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Henry II, Henry III and Simon de Montfort, King John and Magna Carta,…
Henry II
When Henry II (1154-89) came to the throne in 1154, he was the most powerful monarch in Europe. His kingdom stretched from the Scottish border to the south of France.
Henry II was a warrior king and chivalric hero.
During his reign his main concerns were the insecurities of his French territories and the desire to re-establish the legal order in England. The feudal duty of military service was replaced with a tax known as 'scutage. In this way knights could choose to remain on their land and the king was able to pay professional soldiers
In the 1160s Henry introduced travelling royal judges, who were basically professional lawyers. The law they administered became known as common law, because it was used everywhere. In other parts of Europe, legal practice was based on the civil law of the Roman Empire and the canon law of the Church. English lawyers created an entirely different system of law based on custom, comparisons of previous cases and previous decisions. This mixture of experience and custom is the basis of law in England even today
In 1162 Henry appointed one of his favourites,Thomas Becket (1118-70), to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Thomas tried to assert the independence of Church from State.
But in 1164 Henry had the Constitutions of Clarendon written: these stated that the king was supreme in civil matters and that all people in England, including the clergy, were subject to the Crown. Becket refused to accept the Constitutions of Clarendon.
This conflict between Becket and the king continued until 29th December 1170, when Becket was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by four knights claiming to have been sent by the king. He became a martyr and a saint, and pilgrims from all over England and Europe visited his shrine in Canterbury Cathedral.
Becket's murder shocked all of Europe and Henry walked barefoot to Canterbury, where he was flogged by monks at the door of the cathedral to restore his reputation.
When Henry II died in 1189, he was succeeded by his son Richard I, known as Richard the Lionheart (1189-99).
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