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[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 21, Ed. 1, Tree #1116, Date of Import: May 3, 1999]
Henry was crowned 1154 King of all of England and 1/3 of
France.[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 19, Ed. 1, Tree #1362, Date of Import: Apr
26, 1999]
[Brøderbund WFT Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Tree #2553, Date of Import: Jun 20, 1997]
See also notes on Geoffrey Plantagenet.
Henry II (born 1133, ruled 1154-89). The grandson of Henry I was the
first Plantagenet king of England. His mother was Matilda, daughter of
Henry I. His father was Geoffrey of Anjou, whom Matilda married after the
death of her first husband, Emperor Henry V. Geoffrey was called
Plantagenet for his habit of wearing in his cap a sprig of the broom
plant, which in Latin is called planta genista.
Henry II was born in Le Mans, France, in March 1133. During his mother's
conflict with Stephen for the English throne he was brought to England.
Stephen eventually recognized his claim, and Henry became king of England
in 1154 after Stephen's death.
Henry II held England and Normandy by his mother's right. From his father
he inherited, as French fiefs, the important counties of Anjou, Maine,
and Touraine. By his marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage
with the French king Louis VII had been annulled, he acquired Poitou,
Guyenne, and Gascony, so that he held most of the British Isles and about
half of France.
Henry II reestablished law and order after the anarchy of Stephen's
reign. He improved the military service by permitting the barons to pay
"shield money," or scutage, in place of serving in the army. With this he
hired soldiers who would fight whenever and wherever he wished an
important means of maintaining control over the powerful nobles of the
land.
His greatest work was the reform of the law courts. He brought the Curia
Regis (King's Court) into every part of England by sending learned judges
on circuit through the land to administer the "king's justice." Thus
gradually one system of law took the place of the many local customs that
had been in use. He also established the grand jury. Now accusations
could be brought by a body of representatives of the community against
evildoers who were so powerful that no single individual dared accuse
them.
The petit jury, also called petty or trial jury, substituted the weighing
of evidence and testimony by sworn men for the old superstitious trial by
combat or by ordeal. (See also Jury System.) Henry even attempted to
bring churchmen who committed crimes under the jurisdiction of the king's
courts, but the scandal caused by the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket
in the course of this quarrel forced him to give up this reform (see
Becket).
Henry's last years were embittered by the rebellion of his sons, aided by
Philip Augustus of France and by their mother, the unscrupulous Eleanor.
The king old, sick, and discouraged had to consent to the terms demanded
of him. When he saw the name of John, his favorite son, among those of
his enemies, he exclaimed, "Now let all things go as they will; I care no
more for myself, nor for the world."
Two days later he died, muttering, "Shame, shame on a conquered king." He
was succeeded by his son Richard (see Richard, Kings of England). After
Richard's death, in 1199, John came to the throne (see John of England).
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Excerpted from Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia
Copyright c 1993, 1994 Compton's NewMedia, Inc.
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Henry II (of England) (1133-89), king of England (1154-89), first monarch
of the house of Anjou, or Plantagenet, an important administrative
reformer, who was one of the most powerful European rulers of his time.
Born March 5, 1133, at Le Mans, France, Henry became duke of Normandy in
1151. The following year, on the death of his father, he inherited the
Angevin territories in France. By his marriage in 1