended in a stalemate and during which Henry the young King died of illness, making his brother Richard the new heir.
The final few years of Henry’s reign up until his death in 1189, were tormented by disputes with his sons. He had fashioned a large empire and made England a powerful nation. Yet in the attempts of his sons to keep the Angevin Empire from being divided, they inadvertently began the process which tore it apart through their constant bickering. Henry died of disease on 6th July 1189, deserted by his remaining sons who continued to war against him.
Although not a glorious end to his reign, it is Henry II’s legacy that remains proud. His empire building laid the foundation for England and later, Britain’s ability to become a global power. His administrative changes remain embodied in church and state to this day. He may not have been the most popular king amongst his own contemporaries but his contribution to future English society and government deserves to be more widely acknowledged."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs MSG Felipe De Leon Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO2 (Join to see) SPC Margaret Higgins PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO3 Phyllis Maynard PFC Stephen Eric Serati SPC Corbin Sayi SSG Diane R. 1SG John Millan SSG Ed Mikus Capt Christian D. Orr MSgt Robert Pellam PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell PO3 Ellsworth Allen Westgate SMSgt Lawrence McCarter COL (Join to see)
King Henry II of England
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM_5BAcjZQU
Images
1. Henry II of England
2. 12th-century depiction of Henry and Eleanor holding court
3. Angevin Empire circa 1174 and The Kingdom of France map
4. Henry II of England (1133-1189) on engraving from 1830. King of England during 1154-1189
Biographies
1. englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet.htm
2. historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-II-of-England/
1. Background from {[http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/plantagenet.htm]}
Henry II [1154-89]
Parentage and Early Life
Arguably one of the most effective Kings ever to wear the English crown and the first of the great Plantagenet dynasty, the future Henry II was born at Le Mans, Anjou on 5th March, 1133. He was the son of that ill-matched pair, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou and Matilda, (known as the Empress, from her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor) the daughter of Henry I of England.
Henry's parents never cared for each other, their's was a union of convenience. Henry I chose Geoffrey to sire his grandchildren because his lands were strategically placed on the Norman frontiers and he required the support of Geoffrey's father, his erstwhile enemy, Fulk of Anjou. He accordingly forced his highly reluctant daughter to marry the fifteen year old Geoffrey. The pair disliked each other from the outset of their union and neither was of a nature to pretend otherwise and so the scene was set for an extremely stormy marriage. They were, however, finally prevailed upon by the formidable Henry I to do their duty and produce an heir to England. They had three sons, Henry was the eldest of these and always the favourite of his adoring mother.
When the young Henry was a few months old, his delighted grandfather, Henry I, crossed over the channel from England to see his new heir and is said to have dandled the child on his knee. He was to grow very attached to his new grandson, the old warrior was said to spend much time playing with the young Henry.
Henry's father Geoffrey's nickname derived from a sprig of bloom, or Planta Genista, that he liked to sport in his helmet. Thus was coined the surname of one of England's greatest dynasties, which ruled the country for the rest of the medieval era, although Plantagenet was not adopted as a surname until the mid fifteenth century. Henry's was a vast inheritance, from his father, he received the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the Duchy of Normandy and his claim to the Kingdom of England. Henry married the legendary heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine, which added Aquitaine and Poitou to his dominions. He then owned more land in France than the French King himself.
Reign
On the death of King Stephen in 1154, Henry came to the English throne at the age of 21 in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford. He landed in England on 8 December 1154 and took oaths of loyalty from the barons after which he was crowned at Westminster Abbey alongside his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine on 19 December.
A short but strongly built man of leonine appearance, Henry II was possessed of an immense dynamic energy and a formidable temper. He had the red hair of the Plantagenets, grey eyes that grew bloodshot in anger and a round, freckled face. Described by Peter of Blois as:-
"The lord king has been red-haired so far, except that the coming of old age and gray hair has altered that color somewhat. His height is medium, so that neither does he appear great among the small, nor yet does he seem small among the great. His head is spherical...his eyes are full, guileless, and dove-like when he is at peace, gleaming like fire when his temper is aroused, and in bursts of passion they flash like lightning. As to his hair he is in no danger of baldness, but his head has been closely shaved. He has a broad, square, lion-like face. Curved legs, a horseman's shins, broad chest, and a boxer's arms all announce him as a man strong, agile and bold... he never sits, unless riding a horse or eating... In a single day, if necessary, he can run through four or five day-marches and, thus foiling the plots of his enemies, frequently mocks their plots with surprise sudden arrivals...Always are in his hands bow, sword, spear and arrow, unless he be in council or in books."
