The Norman dynasty, which began in 1066 with the Norman Conquest, was separated by the coronation of Henry II, and a new dynasty called the Plantagenet dynasty was born.
This time, let's take a look at Henry II, who created the transition of that era.
The birth of the Angevin Empire
Before Henry II's coronation, there was a 20-year battle between Henry I's daughter Matilda (Empress Matilda) and former Count of Boulogne, King Stephen of England.
The conflict continued to intensify, with Stephen taking office as King of England for the rest of his life, provided that Empress Matilda and Henri, the son of Joflois, the Count of Anjou, were chosen as the successors, and Stephen's son William as the Duke of Normandy. The dispute between the two has subsided.
Thus, in 1154, Stevens died and Henri was crowned the new King Henry II of England.
Henry II is not only the King of England, but also the Count of Anjou in France, and by marrying a woman named Alienor, he inherited the sovereignty of a large land called Aquitaine, making it the largest land in Europe at once. He became the king of possession.
Henry II was only 21 at this time, and the dynasty he started was called "Planta Genesta" after the family crest of the Anjou family, "Genisteae", and later called "Plantagenet dynasty" in history. Will be.
Unification of Britain Island
The United Kingdom we know is the United Kingdom of the four regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Henry II was the first of these regions to bring England, Scotland and Wales under its control.
Originally Henry II's mother Matilda was the daughter of the King of Scotland, and she succumbed to the young King Malcolm IV and brought Scotland under its control and West Wales under its control for about eight years. I succeeded in doing so.
He also traveled to Ireland, occupying a much larger area than Britain today. It can be said that the era of Henry II was the time when the largest version was realized in England before the colonization of foreign countries.
We will expand our armaments against the background of overwhelming economic power, and reduce the power of each aristocrat by the powerful kingship. In modern terms, he had administrative, legislative, and judicial powers in his hands, but there was one thing that didn't go as planned.
Conflict with Archbishop of Canterbury Beckett
At the time of the 12th century, the greatest powers in the European world were neither the King of England nor the Holy Roman Emperor nor the King of France. In Rome, the Vatican-based Pope was the champion of the medieval European world.
Against this background, many of the official documents of European countries were written in Latin. Only the priesthood can speak Latin, the language of ancient Rome, and it can be said that the Pope ruled each country through churches and priests.
The headquarter of Christian power in England was Canterbury, and it can be said that the power of Archbishop of Canterbury exceeded that of his King of England in a sense.
There has always been a battle for leadership in the right to appoint a priest between the King of England and the Pope of Rome.
At this time Henry II appointed Archbishop of Canterbury Beckett, and Pope Alexander III agreed.
But Beckett and Henry II disagreed over which one had jurisdiction over the priestly class.
The issue was eventually settled by the king's jurisdiction over the church, but Henry II ignited the conflict when he asked the church to tax the church during his expedition to Wales.
Beckett, who feared the king's power, temporarily went into exile in the Holy See, but he returned to England again and excommunicated a priest who was supportive of Henry II. Then Henry II's aides finally assassinated Beckett, and the Pope was furious at this, decided to take Beckett as a saint, and encouraged Christians around the world to pilgrimage to the martyr Beckett, Henry. The second generation eventually succumbed to the Pope and performed a pilgrimage in front of Beckett's grave.
As a result, the pope's superiority was recognized, and the pope's power reached its peak.
After all, even in jurisdiction, the church will be judged by the church, and the dominance of the Holy See will continue until the 16th century.
Conflict with the sons
In the history of England, there are often wars between fathers and sons.
This is rare in world history, and Henry II is also waging a major war with his sons.
Henry II had eight children with his wife, Eleanor, and his sons would be more famous than Henry II in Japan.
The brothers of John, known as Richard I, famous for the Lion Heart, and the Magna Carta (Great Charter), are the children of Henry II.
He also has three daughters, who are married to Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, King Sicily, and Duchy of Saxony.
His eldest son, William, has died, and his reign was to be succeeded by his second son, Henry.
"There was" was a problem.
Of the five brothers, John, the fifth son, had no land to take over.
The nickname "Lackland" was originally given because there was no land next to John. Since the land was taken away by France later, Lackland meant "no land ⇒ lost land".
Henry II said that his youngest child, John, was so cute that he couldn't help it. John, later said to be the worst king in British history, may have been overspoiled by his parents.
Henry II began to say that John would take over the position of Count Anjou, his birthplace.
His second son Henry was furious at this.
On Henry's side, his wife, Eleanor, Richard, the third son, Jerifu, the fourth son, and the King of Scotland were on the side of the King of France, but Henry II dismissed it.
It can be said that the victory by turning Richard, who was said to be a military genius to the extent that he was later called Lion Heart, as an enemy should be scary.
Perhaps unfortunate for Henry II, his second and fourth sons also left for the world one after another, and Richard became his successor. Henry II tells Richard to give him land, but he refuses, and on the contrary, he teams up with Philip II, the new King of France, to attack his father Henry II. ..
Alas, John was also on Richard's side in this battle, and in 1188 Henry II died in disappointment.
He is 56 years old. It was a life of fighting from his birth to his death.
Personal evaluation of Henry II
It's like Cronus or Uranus in Greek mythology.
He was Europe's largest monarch with vast lands, but he had many enemies and defeated them one after another, but in the end he was betrayed by his most beloved child and died. become.
"I don't need love"
Henry II may be saying so in that world.
Joke aside, Henry II seemed to be a pretty passionate man, and he quickly got angry at the little things, as if he was restless and couldn't sit in his chair silently.
He moved around almost without holidays and was always hunting even on a few holidays, probably AD / HD in modern terms.
He is the king of England with a vast land, and his income was about 1.7 times that of William the Conqueror, the first king of the Norman dynasty. It was said that it was not enough.
His fierce temperament was certainly inherited by his son Richard, who was brave enough to be called the Lionheart King, but he went too far and soon fell into the enemy's tactics, and his political abilities were in history. It is even said to be the worst.
Britain is one of the most successful nations in the world, but its history is surprisingly small and has not produced a special king.
It is thought that this is because the power of the parliament is strong, and it seems that the egg comes first or the chicken comes first, but because there was no excellent king, the parliament became stronger, and stable politics regardless of the king's ability It may be that it was possible.