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Henry II “Curtmantle” Plantagenet, King of England and Ireland (1133 – 1189)







Armorial of the Royal House of Plantagenet



“… the very first of [the Plantagenet] name and race, and the very greatest King that England ever knew, but withal the most unfortunate … his death being imputed to those only to whom himself had given life, his ungracious sons…” — Sir Winston Churchill (1620-1688)

Three weeks after Henry “Beauclerc” I (1068 – 1135) died, Stephen IV de Blois , his nephew, had himself elected and crowned to succeed him as King of England. Empress Matilda, who had a rival claim to the throne as Henry’s daughter, was in France at the time. Upon her return to England, she waged a bloody 18-year civil war, called The Anarchy, against Stephen to depose him. Her son Henry d’Anjou (later King Henry II Plantagenet) finally wore down Stephen’s characteristically irresolute will to continue the fight following a series of battles and skirmishes that resulted in his suing for peace, essentially formally designating Henry as his adopted son and heir to the throne in 1153 (Stephen died the next year).

As heinously dreadful as it was in English history, The Anarchy not only resulted in Henry’s kingship but also laid down the formation of the basis for his front-line autocratic leadership and control of earldoms both Stephen and Matilda created during that time. His rulership was thus greatly enhanced by this ancillary favorable development as a result since their earls were at his beck and call from the moment he was crowned as their liege lord.

The coronation of Angevin empire magnate Henry II Plantagenet in 1154 as King of England marked the beginning of the Plantagenet monarchal dynasty and its cadet branches that would rule England for the next 331 years.

As a couple, Henry and Eleanor of Aquitaine shook the firmament of European royalty to such an extent that they, as most historians would agree, changed the course of history.

During his reign as King of England, he regained and solidified his control of the French domains (Angevin) he inherited from his grandfather. He also subjugated large parts of Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and Ireland to his rulership.

As a measure of the king’s boundless imperialistic ambition, he belated stepped into the fray after Richard “Strongbow” de Clare, Earl of Pembroke (1130 – 1176) Justiciar of Ireland conquered substantial regions of southeastern Ireland (most of which was principally ruled, such as Dublin, by Normans several centuries before). He initially passed on the involvement when Leinster King Diarmaid mac Murchadha (a.k.a, Dermot, 1110 – 1171), Strongbow’s father-in-law, implored him to assist him in reestablishing his kingship after being deposed by Irish High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (a.k.a. Rory, 1116 – 1198). (Both Dermot and Rory were agnatic descendants of Irish High King Niall of 9 Hostages (380 – 454).) Seizing the opportunity to take advantage of Strongbow’s victory, he sent a full-scale army to claim more than bragging rights as Lord of Ireland thereafter.

* * *

“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”

– HRH Henry II “Curtmantle” Plantagenet

Those rash words, spoken in frustration with the longstanding Thomas à Becket‘s opposition to Henry’s agenda to gain control of the church, were mistaken as a royal command by four zealous young knights in his presence at the time. Reginald Fitz Urse, Hugh de Morville, William de Tracy, and Richard le Breton seized the moment and immediately set out for Canterbury to affect the demise of Henry’s erstwhile friend.

By papal decree, Canterbury Cathedral, where Becket met a grisly death at the hands of the four knights, became a place of pilgrimage after Pope Alexander III canonized him on 21 February 1173. After petitioning the pope for forgiveness, Henry II walked barefoot to Canterbury to pray at the spot of the assassination. Monks lashed him with whips whilst he prayed for forgiveness.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340 – 1400) wrote The Canterbury Tales in vernacular Middle English, unquestionably one of the first poetic/prose literary works composed in the nascent language, and, more importantly, in a satirical vein.

