General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Of England
Ancestral File Number:<AFN> 8WKP-WF
Henry II (1154-1189)
Henry II, first of the Angevin kings, was one of the most e
ffective of all England's monarchs. He came to the throne a
mid the anarchy of Stephen's reign and promptly collared hi
s errant barons. He refined Norman government and create
d a capable, self-standing bureaucracy. His energy was equa
led only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry survived w
ars, rebellion, and controversy to successfully rule one o
f the Middle Ages' most powerful kingdoms.
Henry was raised in the French province of Anjou and firs
t visited England in 1142 to defend his mother's claim to t
he disputed throne of Stephen. His continental possession
s were already vast before his coronation: He acquired Norm
andy and Anjou upon the death of his father in September 11
51, and his French holdings more than doubled with his marr
iage to Eleanor of Aquitane (ex-wife of King Louis VII of F
rance). In accordance with the Treaty of Wallingford, a suc
cession agreement signed by Stephen and Matilda in 1153, He
nry was crowned in October 1154. The continental empire rul
ed by Henry and his sons included the French counties of Br
ittany, Maine, Poitou, Touraine, Gascony, Anjou, Aquitane
, and Normandy. Henry was technically a feudal vassal of th
e king of France but, in reality, owned more territory an
d was more powerful than his French lord. Although King Joh
n (Henry's son) lost most of the English holdings in France
, English kings laid claim to the French throne until the f
ifteenth century. Henry also extended his territory in th
e British Isles in two significant ways. First, he retrieve
d Cumbria and Northumbria form Malcom IV of Scotland and se
ttled the Anglo-Scot border in the North. Secondly, althoug
h his success with Welsh campaigns was limited, Henry invad
ed Ireland and secured an English presence on the island.
English and Norman barons in Stephen's reign manipulated fe
udal law to undermine royal authority; Henry instituted man
y reforms to weaken traditional feudal ties and strengthe
n his position. Unauthorized castles built during the previ
ous reign were razed. Monetary payments replaced military s
ervice as the primary duty of vassals. The Exchequer was re
vitalized to enforce accurate record keeping and tax collec
tion. Incompetent sheriffs were replaced and the authorit
y of royal courts was expanded. Henry empowered a new socia
l class of government clerks that stabilized procedure - th
e government could operate effectively in the king's absenc
e and would subsequently prove sufficiently tenacious to su
rvive the reign of incompetent kings. Henry's reforms allow
ed the emergence of a body of common law to replace the dis
parate customs of feudal and county courts. Jury trials wer
e initiated to end the old Germanic trials by ordeal or bat
tle. Henry's systematic approach to law provided a common b
asis for development of royal institutions throughout the e
ntire realm.
The process of strengthening the royal courts, however, yie
lded an unexpected controversy. The church courts institute
d by William the Conqueror became a safe haven for criminal
s of varying degree and ability, for one in fifty of the En
glish population qualified as clerics. Henry wished to tran
sfer sentencing in such cases to the royal courts, as churc
h courts merely demoted clerics to laymen. Thomas Beckett
, Henry's close friend and chancellor since 1155, was name
d Archbishop of Canterbury in June 1162 but distanced himse
lf from Henry and vehemently opposed the weakening of churc
h courts. Beckett fled England in 1164, but through the int
ervention of Pope Adrian IV (the lone English pope), return
ed in 1170.He greatly angered Henry by opposing to the coro
nation of Prince Henry. Exasperated, Henry hastily and publ
icly conveyed his desire to be rid of the contentious Archb
ishop - four ambitious knights