Henry II

Common Entrance History – Essay Revision Summaries

HENRY II – reigned 1154–1189

Events Before He Came to the Throne

  • 1120 The White Ship Disaster
  • Henry I's heir, Prince William, drowned crossing the English Channel
  • Henry I's chosen heir was now his daughter, Matilda (sometimes called Maud)
  • She had been briefly married to the German Emperor and was known as "the Empress"
  • Henry I made all the barons of England and Normandy swear to accept Matilda's rule
  • 1135 Henry I died, but some barons would not accept Matilda as monarch
  • They argued that a woman could not lead an army in battle
  • Instead, a nephew of Henry I, Stephen of Blois, was crowned as king
  • Matilda (and her second husband Geoffrey of Anjou) fought the forces of Stephen
  • The country was engulfed in a long civil war
  • It was said, "For nineteen years, Christ and His saints slept" (Peterborough Chronicle)
  • The barons took sides in the conflict and openly broke the law
  • Neither Stephen nor Matilda would punish the barons for fear of losing support
  • Foreign troops (mercenaries) were hired by both sides
  • Stephen gave away royal lands in the hope of gaining support from barons
  • Eventually Stephen lost the powerful support of the Church
  • By now Matilda's forces were under the command of her son Henry; he was a good commander
  • Peace was finally agreed in 1153: Stephen would keep the throne and be succeeded by Matilda's son, Henry – The Treaty of Winchester
  • The following year, 1154, Henry II came to the throne


Henry Restores Order

  • The civil war had left England in a dreadful state; Henry succeeded in restoring law and order and bringing peace to the country
  • All castles built without royal permission were pulled down
  • Trusted barons were put in charge of those castles that still stood
  • This was to prevent castles being used by potentially rebellious barons
  • The mercenaries hired by both sides in the war were sent home
  • The private armies of the barons were disbanded
  • Barons were encouraged to pay "scutage" (shield money) in return for their feudal lands rather than having to provide knights for the king
  • With this money Henry could hire mercenary knights when he was fighting in France
  • The effect of scutage was that there were fewer people in the country devoted to warlike activities
  • Barons and knights turned their attention to the effective management of their lands
  • Royal lands given away by Stephen were taken back by Henry II


Legal (Court) Reforms

  • As part of the process of restoring order Henry wanted to make the courts fairer
  • The king's judges gave impartial (unbiased) judgements
  • Fines imposed by these judges went towards the cost of the government of the country
  • Previously the barons had acted as judges and kept the fines themselves – this was obviously open to corruption
  • Henry ended trials by ordeal (fire, water and combat) and started the process that would lead to the introduction of the jury system
  • Henry was successful in bringing the barons' courts under his control
  • He is generally accepted as being the founder of the English legal system
  • However the Church courts remained outside his control and he saw this as a problem
  • He saw the chance put this right when the job of Archbishop of Canterbury became vacant and he appointed his trusted advisor Thomas Becket to the post


Thomas Becket

  • The son of a Norman merchant living in London, not from a noble family
  • He was well educated and studied law at university in Paris
  • He went into Church administration – a lucrative career in the Middle Ages
  • He had served in the household (administration staff) of Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • Theobold recommended him to Henry, who appointed Becket as Chancellor (chief minister) in 1155
  • Becket was an able assistant to the king in his attempts to restore order to England
  • Henry and Becket became good friends and Becket became very wealthy
  • In 1162 when Theobald died, Becket was appointed as the new archbishop
  • Henry expected Becket to be supportive in his campaign to bring the Church courts under the control of the king

Church Courts

  • Henry saw Church courts as a problem because they did not impose as harsh sentences as the king's courts (eg they could not impose the death penalty) and were seen as a way of escaping proper justice
  • Anyone who worked for the Church could claim the right to a Church court trial
  • The Church said that their employees if handed over to the king's courts would be punished twice for the same crime
  • Throughout Europe the Church and the state (the kings) were trying to get as much power to themselves as possible
  • The Papacy (the government of the Pope) was encouraging bishops to protect and extend the power of the Church in their countries
  • Henry felt that to be properly in charge in his country all courts must be under his control
  • Once Becket became Archbishop he become the champion of the rights of the Church and was determined that none of those rights should be eroded
  • He showed his commitment to his religious duties by abandoning his rich lifestyle
  • He said that, "priests should have no King but Christ and are subject only to His law"
  • This put him on a collision course with Henry II – the two former friends soon became bitter enemies
  • In the Constitutions (laws) of Clarendon of 1164 Henry seized the initiative and decreed that priests found guilty of serious crimes should be sent to the king's court
  • Becket refused to accept this and fled into exile in France


