The Character and Legacy of Henry II

Page 2 of 7

• 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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Personal characteristics

Above all, he was ruthless in pursuit of his rights. He would manipulate the courts, exploit any loophole and even break his word to recover and defend his ancient rights as he saw them. His fundamental policy was to re-establish 'all the rightful customs which were had in the time of King Henry my grandfather, revoking all evil customs which have arisen there since this day.' For Henry, all else came second to this, and his interpretation of these customs was often more rigorous than they actually had been in Henry I's day. This governed all his actions: his foreign policy, his religious policy, his economic and legal policy and even his personal life; at times with disastrous consequences.

'In his personal life, his intense privacy seems to have alienated those who were closest to him.'

In his personal life, his intense privacy seems to have alienated those who were closest to him. The perceived betrayals of first Becket and then Eleanor (both of whom were only acting in the interests of their own personal offices) seem to have hurt him sorely; but the most wounding betrayals were those of his sons. Yet these very betrayals were a natural consequence of his obsession with his rights: he failed to make his sons trust him because he never included them fully.

Passionate, grasping, authoritative, Henry started his reign with a youth's determined arrogance, and ended with a wily old miser's cynicism. He held his kingdom together by force of his personality, but that was his greatest weakness as well as his greatest strength.

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Published: 2001-07-01