Notes |
- Henry the Young King (February 28, 1155June 11, 1183) was the second
of five sons of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Henry was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de Champagne and
Alix of France. He was a younger brother of William, Count of
Poitiers. He was also an older brother to Matilda of England, Richard
I of England, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, Leonora of Aquitaine ,
Joan Plantagenet and John of England.
Fostered by Thomas à Becket, in June 1170 the fifteen-year-old Henry
was crowned king during his father's lifetime, but he never actually
ruled and is not counted among the monarchs of England. There is a
story that at the banquet following his coronation, he was waited on
by his father, who remarked what a rare honour it was to be waited on
by a king; the younger Henry replied that it was only fitting for the
son of a count to wait on the son of a king.
He is now known as "Henry the Young King" to distinguish him from his
nephew Henry III of England. He broke with his father and allied with
his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine and brothers in a civil war (117374)
in which he tried to wrest the power of the crown from his father.
When he died at the age of 28 of dysentery, during the middle of a
second rebellion, his father is said to have exclaimed: "He cost me
much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more."
The historian W. L. Warren said of him, "The Young Henry was the only
one of his family who was popular in his own day. It was true that he
was also the only one who gave no evidence of political sagacity,
military skill, or even ordinary intelligence
", and elaborated in a
later book, "He was gracious, benign, affable, courteous, the soul of
liberality and generosity. Unfortunately he was also shallow, vain,
careless, empty-headed, incompetent, improvident, and irresponsible."
Henry did not seem much interested in the day-to-day business of
government, or in the subtleties of military tactics. Instead he spent
much of his time at tournaments or meddling in the affairs of his
brothers.
Henry the Young King was married to Marguerite of France, daughter of
King Louis VII of France by his second wife Constance of Castile, on
November 2, 1160 when he was 5 years of age and she was 2. The
marriage was orchestrated by Henrys father, Henry II, in order to
gain control over Marguerites dowry, the strategically vital castles
of the Vexin region between Normandy and Paris. Her maternal
grandparents were Alfonso VII of Castile and Berenguela of Barcelona.
Berenguela was a daughter of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona
by his third wife Douce of Provence.
The only child of Henry and Marguerite was William, born prematurely
on June 19, 1177, and dying on June 22 of the same year. This
difficult delivery seems to have rendered her sterile, as she had no
further children by Henry or her second husband. In 1182 Henry accused
her of having a love affair with the famed knight William Marshal.
Henry repudiated his wife and sent her back to France, and exiled
Marshal from his court. Marshal offered to prove his innocence via
trial by combat, but this offer was refused.
Henry the Young King died of dysentery in 1183, near Martel Castle in
the Turenne, while in rebellion against his father and brother
Richard. On his deathbed he reportedly asked to be reconciled to his
father, but King Henry, fearing a trick, refused to see him. After
some drama on the way, Young Henry was eventually buried in Rouen
Cathedral, where his tomb can be seen, appropriately, on the opposite
side of the altar from his younger brother Richard, with whom he was
perpetually quarrelling. The tomb of the Bishop of Rouen, who had
married Henry and Margaret, lies nearby in the ambulatory. His
brothers Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland both later became
king.
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