King Henry II of England 1154-1189. His kingdom stretched from the Solway almost to the Mediterranean, from the Somme to the Pyranees. Also Ireland, on the orders of Pope Adrian IV (1154-1159). Laid the foundations of the jury system when he sent judges to the shires to administer laws alongside twelve local men.

Perhaps known best for his inadvertant murder of Thomas à Becket, who served him ably and pliantly as Chancellor but then turned against him (and towards piety) when made Archbishop of Canterbury. Becket was murdered on the altar of Canterbury Cathedral 29 Dec 1170 by four knights who believed they were acting under Henry’s orders. Henry did public penance, but his legacy was stained by the results of his struggle with a man who was then canonized a saint and whose death place became a prime pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages. The power of Becket and the Church was not broken until 1536 when Henry VIII dissolved the monastic system.

Henry’s reign was overall one of growing stability, but as he grew older his sons engaged in many power struggles with him. When he died, he knew his sons Richard and John had risen against him.

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Had two sons out of wedlock, Geoffrey and William, before his marriage to Eleanor289

“He had neither his mother’s haughty dignity, nor his father’s dashing charm. All the signs are he was indifferent to rank and impatient of pomp, careless of his appearance, and disdaining the trappings of monarchy....He was stocky, freckled, restless, and unkempt. Yet the force of his personality was unmistakable.”289

Possibly the most overpraised monarch in English history. Saw the world from the patrimony of his ancestors, counts of Anjou and dukes of Normandy. Spent two-thirds of his reign outside England; his main convcern with his kingdom was the exploitation of his rights and collection of revenue. Henry’s achievement is that he survived, almost to the end, as undisputed ruler of his dominions.205

Knighted in 1149 by David I of Scotland, who effectively renounced his own claim to the Ennglish throne.205

Almost pathologically restless; his court was almost constantly on the road. While his courtiers didn’t like it, it gave him the opportunity to impose his personal rule htroughout the kingdom.205

His rages were Homeric, his tantrums awesome. When roused, he tore his clothes and chewed the carpet (they were made of straw). yet he could also be witty, generous, and eager to understand the problems of the people he encountered.205

Countess of the rich provice of Aquitaine, queen of France, then queen of England, Eleanor was one of the most influential people in history. She was a prime patron of the chivalric poets who civilized brutal knighthood with the arts of “courtly love.” Brilliant, well-educated, and daring, she led a contingent of “Amazons” (aristocratic women dressed in costumes) on the Crusades with her then-husband Louis. Later she conspired with her sons against her husband Henry, leading him to imprison her in Old Sarum (1174) until his death (1189). She served as a wise counselor to both Richard and John, her sons who reigned after Henry.1

“She was at the very center of the rich culture and clashing politics of the twelfth century. Richest marriage prize of the Middle Ages, she was Queen of France as the wife of Louis VII, and went with him on the exciting and disastrous Second Crusade. Inspiration of troubadours and trovères, she played a large part in rendering fashionable the Courts of Love and in establishing the whole courtly tradition of medieval times. Divorced from Louis, she married Henry Plantagenet [Louis’ most powerful vassal], who became Henry II of England. Her resources and resourcefulness helped Henry win his throne, she was involved in the conflict over Thomas Becket, and, after Henry’s death, she handled the affairs of the Angevin empire with a sagacity that brought her the trust and confidence of popes and kings and emperors.

“Having first been a Capet and then a Plantagenet, Queen Eleanor was the central figure in the bitter rivalry between those houses for the control of their continental domains—a rivalry that excited the whole period: after Henry’s death, her sons, Richard Coeur-de-Lion and John ‘Lackland,’ fiercely pursued the feud up to and even beyond the end of the century. But the dynastic struggle of the period was accompanied by other stirrings: the intellectual revolt, the struggle between church and state, the secularization of literature and other arts, the rise of the distinctive culture of the great cities. Eleanor was concerned with all the movements, closely connected with all the personages; and she knew every city from London and Paris to Byzantium, Jerusalem, and Rome.”206

Claimed descent from Charlemagne206

In extreme old age, she retired to the abbey of Fontrevault, where she later died and was buried between Henry II and her son Richard I.205

From her were decended all subsequent English monarchs, as were all French monarchs from Louis IX (1226-70) to Louis Philippe (1830-48).205

The signature on her last royal proclamation sums up her spirit: “Eleanor, by the Wrath of God, Queen of England.”290