Henry the Young King, 1155-1183 Read online

  Copyright © 2016 Matthew Strickland

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Strickland, Matthew, 1962- author.

  Title: Henry the Young King, 1155-1183 / Matthew Strickland.

  Description: New Haven : Yale University Press, 2016.

  LCCN 2016009450 | ISBN 9780300215519 (cl : alk. paper)

  LCSH: Henry, King of England, 1155-1183. | Great Britain—Kings and rulers—Biography. | Henry II, King of England, 1133–1189—Family. | Great Britain—History—Henry II, 1154-1189.

  Classification: LCC DA206 .S77 2016 | DDC 942.03/1092—dc23

  LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016009450

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For Debra

  Contents

  List of Illustrations

  List of Maps

  Preface

  A Note on Terms and Currency

  List of Abbreviations

  1A Forgotten King?

  2Born in the Purple: Early Childhood and Infant Marriage, 1155–1160

  3Rex Puer : Coronation Plans and Associative Kingship, 1161–1163

  4Training for Kingship, 1163–1169

  5Novus Rex: The Coronation, 1170

  6The Regent and the Martyr, 1170–1172

  7‘A King Without a Kingdom’: The Seeds of War, 1172–1173

  8‘The Cubs of the Roaring Lion Shall Awaken’: The Outbreak of War, 1173

  9Invasion: The Onslaught Renewed, 1174

  10A Fragile Peace, 1175–1177

  11Apogee: King of the Tournament, 1177–1182

  12Keeping the Balance of Power: France, 1178–1182

  13The Brothers’ War, 1183

  14Vir Sanctus: Death, Commemoration and Legacy

  Notes

  Bibliography

  Index

  Illustrations

  1.The Young King, labelled as Henricus junior, between his father, Henry II, and his brother Richard, from Matthew Paris’ Historia Anglorum, c.1250–59 (Royal MS 14 CVII, f. 9). © The British Library Board

  2.The coronation of the Young King, 1170, from an illustrated Anglo-Norman verse, c.1220–40 (British Library, Loan MS 88, f. 3r). © British Library, London, UK/Bridgeman Images

  3.A king instructing his son, from the Codex Manesse, Zurich, c. 1304 (Universitat Heidelberg MS Cod. Pal. Germ. 848, f. 8r). © University of Heidelberg

  4.The Young King’s charter in favour of Canterbury cathedral, with his great seal appended (Canterbury Cathedral Archives, MS Chartae Antiquae B337). © Canterbury Cathedral Archives

  5.Cast of the seal of King Louis VII of France, 1175. © Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, France/Bridgeman Images

  6.The murder of Thomas Becket, from a psalter c.1220, Midlands, England (British Library, Harley 5102, f. 32). © The British Library Board

  7.Henry II praying at the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in a thirteenth-century stained-glass window, Canterbury cathedral. © Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, UK/Bridgeman Images

  8.Heads of a young king and queen, possibly young Henry and Queen Margaret, from the early thirteenth-century portal of the church of Candes-Saint-Martin, Anjou. © M. Strickland

  9.The castle of Chinon. © Bridgeman Images

  10.Detail depicting the dissention between Henry II and his sons, from Ralph of Diss, Ymagines Historiarum (Royal MS 13 E VI, f. 1r). © The British Library Board

  11.Emperor Henry IV of Germany and his son Henry confronting each other at the river Regen,1105, from the Chronica of Otto of Freising, 1157. © Codex Jenensis Bose q. 6, fol. 91b

  12.Knights besieging a town, from the St Alphege window, late twelfth century, in the north transept of Canterbury cathedral. © Canterbury Cathedral, Kent, UK/Bridgeman Images

  13.The capture of a king in battle, from the Morgan Bible, French, c.1250, New York Morgan Library MS 638, f. 24. © Pierpont Morgan Library, New York

  14.William Marshal, from a cast of his tomb effigy in the Temple Church, London. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

  15.Tourneyers in the mêlée, from the Codex Manesse, Zurich, c.1304 (Universitat Heidelberg MS Cod. Pal. Germ. 848, f. 17r). © University of Heidelberg

  16.A king distributing largesse to his knights, clerks, and minstrels, from the Codex Manesse, Zurich, c.1304 (Universitat Heidelberg MS Cod. Pal. Germ. 848, f. 10r). © University of Heidelberg

  17.The Young King and Philip of Flanders assisting with the coronation of Philip Augustus, 1180, as illustrated by Jean Fouquet in the Grandes Chroniques de France, c.1445–60 (Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Fr 6465, F. 212v). © Tallandier/Bridgeman Images

  18.Seal of Philip Augustus, 1198. © Centre Historique des Archives Nationales, Paris, France/Bridgeman Images

  19.Scenes from the life of David by the Master of the Morgan Leaf, Winchester, c.1160–80, New York Morgan Library M. 619, verso. © Pierpont Morgan Library, New York

  20.Detail of the tomb of the Young King in the cathedral of Rouen, Normandy. © Alamy

