Individual

Go to List of Family Names Go to List of People    < Previous Next >

Birth:          5 Mar 1133 Le Mans, Sarthe, France
Death:          6 Jul 1189 Chinon, Indre-et-Loire, France
Burial:         8 Jul 1189 Fontrevrault Abbey, Fontrevrault, Maine-et-Loire, France

Notes
Duke of Normandy
Count of Maine and Anjou
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England
Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (French: 
Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, ruled as Count of Anjou, 
Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Count of Nantes, King of 
England (1154–89) and Lord of Ireland; at various times, he also controlled Wales, 
Scotland and Brittany. Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter 
of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mother's 
efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois, and was 
made Duke of Normandy at 17. He inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards 
married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been 
annulled. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to 
England in 1153: Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later.

Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the 
lands and privileges of his royal grandfather, Henry I. During the early years of his 
reign the younger Henry restored the royal administration in England, re-established 
hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and 
Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with 
his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy 
lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170. Henry soon 
came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a 
"cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire, often at Louis' expense, 
taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse; despite 
numerous peace conferences and treaties, no lasting agreement was reached. By 
1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the 
western half of France, an area that would later come to be called the Angevin 
Empire.

Henry and Eleanor had eight children. As they grew up, tensions over the future 
inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King 
Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was 
joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, 
Scotland, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt 
was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders, 
many of them "new men" appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills. Young 
Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. The 
Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, but Henry 
struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. 
Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry would make John king, and a 
final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and 
suffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou, where he died.

Henry's empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John. Many of 
the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term 
consequences. Henry's legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis 
for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales and Scotland 
shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems. Historical 
interpretations of Henry's reign have changed considerably over time. In the 18th 
century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely 
English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. During the Victorian expansion of 
the British Empire, historians were keenly interested in the formation of Henry's own 
empire, but they also expressed concern over his private life and treatment of Becket. 
Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of 
Henry, challenging earlier Anglo-centric interpretations of his reign.
Early years (1133–49)[edit]

Main article: The Anarchy

Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of the 
Empress Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou.[2] The 
French county of Anjou was formed in the 10th century and the Angevin rulers 
attempted for several centuries to extend their influence and power across France 
through careful marriages and political alliances.[3] In theory, the county answered to 
the French king, but royal power over Anjou weakened during the 11th century and 
the county became largely autonomous.[4]

Henry's mother, firstly married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, was the eldest 
daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. She was born into a 
powerful ruling class of Normans, who traditionally owned extensive estates in both 
England and Normandy.[5] Following her father's death in 1135, Matilda hoped to 
claim the English throne, but instead her cousin Stephen of Blois was crowned king 
and recognised as the Duke of Normandy, resulting in civil war between their rival 
supporters.[6] Geoffrey took advantage of the confusion to attack the Duchy of 
Normandy but played no direct role in the English conflict, leaving this to Matilda and 
her half-brother, Robert of Gloucester.[7] The war, termed the Anarchy by Victorian 
historians, dragged on and degenerated into stalemate.[8]

Henry probably spent some of his earliest years in his mother's household, and 
accompanied Matilda to Normandy in the late 1130s.[9] Henry's later childhood, 
probably from the age of seven, was spent in Anjou, where he was educated by Peter 
of Saintes, a noted grammarian of the day.[10] In late 1142, Geoffrey decided to send 
the nine-year-old to Bristol, the centre of Angevin opposition to Stephen in the 
south-west of England, accompanied by Robert of Gloucester.[11] Although having 
children educated in relatives' households was common among noblemen of the 
period, sending Henry to England also had political benefits, as Geoffrey was coming 
under criticism for refusing to join the war in England.[11] For about a year, Henry 
lived alongside Roger of Worcester, one of Robert's sons, and was instructed by a 
magister, Master Matthew; Robert's household was known for its education and 
learning.[12] The canons of St Augustine's in Bristol also helped in Henry's education, 
and he remembered them with affection in later years.[13] Henry returned to Anjou in 
either 1143 or 1144, resuming his education under William of Conches, another 
famous academic.[14]

Henry returned to England in 1147, when he was fourteen.[15] Taking his immediate 
household and a small number of mercenaries, he left Normandy and landed in 
England, striking into Wiltshire.[15] Despite initially causing considerable panic, the 
expedition had little success, and Henry found himself unable to pay his forces and 
therefore unable to return to Normandy.[15] Neither his mother nor his uncle were 
prepared to support him, implying that they had not approved of the expedition in the 
first place.[16] Surprisingly, Henry instead turned to King Stephen, who paid the 
outstanding wages and thereby allowed Henry to retire gracefully. Stephen's reasons 
for doing so are unclear. One potential explanation is his general courtesy to a 
member of his extended family; another is that he was starting to consider how to end 
the war peacefully, and saw this as a way of building a relationship with Henry.[17] 
Henry intervened once again in 1149, commencing what is often termed the Henrician 
phase of the civil war.[18] This time, Henry planned to form a northern alliance with 
King David I of Scotland, Henry's great-uncle, and Ranulf of Chester, a powerful 
regional leader who controlled most of the north-west of England.[19] Under this 
alliance, Henry and Ranulf agreed to attack York, probably with help from the Scots.
[20] The planned attack disintegrated after Stephen marched rapidly north to York, 
and Henry returned to Normandy.[21][nb 2

Parents
PLANTAGENET Geoffrey V "Le Bon" (24 Aug 1113 - 7 Sep 1151)
____ Matilda (Maud) (ABT Feb 1102 - 10 Sep 1167)

Siblings
PLANTAGENET Henry II "Curt Mantel" (5 Mar 1133 - 6 Jul 1189)

Marriage To D'AQUITAINE ET POITOU Eleonore (ABT 1121 - 31 Mar 1204)
    m. 18 May 1152 Bordeaux, Gironde, France

Notes
her second

Parents
____ William (Guillaume) VIII (X) (1099 - 19 Apr 1137)
DE CHATELLERAULT Aenor (Eleanor) (ABT 1103 - AFT 1133)

Children by D'AQUITAINE ET POITOU Eleonore ABT 1121 - 31 Mar 1204
PLANTAGENET Maud (Matilda) (BEF Jul 1156 - 28 Jun 1189)
____ Eleanor (13 Oct 1162 - 25 Oct 1214)
PLANTAGENET John "Lackland" (24 Dec 1166 - 19 Oct 1216)

Marriage To DE TOSNY Ida (ABT 1160 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE TOSNY Ralph V (ABT 1130 - 1162)
DE BEAUMONT Margaret (ABT 1125 - )

Children by DE TOSNY Ida ABT 1160 - 
LONGESPEE William (ABT 1176 - 7 Mar 1226)

Produced by Fzip 1.7 6/20/2017