Henry II (redirected from King Henry II)

Henry II, Holy Roman emperor and German king

Henry II, 973–1024, Holy Roman emperor (1014–24) and German king (1002–24), last of the Saxon line. He succeeded his father as duke of Bavaria. When Otto III died without an heir, Henry, who was Otto's second cousin and the great-grandson of Henry I, was elected German king. After some opposition he was recognized by the German duchies. In 1004 he entered Italy and at Pavia was crowned king of the rebellious Lombards by the bishops. Italian resistance appeared to be broken when Pavia was destroyed in a conflict between the citizens and Henry's German followers, but his supremacy was still uncertain when he went north to meet Boleslaus I of Poland. Henry expelled (1004) Boleslaus from Bohemia, but the war dragged on until 1018, when Boleslaus was able to obtain territories in E Germany in fief from Henry. Returning (1013) to Italy, Henry was crowned (1014) Holy Roman emperor at Rome. On his third Italian campaign (1021–22), undertaken at the pope's behest, he restored order in Lombardy, reasserted his sovereignty in all Italy, and attended a synod at Pavia where he advocated far-reaching church reform. Always relying heavily on ecclesiastic support, Henry opposed the monastic clergy in its jurisdictional struggle with the bishops, and he forcefully exercised his right of nominating bishops. However, both Henry and his empress, Kunigunde of Luxembourg, were distinguished for piety and have been canonized. His most notable achievement was the foundation of the new bishopric of Bamberg, which became a center of scholastic culture and art. Henry died childless; he was succeeded by Conrad II. Feast: July 15.

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Henry II, king of England

Henry II, 1133–89, king of England (1154–89), son of Matilda, queen of England, and Geoffrey IV, count of Anjou. He was the founder of the Angevin, or Plantagenet, line in England and one of the ablest and most remarkable of the English kings.

Early Life

Henry's early attempts to recover the English throne, which he claimed through his mother, were unsuccessful. He was made duke of Normandy in 1150, and at Geoffrey's death (1151) inherited Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. His marriage (1152) to Eleanor of Aquitaine brought him Aquitaine, Poitou, and Auvergne. By an invasion of England in 1153, he finally forced King Stephen to acknowledge him as heir, and in 1154 Henry ascended the English throne.

Reign

Restoration of Royal Authority

Henry's vast Continental domains (he ruled about half the area of present-day France) were to occupy him for much of his reign, but his first objective was to restore order and royal authority to an England ravaged by civil war. He did this (by razing unlicensed castles, reclaiming royal castles and alienated crown lands, and appointing capable crown officials) so effectively that the country was free of major disorder until 1173.

Henry's desire to restore royal authority to the level of that in Henry I's reign brought him into conflict with Thomas à Becket, whom he had made (1162) archbishop of Canterbury. The quarrel, which focused largely on the jurisdiction of the church courts, came to a head when Henry issued (1164) the Constitutions of Clarendon, defining the relationship between church and state, and it ended (1170) in Becket's murder, for which Henry was indirectly responsible. The crime aroused such indignation that Henry had to make his peace with the papacy in the Compromise of Avranches (1172). But, though he made some concessions, most clauses of the Constitutions remained in force.

Henry's most significant achievement lay in his development of the structure of royal justice. With the aid of such competent jurists as Ranulf de Glanvill, he clearly established the superiority of the royal courts over private, feudal jurisdictions. His justices toured the country, administering a strengthened criminal law and a revised land law, based on the doctrine of seisin (possession). Procedural advances included the greatly extended use of writs and juries.

While these developments were taking place, Henry was also engaged in consolidating his possessions. He recovered (1157) the northern counties of England from Scotland and undertook (1171–72) an expedition to Ireland, where he temporarily consolidated the conquests already made by Richard de Clare, 2d earl of Pembroke. He was less successful in his attempts (1157 and 1165) to extend his authority in Wales. Henry also expanded his holdings in France, acquiring Vexin, Brittany, and Toulouse.

His Rebellious Sons

In 1169 the king distributed among his three oldest sons the titles to his possessions: Henry was to receive Normandy, Maine, and Anjou (he was also crowned king of England in 1170); Richard (later Richard I), Aquitaine; and Geoffrey, Brittany. They did not receive actual authority, however, and, encouraged in their discontent by their mother and supported by Louis VII of France, they rebelled against Henry in 1173–74. The rebellion collapsed, but the king's sons continued to conspire against him. Richard and the youngest son, John, in alliance with Philip II of France, were actually in the course of another rebellion in 1189 when their father died. Since the young Henry had died (1183), Henry II was succeeded by Richard.

