/year

Henry II of England

King of England from 1154 to 1189

52 dated entries naming Henry II of England, drawn from 36 separate years between 1133 CE and 1191 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

JSONWikipedia articleWikidata Q102140

12th century

  • 1133March 5 – Henry II (Curtmantle), king of England (died 1189)source
  • 1142Autumn – The 9-year-old Henry of Anjou, a son of Empress Matilda, lands on the south coast of England with his uncle, Earl Robert of Gloucester and several knights. Henry travels to Bristol, centre of Angevin opposition to King Stephen, where he is educated by Master Matthew. Meanwhile, Robert captures Lulworth Castle, Rufus Castle ("Bow and Arrow Castle") on the Isle of Portland and Wareham Castle.source
  • 1149March – The 16-year-old Henry of Anjou, eldest son of Queen Matilda, lands in England in a second attempt to take the English throne from Stephen. He travels up via Salisbury and Gloucester north to Carlisle (Scotland).source
  • 1151September 7 – Geoffrey of Anjou dies, and is succeeded by his son Henry, aged 18.source
  • 1152Geoffrey, illegitimate son of Henry II (died 1212)source
  • 1152March 21 – King Louis VII repudiates his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine and has it annulled on grounds of misconduct and consanguinity – returning her lands and titles. Within 6 weeks, Eleanor re-marries Henry of Anjou, who had claimed the counties of Anjou and Maine, and the province of Touraine upon the death of his father Geoffrey Plantagenet (the Fair), the previous year. With the addition of Eleanor's lands, he now controls territory stretching unbroken, from Cherbourg to Bayonne.source
  • 1153Spring – The 19-year-old Henry II of England lands with a Norman fleet (some 40 ships) on the south coast of England. He defeats King Stephen (a cousin of his mother, Queen Matilda) with a small army at Malmesbury. Henry travels north through the Midlands, while a temporary truce is accepted. Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, announces his support for the cause. Hoping to dethrone Stephen and replace him with Matilda.source
  • 1154December 19 – The 21-year-old Henry II is crowned as sole ruler of England along with his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.source
  • 1155Spring – King Henry II has the Palace of Westminster (which is badly damaged by Stephen's supporters during The Anarchy) repaired. Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, is given the task of repairing the buildings.source
  • 1155Pope Adrian IV issues the papal bull Laudabiliter, granting Henry II of England the right to rule Ireland, after Henry convinced the Pope that he was needed "to proclaim the truths of the Christian religion" to the Irish people.source
  • 1155February 28 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II (died 1183)source
  • 1156January 6 – Matilda of England, daughter of Henry II (died 1189)source
  • 1157Henry II of England grants special trading privileges to the Hansa merchants of Cologne in London who lend him money at interest.source
  • 1158Summer – King Henry II of England travels to France to meet King Louis VII and propose a marriage between his three-year-old son Henry and Louis' daughter Margaret (less than a year old). She is shipped to England, as the future wife and queen. The Vexin region is promised to Margaret as dowry and is put under the care of the Knights Templar, until her future husband is old enough to take control of it.source
  • 1159(Approximate date): Churchman Richard FitzNeal is appointed Lord High Treasurer in England, in charge of Henry II of England's Exchequer, an office he will hold for almost 40 years.source
  • 1161April 18 – Theobald of Bec, archbishop of Canterbury in England dies after an illness. King Henry II is informed and expresses the wish to have his friend Thomas Becket elected as the successor.source
  • 1162June 3 – King Henry II has his chancellor Thomas Becket elected to succeed the late Theobald of Bec as archbishop of Canterbury. He accepts the pallium sent by Pope Alexander III.source
  • 1164January 30 – King Henry II tries to delimit spiritual and royal jurisdictions in the Constitutions of Clarendon, written in large part by his councilor Richard de Luci.source
  • 1165c. August – Battle of Crogen: Owain Gwynedd (Owain Fawr), ruler of the Kingdom of Gwynedd in north Wales, having formed an alliance with his nephew Rhys ap Gruffydd, prince of Deheubarth, to challenge English rule, defeats King Henry II of England and drives his army out of Wales.source
  • 1166Summer – Henry II of England invades and conquers Brittany to punish the local Breton barons. He grants the territory to his 7-year-old son Geoffrey.source
