Civil War

 Stephen defeated and imprisoned after battle of Lincoln (Feb 2, 1141)

o Robert of Gloucester (Matilda’s ½ brother, illegitimate son of Henry I) surprised and
captured
o Exchange Stephen for Robert
 Robert goes to France: returns in 1142 w/ 9-year old Henry (Matilda’s son)
o Desultory fighting
o “To till the ground was to plough the sea: the earth bare no corn, for the land was all laid
waste by such deeds; and they said openly, that Christ slept, and his saints. Such things,
and more than we can say, suffered we nineteen winters for our sins” –Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle
 Robert the leader of Matilda’s cause until his death in 1147
o Matilda to Normandy in 1148, where she’d remain for rest of life (d.1167)
o Son Henry increasingly handling himself
 Made Duke of Normandy in 1150
 Stalemated conflict after 1147
o Local rulers often saw disadvantages of constant warfare
 Sign local agreements to keep the peace
 Necessary stability for agriculture, trade
o Called “the Anarchy” – royal power at nadir – baron power at height
 Earls, nobles increase power  hereditary succession
 Coinage standards low
 1153: Stephen’s son Eustace died
o Stephen agreed to recognize Henry as successor
o Stephen dies Oct 1154
 Henry will centralize rule of monarchy
 Welcomed by many weary of anarchy
 Geoffrey of Anjou d.1151 – Henry becomes Duke of Anjou
o Marries Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152
 Extensive land in central and southern France
o Previously married to Louis VII of France
 Annulled in 1151 after 2 daughters
 Louis unhappy b/c he wanted his daughters to inherit Aquitaine
 Henry II greater landowner in France than King Louis
 Eleanor bears Henry 5 sons, 3 daughters
o William (d. age 3), Henry, Richard, John, Geoffrey
o Supported various sons in rebellions against father in 1173
 Imprisoned – Henry has affair with “Fair Rosamund” Clifford
 She dies in 1177, unlikely that 14th c. chronicle correct in blaming Eleanor
 Stephen’s earls die soon after 1154
o 1159: William, Count of Boulogne dies childless
o 1153: Scottish king dies, leaving 12-year old Malcolm IV (1153-1165) in charge
 No significant dynastic rival or powerful opposition figure

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Henry restores Royal Authority
 1) brother Geoffrey rebels against Henry in France
o 1158: dies suddenly, w/ Henry as heir – France secure
 2) 1157: Malcolm of Scotland surrenders Westmoreland and Cumberland back to Henry
o Many castles built in north destroyed
 3) campaigns to subdue rebellious Welsh
o 1158, 1165 – partially successful
o Do homage, but retain independence
 Ireland
o 1155:Granted papal license to invade Ireland
 “Papal Bull Laudabiliter: “…You [Henry II have indicated to us, dearest som in Christ
that you desire to enter into the island of Ireland for the purpose of subjecting its
people to the laws and of rooting out from it the weeds of vice, and that you are
willing to pay a yearly ribute to blessed Peter of one penny from every house, and
to preserve the rights of the churches of that land whole and unimpaired. We,
therefore, seconding with due favor your pious and praiseworthy desire, and
granting our generous assent to your petition, are well pleased to agree that, for
the extension of the boundaries of the Church, for the restraint of vice, increase of
the Christian religiou, you may enter that island and perfor there the thigns that
have regard to the honor of God and the salvation of that land”
 Pope Adrian IV (r.1154-9) – only English pope
 Educated at St. Albans, then to France to as Abbot of Monastery of St.
Rufus (Avignon)
 Bad abbot – impressed pope Eugene 3 (r.1145-1153) & made high ranking
diplomat
o No action til 1169 – invited by Diarmaid (DEER-MID) Mac Murchada, ousted king of
Leinster
 English forces land to support
 Joined by Richard de Clare “Strongbow, formerly earl of Pembroke
 Lost title for supporting Stephen
 Strongbow joins forces w/ Diarmaid, marrying his daughter (Aife) and becoming his
heir
o Henry doesn’t want Strongbow too powerful or independent
o Oct 1171: Henry w/ 4000 men land at Waterford
 Strongbow submits to Henry’s overlordship
 Major secular, religious leaders submit
 Rory O’Connor – High King of Ireland
o Henry tries to rule through deputies