He spent so much time in the saddle that his legs became bowed. Henry's voice was reported to have been harsh and cracked, he did not care for magnificent clothing and was never still. The new King was intelligent and had acquired an immense knowledge both of languages and law.
Eleanor of Aqiutaine
Eleanor of AquitaineEleanor of Aquitaine (depicted right), Henry's wife, was the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine and Aenor de Chatellerault. She had previously been the wife of Louis VII, King of France, who had divorced her prior to her marriage to Henry. It was rumoured that the pair had been lovers before her divorce, as she had reportedly also been the paramour of Henry's father, Geoffrey. (The formidable Matilda's reaction to this event has unfortunately not been recorded.)
Eleanor was eleven years older than Henry, but in the early days of their marriage that did not seem to matter. Both were strong characters, used to getting their own way, the result of two such ill matched temperaments was an extremely tempestuous union. Beautiful, intelligent, cultured and powerful, Eleanor was a remarkable woman. One of the great female personalities of her age, she had been celebrated and idolized in the songs of the troubadours of her native Aquitaine.
Henry was possessed of the fearful Angevin temper, apparently a dominant family trait. In his notorious uncontrollable rages he would lie on the floor and chew at the rushes and was never slow to anger. Legend clung to the House of Anjou, one such ran that they were descended from no less a person than Satan himself. It was related that Melusine, the daughter of Satan, was the demon ancestress of the Angevins. Her husband the Count of Anjou was perplexed when Melusine always left church prior to hearing of the mass. After pondering the matter he had her forcibly restrained by his knights while the service took place. Melusine reportedly tore herself from their grasp and flew through the roof, taking two of the couple's children with her and was never seen again.
Henry and Eleanor had a large brood of children. Sadly, their first born, William (b.1153) created Count of Poiters, the traditional title of the heirs to the Dukes of Aquitaine, died at the age of 2 at Wallingford Castle. He was buried at the feet of his great-grandfather, Henry I.
Like his grandfather before him, Henry was a man of strong passions and a serial adulterer. When Henry introduced his illegitimate son, Geoffrey, to the royal nursery, Eleanor was furious, Geoffrey had been born in the early days of their marriage, the result of a dalliance with Hikenai, a prostitute. Eleanor was deeply insulted and the rift between the couple grew steadily over time into a gaping gulf.
On inheriting England's crown, the young Henry Plantagenet eagerly and with characteristic energy set about restoring law and order in his new kingdom. All illegal castles erected in King Stephen's anarchic reign were demolished. He was a tireless administrator and clarified and overhauled the entire English judicial system.
Henry II and Thomas à Becket
Henry's quarrels with Thomas Becket have cast a long shadow over his reign. The son of a wealthy London merchant of Norman extraction, Becket was appointed Chancellor.
Becket was at first worldly and unlike the King, dressed extravagantly. A story is related that riding through London together on a cold winters day, Henry saw a pauper shivering in his rags. He asked Thomas would it not be charitable for someone to give the man a cloak, Becket agreed that it would. Whereupon Henry laughingly grasped Thomas' expensive fur cloak. There followed an unseemly struggle in which the King attempted to wrest the unwilling Becket's cloak from him. Finally succeeding and most amused at Thomas's reaction, he threw it to the beggar.
Becket was sent on a mission to the court of France to negotiate a marriage between Henry and Eleanor's eldest surviving son, known as Young Henry and Margaret, the daughter of the King of France by his second marriage. This he carried out with aplomb, travelling with a great retinue, his lavish style made a vivid impression on the French.
On the death of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162, Henry II decided to appoint Thomas Becket to the position. He assumed that Thomas would make an amenable Archbishop through whom he could gain control of the churches legal system. Becket, however, was unwilling to oblige and on his appointment resigned the Chancellorship. Henry flew into a furious rage. Becket, undeterred, then entered into disagreement with the king regarding the rights of church and state when he prevented a cleric found guilty of rape and murder from recieving punishment in the lay court.
