England+in1150



England in 1150  •Henry II control consisted of a loose, flexible, network of family connections and lands.  •Different local customs applied within each of Henry's different territories, although common principles underpinned some of these local variations. Henry travelled constantly across the empire, producing a "government of the roads and roadsides”.  •His travels coincided with regional governmental reforms and other local administrative business, although messengers connected him to his possession wherever he went.  •In his absence the lands were ruled by seneschals and justiciars, and beneath them local officials in each of the regions carried on with the business of government. Nonetheless, many of the functions of government centered on Henry himself and he was often surrounded by petitioners requesting decisions or favours.


 * In 1163 Henry returned to England, intent on reforming the role of the royal courts.
 * Henry cracked down on crime, seizing the belongings of thieves and fugitives, and travelling justices were dispatched to the north and the Midlands.
 * After 1166 Henry's exchequer court in Westminster, which had previously only heard cases connected with royal revenues, began to take wider civil cases on behalf of the king
 * Local juries had been used occasionally in previous reigns, but Henry made much wider use of them.
 * Juries were introduced in petty assizes from around 1176, where they were used to establish the answers to particular pre-established questions, and in grand assizes from 1179, where they were used to determine the guilt of a defendant.

 His legacy and his old age would be managed by one of his children, three of which wanted to succeed him.



Henry's relationship with his wife Eleanor was complex: Henry trusted Eleanor to manage England for several years after 1154, and was later content for her to govern Aquitaine; indeed, Eleanor was believed to have influence over Henry during much of their marriage. Ultimately, however, their relationship disintegrated and chroniclers and historians have speculated on what ultimately caused Eleanor to abandon Henry to support her older sons in the Great Revolt of 1173–74.

Henry had eight legitimate children by Eleanor William, the Young Henry, Richard, Geoffrey and John, and three daughters, Matilda, Eleanor and Joan.

Unfortunately Henry's family was divided by rivalries and violent hostilities, more so than many other royal families of the day. Various suggestions have been put forward to explain Henry's family's bitter disputes, from their inherited family genetics to the failure of Henry and Eleanor's parenting. Other theories focus on the personalities of Henry and his children. Historians such as Matthew Strickland have argued that Henry made sensible attempts to manage the tensions within his family, and that, had the king died younger, the succession might have proven much smoother.

to find out what daily life was like for Henry's happy clan, we turn now to.......

= Lion in Winter = the historical fiction of the events that lead ultimately to the Magna Carta