Henry II of England

French-born king of England (r. 1154-1189)

• Born: March 5, 1133
• Birthplace: Le Mans, Maine (now in France)
• Died: July 6, 1189
• Place of death: Near Tours (now in France)

Beginning his reign after a time of civil war, Henry II reestablished order. Henry sought to build on the reforms of his grandfather Henry I, fostered the study of the laws of England, and advocated constitutional law.

Early Life

Henry II was the eldest child of Matilda, daughter of Henry I, by her second husband, Geoffrey, count of Anjou. After the death of William, the only legitimate son of Henry I, in 1120, Henry I was obliged to rebuild his shattered succession plan around Matilda. He forced his major barons and prelates to swear their allegiance to her. Although many had serious misgivings about having a female ruler, their fear of the king caused them to accede to his wishes. On the death of Henry I, however, Stephen of Blois, his nephew, moved quickly to secure the throne (as King Stephen) and to acquire the support of the barons and prelates. Although he had acquired the throne with surprising ease, Stephen found it much more difficult to hold it. As neither Matilda nor Stephen proved to be an effective leader, the struggle did not reach a decisive point until Henry, Matilda’s son, appeared as a major figure.

The dynastic fight would be settled with the Treaty of Winchester in 1153, by the terms of which Stephen would retain the throne for his life and would be succeeded by young Henry. Stephen died in 1154, and Henry came to the throne as Henry II.

Henry II was of medium height, stocky, and strong. His face was said to resemble that of a lion, especially when he was angry. Although his temperament was generally cold and calculating, he was subject to sudden and violent mood shifts. Being an outdoorsman, he wore his hair close-cropped and was judged to be handsome; although he dressed simply, his bearing was regal and commanded respect and admiration.

Life’s Work

By inheritance and marriage, Henry found himself the ruler of a vast realm. From his mother, he inherited Normandy and Maine; from his father, he inherited the lands of Anjou; and through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he secured the duchy of Aquitaine. During his reign, he would establish overlordships in Wales and portions of Ireland, and he would reestablish a vague overlordship over Scotland. Like many monarchs before him, he found that such an empire was easier to gain than to rule. His territories comprised an array of feudal states ruled by independent-minded, often rebellious vassals. His position in France was complicated by the fact that he held such lands as a vassal of his rival the king of France. The later years of Henry’s reign would be complicated by the intrigues of Eleanor with the French king, involving Henry’s sons in rebellions against their father. During the summer of 1189, the final intrigue would play itself out against an aging and ailing Henry. Henry died on the sixth of July, that summer. Thus, after times of greatness and an assured place in the development of the English constitution, Henry would die a vanquished man, defeated by the house he could not rule his own.

Henry’s reign would also be marked, as were those of many of his Norman predecessors, by stormy relations with the Church. His main purpose was to regain the powers held by his grandfather, powers that had been lost during the civil war period. In the reign of Stephen, the Church, taking advantage of the weakness of the monarchy, had expanded the areas of church judicial jurisdiction. On the death of the archbishop of Canterbury, Henry saw an opportunity to control the Church from within its ranks, by proposing the appointment of his friend and chancellor, Thomas Becket (later Saint Thomas Becket). Although Becket was opposed to the plan, Henry was adamant. As adviser and chancellor, Becket had been fanatically loyal to the king. When he became the archbishop and leader of the English church, he defended the interests of his new master with the same zeal. It is possible that Becket may have overreacted in his effort to prove to the Church and the nation that he was not the king’s man in his new post.

Meeting the church leaders at Clarendon in 1164, Henry sought to lessen the jurisdiction of the church courts. By the terms of the Constitutions of Clarendon (1164), Henry asked that the clergy, under Becket, give their oaths to support the customs of the realm as they had existed in the reign of Henry I. The prelates agreed with great reluctance. Taking advantage of the fact that these customs were unwritten, Henry had his court create a written presentation of the customs as they had existed during the reign of Henry I. He now asked the prelates to place their signatures on the list of written customs, and although the other bishops agreed to sign, Becket refused.

The events that followed Clarendon brought Becket and Henry into a series of confrontations. Thereupon, Henry failed to secure the pope’s approval of his written statement of customs. Henry sought to bring Becket to submission by placing charges against him for misappropriation of funds while he was chancellor. Becket appealed to the pope, and Henry charged that the archbishop had violated the statement of written customs. Just as the bishops declined to accept charges of treason against Becket, the lay barons hesitated to move the secular charges against him.

Becket fled to the Continent, and an attempt to arrange a reconciliation between Henry and Becket failed. At length a settlement was reached between Henry and Becket. On his return to England, Becket took action against the bishops who had cooperated with the king in his absence. Tradition holds that Henry, on hearing this news, made a most intemperate remark concerning Becket. Four of Henry’s knights left the king and went to Canterbury, where they murdered the archbishop. To cleanse himself of blame for murder, Henry came to terms with the Church authorities and surrendered all of his earlier gains in which he had decreased the jurisdiction of the church courts in England.

It is in the realm of government, the English constitution, and the study of English constitutional history that the reign of Henry II earned for him a leading place in English history and earned for Henry the designation as a great king.

