Henry II Quotes

Henry II was known as one of England’s greatest kings. Along with being king of England, he was also Count of Anjou, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Duke of Normandy, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland, and controlled little bits of Western France and Scotland. He was most famous for his legal administrative systems, his long disputes with the Church, and his dramatic turmoil with his family. One of his greatest quotes was, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”

Henry II was born on March 4th, 1133, in Le Mans, France. His mother, Matilda, lived in exile at the time he was born. She was named her father’s successor to the English throne, to follow her father Henry I, but was usurped by her cousin, Stephen. In 1150, after his father’s death, Henry II became ruler of Normandy and Anjou. He then married Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was known as the great heiress of Western Europe. He and Eleanor then traveled to England to claim the royal throne for themselves.

Once he became ruler of England, Henry II began to make his changes to the kingdom.

He built jails and courthouses. He despised the Church’s right to judge criminals and illegal actions, so he stopped the Church from having the right to judge. He also decreased the Church’s power and named his friend Tom Becket as Successor to increase the judicial system’s power. Henry also named Becket the Archbishop of Canterbury. Spokesmen of the Church opposed Henry’s changes. He felt so heart broken when he heard Becket had chosen the Church’s side, he spoke, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?” Four of his knights took this quote literally and killed Becket at the Canterbury Cathedral in December 1170. Henry greatly regretted his friend’s death, despite the event affecting the rest of his

reign.
In the same year, Henry II had been going through family issues. His marriage with Eleanor faded and eventually stopped. Eleanor made her sons- Henry, Geoffrey, Richard, and John to turn against him, but that only made Henry put Eleanor under house arrest. In addition, Henry’s sons wanted their own piece of land, because they did not trust each other. He tried reasoning with his sons, but it didn’t stop them from asking for land. He tried finding heritage for John, since he was his favorite son, but it only led to the opposition of his son Richard and Philip II of France. His sons eventually tried stealing and taking over the land, so Henry had to give the land away. Once Henry II had heard the news that John had turned against him, he only grew closer to his death, which was on July 6th, 1189.
As said above, Henry II was the king of many countries, but was most famous for being King of England. During his reign, he had many quarrels with the Church and how much power it possessed, along with quarrels within his famiy; however he remained loyal and wise to his people, which made him one of England’s greatest kings.