1066–1485
Reign of a
Powerful King
Henry II’s inheritance of England and vast areas of France made
him one of the most powerful rulers in Europe. He expanded his
possessions further in Ireland and made important reforms to the
English legal system. However, his reign was marred by a troubled
relationship with the Church and the revolts of his sons.
H
enry’s marriage at the age of 19
to Eleanor, heiress of the duchy
of Aquitaine (and the former
wife of Louis VII of France) in 1152,
made him the most powerful man in
France, lord of a domain that historians
came to call the Angevin Empire. Yet
there was still no certainty he would
inherit the English Crown. It was only
the sudden death of Stephen’s son,
Eustace, in August 1153, which opened
the way to him (see pp.72–73). By
the Treaty of Winchester, Stephen
recognized Henry as his successor,
on condition that he was left in peace
on the throne of England. However,
B EF O R E
Henry II’s route to the English throne was
a long and tortuous one, involving civil war
and the death of his main rival. His French
domains fell to him more easily.
BEGINNINGS OF A DYNASTY
Henry II was the son of Matilda, daughter of
Henry I, and Geoffrey Plantagenet, heir to the
Count of Anjou. Matilda’s failure to secure
the English throne after the death of Henry I in
1135, and her defeat by King Stephen in the civil
war of the 1130s and 1140s ❮❮ 73
left Henry to fall back on his
French inheritance. First,
he became Duke
of Normandy,
conquered by his
father in 1144, a
nd then, on
Geoffrey’s death
in 1152, Henry
succeeded him
as Count
of Anjou.
GEOFFREY
PLANTAGENET
76
Stephen did not enjoy this respite long,
for he died in October 1154, and within
six weeks Henry II had been crowned
at Westminster Abbey.
Lasting power
Although he spent only one-third of
his 35-year reign in England, Henry’s
impact there was profound and
long-lasting. The wars under Stephen
had left England prey to the ambitions
of the warring barons and also caused
it considerable loss of territory. In
1157, Henry forced Malcolm IV of
Scotland to hand back Cumberland,
Westmorland, and Northumbria,
which the Scots had acquired amid
the chaos of the civil war. In 1174
Scotland was reduced to a fief of the
English Crown in exchange for Henry’s
release of its king, William I, from
captivity. Attempts to improve the
English position in Wales failed in the
face of dogged resistance from Owain
of Gwynedd and Rhys of Deheubarth
from 1157 to 1165.
At home, Henry removed key
supporters of Stephen, demolished
castles that had been built illegally
£23,000 The average royal
expenditure in the
last eight years of Henry’s reign,
according to the Pipe Rolls (compared
to £10,000 in the first two years).
during the civil war, and garrisoned strengthening of the system of justice. system whereby sheriffs might hear
others with royal troops. By 1155, some Previously, competing jurisdictions had cases in the absence of royal justices
52 castles (one-fifth of the total) were made the administering of justice a with one in which “justices in eyre”
controlled by the Crown. To further haphazard affair. By the Assize of visited each locality on a regular
strengthen his position, Henry replaced Clarendon in 1166, Henry replaced a basis. They tried serious crimes and
two-thirds of the county sheriffs with
men loyal to him and restored the
application of “forest laws”, which
provided a lucrative source of revenue
“ The French crown has five
by levying fines on those who cleared
forest land. He also restored the duchies and, if you count them
currency with the issue of a new
coinage in 1158.
up, there are three missing.”
The justice system
A key component in the program FRENCH TROUBADOUR BERTRAN DE BORN, REFERRING TO THE POSSESSION OF
to restore royal authority was the NORMANY, BRITTANY, AND AQUITAINE BY HENRY II, 12TH CENTURY