Henry II of England

According to contemporary scholars, Henry II was handsome and had freckles and a shock of red hair. Short and stocky, he had bowed legs from riding. The entire Plantagenet dynasty is infamous for their explosive temper, and Henry, the founder, was even more so. Chroniclers have characterised him to be a bully and added that he had a piercing stare and would often appear sullen.

Besides his children with Eleanor, he was the father of Geoffrey (born 1152), Archbishop of York and William Longespée (1176), third Earl of Salisbury from other women.

Though intensely disliked by his contemporaries, Henry is remembered as the first ruler to bring England under one kingship. The Plantagenet dynasty was the longest reigning royal house in the history of the country.

Henry was born on March 5, 1133, at Le Mans in France to Empress Matilda and Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine. He was the eldest of three brothers, Geoffrey VI and William being the other two. His claim to the English throne came through his maternal grandfather and Matilda’s father, Henry I. The King of the English during the Anarchy, Stephen of Blois, was his uncle.

After her father’s death in 1135, Matilda was named the successor but Stephen promptly occupied the English throne and was recognised as the Duke of Normandy. The situation quickly degenerated into a civil war. Geoffrey, feeling the time was correct for an attack, took control of the duchy of Normandy, while on a different front, Matilda and her half-brother Robert of Gloucester continued their struggle against Stephen.

It is quite likely that Henry spent the early years of his life in his mother’s household and when she moved to Normandy, he accompanied her. At about seven, He came to stay in Anjou with his father.

In late 1142, Henry, accompanied by Robert, went to Bristol, following the instruction of his father. The South-Western English town was the epicentre of Angevin opposition to Stephen and the importance of Henry’s presence there was more than symbolic. It stopped the criticism against Geoffrey that he was not doing enough in the war against England. Henry returned to Anjou in 1143 or 1144.

Though he lacked both his mother’s seriousness and his father’s charm, Henry was forceful and confident. He studied under some of the best tutors of the time, grammarian Peter of Saintes and scholastic philosopher William Conches. He was instructed by a magister named Master Matthew at Robert’s house. Besides the formal education, he studied the canons of St Augustine's in Bristol.

The violence between the factions had simmered down by the late 1140s with barons from both camps suing for individual peace. The English Church was weighing options of promoting a peace treaty. Around this time, Louis VII, the King of France, returned from the Second Crusade. He instantaneously recognised the power Geoffrey has garnered in his absence.

Geoffrey declared Henry as the duke of Normandy in 1150 and Louis retaliated by naming Eustace, one of Stephen’s sons, as the rightful heir to the duchy and instigated an attack on Normandy to rout Henry. Upon his father’s suggestion, Henry accepted Louis as his feudal lord, paying homage to him, and in turn, Louis authorised him as the Duke.

Due to his father’s death in 1151, Henry had to postpone his plans of his second expedition to England for some time. The delay served an ulterior purpose as well. He had expressed his desire to marry Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine in past. Eleanor was already married to Louis but had not borne him a male heir. Thus Louis pursued annulment of the marriage and was ultimately granted so. Only eight weeks after that, on May 18, Henry wedded Eleanor.

The marriage was not only a personal slight to Louis, but it also jeopardized the future inheritance of his two daughters with Eleanor. The marriage also brought more French lands under Henry’s possession than Louis’. It would create an enmity between the two men and their respective dynasties that would last well beyond their lifetimes.

Henry and Eleanor would have eight children together: five sons, William (born 1153), Henry (1155), Richard (1157), Geoffrey (1158), and John (1166), and three daughters, Matilda (1156), Eleanor (1161), and Joan (1165).

Arguably the biggest international incident during Henry II’s reign was the Thomas Becket controversy. Becket, who was one of minor lords raised to power and authority by Henry, was his English Chancellor. After the death of Archbishop of Canterbury Theobald of Bec in 1161, he forced the clergies to accept Becket as archbishop. His feud with the Church was long-standing and he probably believed that, with Becket at the helm, he would be able to impose more control over the Church.

Becket, however, renounced his relationship with the King and turned pious. In 1170, Henry had Young Henry crowned as the Junior King by the Archbishop of York. An enraged Becket excommunicated several supporters of Henry from the Church. Upon hearing of this, Henry infamously remarked, “What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and promoted in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born clerk.”

In response, four knights went to Canterbury without a direct order from the king and hacked Becket to death on December 29, 1170. It was a political and administrative disaster that would haunt Henry for years to come.