Sir Francis Drake III
Sir Francis Drake II
Sir Francis Drake I
Pseudocyesis of Mary Tudor II
Pseudocyesis of Mary Tudor I
King Henry II II
Lead: One of England’s most important monarchs, Henry II saw his birthright begin to crumble even before his death in CE 1189.
Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.
Content: Despite his undoubted administrative brilliance and successful imperial ambitions, Henry was not a popular leader, not well-liked, and found himself in almost constant conflict with his wife and sons. He married the remarkable Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, and together they had eight children. As both were strong unbending personalities, their marriage was hardly a work in connubial harmony, and in Henry’s later years he would come to regret the near-constant friction that from the beginning inhabited his household. Two great crises helped undermine the legacy he had worked so hard to build since becoming King of England in CE ll54.
King Henry II I
Lead: King Henry II of England began his reign with few prospects for a successful rule. He succeeded beyond all expectations.
Intro.: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.
Content: When Henry was crowned in Westminster Abbey in CE 1154, the kingdom he inherited was a mess. For two decades a civil war between his mother, the Empress Matilda, and a usurper, King Stephen, had rent the unity of the Anglo-Norman lands. The Welsh had made inroads in the West and the Scots in the North, yet Henry was to become one of England’s great monarchs laying the groundwork for the Plantagenet dynasty that would last for 250 years. Through a combination of inheritance, a fortuitous marriage to the extraordinary Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, and his own determined exertions, he brought under his control the largest assemblage of lands any English King had ruled to that point, from Dublin to Flanders from Scotland to the Pyrenees.