  • 1166Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster, is driven from his kingdom by Tigernán Ua Ruairc and Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair across the Irish Sea, seeks the help of Henry II of England and recruits Norman knights.source
  • 1166Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn, High King of Ireland, is killed. He is succeeded by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, king of Connacht, who defeats Diarmaid mac Murchadha (or Dermot, another ruler in eastern Ireland) in battle. Diarmaid is exiled and goes to Normandy and the court of King Henry II of England to ask for assistance in retaking his kingdom. Henry gives him permission to find a willing army from either England or Wales. Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke ("Strongbow") and his half-brothers Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan, agree to help Diarmaid mac Murchadha in return for Diarmaid's daughter's hand in marriage.source
  • 1167King Henry II prohibits English students from attending the University of Paris; many settle at the University of Oxford.source
  • 1168Henry the Lion, duke of Saxony, marries the 12-year-old Matilda (or Maud), daughter of King Henry II of England.source
  • 1169King Henry II of England and Louis VII of France sign a peace treaty which includes the betrothal of their respective heirs, the 11-year-old Richard of England and the 8-year-old Alys of France (or Alice).source
  • 11691 May – Norman invasion of Ireland starts with the arrival at Bannow Bay in Leinster of Norman military leaders Robert Fitz-Stephen, Maurice FitzGerald and others including Cambro-Norman knight (and vassal of Henry II of England) Richard de Clare ("Strongbow") who has made an alliance with exiled Irish chief Diarmait Mac Murchada to help him regain the throne of Leinster. Wexford, Waterford, Dublin and the Kingdom of Ossory are taken and Mac Murchada restored as King of Leinster.source
  • 1170June 14 – King Henry II has his 15-year-old son, Henry the Young King, crowned by Roger, Archbishop of York, as junior king and heir to the English throne. The coronation drives Pope Alexander III to allow the exiled Thomas Becket (whose privilege as Archbishop of Canterbury to crown English monarchs has been infringed) to lay an interdict on England as punishment, and this threat forces Henry to negotiate with Becket. Sir William Marshal is appointed tutor-in-arms to Henry the Young King.source
  • 1171Henry II of England arrives in Ireland; Irish bishops and most Irish kings submit to his rule.source
  • 1171July – King Henry II decides to lead a military expedition to Ireland and summons Richard de Clare (Strongbow) to join forces. In September, Richard travels to England and promises his loyalty to Henry. He is granted Leinster as a fiefdom and is honored with the post of "royal constable in Ireland". The army is assembled at Pembroke – several siege towers are shipped over, should Henry need to assault the Norman-held towns (or others such as Cork and Limerick).source
  • 1172King Henry II of England and Humbert III, Count of Savoy ("the Blessed") agree to the marriage of their respective heirs, John and Alicia. The alliance never occurs because Henry's elder heir, Henry the Young King, becomes jealous over the castles in the realm which Henry has promised to the couple. He stages a rebellion which will take Henry two years to put down. By that time, Alicia will have died.source
  • 1172Henry II of England leaves Ireland.source
  • 1172Meath is granted to Hugh de Lacy by Henry II of England.source
  • 1172May 21 – Henry II of England does penance at Avranches Cathedral for the murder of Thomas Becket.source
  • 1173March – Henry the Young King withdraws to the French court, marking the beginning of the Revolt of 1173–1174, a dispute between King Henry II, his estranged wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and three of their sons over the territories they control. Eleanor is placed under de facto house arrest. William the Lion, King of Scotland, invades the North of England in support of the rebellion.source
  • 1174July 13 – Battle of Alnwick: King William I (the Lion), supported by Flemish mercenaries, invades England, to help fight in the baronial rebellion against King Henry II. William attacks Prudhoe Castle in Northumberland, but is unable to capture it. He is captured by Lord Ranulf de Glanvill, and brought back to Newcastle. Henry occupies a part of Scotland, with its five strongest castles: Roxburgh, Berwick, Jedburgh, Edinburgh and Stirling.source
  • 1175King Henry II begins living openly with his mistress Rosamund Clifford, raising suspicions about their relationship and alienating Henry's wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.source
