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Henry of England (March 5, 1133 — July 6, 1189), English ruler |
World Biographical Encyclopedia
Henry II of was the first nobleman from England to get the royal title King of England, unlike the other kings of England who held the royal title King of the English.
Background
Henry II was born on 5 March 1133. The place of his birth was France in a city called Le Mans. Henry the Second was born as the oldest child of his parents Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou, his dad, and Matilda the Empress. Henry the II's maternal grandfather was Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. His mother was born as a wealthy person to the noble family of the Norman class. The maternal side of Henry's the II family owned a lot of real estates and land in England and Normandy. At first, Henry's II mother was married to Henry V, but after his death, she married to Henry's II father, Geoffrey the Fair. Most of his early years, Henry II spent at the home oh his mother, Mathilda.
Education
Henry's mother was often sending him to be educated at the homes of various noble people of that time. That was a common practice to send children of the royal ancestry to the homes of royal families to be educated. From Henry the Second's age of seven, he started to get the education from the Peter of Saintes, who was one of the most notable linguists of that time. Peter of Saintes had educated Henry II in Anjou, where Henry II grew up. In the year of 1142, Henry's II father, Geoffrey the Fair, had decided that he should send his son to Bristol, England. He sent Henry II to Bristol under the company of Robert of Gloucester. Besides sending Henry II for education purposes to England, there was something involved with the politics why Geoffrey sent his son to the England.
Geoffrey the Fair was criticized for not being the participant of the war in England, but sending his son to England could only improve his reputation. In Bristol, Henry II lived together with his guardian Roger of Worcester. During his time in Bristol, Henry II was tutored by a magister called Master Matthew. Henry II was also studying the canons of St Augustine's. When he came back to the place he grew up - Anjou, he continued his education by the tutoring of William of Conches, a prominent scholar.
Career
The career of Henry II can be divided into the three aspects. The first aspect of his royal career was making his dominions larger and also protecting them. His second career ascept is his involvement in two long and catastrophic personal battles. The third and last aspect of his career are the numerous reforms of the law system of England.
The territories that were under the control of Henry II were called the Angevine Empire. This is not an appropriate information, because it is partly untrue. Early in the year of 1172, Henry II gained respect from Malcolm IV, and he got the right to restore Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmorland. Henry II stepped on the English throne in the year of 1154 with the help of Wallingford treaty. By the Wallingford, King Stephen accepted Henry II as his successor. After a period of instability of the government and the fight over the throne, Henry II became the first ruler whose reign was marked by relative stability of the government and territorial expansion.
During the war with Scotland in 1157, he returned the teritory of North England to England. By his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II got the rulership of Aquitania. Together with his Normandic and Anjou heritage, and the newly acquired rulership over Aquitania, Henry II became the most powerful feudalist in France. Because of it, he acquired a lot of enemies in French noblemen. In the year of 1169, Henry II landed in Ireland at the Gulf of Bannow, by that, to the year of 1175, he was also the ruler of the vast part of Ireland.
In the 12th century, Ireland didn't have any official king to rule over the whole country; rather there were only some local kings ruling the parts of Ireland. Because of the situation in Ireland, Henry II took an opportunity, and he invaded Ireland. After the attack on Ireland, local kings became submissive to Henry II, and the most of the territory of Ireland became the part of England. Henry died on 6 July 1189, aged 56; the King had wished to be interred at Grandmont Abbey in the Limousin, but the hot weather made transporting his body impractical and he was instead buried at the nearby Fontevraud Abbey.
Henry II did a lot on the field of inner development of England. He introduced the practice of the codification of the Common Law of England. The Common Law was practiced by the royal traveling judges. He expanded the number of professional country administrators; he introduced the English Archive. He also developed England's taxation system.
Religion
Henry II was a Roman Catholic. He is known for various religious reforms in England during his reign.
Politics
Henry II was the monarch and ruler of England from 1154 to 1189. He was the first English King to be proclaimed as the King of England. His political views mainly consisted of expanding the teritory of England and making the England the most powerful feudal state.
Views
He looked at the world from the eyes of a conqueror. He wanted England to become the leading feudal force in Europe and the rest of the world.
Personality
Henry II of was the first nobleman from England to get the royal title King of England, unlike the other kings of England who held the royal title King of the English. He was the first from the Plantagenet royal dynasty that ruled over the whole England. He was an energetic but sometimes a very cruel ruler. He was one of the most effective English monarchs. He was driven by a burning desire to restore the land of England.
Henry II is best remembered for his arguing with Thomas Beckett, the Archbishop of Canterbury. At first, Henry II and Thomas Beckett were friends, but, after Thomas was named as the Archbishop, he didn't allow English priests to be judged in front of the Church jury. Henry II disagreed with him. Because of arguing over Church courts between Thomas Beckett and Henry II, Thomas exiled from England. Later, he came back to England. It is supposed that Henry II ordered the murder of Thomas Beckett in 1170 when he was killed at his cathedral.
From the period from 1170 to 1183, Henry II named his second son Henry the Young, as his co-ruler. Three of Henry's II five legal children died before him, so his son Richard became Henry the Second's successor.
Henry was described as energetic, but also sometimes as a cruel ruler of England. He was very dominant, decisive and intelligent and he knew how to rule over England.
Physical Characteristics:
Henry II was described as a strong man of leonine appearance. He had good looks, red hair. He also had a lot of freckles, which were his trademark. His body was short and stocky.
Quotes from others about the person
"What a parcel of fools and dastards have I nourished in my house, that not one of them will avenge me of this one upstart clerk!
Interests
In his youth Henry enjoyed warfare, hunting and other adventurous pursuits; as the years went by he put increasing energy into judicial and administrative affairs and became more cautious, but throughout his life he was energetic and frequently impulsive. He was also keen on horse-riding.
Connections
Henry II got married to Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152. From his marriage with her, he had eight children. All together Henry II had ten children, and some of them weren't from the marriage with Eleanor.
Geoffrey was an illegitimate son of Henry II, King of England, who became bishop-elect of Lincoln and archbishop of York.
Son:
William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury
1176 – 7 March 1226
William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury ("Long Sword", Latinised to de Longa Spatha) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, primarily remembered for his command of the English forces at the Battle of Damme and for remaining loyal to his half-brother, King John.
