Irish to a better way of life, a truer Christianity, and if that meant invasion and regime change, then so be it. This was the atmosphere in which Henry II calculated that even he could present himself as a good son of the Church.
As early as the tenth century, kings of England had liked grandiloquent titles such as ‘king of the English and of all other peoples living in the ambit of the British island’. But until 1171 these had remained just empty words. Now they had been given a new kind of reality – and this just when those peoples whose lands were being invaded had been stereotyped as immoral and primitive savages.
OTHER KEY DATES IN THIS PERIOD
1152 Henry’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine . The divorce of French King Louis VII and the 30-year-old duchess of Aquitaine in March was followed, just eight weeks later, by her marriage to the most ambitious young ruler in France, the 19-year-old Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. This marked the beginning of the Plantagenet connection with Bordeaux – and its wine trade – that was to last for the next three hundred years. Henry was now set to rule greater dominions than any previous king of England.
1153 Angevin invasion of England . In January, despite the threats from enemies jealous of his recent good fortune, Duke Henry dared to sail to England to claim the kingdom that had belonged to his grandfather, Henry I. By August he had still made little progress when the unexpected death of King Stephen’s eldest son Eustace so disheartened the old king that he came to terms with Henry, recognizing him as his heir in return for his own life possession of the throne and a guarantee that his second son, William, could keep the family estate.
1166 Creation of a public prosecution service . Henry II ordered sheriffs to empanel juries whose job it was to name those whom they suspected of serious crime. The sheriff was to bring suspects to trial before the king’s judges when they visited the shire. Those found guilty were punished by the ‘crown’. This legislation – the Assize of Clarendon – helped establish Henry’s reputation as a founder of the common law.
1173 Queen Eleanor’s rebellion . The greatest threat to Henry II came from his own wife when she led their three eldest sons, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, into revolt and into alliance with kings William of Scotland and Louis VII of France (her own ex-husband). After Henry’s eventual victory (summer 1174), he was reconciled with his sons, but Eleanor was kept a prisoner until he died. Her rebellion had challenged the authority of husbands everywhere.
1174 Canterbury and Scotland . On 12 July Henry II was flogged by the monks of Canterbury Cathedral, his public penance for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket. The dead saint (Becket had been canonized in 1173) quickly accepted his apology. On 13 July Henry’s great enemy, King William of Scotland, was captured while leading an invasion of England. William was forced to accept the Treaty of Falaise (8 December), by which Scotland was subject to the king of England, whose troops now occupied Edinburgh, Berwick and Roxburgh.
1176 The first Eisteddfod . Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth held what a Welsh chronicle called ‘a special feast at Cardigan, and he set two kinds of contests: one between the bards and the poets, and another between the harpists, pipers and players of other instruments. He set two chairs for the victors . . . and rewarded them with great prizes.’
1187 Fall of Jerusalem . Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem on 2 October, the anniversary of Muhammad’s night journey into heaven from the holy city, shocked the Christian world. The kings of England, France and Germany vowed to go on crusade and, to fund the expedition, Henry II imposed a tax called the Saladin tithe, but died before departing. It was left to his son, Richard I, to lead the Third Crusade.
1189 Restoration of Scottish independence . After his
As early as the tenth century, kings of England had liked grandiloquent titles such as ‘king of the English and of all other peoples living in the ambit of the British island’. But until 1171 these had remained just empty words. Now they had been given a new kind of reality – and this just when those peoples whose lands were being invaded had been stereotyped as immoral and primitive savages.
OTHER KEY DATES IN THIS PERIOD
1152 Henry’s marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine . The divorce of French King Louis VII and the 30-year-old duchess of Aquitaine in March was followed, just eight weeks later, by her marriage to the most ambitious young ruler in France, the 19-year-old Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. This marked the beginning of the Plantagenet connection with Bordeaux – and its wine trade – that was to last for the next three hundred years. Henry was now set to rule greater dominions than any previous king of England.
1153 Angevin invasion of England . In January, despite the threats from enemies jealous of his recent good fortune, Duke Henry dared to sail to England to claim the kingdom that had belonged to his grandfather, Henry I. By August he had still made little progress when the unexpected death of King Stephen’s eldest son Eustace so disheartened the old king that he came to terms with Henry, recognizing him as his heir in return for his own life possession of the throne and a guarantee that his second son, William, could keep the family estate.
1166 Creation of a public prosecution service . Henry II ordered sheriffs to empanel juries whose job it was to name those whom they suspected of serious crime. The sheriff was to bring suspects to trial before the king’s judges when they visited the shire. Those found guilty were punished by the ‘crown’. This legislation – the Assize of Clarendon – helped establish Henry’s reputation as a founder of the common law.
1173 Queen Eleanor’s rebellion . The greatest threat to Henry II came from his own wife when she led their three eldest sons, Henry, Richard and Geoffrey, into revolt and into alliance with kings William of Scotland and Louis VII of France (her own ex-husband). After Henry’s eventual victory (summer 1174), he was reconciled with his sons, but Eleanor was kept a prisoner until he died. Her rebellion had challenged the authority of husbands everywhere.
1174 Canterbury and Scotland . On 12 July Henry II was flogged by the monks of Canterbury Cathedral, his public penance for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket. The dead saint (Becket had been canonized in 1173) quickly accepted his apology. On 13 July Henry’s great enemy, King William of Scotland, was captured while leading an invasion of England. William was forced to accept the Treaty of Falaise (8 December), by which Scotland was subject to the king of England, whose troops now occupied Edinburgh, Berwick and Roxburgh.
1176 The first Eisteddfod . Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheubarth held what a Welsh chronicle called ‘a special feast at Cardigan, and he set two kinds of contests: one between the bards and the poets, and another between the harpists, pipers and players of other instruments. He set two chairs for the victors . . . and rewarded them with great prizes.’
1187 Fall of Jerusalem . Saladin’s capture of Jerusalem on 2 October, the anniversary of Muhammad’s night journey into heaven from the holy city, shocked the Christian world. The kings of England, France and Germany vowed to go on crusade and, to fund the expedition, Henry II imposed a tax called the Saladin tithe, but died before departing. It was left to his son, Richard I, to lead the Third Crusade.
1189 Restoration of Scottish independence . After his
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