  • 1175October – Treaty of Windsor is made between Henry II of England and Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, High King of Ireland, who agrees to rule unoccupied territory as a vassal.source
  • 1176Spring – Assize of Northampton: King Henry II establishes the rules for the administration of criminal justice that he has set out in 1166 at Clarendon.source
  • 1176Rosamund Clifford (the Fair), mistress of Henry IIsource
  • 117713 February Joan of England (October 1165 – 4 September 1199) the seventh child of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine married William II of Sicily at Palermo Cathedral.source
  • 1181King Henry II removes Hugh de Lacy, lord of Meath, from his position as procurator of Ireland, possibly because of his having married the daughter of High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair.source
  • 1183June 11 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England (born 1155)source
  • 1184The castle which gave Newcastle, County Wicklow its name was completed. It was built on an earlier Irish fortification in the territory of the O'Byrne's by the Norman Hugh de Lacy, then-governor of Ireland under Henry II.source
  • 1184King Henry II of England encourages his youngest (and favorite) son John to seize Aquitaine from his brother Richard.source
  • 1185April 25 – John's first expedition to Ireland: King Henry II of England knights his son and heir, the 18-year-old Prince John, newly created Lord of Ireland, and sends him to Ireland, accompanied by 300 knights and a team of administrators to enforce English control. Landing at Waterford, he treats the local Irish rulers with contempt, making fun of their unfashionable long beards. Also failing to make allies amongst the Anglo-Norman settlers, the English army is unable to subdue the Irish fighters in unfamiliar conditions and the expedition soon becomes a complete disaster. In December, John returns to England in defeat. Nonetheless, Henry gets him named 'King of Ireland' by Pope Urban III and procures a golden crown with peacock feathers.source
  • 118525 April–December – John's first expedition to Ireland: King Henry II of England knights his son and heir, the 18-year-old Prince John, newly created Lord of Ireland, and sends him to Ireland, accompanied by 300 knights and a team of administrators to enforce English overlordship. Landing at Waterford, he treats the local Irish rulers with contempt, making fun of their unfashionable long beards. Also failing to make allies amongst the Anglo-Norman settlers, the English army is unable to subdue the Irish fighters in unfamiliar conditions and the expedition soon becomes a complete disaster, returning to England in defeat. Nonetheless, Henry gets John named 'King of Ireland' by Pope Urban III and procures a golden crown with peacock feathers. The expedition is accompanied and chronicled by Gerald of Wales.source
  • 1187November – Richard of Poitou, son of King Henry II, take the Cross to help capture Jerusalem from the Muslims. He empties his coffers for the mission and makes a deal with King William the Lion of Scotland, giving him full feudal autonomy in return for cash.source
  • 1188Spring – King Henry II and Philip II (Augustus) meet at Le Mans, with Archbishop Josias (or Joscius) in attendance. Both kings agree to peace terms, and to contribute to a joint Crusade. It is decided to raise a new tax to pay for the expedition. This tax, known as the Saladin Tithe, is imposed on the people of England and France to raise funds for the Third Crusade.source
  • 1189Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales) writes the Expugnatio Hibernica about Henry II’s invasion of Ireland.source
  • 1189July 6 – King Henry II of England ("Curtmantle") dies at the Château de Chinon, near Tours, after doing homage to Philip II (Augustus), and surrendering the territories around Issoudun in the Centre-Val de Loire. He ends the hostilities against Philip, by agreeing to the peace terms and pays him 20,000 marks in tribute. Henry is succeeded by his son, Richard I ("the Lionheart"), as ruler of England and his remaining territories in France.source
  • 1189July 6 – Henry II, king of England (born 1133)source
  • 1191September – Geoffrey, illegitimate son of the late King Henry II and half-brother to Richard I and John, lands secretly at Dover. He has been consecrated as the new archbishop of York while in Tours, and on his return is arrested by William de Longchamp. Citing the Winchester treaty, John seeks a meeting with William. Geoffrey is freed, William flees and heads to Dover Castle.source

Named in the same entries