Henry+II

= Henry II of England = (also known as Henry Plantagenet)  At the death of Stephen of Blois, Henry acceded to the throne as Henry II and ruled as King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189. Amongst a myriad of English Kings, Henry II is deemed a significant character in history and his achievements remain celebrated.[|[1]] **'It is to Henr y II that we owe many significant developments in English government, none more important than the "invention" of the common law'.[|[2]]** = Fast Facts =
 * < Born: ||< c. 1133, Le Mans, France ||
 * < Died: ||< 1189, Chinon, France ||
 * < Father: ||< Geoffrey V Plantagenet, Count of Anjou ||
 * < Mother: ||< Matilda, daughter of King Henry I of England ||
 * < Spouse: ||< @Eleanor of Aquitaine ||

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= Invention of Common Law =

King Henry II, un der substantial pressure had effective control of both the king's court and over the popular courts of shire.[|[3]] His means to administer justice in the countries, the revival of the provincial judicature and the added form and organisation to the proceedings of his supreme court of justice is prominent.[|[4]]

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Perhaps the g <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">reatest political issue of the Middle Ages was that people were of the belief that God had set in the world two kinds of authority: temporal and spiritual.[|[5]] The Church expressed its wish to try its own criminals and Henry II agreed to this. However, it was his insistence that clerks found guilty be punished. Archbishop Thomas Becket was against the predominance of secular law over the law of the church and believed Henry's decision to be an invasion of clerical immunity and an offence to God.[|[6]] William of Newburgh explains in Book II of his History that Henry II may have 'exceeded the bounds of moderation'.[|[7]]

= Marriage =

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Henry II was married at nineteen to @Eleanor of Aquitaine, eight years his elder. Henry and E leanor were married in haste in a ceremony not befitted of their esteem shortly after Eleanor’s divorce to her husband Louis VII. Through this union Henry II found himself at great wealth, the lord, 'besides his own hereditary lands and his Norman duchy, of Poitou, Saintonge, Perigord, Limousin, Angoumois, and Gascony, with claims <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">of suzerainty over Auvergne and Toulouse'. [|[]8 ]

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Henry II was surrounded by the glory of success and was 'the obvious choice from Eleanor's point of view. An alliance in marriage with him would create a formidable empire, in whose government Eleanor might expect to play a part'. [|[]9 ] Eleanor’s destructive influence over Henry is demonstrated in a letter from Peter of Blois. [|[]10 ] Eleanor was imprisoned in 1173 for her ill manner in a rebellion against Henry. [|[1]1 ]

= Children = <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The King had entertained the idea of dividing his dominions among his sons when he passed. Henry and Eleanor had eight children together. The eldest son Henry, would of course be granted his father's inheritance of England, Normandy and Anjou. The premature coronation of ‘Henry the Younger’ erupted quarrels between Henry’s sons. ‘The little child who in the end broke his heart was already a stumbling <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">block'. [|[1]2 ] Gerard of Wales writes on Henry and his sons and reasons that the glory of Henry II would have been greater, had his sons regarded their father with filial affection. [|[13] ] A great league against Henry II existed in 1173 and war broke out however peace was re-established in 1174.

= Legacy =

<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">'Henry in the twentieth year of his reign was more powerful by far than when, at the beginning of it, the desire and darling of the whole people, he brought back peace and light and liberty after the evil days'. [|[1]4 ] He lost his last battle to death on July 6 1189 and his bloody corpse was laid to rest at Fontevraud Abbey. 'His work and much of what he had fought for survived him. His legacy was not merely the empire he had created, but also his government and laws, and the traditions he had helped to foster'. [|[1]5 ]

= References =


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[1]] William Chester Jordan, //Europe in the High Middle Ages.// (London, 2002), 152. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[2]] Ibid. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[3]] Christopher Brooke, //Medieval Church and Society// (London, 1971),186. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[4]] William Stubbs, //The Early Plantagenets// (London, 1909), 53. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[5]] Brooke (London), 126. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[6]] John H. Mundy, 'Europe in the High Middle Ages: 1150 - 1309,' in //A General History of Europe,// ed Denys Hay. (London, 1973), 338. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">[|[7]] William of Newburgh, 'Selections from Book II of his History, c.1200,' in //Internet Medieval Sourcebook:// [] (accessed 12 August 2011) **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[]8] J.R. Green, //Henry the Second// (London, 1908), 11. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[]9] Richard Barber, //Henry Plantagenet: A Biography// (New York, 1964), 46. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">[|[1]0] Peter of Blois, 'Letter 154, <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">﻿ <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">to Queen Elearnor, 1173,' in //Internet Medieval Sourcebook:// [] (accessed 11 August 2011) **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[1]1] Barber (1964), 66. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> [|[1]2] Stubs (London), 85-87 **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">[|[]13] Gerard of Wales, ‘On Henry II and his sons, from The Topography of Ireland, Chapters 49-50,’ in //Internet Medieval Sourcebook:// [] (accessed 11 August 2011)**
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">[|[]14] <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Stubs (London), 94. **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[15] Barber (New York, 232-234. **