Henry II (1133-1189) and Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204)

[Denville]

The disputes between Becket and Henry largely occurred because of his support for the Church

 

[An Ard Ri]

From day one conflicts arose between the new Archbishop and the king and started when Becket resigned as Lord Chancellor.
By 1170 Matilda was dead and Becket no longer had the King's mother mediating between the king and Archbishop.

In June 1170,Henry the Young King was crowned but the king did not invite the exiled Archbishop of Canterbury but instead had the Archbishop of York,Bishop of London, and Bishop of Salisbury perform the ceremony at at Westminster Abbey.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In The Plantagenets the author Dan Jones wrote:
In 1156 Henry II was forced to leave England to deal with a rebellion in Anjou led by his younger brother Geoffrey, who believed that under the term of their father's will, Henry's accession as king of England ought to have triggered the handover of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine to Geoffrey.

 

[An Ard Ri]

In The Plantagenets the author Dan Jones wrote:
In 1156 Henry II was forced to leave England to deal with a rebellion in Anjou led by his younger brother Geoffrey, who believed that under the term of their father's will, Henry's accession as king of England ought to have triggered the handover of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine to Geoffrey.

There was a second rebellion in 1173-74 by his wife and 3 sons!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_of_1173–1174

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine interceded for her son Prince John
http://www.gettyimages.com/license/463982079

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Engraving depicting the meeting of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine
http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-meeting-depicting-king-henry-ii-122883091.html

 

[CyrilVladisla]

King Henry II of England and King Philip of France signed the Treaty of Gisors.

In June 1180, King Henry II of England and Philip Augustus met under the elm of Gisors, where they signed the treaty of Gisors Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: In June 1180, King Henry II of England and Philip Augustus met under the elm of Gisors, where they signed the treaty of Gisors. - BKWY54 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

 

[An Ard Ri]

King Henry II of England and King Philip of France signed the Treaty of Gisors.

In June 1180, King Henry II of England and Philip Augustus met under the elm of Gisors, where they signed the treaty of Gisors Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: In June 1180, King Henry II of England and Philip Augustus met under the elm of Gisors, where they signed the treaty of Gisors. - BKWY54 from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

By the Treaty of Boves and later Gisor ,Philippe-Auguste acquired territory in Picardy ,the French king was plotting to isolate the Counts of Champagne and Flanders

 

[An Ard Ri]

In October 1171,Henry II landed in Waterford ,Ireland with a large army and marched on Dublin .
The king was in Ireland in an attempt to stop the Anglo Norman Lord ,Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke from proclaiming himself King of Ireland.
The Earl of Pembroke was better known as 'Strongbow' and was married to Aoife/Eva of Leinster (daughter of the king of Leinster)
The de Clare family had been a thorn in the side of the English king.
The king was the first English monarch to set foot in Ireland and arrived with a large retinue ,500 knights and 4,000 infantry.
After leaving Waterford the king and his army marched to the Rock of Cashel which was the seat of the Archbishop of Cashel .Here he met with both Gaelic and Norman Lords gathered affirmed their loyalty to Henry II (probably out of fear due to his army)
The king then moved to Dublin where he spent the Winter of 1171 and into 1172.
Here with the assistance of the Archbishop of Dublin ,Laurence O'Toole the king and Strongbow came to an agreement and Henry allowed him to have control over Leinster but excluded the towns of Dublin, Wexford and Waterford from his control.
The Archbishop of Dublin ,Laurence O'Toole was the maternal uncle of Eva/Aoife of Leinster ,the wife of Strongbow.
The king departed Ireland in April 1172 but left Norman garrisons in Dublin ,Wexford and Waterford
He also also created his close friend Hugh de Lacy ,Lord of Meath and granted him governorship of Dublin in a move to thwart any attempts by Strongbow to seize Dublin.

The arrival of Henry II at Waterford.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/45/A_Chronicle_of_England_-_Page_180_-_Henry_at_Waterford.jpg/960px-A_Chronicle_of_England_-_Page_180_-_Henry_at_Waterford.jpg

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In 1171 King Henry II of England travelled to Ireland to spend the Christmas holidays in Dublin. To do so, he had a Winter Palace built for the occasion.

 

[An Ard Ri]

In 1171 King Henry II of England travelled to Ireland to spend the Christmas holidays in Dublin. To do so, he had a Winter Palace built for the occasion.

Henry II resided in Dublin between November 1171 and February 1172.
He did not come just to spend Christmas he was afraid that Strongbow (Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke) would declare himself king as he had just married Aoife (Eva) of Leinster daughter of the ousted king of Leinster .
Henry II arrived at Wexford with 4,000 soldiers and 500 knights and his government and marched north to Dublin.
He did not to reside at Dublin Castle as it was under construction but instead had a temporary residence constructed near the present Dame Street.

Norman Dublin

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Dublin_Castle_and_Black_Pool.jpg/960px-Dublin_Castle_and_Black_Pool.jpg

 

[Blog Real]

Eleanor of Aquitaine (c. 1124 – 1 April 1204) was duchess of Aquitaine from 1137 to 1204, queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, and queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II. As the reigning duchess of Aquitaine, she ruled jointly with her husbands and two of her sons, Kings Richard I and John of England. As the heiress of the House of Poitiers, which controlled much of southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages.
More information: Eleanor of Aquitaine - Wikipedia

 

[An Ard Ri]

Eleanor had a younger sister Petronilla of Aquitaine who died c1152 ,she was less famous than her older sister and was married to Raoul Count of Vermandois.
Following her death the Countess was buried at the Saint-Arnoul Priory of Crépy-en-Valois but it was largely destroyed in 1792/93 during the Terror.

 

[Toledo]

Eleanor is one of my all time favorite history characters after I saw the movie The Lion in Winter. It was loosely based on on her as a theater play in the 1960s, that was starring the actress that played the role of the aunt on the first Spiderman movie. Then adapted as a brilliant movie with Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor vs Peter O'Toole as Henry II.

The dialogue was pure theater non stop one liners of twisted sentences full of wit and venom between all characters and it was the first time Hepburn accepted to play a 'bad' wicked person in a movie, roles that usually went to people like Bette Davis or Liz Taylor.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Lion In Winter from 1968 was a classic , the remake in the early 2000's wasn't a patch on the orginal!

 

[An Ard Ri]

In 1188 the king agreed to accompany Philippe II of France on the Third Crusade which had been called by Pope Gregory VIII.
Henry II was also pressured to agree to an alliance with the French King which would see Richard marry Alix of France.
The king died not long after and Richard broke off his engagement to Alix but did accompany Philippe II of France on the first stage of Third Crusade.

The Third Crusade: Philippe II August of France and Henry II of England taking the cross.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Philippe2%2BHenri2%2BCross.jpg/500px-Philippe2%2BHenri2%2BCross.jpg