biography
| name: |
Henry II (of England)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1133–89)
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| biography:
| King of England (1154–89), born in Le Mans, NW France, the son of Empress Matilda, Henry I's daughter and acknowledged heir, by her second husband, Geoffrey of Anjou. Already established as Duke of Normandy (1150) and Count of Anjou (1151), and as Duke of Aquitaine by marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine (1152), he invaded England in 1153, and was recognized as the lawful successor of the usurper, Stephen. He founded the Angevin or Plantagenet dynasty of English kings, and ruled England as part of a wider Angevin empire. He restored and transformed English governance after the disorders of Stephen's reign. His efforts to restrict clerical independence caused conflict with his former Chancellor Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, which was ended only with Becket's murder (1170). He led a major expedition to Ireland (1171), which resulted in its annexation. The most serious challenge to his power came in 1173–4, when his son, the young Henry, encouraged by Eleanor, rebelled in alliance with Louis VII of France, William I of Scotland, and Count Philip of Flanders. All parts of the king's dominions were threatened, but his enemies were defeated. In 1189 he faced futher disloyalty from his family when his sons, John and Richard, allied with Philip II of France, who overran Maine and Touraine. Henry agreed a peace which recognized Richard as his sole heir for the Angevin empire, and he died shortly afterwards. |
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