During the time of Henry II, a beginning was made in the study of constitutional history. Richard Fitz Neal wrote a volume entitled The Dialogue (c. 1198) that surveyed the work and the workers connected with the Exchequer. In the field of law, Ranulf de Glanville wrote the first study on the subject, Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae (c. 1188; Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England, 1900). The volume traced the development of the royal courts and the justice they administered. It demonstrated the interest of Henry and some of his advisers in the past laws of England and the manner of their application. A third major study was Polycraticus (c. 1159; selected English translation, 1938), the “stateman’s handbook,” an account of political philosophy as conceived in the Middle Ages, written by the distinguished theologian and scholar John of Salisbury.

Henry’s reign was also marked by more accurate and extensive record-keeping and an increase in nongovernment writings. Henry II sought to improve the quality of government and to extend the reforms of his grandfather. He wanted to strengthen royal control and to decrease the king’s dependency on the feudal system, while lessening the role of the feudal barons in both civil government and military service.

He began to decrease the role of the Great Council, dominated by his great barons, and to depend more on a small working body that came to be known as the Small Council. This body was dominated by officials of his court, together with a few of the barons. It traveled with the king on trips to the various regions of his kingdom. The Great Council came to meet only three times a year, and its meetings became more ceremonial than practical. This lessened the burden of the barons for attendance on the king. In addition, he instituted a tax, scutage, which allowed these vassals to substitute a money payment in place of military service. Although the barons were at first pleased by the lessening of their attendance at court and the lessening of their military service, they were soon to discover that both reforms lessened their role in government and their power and influence at court.

Henry’s reign also saw a considerable change in the judicial work of the Small Council; in 1178, he created a permanent subcommittee of the council to devote itself exclusively to judicial matters. In time, from this arrangement, the three great common-law courts would develop. Henry also re-established the use of the itinerant justices created under Henry I. He expanded and systematized the use of the justices by establishing regular circuits for the itinerant justices. He also used the justices as royal officials to check on local officials, namely the sheriffs. The use of the grand or accusing jury was definitely established by the Assize of Clarendon in 1166. The writ, as a means of bringing a case before the royal justice, was also developed at this time.

Also during Henry’s reign a permanent subcommittee for financial matters was formed. Its work fell under two main classifications the collection of taxes due from the sheriffs of the various counties and cases arising from financial concerns. In time, it also controlled the storage of the king’s resources. By the end of his reign, Henry had created a more organized central administration, an arrangement that decreased the role of feudalism and the role of the individual barons in government.

Significance

Henry II is generally regarded as one of England’s greatest kings, the father of English constitutional law, the founder of a modern structure for the government of England, and a stern foe of the power of the feudal barons and of feudalism in government. Although his numerous wars and skirmishes to defend and expand the Continental holdings of the Angevins were colorful, they were not to be a lasting success and would be lost under his son John.

Plantagenet Kings of England, 1154-1399

Reign

• Monarch

1154-1189

• Henry II (with Eleanor of Aquitaine, r. 1154-1189)

1189-1199

• Richard I the Lion-Hearted

1199-1216

• John I Lackland

1216-1272

• Henry III

1272-1307

• Edward I Longshanks

1307-1327

• Edward II (with Isabella of France, r. 1308-1330)

1327-1377

• Edward III (with Philippa of Hainaut, r. 1327-1369)

1377-1399

• Richard II

Bibliography

Appleby, John T. Henry II: The Vanquished King. New York: Macmillan, 1962. A very competent work on all aspects of the reign of Henry II.

Barber, Richard. The Devil’s Crown: A History of Henry II and His Sons. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1978. This volume is based on the BBC television series. It is a popularly styled version of the period and extremely well done.

Gillingham, John. The Angevin Empire. New York: Holmes and Meier, 1984. A brief study of all aspects of the Angevin Empire. Particularly good in explaining Angevin government.

Harvey, John Hooper. The Plantagenets. Rev. ed. New York: B. T. Batsford, 1959. A useful work that deals with the Plantagenet family. It has a short but well-considered section about Henry II and his court and Queen Eleanor.

Kelly, Amy. Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1950. A fine presentation of the role played by Eleanor of Aquitaine in the life of her two husbands and in the lives of her sons by Henry II.

Maitland, Frederic William. The Collected Papers of Frederic William Maitland. 3 vols. Edited by H. A. L. Fisher. 1911. Reprint. Holmes Beach, Fla.: Gaunt, 1999. Presents the papers of the influential scholar of British constitutional history.

May, Thomas. The Reigne of King Henry the Second, Written in Seauen Books. Edited by Götz Schmitz. Tempe, Ariz.: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and the Renaissance English Text Society, 1999. Presents the 1633 work of the Renaissance scholar Thomas May, who wrote seven manuscripts on Henry II. This text analyzes the manuscripts in detail and includes genealogical tables; appendixes featuring information on Henry II’s coronation, his character, his death, and more; and provides sources for further study.

Warren, W. L. Henry II. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977. A well-written study of the reign of Henry II.