A council was held at Westminster in October 1163, Becket was not a man to compromise, neither, however, was Henry. Eventually Becket agreed to adhere to the 'ancient customs of the realm'. Adamant to win in the matter, Henry proceeded to clearly define those ancient customs in a document referred to as the Constitutions of Clarendon. Becket did eventually back down, but their quarrel continued and became more embittered, culminating in Beckett fleeing the country.
Four years later, Henry was anxious to have his eldest son, the young Henry, crowned in his own lifetime to avoid a disputed succession, such as occurred after the death of his grandfather, Henry I. In January 1169, Henry and Becket met again at a conference at Momtmirail in Normandy, which broke up in quarrels between the pair, with the immovable Becket angrily excommunicating some of Henry's followers. Irritated at such behaviour and refusing to be thwarted, Henry had the coronation of his son carried out by the Archbishop of York to insult Thomas further. In a resultant meeting, a compromise was finally reached and Thomas returned to England.
Disputes again arose between them over similar issues and Henry, exasperated and enraged at Becket's intransigence, (which matched his own ) uttered those final, fatal words "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?". Four knights, taking him at his word, proceeded to England. They rode to Canterbury where they confronted the Archbishop in the Cathedral calling him a traitor, they attempted to drag him out of the building. Thomas refused to leave and inviting martyrdom, declared himself as "No traitor but a priest of God." When one of the knights struck him on the head with his sword the others joined in and Thomas fell to the Cathedral floor having suffered fatal head injuries.
Europe was a-buzz with the scandal, Henry's fury subsided into grief. England fell under threat of excommunication. In order to weather the storm, the King did public penance for his part in the affair, walking barefoot into Canterbury Cathedral, where he allowed the monks to scourge him as a sign of contrite penance.
The Rebellion of Henry's Sons
Henry was faced with a new threat, this time it came from within his own dysfunctional family, in the form of his malcontented Queen, Eleanor and his unruly sons. Henry, the Young King, "A restless youth born for the undoing of many", was dissatisfied, he possessed grand titles but no real power. When Henry II tried to negotiate a marriage for his youngest son, John, the prospective father-in-law asked that John be given some property. The King responded by granting John three castles in Anjou. The young Henry promptly objected and demanded either England, Normandy or Anjou to rule in his own right and fled to the French court. Led on by his father-in -law, the King of France, who had his own axe to grind, the young Henry rebelled against his father. He was joined at the court of France by his equally turbulent brothers, Richard, Duke of Aquitaine and Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany since his marriage to the heiress Constance of Brittany.
Henry's relationship with his wife had deteriorated after the birth of their last child, John. Eleanor, twelve years older than Henry, was now decidedly middle aged. She was grievously insulted by Henry's long affair with the beautiful Rosamund Clifford, the mother of two of his illegitimate sons, whom he was said to genuinely love. Eleanor was captured attempting to join her sons in France dressed as a man. She was imprisoned by her husband for ten long years. Normandy was attacked, but the French King then retreated and Henry was able to make peace with his rebellious brood of sons.
Further disputes arose between young Henry and his equally fiery tempered brother, Richard. The Young King objected to a castle Richard had built on what he claimed to be his territory. Henry, aided by his brother Geoffrey, attempted to subdue Richard and the affair provided a further excuse to rebel against their father. Richard allied himself with their father. The Young King began to ravage Aquitaine.
The Death of Henry, 'the Young King'
The Young King plundered the rich shrine of Rocamadour, after which he fell mortally ill. When he knew death was inevitable, he asked his followers to lay him on a bed of ashes spread on the floor as a sign of repentance and begged his father to forgive and visit him. The King, suspecting a trap, refused to visit his son, but sent a sapphire ring, once owned by his grandfather Henry I, to the young Henry as a sign of his forgiveness. A few days later the Young King was dead, Henry and Eleanor mourned the loss of their errant son sincerely.
