English King Henry II
Compiled by D. A. Sharpe
King Henry II,
though born in France on March 5, 1133 at Le Mans, he became King of
England. He came from the Plantagenet,
which was the family name of a line of kings that ruled England from 1154 to
1399. These kings descended from
the marriage of Matilda,
daughter of King Henry I, to Geoffrey,
count of Anjou, France. Geoffrey
was nicknamed "Plantagenet," because he wore a sprig of the broom
(genet) plant in his cap. His
reign in England was from December 19, 1154, the date of his coronation, till
July 6, 1189. Henry II was a
grandson of William
the Conqueror.
Numerous historians
also call these kings "Angevins,"
meaning from Anjou. The
Plantagenet dynasty began with Henry II, son of Matilda and Geoffrey. Henry II is the 14th great
grandfather of Englishman Edward Southworth, the first husband of Alice
Carpenter, my seven times great grandmother.
My descending from her is through her second husband, Plymouth Colony Governor
William Bradford, a Mayflower passenger which came to America in 1620.
Henry
II is a pivotal point in tying together two ancient ancestries related to our
families. He is the 10th great
grandson of Halfdan
Vanha Sveidasson, Earle of the Uplands of Norway (an eighth century Viking)
and Henry is the 35th great grandson of Godwulf. Godwulf is the 65th great grandfather
of my Westmoreland grandchildren, though he is not directly related to me, but
through their father, Steve O. Westmoreland.
Godwulf is the earliest ancestor to whom any of our modern-day relatives
can claim relationship.
Godwulf's
descendants travel down through the family line of my son-in-law, Steven O.
Westmoreland. Godwulf's birth
occurred just months following the event of Mount
Vesuvius erupting on August 24, 79 AD, burying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in volcanic
ash. An estimated 20,000 people
died.
Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Vesuvius
Henry
married Eleanor of
Aquitaine on May 18, 1152. They
bore eight children, and Henry reportedly gave issue to two illegitimate
children. When Henry and Eleanor
married, her marriage to Louis VII of France
had recently been annulled.
Henry
II was the first King of England to come from the Plantagenet family. He reigned from 1154 until his death
in 1189. He became known as the
founder of the English
system of common law, including introducing the use of juries and other
legal procedures we consider common today.
Henry
II, first of the Angevin kings, was one of the most effective of all England's
monarchs. He came to the throne
amid the anarchy of Stephen's reign and promptly collared his errant barons. He refined Norman government and
created a capable, self-standing bureaucracy.
His energy was equaled only by his ambition and intelligence. Henry survived wars, rebellion, and
controversy to successfully rule one of the Middle Ages' most powerful
kingdoms.
Now
for a little discourse on law:
"Common
law is a body of rulings made by judges, on the basis of
community customs and previous court decisions. It forms an essential part of the
legal system of many English-speaking countries, including the United States
and Canada. Common law covers
such matters as contracts, ownership of property, and the payment of claims for
personal injury.
"Early
in England's history, judges decided cases according to the way they
interpreted the beliefs and unwritten laws of the community. If another judge had ruled in an
earlier, similar case, that judge's decision was often used as a precedent
(guide). After many judges
decided the same question in a similar way, the ruling became law.
"Common
law is often contrasted with civil law, a body of rules passed by a
legislature. Under civil law, a
judge decides a case by following written rules, rather than previous court
decisions. Common law also
differs from equity, a set of standards developed to allow greater flexibility
in court decisions. During the
late Middle Ages, England created courts of equity to decide cases that courts
of common law might treat too strictly.
These courts decided cases by broad principles of justice and fairness,
rather than by the rigid standards of common law. The monarch's chancellor presided
over a court of equity called the court of chancery.
"The
legal system of the United States has developed from English common law and
equity. Only one U.S. state,
Louisiana, modeled its legal system on civil law. Louisiana used the civil law of
France, called the Code Napoleon. During
the late 1800's, many state scombined their courts of
common law and courts of equity. One
group of judges administers the combined courts. In Canada, similarly, only the
province of Quebec based its legal system on French law. "
Contributor: David M. O'Brien, Ph.D., Professor.
of Government, University. of Virginia, World Book Encyclopedia, 1998.
The
marriage of Henry II to Eleanor of Aquitaine made him Duke of Aquitaine at the
time. He became King of England
when King Stephen died. He not
only ruled over England, but most of France, and claimed Ireland, Scotland, and
Wales. It was later that his two
sons rebelled against him, and each in his own time became King of England.
Henry
II came into conflict with Thomas
Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, over Henry's attempts to curb the
independence of the church. In
1170, four of Henry's knights, believing they were acting on the King's orders,
murdered Becket in his cathedral.
From
Sir Winston Churchill Kt, 1675: "Henry II
Plantagenet, the very first of that name and race, and the very greatest King
that England ever knew, but withal the most unfortunate . . . his death being imputed to those only
to whom himself had given life, his ungracioussons .
. ."
Source:http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon26.html
Though
close in time, Henry I, son of William the Conqueror, is not the father of
Henry II. Rather Henry I is the
grandfather of Henry II.
"The
history of Windsor
Castle begins in the year 1070, when William the Conqueror built the
original wooden structure located in what is now the inner most point of the
castle. William chose the site
for its superior military advantages; namely,
that attackers would have to battle uphill, in order to
reach and overtake the castle. Although none of original wooden structure built
by William remains in the Windsor Castle of today, the modern Windsor Castle
still occupies the same ground. However,
King Henry II was the first monarch to transform the wooden fortress to a
stronghold of stone, adding a stonewall which stood tall around Windsor Castle
England. Parts of this wall can
still be seen today."
Source:http://www.destination360.com/europe/uk/windsor-castle.php
King
Henry died July 6, 1189, at age 58, in Chinon
Castle, France. His burial
was at Fontevraud Abbey, Anjou, France.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_II_of_England
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