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Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Fitzempress and Henry Curtmantle, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. During his reign he controlled England , substantial parts of Wales and Ireland , and much of France (including Normandy , Anjou , and Aquitaine ), an area that altogether was later called the ...
- Eleanor of Aquitaine
Life France, Aquitaine and Poitiers in 1154 with the...
- Henry The Young King
Henry the Young King (28 February 1155 – 11 June 1183) was...
- Richard I of England
Early life and accession in Aquitaine Childhood King Richard...
- Stephen
Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to...
- Angevin
The Angevin kings of England (/ ˈ æ n dʒ ɪ v ɪ n /; "from...
- Empress Matilda
Early life. Matilda was born to Henry I, King of England and...
- Geoffrey, Archbishop of York
Geoffrey (c. 1152 – 12 December 1212) was an illegitimate...
- Cultural Depictions of Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England from 1154 to 1189 and at...
- New Men
New men is a term referring to various groups of the...
- Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket (/ ˈ b ɛ k ɪ t /), also known as Saint Thomas...
- Eleanor of Aquitaine
Jun 28, 2017 · One of the strongest, most energetic and imaginative rulers, Henry was the inheritor of three dynasties who had acquired Aquitaine by marriage; his charters listed them: 'King of the English, Duke of the Normans and Aquitanians and Count of the Angevins'.
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Battle of Alnwick. Henry II (5 March 1133 — 6 July 1189) also known as Henry of Anjou, Henry Plantagenet, Henry FitzEmpres, or Henry Curtmantle (Short Mantle) and nicknamed the Brave or the Strong was the King of England from 1154, Duke of Aquitaine (as Henry I) from 1152, and Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou from 1151 until his death in ...
King Henry II was the first Plantaganet King of England, famous for his stormy relationship with Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Chris Oehring. 9 min read. 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.
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- Building An Empire
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- Succession Crisis
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On May 18, 1152 at Bordeaux Cathedral, at the age of 19, Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine. The wedding was "without the pomp or ceremony that befitted their rank," partly because only two months previously Eleanor's marriage to Louis VII of France had been annulled. Henry and Eleanor had eight children, William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Ma...
Henry's claims by blood and marriage
Henry's father, Geoffrey Plantagenet, held rich lands as a vassal from Louis VII of France. Maine and Anjou were therefore Henry's by birthright, amongst other lands in Western France. By maternal claim, Normandy was also to be his. However, the most valuable inheritance Henry received from his mother was a claim to the English throne. Granddaughter of William I of England, Empress Matilda should have been Queen, but was usurped by her cousin, Stephen I of England. Henry's efforts to restore...
Taking the English Throne
Realising Henry's royal ambition was far from easily fulfilled, his mother had been pushing her claim for the crown for several years to no avail, finally retiring in 1147. It was 1147 when Henry had accompanied Matilda on an invasion of England. It soon failed due to lack of preparation, but it made him determined that England was his mother's right, and so his own. He returned to England again between 1149 and 1150. On May 22, 1149 he was knighted by King David I of Scotland, his great uncl...
Lordship over Ireland
Shortly after his coronation, Henry sent an embassy to the newly elected Pope Adrian IV. Led by Bishop Arnold of Lisieux, the group of clerics requested authorisation for Henry to invade Ireland. Most historians agree that this resulted in the papal bull Laudabiliter. It is possible Henry acted under the influence of a "Canterbury plot," in which English ecclesiastics strove to dominate the Irish church.However, Henry may have simply intended to secure Ireland as a lordship for his younger br...
Dominating nobles
During Stephen's reign, the barons in England had undermined Royal authority. Rebel castles were one problem, nobles avoiding military service was another. The new King immediately moved against the illegal fortresses that had sprung up during Stephen's reign, having them torn down. To counter the problem of avoiding military service, Scutage became common. This tax, paid by Henry's barons instead of serving in his army, allowed the King to hire mercenaries. These hired troops were used to de...
Legal reform
Henry II's reign saw the establishment of Royal Magistrate courts. This allowed court officials under authority of the Crown to adjudicate on local disputes, reducing the workload on Royal courts proper and delivering justice with greater efficiency. His reign saw the production of the first written legal textbook, providing the basis of today's "Common Law." Henry also worked to make the legal system fairer. Trial by ordeal and trial by combat were still common but even in the 12th century t...
Strengthening royal control over the Church
In the tradition of Norman kings, Henry II was keen to dominate the church like the state and aspired to do away with the special privileges of the English clergy, which he regarded as fetters on his authority. So he appointed as Chancellor, Thomas Becket who enforced the king’s danegeld taxes, a traditional medieval land tax that was exacted from all landowners, including churches and bishoprics. When Archbishop Theobald died in 1161, Henry conceived what must have seemed a neat solution to...
Murder of Thomas Becket
In June 1170, the archbishop of York and the bishops of London and Salisbury held the coronation of Henry the Young King in York. This was a breach of Canterbury's privilege of coronation, for which the Pope suspended the three. But for Becket, that was not enough, and in November 1170, he excommunicated all three. While the three bishops fled to the king in Normandy, Becket continued to excommunicate his opponents in the church. Soon word of this reached Henry who was in Normandy at the time...
Henry II's attempt to divide his titles amongst his sons but keep the power associated with them provoked them into trying to take control of the lands assigned to them, which amounted to treason, at least in Henry's eyes. Gerald of Wales reports that when King Henry gave the kiss of peace to his son Richard, he said softly, "May the Lord never per...
Thirteenth Century: "Book of the Civilized Man" is a poem believed to have been written in Henry's court and is the first "book of manners" or "courtesy book" in English history, representing the s...1935: The assassination of Archbishop Thomas Becket is the subject of the celebrated 1935 play Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot.1964: A fuller account of the struggle between Henry II and Becket is portrayed in the film Becket based on the Jean Anouilhplay and starring Peter O'Toole as Henry and Richard Burton as Becket.1966: The treasons associated with the royal and ducal successions formed the main theme of the play The Lion in Winter, which also served as the basis of a 1968 film with O'Toole reprising the rol...Barber, Richard. The Devil's Crown: A History of Henry II and His Sons. Conshohocken, PA: 1996. ISBN 9780585100098Bartlett, Robert. England Under The Norman and Angevin Kings 1075-1225. NY: Oxford University. 2000. ISBN 9780198227410Harvey, John. The Plantagenets. London: Fontana. 1972. ISBN 0006329497Turner, Ralph and Heiser, Richard. The Reign of Richard Lionheart: Ruler of the Angevin Empire, 1189-1199. London: Longman. 2000. ISBN 0582256593All links retrieved December 16, 2017. 1. Baldwin, Stewart. Henry II of England 2. Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Angevin England
The king's attempt to find an inheritance for John led to opposition from Richard and Philip II of France. Henry was forced to give way. News that John had also turned against him hastened Henry's ...
Jun 20, 2011 · The Character and Legacy of Henry II. By Dr Mike Ibeji. Last updated 2011-06-20. Henry II may be best known as the murderer of Thomas Becket, but he was also a complex man at war with his own family.
