Henry II: An Imperialist King?

Page 7 of 9

• 1. Approach to empire
• 2. Relations with France
• 3. Campaigns in Wales
• 4. Approach to Ireland
• 5. Henry lands in Ireland
• 6. Conclusions on Ireland
• 7. Henry and Scotland
• 8. Feudal control
• 9. Find out more
• Print entire article

Henry and Scotland

There is no doubt that Henry exploited the Irish situation ruthlessly, treating the land taken by the Normans as conquered territory which he could do with as he wished, and ending up as the recognised power in the realm. However, he did this largely with the tacit co-operation of those Irishmen who were opposed to Rory O'Connor, and finally with the co-operation of Rory himself. It was only when Rory failed to control his Norman neighbours that Henry intervened, and even then he only did so half-heartedly. With the exception of the Norman lands and certain strategically important cities, Henry seemed quite happy to leave the Irish to their own devices, just so long as they recognised him as their feudal overlord.

'It was only when Rory failed to control his Norman neighbours that Henry intervened...'

This attitude can be seen even more strongly in Scotland. Under Stephen, King David of Scotland had gained control of Carlisle, and it is undoubtedly true that Henry reneged on his word when he browbeat David's successor, Malcolm, into restoring it to the English king. This created bad blood, which led to Malcolm's successor, William, joining the rebellion of Henry the Younger and invading England, but he was captured in battle and imprisoned.

In 1175, Henry released him on condition that he swear fealty to Henry as his liege and surrender key castles such as those at Edinburgh and Stirling. Yet despite the harshness of these terms, Henry did not enforce them rigidly and even returned the ancestral Scots kings' honour of Huntingdon to him in 1185.

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Published: 2001-04-01