The Character and Legacy of Henry II

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• 1. Early influences
• 2. Personal characteristics
• 3. Family background
• 4. Eleanor of Aquitaine
• 5. Henry and his sons
• 6. Final years
• 7. Find out more
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Early influences

Look for the key to Henry's character and look no further than his childhood. The son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda (daughter of Henry I) against whom the barons of England and Normandy rebelled in favour of the usurper Stephen, his childhood was dominated by war and intrigue as his mother and father strove to regain their inheritance. From the age of 9 it was the young Henry to whom that inheritance would fall, and on whom the responsibility of holding it together lay. Consequently, Henry II, king at the age of 22, was mature beyond his years and obsessed with the restoration of his ancestral rights.

Though not handsome, Henry was larger than most men, stocky and quite powerful: a power which came across in his personality. His energy was overwhelming, and his anger legendary, as was his love of hunting. He dressed simply in hunting clothes and was rarely seen either out of the saddle or without a hawk on his arm. Yet paradoxically, this archetypal man of action was an intensely private intellectual. Multi-lingual, he liked to retire with a book, was well-polished in letters and enjoyed scholarly debate. He was also very approachable and never forgot a face. He shunned regular hours and his propensity to change his schedule at short notice was infamous. This often translated into an ability to react to unforeseen circumstances with astonishing rapidity and decisiveness.

'...he understood honest opposition and could deal with it equably. What he could not abide was betrayal.'

He vaunted loyalty above all else, and his fits of rage against those he deemed as traitors are so melodramatic as to be unbelievable. On more than one occasion, he is said to have frothed at the mouth in a screaming rage, and is even known to have chewed the straw on the floor in apoplexy. This Henry was frightening, and could reduce international magnates to quivering wrecks. Yet he understood honest opposition and could deal with it equably. What he could not abide was betrayal.

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Published: 2001-07-01