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Henry II “Curtmantle” Plantagenet, King of England, Count of Anjou and Maine
Birth 5 Mar 1133 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France
Death 6 Jul 1189 in Chinon Castle, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France

23rd great-grandfather FITZALAN-MOWBRAY-HOWARD-WOOD-COLLINS

23rd great-grandfather HOWARD-WOOD-COLLINS

24th great-grandfather GUBIUM-BERTRAM-OGLE-HERON-COLLINGWOOD-COLLINS

25th great-grandfather MOWBRAY-GREY-OGLE-HERON-COLLINGWOOD-COLLINS

26th great-grandfather ABERFFRAW-DE MAR-STEWART-MACDONALD-FINLAY-COLLINS

2nd great-grandfather of husband of 1st cousin 22x removed CAPET-D’EVREUX-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

23rd great-uncle MONTMORENCY LAVAL-DE LA ROCHE GUYON-DE SILLY-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

1st cousin 30x removed NORMANDY-PLANTAGENET-MONTMORENCY-DE LEON-DE ROUGE-DE LA TOUR LANDRY-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

4th cousin 25x removed NORMANDY-SINCLAIR-PAINE-TRIPP-OUTWATER-COLLINS

4th cousin 28x removed NORMANDY-DUNKELD-DUNBAR-ANGUS-FITZALAN-BRUCE-STEWART-DE LA HAY-TATE-CHANDLER-SIMMONS-COLLINS

husband of 4th cousin 19x removed VALOIS-CAPET-D’ARTOIS-PLANTAGENET-FITZALAN-MOWBRAY-HOWARD-WOOD-COLLINS

husband of 6th cousin 23x removed HOLLAND-SIMMONS-COLLINS

husband of 11th cousin 22x removed AVESNES-VALOIS-CAPET-D’EVREUX-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

husband of wife of 27th great-grandfather POITOU-CAPET-D’EVREUX-ROHAN-LANDRY-BOURG-CYR-BRULE

Fab Pedigree

Wiki

SOURCES

British Monarchy Wiki 

The Face of Henry II Plantagenet (Photoshop Reconstruction)

The Face of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Photoshop Reconstruction)

Plantagenet

The Kings and Queens of England and Scotland

Henry Plantagenet: A Biography of Henry II of England

The Patricians, A Genealogical Study – Ebook Editions (Epub, PDF & Kindle) US$7.95

Author at Harrod’s Deli – London

The Life of Steven Wood Collins

By Steven Wood Collins

I spent most of my life unaware of my ancestral heritage. Sure, I knew of the personal history of my more immediate relatives; but beyond that, I never had any inkling as to my ancestral heritage. Then one day many years ago my sister said to me, “I sometimes wonder about our family background.” And so my quest to discover our genealogical roots commenced.

I started building my family tree with the very basic relationships, going back in time from my grandparents, one ancestor at a time. That initial effort proved to be the hardest part of the pursuit, mainly due to my lack of expertise as a novice genealogical researcher. As I gained familiarity with the databases and how to efficiently mine them, my progress gained ever-increasing momentum. Today, The Patricians! tree (Ancestry.com) contains nearly 120,000 individuals, stretching over 135 generations, 5,800 of which are my direct ancestors in a genealogical sense.

During this trek back in time, I encountered fascinating figures in both history and obscurity. This blog contains many stories about their genealogical relationship to me (and many of you). By far and away, as a student of history, the historically obscure individuals are of particular interest to me. I cite Baron “Blue Beard” Montmorency-Laval de Rais (1405 – 1440) as an example of a historically maligned personage whose real contribution to history, as both a playwright and hero of France, has yet to be properly recognized. Another example is Earl Edward de Vere (1550 – 1604), who’s yet to gain widespread recognition as the actual author of the body of literary work wrongly ascribed to William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

My life-long interest in international economics and finance continues unabated. I primarily demonstrate this professional involvement as a contributor to the Long Room, the members-only international finance professionals' forum hosted by the Financial Times of London.

I'm an avid recreational scuba diver who enjoys traveling to exotic dive sites. My love of the sea and marine life gives me an unbounded appreciation and support of “green” issues, especially those devoted to the conservation of endangered species and coral reefs.

He continually posts results of his personal genealogical research to his Goodreads Authors Blog. Entitled The Patricians - The Ancestral Heritage of Steven Wood Collins, the work represents thousand of hours of his research efforts and related commentary.

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