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Henry II

Henry II Plantagenet became King of England in 1154 after a period of civil war known as the Anarchy, which followed the death of his father, Henry I. He implemented significant legal reforms, including the introduction of Common Law and the tax scutage, while also clashing with Thomas Becket over the independence of the church. Henry II died in 1189, leaving his son Richard I as his heir.

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Lidia Savi
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9 views1 page

Henry II

Henry II Plantagenet became King of England in 1154 after a period of civil war known as the Anarchy, which followed the death of his father, Henry I. He implemented significant legal reforms, including the introduction of Common Law and the tax scutage, while also clashing with Thomas Becket over the independence of the church. Henry II died in 1189, leaving his son Richard I as his heir.

Uploaded by

Lidia Savi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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HENRY II PLANTAGENET

ANARCHY
William I the conqueror died in 1087, he had three sons: the oldest son Robert became the Duke of
Normandy, William succeeded him on the throne of England; and for the youngest one, Henry there was no
land. But when William II died in 1100, Henry became King of England. In 1106 Henry defeated his brother
Robert and he became the duke of Normandy too, this because he was not happy just to be the king of
england. Henry wanted his daughter Matilda to the throne, but his nephew Stephen succeeded to the
throne. When Henry I died in 1135, Stephen had crowned himself in 1120. Matilda fought against Stephen.
This period of civil war is called the Anarchy. Then Stephen’s son died in 1153, Stephen recognised
Matilda’s son, Henry, as his heir.

HENRY II PLANTAGENET
Henry II became king in 1154 and he was the most powerful monarch in Europe. His kingdom extended
from the Scottish border to the south of France.He was a warrior king and he wanted to re-establish the
legal order in England. The feudal duty of military service as replaced with a tax called scutage. With this
tax the knights could choose to remain on their land and the king was able to pay professional soldiers.
In the 1160’s Henry introduced the ‘Common law’, common because this law was the same in all the
country. This law is based on costum, comparisons of previous cases and previous decisions. Today in
England there is this lay yet.
In 1162 Henry appointed Thomas Becket to be archbishop of Canterbury, because he is his friend. Thomas
tried to assertthe indipendence of the church from state. But in 1164, Henry had written the Constitution of
Clarendon which saidthat the king was supreme in civil matters and that allpeople in England, also the
clergy, were subject to the crown. Becket refused to accept the Constitution of Clarendon and so Henry
ordered to kill Becket. So 29th december 1170, Becket was killed by four knight which weresent by the king.
After these, Becket became a martyr and a saint.
Henry II died in 1189, his heir was his son Richard I, knownas Richard the lionheart.

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