Henry planned to re-divide the Angevin Empire, giving Anjou, Maine, Normandy and England to Richard and asking him to relinquish his mother's province of Aquitaine to John. In the finest Plantagenet tradition, Richard, incensed, absolutely refused to do so. John and Geoffrey were dispatched to Aquitaine to wrest the province from their brother by force but were no match for him. The King then ordered all of his turbulent sons to England. Richard and Geoffrey now thoroughly detested each other and arguments, as ever, prevailed amongst the family. Geoffrey, a treacherous and untrustworthy youth, was killed at a Paris tournament in 1186.
The Death of Henry II
Phillip Augustus of France was eager to play on the rifts in the Plantagenet family to further his own ends of increasing the power of the French crown by regaining the Plantagenet lands. He planted further seeds of distrust by suggesting to Richard that Henry II wished to disinherit him, in favour of his known favourite, John. Richard, who now totally distrusted his father, demanded full recognition of his position as heir to the Angevin Empire. Henry haughtily refused to comply. Further rebellion was the inevitable result.
The ageing King began to feel the weight of his years and fell sick whilst at Le Mans. Richard believed him to be creating delays. He and his ally Phillip attacked the town, Henry ordered the southern suburbs of Le Mans to be set on fire to impede their advance, but it must have seemed as if the elements themselves had also conspired against him when the wind changed, spreading the fire and setting alight his much loved birthplace. Henry, greatly aggrieved, was forced into flight before his son. Pausing on a hill top to watch the blaze, with bruised pride, he raged against God in an outburst of Plantagenet passion and fury and in his immense bitterness, frenziedly denied him his soul.
A conference was arranged between the warring parties, near Tours, at which King Henry was humiliatingly forced to accept all of Richard's terms. Phillip of France, shocked at the King's gaunt appearance, offered his cloak to enable him to sit on the ground. With a flash of his old spirit, Henry proudly refused the offer. Compelled to give his son the kiss of peace, Henry whispered in his ear "God grant that I die not until I have avenged myself on thee". Henry's only request was to be provided with a list of those who had rebelled against him.
Grievously sick, the ailing lion retreated to Chinon to lick his wounds. The requested list arrived, the first name on it was that of his beloved John, the son he had trusted and fought for had deserted him to join the victors.
Utterly crushed, he wished to hear no more. The faithful William Marshall and his illegitimate son Geoffrey Plantagenet remained by him to the end. "You are my true son," he told Geoffrey bitterly, "the others, they are the bastards" As his condition continued to deteriorate he was heard to utter "now let everything go as it will, I care no longer for myself or anything else in this world".
Suffering from a perforated ulcer, he lingered semi-conscious, breathing his last on 6th July, 1189. His last words were "Shame, shame on a conquered King". King Henry II, defeated at last, turned his face to the wall and died. He was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Richard I
The king's body was laid out in the chapel of Chinon Castle, where the corpse was stripped by his servants. William Marshall and Geoffrey found a crown, sceptre and ring, which were probably taked from a religious statue. It was then taken to the Abbey of Fontevraud, located in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in Anjou for burial.
The new King Richard I was summoned by William Marshall and gazed at his father's corpse without emotion. After lying in state the body of the great Henry II was buried, according to his wishes, at the Abbey of Fontevrault, which was to become the mausoleum of the Angevin Kings."
2. Background from {[ https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-II-of-England/]}
Henry II seems to struggle to make an impact upon popular history. His reign falls in a century flanked by the Norman Conquest and Magna Carta. As great grandson of William the Conqueror, husband to Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of two of our more familiar monarchs, Richard the Lionheart and King John, it would seem understandable that he is often forgotten.
Born to Count Geoffrey of Anjou and Empress Matilda in 1133, Henry inherited his father’s duchy and became Duke of Normandy by the age of 18. At 21 he succeeded to the English throne and by 1172, the British Isles and Ireland had acknowledged him as their overlord and he ruled more of France than any monarch since the fall of the Carolingian dynasty in 891. It was Henry who set England on a path to becoming one of the world’s most dominant nations.
Henry’s reign was littered with continuing disputes with his main rival, King Louis VII of France. In 1152, before he became king of England, Henry had dealt Louis the ultimate blow by marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine, only eight weeks after the annulment of her marriage to the French king. The problem for Louis was that he had no son and if Eleanor was to have a boy with Henry, the child would succeed as Duke of Aquitaine and remove any claim from Louis and his daughters.
