Everything about Henry Ii Of England totally explained
Henry II of England (called "Curtmantle";
5 March 1133 –
6 July 1189) ruled as
King of England (1154–1189),
Count of Anjou,
Duke of Normandy,
Duke of Aquitaine,
Duke of Gascony,
Count of Nantes,
Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of
Wales,
Scotland and western
France. Henry was the first of the
House of Plantagenet to rule England.
Biography
Early life
Henry II was born in
Le Mans,
France, on
5 March 1133, the first day of the traditional year. His father,
Geoffrey V of Anjou (Geoffrey Plantagenet), was
Count of Anjou and
Count of Maine. His mother,
Empress Matilda, was a claimant to the English throne as the daughter of
Henry I (1100–1135). He spent his childhood in his father's land of Anjou. At the age of nine,
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester took him to England where he received education from Master Matthew at Bristol. He travelled again to Pen Island at the age of 16.
Marriage and children
On
18 May 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. Their relationship, always stormy, eventually died: After Eleanor encouraged her children to rebel against their father in 1173, Henry had her placed under house-arrest, where she remained for sixteen years.
Henry and Eleanor had eight children,
William,
Henry,
Richard,
Geoffrey,
John,
Matilda,
Eleanor, and
Joan. William died in infancy, meaning their son Henry was crowned as joint king when he came of age instead. However, because he was never King in his own right, he's known as "
Henry the Young King", not Henry III. In theory, Henry would have inherited the throne from his father, Richard his mother's possessions, Geoffrey would have
Brittany and John would be
Lord of Ireland. However, fate would ultimately decide much differently.
It has been suggested that another son was born to the couple, Philip, by John Speed's 1611 book,
History Of Great Britain. His sources no longer exist, but Philip would presumably have died in early infancy.
Henry also had illegitimate children. While they were not valid claimants, their Royal blood made them potential problems for Henry's legitimate successors.
William de Longespee was one such child. He remained largely loyal and contented with the lands and wealth afforded to him as a
bastard.
Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln, Archbishop of York, on the other hand, was seen as a possible thorn in the side of
Richard I of England. Richard forced him into the clergy at York, thus ending his secular ambitions.
For a complete list of Henry's descendants, see
List of members of the House of Plantagenet.
Appearance
Several sources record Henry's appearance. They all agree that he was very strong, energetic and surpassed his peers athletically.
Character
Like his grandfather,
Henry I of England, Henry II had an outstanding knowledge of the law. A talented linguist and excellent Latin speaker, he'd sit on councils in person whenever possible. His interest in the economy was reflected in his own frugal lifestyle. He dressed casually except when tradition dictated otherwise and ate a sparing diet.
He was modest and mixed with all classes easily. "He doesn't take upon himself to think high thoughts, his tongue never swells with elated language; he doesn't magnify himself as more than man." His generosity was well-known and he employed a
Templar to distribute one tenth of all the food bought to the royal court amongst his poorest subjects.
Henry also had a good sense of humour and was never upset at being the butt of the joke. Once while he sat sulking and occupying himself with needlework, a courtier suggested that he looked like a tanner's daughter. The King rocked with laughter and even explained the joke to those who didn't immediately grasp it.
"His memory was exceptional: he never failed to recognize a man he'd once seen, nor to remember anything which might be of use. More deeply learned than any King of his time in the western world".
Early in January 1153, just months after his wedding, he crossed
the Channel one more time. His fleet was 36 ships strong, transporting a force of 3,000 footmen and 140 horses. Sources dispute whether he landed at
Dorset or
Hampshire, but it's known he entered a small village church. It was
6 January and the locals were observing the
Festival of the Three Kings. The correlation between the festivities and Henry's arrival wasn't lost on them. "
Ecce advenit dominator Dominus, et regnum in manu ejus", they exclaimed as the introit for their feast, "
Behold the Lord the ruler cometh, and the Kingdom in his hand". However, Henry may have simply intended to secure Ireland as a lordship for his younger brother William.
Unfortunately William died soon after the plan was hatched and Ireland was ignored. It wasn't until 1166 that it came to the surface again. In that year,
Diarmait Mac Murchada, a minor Irish Prince, was driven from his land of
Leinster by the
High King of Ireland. Diarmait followed Henry to
Aquitaine, seeking an audience. He asked the English king to help him reassert control; Henry agreed and made footmen, knights and nobles available for the cause. The most prominent of these was a Welsh Norman,
Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, nicknamed "Strongbow". In exchange for his loyalty, Diarmait offered Earl Richard his daughter Aoife in marriage and made him heir to the kingdom.
The Normans restored Diarmait to his traditional holdings, but it quickly became apparent that Henry hadn't offered aid purely out of kindness. In 1171, Henry arrived from
France, declaring himself
Lord of Ireland. All of the
Normans, along with many Irish princes, took oaths of homage to Henry, and he left after six months. He never returned, but he later named his young son, the future King
John of England, Lord of Ireland.
Diarmait's appeal for outside help had made Henry Ireland's Lord, starting 800 years of English overlordship on the island. The change was so profound that Diarmait is still remembered as a traitor of the highest order. In 1172, at the Synod of
Cashel,
Roman Catholicism was proclaimed as the only permitted religious practice in Ireland.
Consolidation in Scotland
In 1174, a rebellion spearheaded by his own sons wasn't Henry's biggest problem. An invasion force from Scotland, led by their King,
William the Lion, was advancing from the North. To make matters worse, a Flemish armada was sailing for England, just days from landing. It seemed likely that the King's rapid growth was to be checked.
Just three years later, Becket was canonized and revered as a
martyr against secular interference in God's church. The pope had declared Thomas Becket a saint. Plantagenet historian John Harvey believes "The martyrdom of Thomas Becket was a martyrdom which he'd repeatedly gone out of his way to seek...one can't but feel sympathy towards Henry".}}
The "Angevin Curse" is infamous amongst the Plantagenet rulers. Trying to divide his lands amongst numerous ambitious children resulted in many problems for Henry. The King's plan for an orderly transfer of power relied on Young Henry ruling and his younger brothers doing homage to him for land. However, Richard refused to be subordinate to his brother, because they'd the same mother and father, and the same Royal blood.. The victorious Prince Richard later paid his respects to Henry's corpse as it travelled to
Fontevraud Abbey, upon which, according to Roger of Wendover, 'blood flowed from the nostrils of the deceased, as if...indignant at the presence of the one who was believed to have caused his death'. The Prince, Henry's oldest son and conqueror, was crowned
Richard I of England on
1 September 1189.
Ancestry
Descendants
For a complete list of Henry's descendants, see
List of members of the House of Plantagenet.
Fictional portrayals
Henry II is a central character in the plays
Becket by
Jean Anouilh and
The Lion in Winter by
James Goldman.
Peter O'Toole portrayed him in the film adaptations of both of these plays -
Becket (1964) and
The Lion in Winter (1968) - for both of which he received nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Actor. He was also nominated for the
BAFTA Award for Best British Actor for
Becket and won the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama for both films.
Patrick Stewart portrayed Henry in the TV film adaptation of
The Lion in Winter (2003), for which he was nominated for the
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Brian Cox portrayed him in the
BBC TV series
The Devil's Crown (1978), which dramatised his reign and those of his sons. He has also been portrayed on screen by
William Shea in the silent short
Becket (1910),
A. V. Bramble in the silent film
Becket (1923), based on a play by
Alfred Lord Tennyson,
Alexander Gauge in the film adaptation of the
T. S. Eliot play
Murder in the Cathedral (1952), and
Dominic Roche in the British children's TV series
Richard the Lionheart (1962).
Further Information
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