Murder in the Cathedral

  • Becket's exile in France lasted six years, during which he sent letters to the Pope and other European leaders detailing, in extremely spiteful terms, how he had been dealt with
  • There were attempts at reconciliation between Henry and Becket and eventually in the December 1170 Becket returned to Canterbury
  • He entered the city "like Christ on Palm Sunday entering Jerusalem" according to one account (ie to the joyful shouts of the crowds gathered to greet their hero)
  • The triumphant return to Canterbury bolstered Becket's confidence
  • He decided to get his own back on those who had wronged him
  • He excommunicated those bishops who had performed ceremonies only he should have performed (how he could have done them in exile did not seem to concern him!)
  • The most notable was the "coronation in advance" of Henry's eldest son, Prince Henry [he died before his father and never actually became king]
  • The bishops who had taken part in this were excommunicated as well as lords who had offended Becket, this was despite the fact that Becket had promised not to act in this way when he agreed to return to England
  • Some of those excommunicated went to Normandy where Henry was celebrating Christmas, determined that the "low–born" Becket be put in his place
  • Upon hearing what had happened Henry, who was well known for his rages, called out, "who will rid me of this troublesome [or turbulent] priest?" (his exact words were of course in French, hence the different translations)
  • Four knights, taking him at his word and hoping to win the king's favour, set off at once for England
  • 29 December 1170 – Becket was murdered with great violence in the Cathedral at Canterbury during Vespers (the evening service) by the four knights
  • (The exact details of the murder are in the handout The Canterbury Chronicle – Murder in the Cathedral)
  • All Europe was horrified when the news spread; Henry II's reputation was henceforth to be overshadowed by the murder
  • Of course it is unlikely that Henry meant his angry words to be taken literally, but he was now faced with a martyred archbishop, more powerful in death than in life
  • All Becket's faults (his arrogance, stubbornness and spitefulness) were forgotten in a tremendous wave of sympathy
  • Thomas Becket was canonised (made a saint) and Henry had to do penance as the instigator of the murder (at Avranches cathedral in Normandy)
  • He walked barefoot to the cathedral door and was whipped by monks as he knelt before the high altar
  • Henry also visited Becket's tomb at Canterbury to pray for forgiveness
  • The Church courts were left free of the king's control and Becket's tomb became the most popular place for pilgrimage in Mediaeval England
  • (When Henry VIII broke with the Roman Church in the 16th century he destroyed the shrine because he did not approve of the way that Becket had defied his king)


Henry's Empire and Family

  • Henry ruled a vast area of land that stretched from the Scottish border to the Spanish border
  • England and Normandy [north west France] were inherited from his mother (Matilda)
  • Anjou and Maine [areas south of Normandy] were inherited from his father (Geoffrey)
  • The rich province of Aquitaine [south central France] came through marriage to his wife (Eleanor)
  • In order to protect his lands, he conquered Brittany [far west of France] and Gascony [south west France] too
  • Henry had more of France under his control than the French king did; the French king obviously did not like this and Henry spent much of his time in France protecting his lands, which consisted of the western half of the French kingdom
  • Henry was not king in France, but he held his lands as the feudal lord, which meant that he was technically under the control of the French king, a fact he chose to ignore
  • Henry's on going battles with the French king were not helped by his poor relations with members of his own family
  • His wife, Eleanor, grew very resentful of him and would try to stir up trouble in Aquitaine (where she ruled as Duchess), gleefully encouraged by the French king
  • Henry's sons too rebelled against him – people said that this was God's punishment for Becket's murder
  • The sons however were divided amongst themselves, each wanting to inherit their father's vast empire
  • Exploiting these divisions and through his military skill and energy, Henry was able to keep his lands intact against the attacks of his wife, sons and the French king
  • Henry died in 1189, abandoned by all his family, he was succeeded by his son Richard I, who in turn was succeeded by another of Henry's sons, John (in 1199)


Henry's Achievements

  • The murder of Becket overshadows Henry's reign and the conflicts with his family also detract from the good that he did while he was king
  • However we must remember the great achievement that Henry had at the beginning of his reign – the restoration of peace and order after the civil war
  • Henry also made great reforms to the courts that are the basis of our legal system today
  • He made the government of his lands efficient and employed able men to help him in the task, such as Becket himself
  • England had one of the best bureaucracies (government systems) in Europe at the time
  • Despite his rebellious sons and wife, Henry maintained his vast empire – in order to do this he spent much of his time in his French lands, but the good system of government he had set up in England meant that the country did not suffer by his absence


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