Henry claimed the royal succession from King Stephen (pictured right) in 1154 after a long and destructive civil war, ‘The Anarchy’. On Stephen’s death, Henry ascended to the throne. Immediately he was faced with problems: a large number of rogue castles had been built during Stephen’s reign and there was widespread devastation as a result of the destructive war. He realised that to restore order he needed to retake power from the powerful barons. He therefore undertook a massive reconstruction of royal government, overthrowing all changes made after the death of Henry I in 1135.
Henry reinvigorated England financially and effectively laid the basis for English Common Law as we know it today. Within the first two years of his reign he had torn down almost half the castles that had been illegally constructed by land owners during the civil war and stamped his authority upon the nobility. New castles could now only be built with royal consent.
Changing the relationship between church and monarchy had also been on Henry’s agenda. He introduced his own courts and magistrates, roles traditionally played by the church. He often rejected any Papal influence in order to enhance his own royal authority over the church.
The 1160s were dominated by Henry’s relationship with Thomas Becket. After the death of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1161, Henry wanted to exert his control over the church. He appointed Thomas Becket, who was at the time his chancellor, to the position. In Henry’s eyes he thought this would place him in charge of the English church and he would be able to retain power over Becket. However, Becket seemed to change in his role and became a defender of the church and its tradition. He consistently opposed and quarrelled with Henry, not allowing him to assert royal authority upon the church.
By the year 1170 Henry’s relationship with Becket had deteriorated still further and during a session of royal court he is supposed to have said, ‘someone rid me of this turbulent priest.’ These words were misinterpreted by a group of four knights who proceeded to murder Thomas Becket in front of the high alter at Canterbury Cathedral. This event caused shockwaves throughout Christian Europe and has tended to overshadow the great things Henry managed to achieve.
The land under Henry’s control became known as the ‘Angevin’ or ‘Plantagenet’ empire and was at its greatest extent in 1173 when Henry faced the biggest threat in all of his reign. It did not come from abroad or from the church. It came from within his own family. Henry’s sons opposed their father’s intention to split his lands equally amongst them. The eldest son, known as Henry the Young King did not want his inheritance broken apart.
The revolt was led by the Young King and he was assisted by his brother Richard, the kings of France and Scotland as well as many barons from England and Normandy. Defeating this year-long rebellion was perhaps Henry’s greatest accomplishment. Despite having to defend himself on nearly every front of his empire, one by one Henry forced his enemies to retreat and accept that his dominance would not be broken easily. In this revolt, he successfully captured and imprisoned King William of Scotland at the Battle of Alnwick, forcing him to once again accept his overlordship of Scotland. Just before the battle Henry publicly repented for the death of Thomas Becket who had since become a martyr. He claimed the rebellion was his punishment. The resulting capture of William was seen as divine intervention and Henry’s reputation dramatically improved.
In the wake of this great victory, Henry’s dominance was recognised across the continent with many seeking his alliance so as not to fall out of favour with him. However, the family fractures never truly healed and any grievances Henry’s sons held were only temporarily resolved. In 1182 these tensions reached breaking point again and open war broke out in Aquitaine which ended in a stalemate and during which Henry the young King died of illness, making his brother Richard the new heir.
The final few years of Henry’s reign up until his death in 1189, were tormented by disputes with his sons. He had fashioned a large empire and made England a powerful nation. Yet in the attempts of his sons to keep the Angevin Empire from being divided, they inadvertently began the process which tore it apart through their constant bickering. Henry died of disease on 6th July 1189, deserted by his remaining sons who continued to war against him.
Although not a glorious end to his reign, it is Henry II’s legacy that remains proud. His empire building laid the foundation for England and later, Britain’s ability to become a global power. His administrative changes remain embodied in church and state to this day. He may not have been the most popular king amongst his own contemporaries but his contribution to future English society and government deserves to be more widely acknowledged."
FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs MSG Felipe De Leon Brown Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. PO2 (Join to see) SPC Margaret Higgins PO1 William "Chip" Nagel PO3 Phyllis Maynard PFC Stephen Eric Serati SPC Corbin Sayi SSG Diane R. 1SG John Millan SSG Ed Mikus Capt Christian D. Orr MSgt Robert Pellam PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell PO3 Ellsworth Allen Westgate SMSgt Lawrence McCarter COL (Join to see)
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