General Notes

Source: 'The World Book Encyclopedia', 1968, p H178. 'Royalty for Commoners',  Roderick W. Stuart, 1993, p 37-38. Reigned 1154-1189. He ruled an empire that stretched from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. In spite of frequent hostitilties with the French King his own family and rebellious Barons (culminating in the great revolt of 1173-74) and his quarrel with Thomas Becket, Henry maintained control over his possessions until shortly before his death. His judicial and administrative reforms which increased Royal control and influence at the expense of the Barons were of great constitutional importance. Introduced trial by Jury. Duke of Normandy. Henry II 'Curt Mantel,' Duke of Normandy, Count of Maine and Anjou, King Of England became king in 1154. At the height of his power, Henry ruled England and almost all western France. His marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most famous woman of the age, brought the duchy of Aquitaine under his control. Henry also claimed to rule Scotland, Wales, and eastern Ireland.  Henry II carried on his grandfather's policy of limiting the power of the nobles. He also tried to make the Roman Catholic Church in England submit to his authority. This policy brought him into conflict with Thomas a Becket, Achbishop of Canterbury. Four of the king's knights murdered Becket while he was at vespers in his cathedral. Henry made Anglo-Saxon common law, rather than the revised Roman law, the supreme law of the land. He introduced trial by jury and circuit courts. In his later years, Henry's sons often rebelled against him. Two of them, Richard the  Lion-Hearted and John, became the next two kings of England.

REF: "Falls the Shadow" Sharon Kay Penman: William the Conqueror requested a large number of Jews to move to England after his conquest. They spoke Norman & did well under his reign.  They continued to thrive under William's grandson Henry II.

REF: British Monarchy Official Website: Henry II (reigned 1154-89) ruled over an empire which stretched from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. Married to Eleanor, the heiress of Aquitaine, the king spent only 13 years of his reign
in England; the other 21 years were spent on the continent in his territories in what is now France. By 1158, Henry had restored to the crown some of the lands and royal power lost by Stephen. For example, locally chosen sheriffs were changed into royally appointed agents charged with enforcing the law and collecting taxes in the counties. Personally interested in government and law, Henry strengthened royal justice, making use of juries and re-introduced the sending of justices (judges) on regular tours of the country to try cases for the
Crown. His legal reforms have led him to be seen as the founder of English Common Law. Henry's disagreements with his Archbishop of Canterbury,
Thomas Becket, over Church/State relations ended in Becket's murder in 1170. Family disputes almost wrecked the king's achievements and he died in 1189 at war with his sons.

Reigned 1154-1189. He ruled an empire that stretched from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. In spite of frequent hostitilties with the French King his own family and rebellious Barons (culminating in the great revolt of 1173-74) and his quarrel with
Thomas Becket, Henry maintained control over his possessions until shortly before his death. His judicial and administrative reforms which increased Royal control and influence at the expense of the Barons were of great constitutional
importance. Introduced trial by Jury. Duke of Normandy.
Henry II, first of the Angevin kings, was one of the most effective of all England's monarchs. He came to the throne amid the anarchy of Stephen's reign and promptly collared his errant barons. He refined Norman government and created a
capable, self-standing bureaucracy. His energy was equaled only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry survived wars, rebellion, and controversy to successfully rule one of the Middle Ages' most powerful kingdoms.
Henry was raised in the French province of Anjou and first visited England in 1142 to defend his mother's claim to the disputed throne of Stephen. His continental possessions were already vast before his coronation: He acquired Normandy and
Anjou upon the death of his father in September 1151, and his French holdings more than doubled with his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitane (ex-wife of King Louis VII of France). In accordance with the Treaty of Wallingford, a succession agreement
signed by Stephen and Matilda in 1153, Henry was crowned in October 1154. The continental empire ruled by Henry and his sons included the French counties of Brittany, Maine, Poitou, Touraine, Gascony, Anjou, Aquitane, and Normandy. Henry was
technically a feudal vassal of the king of France but, in reality, owned more territory and was more powerful than his French lord. Although King John (Henry's son) lost most of the English holdings in France, English kings laid claim to the
French throne until the fifteenth century. Henry also extended his territory in the British Isles in two significant ways. First, he retrieved Cumbria and Northumbria form Malcom IV of Scotland and settled the Anglo-Scot border in the North.
Secondly, although his success with Welsh campaigns was limited, Henry invaded Ireland and secured an English presence on the island.
English and Norman barons in Stephen's reign manipulated feudal law to undermine royal authority; Henry instituted many reforms to weaken traditional feudal ties and strengthen his position. Unauthorized castles built during the previous reign
were razed. Monetary payments replaced military service as the primary duty of vassals. The Exchequer was revitalized to enforce accurate record keeping and tax collection. Incompetent sheriffs were replaced and the authority of royal courts
was expanded. Henry empowered a new social class of government clerks that stabilized procedure - the government could operate effectively in the king's absence and would subsequently prove sufficiently tenacious to survive the reign of
incompetent kings. Henry's reforms allowed the emergence of a body of common law to replace the disparate customs of feudal and county courts. Jury trials were initiated to end the old Germanic trials by ordeal or battle. Henry's systematic
approach to law provided a common basis for development of royal institutions throughout the entire realm.
The process of strengthening the royal courts, however, yielded an unexpected controversy. The church courts instituted by William the Conqueror became a safe haven for criminals of varying degree and ability, for one in fifty of the English
population qualified as clerics. Henry wished to transfer sentencing in such cases to the royal courts, as church courts merely demoted clerics to laymen. Thomas Beckett, Henry's close friend and chancellor since 1155, was named Archbishop of
Canterbury in June 1162 but distanced himself from Henry and vehemently opposed the weakening