Henry II succeeded his mother's cousin Stephen in 1154, and reigned over a large empire, including England, for some 35 years. He was the son of Matilda, and through her, the grandson of the first Henry and of Geoffrey Plantangenet, the Count of Anjou. His accession to the throne brought to an end the civil war which had resulted after the death of Henry I. Through his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine, he was able to extend his domains to include almost all of western France. During his reign, a large part of Ireland was brought under the control of the English crown.
In the course of his reign, however, Henry faced challenges on almost all sides. The King of France disputed his claim to much of his empire, the Pope disputed his claim to certain powers, and towards the end of his reign he faced conflict within his own family. He imprisoned his wife, Eleanor, for the final years of his reign, and spent a large proportion of those years in conflict with his sons.
One of the most well-known events associated with Henry II was the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Beckett, in Canterbury Cathedral, apparently on the king's orders. Throughout his life, Henry maintained his innocence, claiming that he had issued no such orders. The version of events which was eventually accepted was that, whilst in a rage, Henry had cursed the Archbishop, and wished that he could be rid of him. Two of his knights, overhearing these statements, sought to improve their standing with the king by removing the Archbishop, as he so obviously seemed to desire. The Archbishop was dead before the king was able to stop them.
Henry had four sons, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John, but only Richard and John survived him. Geoffrey died in a jousting accident in 1187, while the death of the younger Henry preceded his father's by just a few months.
In the final years of his life, Henry faced a rebellion from hos two eldest sons. John appears to have remained loyal to his father. The younger Henry appears to have had support from the Norman and Angevin barons, while Richard was ably supported by his mother's loyal subjects in Aquitaine. During the conflict the younger Henry died, according to legend cursed, after he robbed and burnt a church, and so when Henry II died he was succeeded by Richard.
timnfromoz
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