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| Background | |||||||||||||||||||||
Henry II was born at Le Mans on 25 March 1133, the first day of the traditional year. His father, Geoffrey V of Anjou (Geoffrey Plantagenet), was Count of Anjou and Count of Maine. His mother, Empress Matilda, was a claimant to the English throne as the legitimate daughter of Henry I (1100–1135). |
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| Through his father, he inhereted the titles to lands in Western France. However it is through his mother Holy Roman Empress Matilda that Henry inhereted the right to the English crown. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| He spent his childhood with his parents in his father's land of Anjou. At the age of nine, Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester took him to England where he received a year of education from Master Matthew at Bristol. He travelled again to England at the age of 16 to aid his mother's efforts in taking the English throne. Robert, the Earl of Gloucester is recorded as being one of "several" illegitimate children of Henry I. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Civil War | |||||||||||||||||||||
| When King Henry I died in 1135, the rightful heir to the throne was Empress Matilda. However, the Norman lords chose instead Stephen, of lesser right as Matilda had married Geoffrey Count of Anjou, a sworn enemy. To defend their work, they paid Pope Innocent II a significant payment and he approved the new King. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| England sank into civil war almost immediately, with Empress Matilda's forces battling Stephen in several key sites including the Battle of Beverston Castle and the Battle of Lincoln. At the Battle of Lincoln, in 1139, Stephen was defeated and bought before his cousin Matilda. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Stephen was imprisoned at Bristol. However, his forces managed to capture the Earl of Gloucester and so the Empress was obliged to exchange prisoners and release Stephen. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1147, Henry managed to purchase a small but fierce militia army that earned a reputation of sadistic and cruel conduct. But he was not able to support his mother in field for an extended time as he ran out of money to pay them. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| It was at this lowest point that Henry using his education hatched one of the most audacious and evil plots to take the throne of any noble family. In 1148, he commissioned the assistance of Nicholas Sheakspeare (incorrectly written as Breakspeare in later forgeries), then Abbot of St. Arles in France to accompany him to Rome. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| There, he pledged his loyalty and support to Catholic Pope Eugene III (1145-1153) in exchange for his blessing and assistance in securing the crown of England. The Pope waived the normal payment for such services and on May 22nd, the financial bankrupt Henry was knighted by his great uncle King David I of Scotland. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pope Eugene III in turn promoted Nicholas Sheakspeare to Cardinal Bishop of Albano and increased his profile amongst the Papal nobility. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| On 18 May 1152, at Bordeaux Cathedral, at the age of 19, Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine just two months after her marriage to Louis VII of France had been annulled by Pope Eugene III for a reasonable fee. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Henry II and Eleanor had eight children, William, Henry, Richard, Geoffrey, John, Matilda, Eleanor, and Joan. After Eleanor encouraged her children to rebel against their father in 1173, Henry had her imprisoned, where she remained for sixteen years until her death. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Henry, like many of the Plantagenet line also had illegitimate children including William de Longespee and Geoffrey, Bishop of Lincoln, Archbishop of York and Morgan, Bishop of Durham. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction of the Lord High Steward | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Like his grandfather, Henry I of England, Henry II had a strong knowledge of the law and the impact of diplomatic treaties in regards to rightful sovereignty and possession. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the problems of holding title both in Europe as well as the crown of England was the risk of a palace coup whilst away for extended periods. To quell the ranks of lesser nobles, Henry II introduced the office of Lord High Steward in 1154, granting it to one of his allies during the Civil War, Robert 2nd Earl of Leicester (1154-1168). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Many people mistakenly believe the highest Officer of the State of England to be the Lord Chancellor. This is incorrect as the Lord High Steward carries the legal power of the King when he is away overseas, including the right to take action against rebellious nobles and has traditionally played a crucial role in all coronations since the formation of the office in 1154. Since 1421, the position has remained generally vacant (except as coronations). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase of the Papacy | |||||||||||||||||||||
| In 1153, Henry launched the second part of his campaign by returning to England with a milita of 3,000 troops. At the death of Pope Eugene in July 1153, Henry sent his countryman Cardinal Sheakspeare to Rome with the promise of support to help if they could excommunicate Stephen. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| During this period, the Papacy and the papal families were under constant attack on multiple fronts, not the least of which being the independent Senate and republicans of Rome that remained determined to see its destruction. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| However, Rome was in turmoil and the families had reached a point of crisis. Cardinal Sheakspeare reported back to Henry that Rome was in greater chaos than England. Henry then promised to fund Sheakspeare's candidacy that upon being king, he would provide a handsome payment to the Papal families. In turn, when Pope, Sheakspeare would grant Henry the sovereign rights to Ireland. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The plan worked and Pope Eugene III was discretely murdered on December 3rd, 1154, Cardinal Nicholas Sheakspeare was crowned the only English Pontiff in history the very next day on December 4th 1154 and Henry was crowned King of England 15 days later on December 19th 1154. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| One year later, Pope Adrian IV dutifully handed his sponsor, the document of "legal right" of ownership of Ireland. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| However, soon after ascending the Papal throne as a Catholic Pontiff, Adrian soon set about strengthening political, military and trade ties with the Venetian and Italian nobles behind the Roman Cult and AntiPopes. By 1155, Adrian had become in effect a "Roman Cult" AntiPope pretending to be a Catholic Pope--the first and only turncoat in the history of the Papacy. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| One of the greatest opponents of the English AntiPope was his former friend and ally Thomas Beckett whom he had supported into the role of Primate of England and Archbishop of Cantebury Cathedral at the death of Theobald in 1161. It was Thomas Beckett who played a critical role in rallying the German Emperor to return to Rome and deal with the English Pope. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The relationship between "AntiPope"/Pope Adrian IV and Emperor Frederick I of the Hohenstaufen dynasty began with Adrian IV being the Pope that crowned Frederick as Emperor in the first place. While the exact circumstances and evidence has long since been written out of history, by 1163 Frederick returned once again to Rome and finally forced Adrian IV to resign, replacing him with Pope Paschal III (1164-1168) after a trial in 1164 at which Thomas Beckett was a witness. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Adrian returned home to England, stripped of the Papacy and demoted back to Cardinal Sheakspeare in disgrace by 1164. Contrary to history that places the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 in dispute with King Henry II, it was the returning Cardinal Sheakspeare who ordered his arrest to the king, which occurred no later than 1164 and execution after his famous trial at Clarendon Palace in January 1164 (the remaining 6 years designed to hide the fact that Cardinal Sheakspeare became the Primate of England and Archbishop of Cantebury). | |||||||||||||||||||||
| While Henry and Sheakspeare had been thwarted by the German Emperor, the events only strengthened the ties between the English monarchy and the Roman Cult. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Henry II died in July 1189 and was succeeded by his son Richard (the Lionheart). | |||||||||||||||||||||
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