Securing The Throne and Ruling a Cross Channel Empire
The death of Henry I and the seizure of the throne by Stephen had brought ruinous civil war to England. Matilda and her husband Geoffrey of Anjou had not been able to gain the throne for her. Instead when Stephen faced total defeat he agreed to Henry II taking the crown as long as he could remain king until his death.
When Henry II became King of England he also ruled over considerable territories in France. Indeed as ruler of the Angevin empire Henry controlled more of France than the French king did. Henry also married Eleanor of Aquitaine who had previously been the French queen.
Henry was a strong and vigorous ruler of his vast territories, touring round them all upon a regular basis. He reorganised the English legal system introducing trial by jury and extending the scope of Crown Courts. The Justices of the Peace administered the new system. In the early years of these legal innovations his minister Thomas Becket ably assisted Henry II. Becket and the king became close friends until the former was made the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Conflict Between Henry II and Thomas Becket
The previous friendship between Henry II and Thomas Becket ended when the king attempted to reduce the power of clerical courts and remove clerical immunity. Becket resisted the royal will and fled to exile in France. The Papacy backed Becket and for six years the English Church was not allowed to perform rites and services.
Eventually the king and the Archbishop ended their quarrel except that Becket refused to see Henry again. Henry in a fit of temper wondered if anybody would rid him of his troublesome priest. Four of Henry's knights left France and murdered Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. The king in the end took responsibility for Becket's death despite not explicitly ordering it.
The Invasion of Ireland and Rebellions
In the middle of the furore over the death of Thomas Becket the king decided to launch the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. Henry's intervention was excused by claiming that he was sorting out disputes between the various Irish chieftains. Even in the early years of the invasion of Ireland the English demonstrated brutality towards the Irish.
In his later years Henry II fell out with his wife and their four sons. In France his eldest son attempted to take over all of the Angevin territories. Henry II succeeded in defeating that rebellion. However Henry would lose the English throne to his third son Richard I. The broken Henry finally died in 1189 and was buried in France.
Bibliography
Crystal D (1998) Chambers’ Biographical Encyclopedia, 2nd edition, Edinburgh
Holmes R, (2007) Battlefield, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Gardiner & Wenborn (1995) The History Today Companion to British History, Little, Brown & Co, London
Lenman B, (2004) Chambers Dictionary of World History, Edinburgh
