Henry II of England

Henry II Plantagenet (AD 1133 - 1189), was Duke of Anjou and King of England (AD 1154 - 1189). His sobriquets include "Curt Mantle," "Fitz Empress," and sometimes "The Lion of Justice," which had been used for his grandfather Henry I. He would be known as the first of the Angevin Kings. Following the disastrous reign of King Stephen I, Henry's reign was one of efficient consolidation.

He was born in 1133 to the Empress Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey the Fair, Duke of Anjou. He was brought up in Anjou and visited England in 1142 to help his mother in her disputed claim to the English throne.

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Prior to coming to the throne he already controlled Normandy and Anjou; his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine increased his land holdings considerably, including vast areas such as Touraine, Aquitaine and Gascony. He was thus effectively more powerful than the king of France inheriting an empire that stretched from Solway almost to the Mediterranean, and from the Somme to the Pyrenees. As king, he would make Ireland a part of his vast domain. He also was in lively communication with the Emperor of Byzantium Manuel I Comnenus

During Stephen's reign, the barons had subverted feudal legislation to undermine the monarch's grip on the realm; Henry saw it as his first task to reverse this shift in power. Castles which had been built without authorisation during Stephen's reign, for example, were torn down, and an early form of taxation replaced military service as the primary duty of vassals. Record-keeping was dramatically improved in order to streamline this taxation.

Jury trials were introduced, replacing trial by ordeal or battle. As a consequence of this improvement in the legal system, the power of church courts waned. The church, not unnaturally, opposed this, and its most vehement spokesman was Thomas à Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury, formerly a close friend of Henry's. Beckett became aware of the danger of his situation and fled England in 1164. After a reconciliation between Henry and Thomas in Normandy in 1170, he returned to England. Beckett again confronted Henry, this time over the coronation of Prince Henry (see below). The much-quoted words of Henry II echo down the centuries: "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?". A number of his knights took their king literally and assassinated Beckett in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170.

Henry and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine had five sons and three daughters. (Henry also had some 10 children from 4 other women.) Eleanor was treated harshly by Henry, leading to confrontation between Henry on the one side and his wife and sons on the other.

In 1170, the fifteen-year-old son Henry was crowned king; he is now known as Henry the Young King.

Henry II's attempt to divide his lands and titles amongst his sons produced nothing but treason from them. He was fortunate to have on his side a knight who was both loyal and unbeatable in battle: William Marshal. When Henry's sons rebelled against him, they often had the help of King Louis VII of France. The deaths of his sons Henry the Young King in 1183 and Geoffrey in 1186 gave him little respite; his other son Richard the Lionheart, with the assistance of Philip II of France, attacked and defeated Henry on July 4, 1189; Henry died two days later and is buried in Fontevraud Abbey, near Chinon and Saumur, France.

Richard the Lionheart then became king of England, to be followed by king John, another son of Henry II.

The treasons associated with the succession were the main theme of the play, The Lion in Winter, which was made into a film starring Peter O'Toole and Katherine Hepburn.