Bibliography

See biographies by J. T. Appleby (1962), R. W. Barber (1964, repr. 1967), and W. L. Warren (1973); A. L. Poole, From Domesday Book to Magna Carta (2d ed. 1955); F. Barlow, The Feudal Kingdom of England, 1042–1216 (2d rev. ed. 1962); J. E. A. Joliffe, Angevin Kingship (2d ed. 1963); T. K. Keefe, Feudal Assessments and the Political Community under Henry II and His Sons (1982).

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Henry II, king of France

Henry II, 1519–59, king of France (1547–59), son of King Francis I. His robust physique contrasted with his weak and pliant disposition. Throughout his reign he was governed by Anne de Montmorency, by his mistress Diane de Poitiers, and by François and Charles de Guise. He renewed the struggle against Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (Charles I of Spain), allying himself with the German Protestants despite his own strong Catholicism. War continued under Charles's son King Philip II of Spain, who was allied with Mary Tudor of England, until the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559) ended French pretensions in Italy. In 1558, Calais was conquered from the English. Henry issued a series of increasingly severe edicts against the Protestants and established more firmly the absolute royal power. His queen, Catherine de' Medici, played a minor role during her husband's reign. Henry, accidentally killed by Gabriel de Montgomery in a tournament, was succeeded by Francis II.

Bibliography

See H. N. Williams, Henry II: His Court and Times (1910).

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Henry II, Spanish king of Castile and León

Henry II or Henry of Trastámara (trăstəmăr`ə), 1333?–1379, Spanish king of Castile and León (1369–79), illegitimate son of Alfonso XI. After taking part in several unsuccessful revolts against his half brother, Peter the Cruel, he secured the aid of Du Guesclin and Peter IV of Aragón and drove Peter from the throne in 1366. Peter allied himself with England and, with the help of Edward the Black Prince defeated Henry at Nájera (1367), but after Edward's departure, Henry defeated and killed Peter at Montiel (1369). John of Gaunt, son-in-law of Peter the Cruel, and Ferdinand I of Portugal unsuccessfully contested his title as king and the succession of his son, John I.

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Henry II

 known as Henry of Anjou or Henry Plantagenet

(born 1133, Le Mans, Maine—died July 6, 1189, near Tours) Duke of Normandy (from 1150), count of Anjou (from 1151), duke of Aquitaine (from 1152), and king of England (from 1154). The son of Matilda and grandson of Henry I, he gained vast territories in France by marrying Eleanor of Aquitaine (1152). He invaded England, and, in settlement of the war, King Stephen named Henry as heir (1153). As king, Henry extended his holdings in northern England and western France, strengthened royal administration, and reformed the court system. His attempt to assert royal authority at the expense of the church (see Constitutions of Clarendon) led to a quarrel with the archbishop of Canterbury, his former close friend St. Thomas Becket, which ended with Becket's murder and Henry's subsequent penance at Canterbury (1174). His reign was plagued by disputes among family members, especially struggles for precedence among his sons, including Richard I (the Lionheart) and John (Lackland). Richard allied with Philip II of France to drive Henry from the throne in 1189.

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Henry II

 French Henri orig. duc (duke) d'Orléans

(born March 31, 1519, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, Fr.—died July 10, 1559, Paris) King of France (1547–59). The second son of Francis I, he had strong differences with his father, accentuated by the rivalry between their mistresses and by Henry's support of the constable Anne, duc de Montmorency (1493–1567). Though he continued many of his father's policies, Henry raised the Catholic House of Guise to favour, and he vigorously suppressed Protestantism within his kingdom. He made a number of administrative reforms. In foreign affairs Henry continued his father's warfare against Emperor Charles V until 1559, when he signed the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. The treaty was to be cemented by the marriage of Henry's daughter to Philip II of Spain; during the festivities he was hit in the head by a lance, and he died from the wound.

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Henry II

 or St. Henry German Heinrich

(born May 6, 973, Albach?, Bavaria—died July 13, 1024, near Göttingen, Saxony; canonized 1146; feast day July 13) Duke of Bavaria (as Henry IV, 995–1005), German king (1002–24), and emperor (1014–24), the last of the Saxon dynasty. He led a series of military campaigns against Poland before making peace in 1018. He asserted German authority in northern Italy and was crowned emperor by Pope Benedict VIII on Feb. 14, 1014. To protect the papacy he fought Greeks and Lombards in Italy (1021). He fostered cooperation between church and state and established the German bishops as secular rulers as well as ecclesiastical princes and established a reputation for religious piety.

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Henry II

1. known as Henry the Saint. 973--1024, king of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor (1014--24): canonized in 1145

2. 1133--89, first Plantagenet king of England (1154--89): extended his Anglo-French domains and instituted judicial and financial reforms. His attempts to control the church were opposed by Becket

3. 1519--59, king of France (1547--59); husband of Catherine de' Medici. He recovered Calais from the English (1558) and suppressed the Huguenots