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Thomas Becket (1163-1170)
 Henry runs into conflict with church, unlike Norman predecessors
 Henry and the church contested relationship – esp. w/ Becket
 Born c.1118 son of French merchant
o Henry’s friend, advisor, and Chancellor (1155)
 Efficient ambassador, administrator, military logistician who spent lavishly
o Archbishop of Canterbury (1162) – friend reinvented self as austere, clericalist papalist
 Opposed Henry – esp. issue that clerics exempt from lay court punishment
o Pope Alexander (1159-81) thought Becket’s position extreme
 1164: Henry demands acceptance of Constitutions of Clarendon
o Secular control over church that Henry I had enjoyed (before Stephen’s undermining)
o Becket flees to French court of Louis VII (1137-1180)
 Pope already disputing w/ Barbarossa, tried to reach accommodation w/ Henry II
o In exile until 1170
 1170: Returned to England – no more willing to compromise
o “Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?”
o 4 knights kill him in Canterbury on Dec 29
 No contemporary source records Henry’s words
o Shocking death; murderers excommunicated; Becket regarded as martyr
 “Becket burnt with zeal for justice, but whether sensible, God only knows.” –
William of Newburgh
o Feb 21, 1173: Becket canonized
 Henry pardoned; penance in 1174

Henry “the Young King”

 1170: eldest son crowned joint king
o Archbishop of York performed duty – opposition to Becket, who thought only Canterbury
could do that
o Young King had little power, upset that younger brother John given some castles in Anjou
 1173: Young King rebelled – trying to capitalize on Becket death scandal
o Eleanor encouraged brothers Richard, Geoffrey to join
 She was captured and imprisoned
o Many barons join revolt
o Supported by Louis of France and William the Lion of Scotland (1143-1214, called so b/c of
lion on royal standard)
 Henry goes to France; Richard of Lucy (justiciar) dealt w/ England
o Louis of France w/drew support, sons surrender in Sept 1174
o William the Lion besieged Alnwick castle
 Captured, taken as POW to Henry in France
 “Now we shall see which of us are good knights!”
 1174: Treaty of Falaise; William recognized Henry’s overlordsship
o Agreed to English garrisons in several Scottish castles
 1183: Young King died
o Richard would rebel again, and they were at war when Henry II died in 1189

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Henry II and Common Law
 Could be founder of English Common Law
o Basic principles established in series of Assizes (meetings w/ barons that issue binding decrees)
o 1166: Assize of Clarendon –grand jury system for investigating recent crimes
o 1176: Assize of Northampton – jury of presentment to decide which cases should be tried
o 1181: Assize of Arms – ordered all free men to keep arms and be ready to defend country
 Trials by ordeal until 1215
o Male serfs: trial by water
o Freemen and all women – trial by hot iron
o Trial by combat “wager of battle”
 Into disuse, but not legally abolished until 1819
o Way for God to reveal His judgment, but Church disapproved  replaced by trial by jury
 Henry establishes principle that only royal courts (not local lords) could try criminal cases or those
involving freehold property
o Minor cases w/ villeins still local lords
 12-men juries required to decide title to property in certain situations:
o Novel disseisin: freeholder who believes that land had been illegally seized could bring this action
to recover the land and to gain damages to compensate for wrongful seizure
o Mort d’ancestor: an adult heir to property held as a fief brought an action to claim right of
inheritance when the property had been wrongly withheld
o In criminal cases: juries named suspects, tried before King’s judges (called “Justices”)
 The King’s Justices
o Justices in eyre (itinerant justices)
 Sent from center to tour counties on regular basis
 Toured entire country every 7 years or so
o Courts of Kings Bench, Common Please, Exchequer
 Heard at Westminster Courts
o Strong central control over administration of justice
 Law and Property
o Important providing stability to allow establishment of secure property rights
o Primogeniture (eldest son inheritance) allowed nobility to consolidate landholding
 Family not impoverished
 Widows held “jointure” (1/3 estate during lives)
 Daughters given dowry to ensure profitable marriage
 Younger sons the biggest losers – had to make their own way in the world
o Individual could sell or give away land
 Parts of Continent, land a family asset
 Lords, others had so many rights that sale difficult
 Creates active land market – increased social mobility, economic change
 Ranulg Glancille (chief justiciar from 1180), Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Angliae (Treatise
on the laws and customs of the kingdom of Englnad)
o Shows systematization of Enlgish law well developed
 Unclear whether Henry II really introduced new system, or whether increasing number of written records
make it appear that change comes from this time
o Earlier actions may have occurred, but weren’t recorded
o Either way: simple systematization encouraged people to resort to law courts rather than violence
or community policing