• General Notes

  [charlemegne.FTW]
  
  Fontevrault Abbey
  Henry II of England = Henry Curtmantle = Henry Fitz Empress
  
  HENRY II OF ENGLAND Curtmantle [or HENRY FITZ EMPRESS], King o f England, was born at Le Mans on 5 Mar. 1132/3. He became Duc d e Normandie et du Maine, and Comte d'Anjou by inheritance from h is mother and father. He was married at Bordeaux on 18 May 115 2 to ELEONORE D'AQUITAINE, the divorced wife, with two daughters , of Louis VII, Roi de France (descendant of Charlemagne), and d aughter and heiress of Guillaume X, Duc d'Aquitaine et Comte d e Poitou, by Eleonore, daughter of Aumary I, Vicomte de Chatelle rault. She was born about 1122. Their children were born in Norm andy in 1153, at Bermondsey in 1155, in London in 1156, at Oxfor d in 1157, at Damfront in 1162, at Angers in 1165, and at Oxfor d in 1167. By his marriage Henry acquired the duchy of Aquitain e together with Gascony, Poitou and Auvergne. By the Treaty of W inchester in 1153 Henry was recognised as King Stephen's heir. H e reached England on 8 Dec. 1154, and crowned King of England o n 19 Dec. 1154, with direct rule over England and southern Wales , and a claim to the overlordship of northern Wales. His domai n of England, Wales, and the French lands acquired from inherita nce and marriage (ruled as separate components), was termed th e "Angevin empire" (as his father was Comte d'Anjou). The overlo rd of his French lands, the king of France, had direct control o f a much smaller domain than Henry himself. In 1171 Henry annexe d Ireland though controlling the eastern part only. He had littl e difficulty in curbing the disorder of Stephen's reign and rest oring the royal authority. He encouraged the development of juri es of presentment of local men in the investigation of crimes, a nd trial of those accused by royal justices. His writs to sherif fs improved the disposition of claims over possession of propert y and benefices thereby discouraging local self-help of violen t ejection and usurpation. By relying on financial and legal exp erts and a permanent court at Westminster he fostered the establ ishment of those two professions and the replacement of Roman la w by English common law. Henry's reassertion of the king's right s over the church, in particular that clerics were subject to hi s courts and not solely to ecclesiastical courts, led to the qua rrel with his former chancellor Thomas Becket, who, as Archbisho p of Canterbury, was murdered in his cathedral at Henry's instig ation in 1170. Henry spent much of his reign in France, upholdin g his authority in his numerous lordships and attempting to exte nd his rule. There he encountered the hostility of the French ki ngs, who encouraged the grievances of his quarrelsome sons. HENR Y II OF ENGLAND, King of England, died at Chinon in Normandy o n 8 July 1189 in the midst of a rebellion by his sons. His wido w died at Fontevrault on 31 Mar. 1204. They were buried at Fonte vrault Abbey in Anjou, where their tomb effigies may be seen. Po wicke (1961), pp. 32-33 (he died 6 July 1189, she died 1 Apr. 12 04). DNB 26:1; 17:175. Paget (1977), pp. 14-15.
  
  Epitaph: "I was Henry the King. To me Divers realms were subject . I was duke and count of many provinces. Eight feet of ground i s now enough for me Whom many kingdoms failed to satisfy. Who re ads these lines, let him reflect Upon the narrowness of death, A nd in my case behold The image of our mortal lot. This scanty to mb doth now suffice For whom the earth was not enough."

Details of Henry II's family with Eleanor of Aquitaine

Details of Henry II's family with Ida