Back to History and Evolution
Archives.
History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 86, More Kings and Plots:
November 15, 2004:
King Henry I died in 1135. With no male successor he had intended his daughter, the empress Matilda to be his heir. That was not what happened. Instead, the nephew of Henry, Stephen of Blois (1097 - 1154) crossed the channel, lead a coup of noblemen, and seized the throne. He had previously pledged his support to Matilda, but power lust got the best of him. To be sure, that made Matilda a bit angry. It also made some of her friends angry and a civil war ensued. A bunch of folks were killed, but Stephen managed to cling to power.
Later, Stephen made the error of arresting the bishop of Salisbury and he lost the support of the pope. Upon that development, Matilda invaded England with a force from France and anther civil war was under way. Do you tend to pity the poor peasants who were probably conscripted in this royal silliness? So do I. At any rate, after too much bloodshed, Stephen gave in and named Matilda's son, Henry II (1133 - 1189) to be his successor. Stephan kicked off in 1154 and Henry II was unopposed in his succession to the English throne. What a waste!
When Henry II took charge he acquired a great deal of power due to his family ties and his energy. He was already the Duke of Normandy. He also married well into French royalty and so acquired huge holdings in France. There were also other titles and powers at various places in Europe. Using his power, Henry moved to bring peace to England which was tore up pretty bad by all the civil war. He consolidated most power in the throne and put the barons in limbo while investing the royal courts with more authority.
This royal court deal brought him to loggerheads with Thomas à Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury. Understandably, Becket championed the jurisdiction of the church courts. Henry had issued a document called the Constitutions of Clarendon, Consisting of 16 articles, the document was a bold legal move in English Law which in part extended the jurisdiction of civil over church courts. What Henry wanted was to be able to prosecute clergy accused of crimes in civil courts. Needless to say, the pope disapproved as did Becket who repudiated the constitutions.
It seems Becket guessed the king was perturbed and he departed for Europe just in case. Meanwhile Henry continued usurping church affairs. He had his eldest son crowned king by the archbishop of York. This was a social no-no. The long established tradition was for the bishop of Canterbury to have the honor of coronating kings. The pope immediately suspended all of the clergy who participated in that coronation.
later Becket came back to England under some kind of truce, but that did not last. he continued to champion the church authority over the royal prerogatives. That annoyed Henry II and in 1170 he blurted out a wish to be rid of this troublesome cleric. Well, this was a time when so called knights were active with all of their pretenses to goodness and light. A few of them took the king seriously. They went to Canterbury and offed Thomas Becket, in the cathedral no less.
This did not sit well with the Christians at all. Upon his murder, Becket became a popular saint overnight, so to speak. Still, with the death of Becket, Henry had got most of what he wanted. The power of the church was profoundly diluted in England. Most serious issues of law were gradually moving to civil courts. Henry had to do penance at the tomb of the now Saint Thomas in Canterbury. This to some extent appeased the local populace. That was good because Henry had other troubles.
He was dealing with a family matter which amounted to an attempt by his three sons to overthrow him. They had the support of their mother plus King William of Scotland, Louis of France, and some of the English nobility. William of Scotland actually invaded northern England. The biggest problem of this rebellion was the lack of agreement and coordination between the rebels. Henry raised an army of mercenaries and took his opponents down one at a time.
He managed to capture king William and threw hm in the clink. Queen Eleanor, his wife, was put in what amounted to house arrest where she remained until Henry died. He also trashed a number of baronial castles. He treated his three sons and their allies with leniency, but that proved to be a mistake. later, he son Henry tried again. That coup failed when the younger Henry died. No peace for the king however as his other two sons, Richard and John conspired with the French king, Philip II to do the old man in. That struggle was ongoing, but it never succeeded. Henry II hung on to power until he died in 1189.
Henry's son Richard (1157 - 1199) succeeded him to the throne. We could think the bugger could have waited rather than go against his pop. Oh well, the doings of royalty! This is the same guy, Richard the lion hearted, who we noticed in the Third Crusade. I think we got a belly full of him then. He was more interested in murdering Muslims than in ruling his kingdom. In fact, he was a very costly king so far as the English were concerned.
On his way home from the crusade, he was captured by Leopold V, duke of Austria. Later the duke turned Richard over to Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor. It cost the kingdom 150,000 marks to bail him out of that one. It took a lot of taxes and repression, but most of the money was raised and Richard was released. That made him a bit unpopular with the local folks. He did not help himself when he tried to conscript his subjects for a fight against France. He was not leaving a good legacy for his baby brother John Lackland (1167 - 1216). It was all a big waste for England. Richard was killed a short time afterward in a battle in France. He died in 1199 and John came to power.
There is a great deal more to this story of Richard and the
interim ruler he left in charge while he was off on the Crusade.
This surrogate ruler was the heavy handed chancellor, William
Longchamp. Out of this grew the legend of the folk hero Robin
Hood who, as we know, took from the rich and gave to the poor,
I urge those interested to follow up on these historical realities
as well as the legends. This stuff makes the garbage you see on
the boob tube look as trivial and amateurish as it really is.
Back to History and Evolution
Archives.
|
|
|
|