  Maps

  Map 1The Angevin empire c.1170

  Map 2Normandy, to illustrate the campaigns of 1173

  Map 3East Anglia and the Midlands, 1173–74

  Map 4Northern England, 1173–74

  Map 5Normandy, to illustrate the campaigns of 1174

  Map 6The Loire Valley

  Map 7Northern France in the late twelfth century

  Map 8Aquitaine, to illustrate the war of 1183

  Map 9Limoges in the late twelfth century

  Preface

  ‘A KING WITHOUT A realm is at a loss for something to do: at such a  loss was the noble and gracious Young King.’1 Thus the poet Jordan Fantosme, writing for the Plantagenet court soon after the great war of 1173–74 which had pitted Henry II against his own son, Henry ‘the Young King’, encapsulated the paradox that lies at the heart of this study. Young Henry was the first – and last – king of England since the Norman Conquest to be crowned in the lifetime of his father. The desire to have his son created as an anointed king had been a driving factor in Henry II’s policies from at least 1162, and in 1170 he had pushed through his son’s coronation by the archbishop of York in highly contentious circumstances, which would lead, unwittingly but directly, to the murder of Thomas Becket only six months later. Yet despite the enormous significance he had attached to his son’s regal status, Henry II never felt able to grant his eldest son direct rule of any of the Angevin lands. The resulting tension between young Henry’s royal rank and his lack of effective power was, as Jordan Fantosme recognized, the root cause of his rebellion in 1173, which shook the Angevin empire to its core. This book is a study of the life of young Henry, not only principal heir to Henry II and titular co-ruler of the heartlands of the great Plantagenet dominions, but also one of the most charismatic and celebrated chivalric figures of later twelfth-century Europe. It is also the story of an experiment in associative kingship that failed catastrophically, a
nd of a king without a kingdom.

  The book adopts a chronological framework, but the examination of the nature of Angevin kingship, of associated rulership, of warfare and of rebellion runs as binding thread throughout. It falls naturally into three parts. The first examines young Henry’s early life, from the extraordinary circumstances of his marriage, when aged only five to the still younger Margaret, daughter of Louis VII, through his brief but influential period in the household of Thomas Becket, to his coronation in 1170 and regency of England until 1172, a regency plunged into crisis by the return of Archbishop Thomas from exile, then fatefully overshadowed by Becket’s murder and its consequences. The second part comprises an analysis of the causes, course and consequences of the great war of 1173–74, which came close to unseating his father, the Old King, and profoundly affected subsequent relations between father and son, particularly in the years between 1175 and 1177, when fears of renewed war were never distant. The third traces the period of comparative stability from 1178 to 1182, marked by young Henry’s prominent participation in the tournament circuit and his significant role in the military and diplomatic efforts of the Angevins to keep the balance of power in northern France. It then turns to the collapse of this entente in the bitter war of 1183 which resulted from young Henry’s attempt to wrest Aquitaine from his brother Richard, but which again plunged much of the Angevin empire into turmoil, and only ended with the Young King’s premature death from disease on campaign. It concludes with an examination of his death, commemoration and legacy.

  In the preface to his own chronicle, the Winchester monk and historian Richard of Devizes explained to his friend Robert, the work’s recipient, that he would commence his account a little earlier than they had agreed, and begin from the accession of Richard I in 1189. ‘And because I could not hope to unravel the whole story’, he noted, ‘I have undertaken only the latter part of it. Why, and how, and when the father crowned his son; how much and what manner of things they accomplished; whose lands they invaded and when and to what extent; and to what end each came; all this I have left to those who want to bring forth bigger things.’2 I should no doubt have done likewise. Richard’s wisdom in declining to embark on the dauntingly large subject of Henry II and his family became increasingly clear as this work progressed, and Devizes himself would surely have appreciated Manuel Rojas’ jest that it was taking so long to write the book that the Young King was becoming the Old King.

  Nevertheless, one of the great dividends of undertaking this study of the young Henry has been the pleasure of engaging with a large number of scholars who have generously shared their very diverse expertise in and beyond ‘l’espace Plantagenêt’. I have been greatly helped by a number of friends and colleagues, and here I would like to thank Adrian Ailes, Bill Aird, Stuart Airlie, Richard Allen, Martin Aurell, David Bates, Rob Bartlett, Matthew Bennett, Maïté Billoré, Colette Bowie, Dauvit Broun, David Carpenter, Jo Cerda, Stephen Church, Michael Clanchy, Laura Cleaver, David Crouch, Archie Duncan, Katy Dutton, Peter Edbury, John France, Daniel Gerrard, John Gillingham, Judith Green, Sandy Heslop, John Hudson, Jitske Jasperse, Edmund King, Henry Mayr-Harting, Ralph Moffat, Alheydis Plassmann, Daniel Power, Manuel Rojas, David Sherlock, Ian Short, Jim Simpson, Roger Smith, Michael Staunton, Keith Stringer, Liesbeth van Houts, Colin Veach, Nicholas Vincent, Bjorn Weiler and Bill Zajac.

  Deserving of special thanks are Stephen Church and the anonymous reader for Yale University Press (who betrayed a particularly in-depth knowledge of the Pipe Rolls and of equine matters), as well as Stephen Marritt, Andrew Roach and Manuel Rojas, all of whom read through early drafts of the book, saved me from numerous errors and made many helpful comments. John Gillingham likewise kindly read a later draft, and the resulting book is much the stronger for his valuable input. It has equally benefited very considerably from Dan Powers expertise on Normandy and its aristocracy, while I am also grateful to Michael Staunton for advice both on Thomas Becket and on historical writing in the later twelfth century. Nicholas Vincent helpfully provided me with a copy of the as yet unpublished Angevin Acta, and both he and David Crouch have been generous with references and in sharing unpublished research and materials. Judith Everard kindly sent me her Itinerary of Henry II ahead of its publication in the Angevin Acta.

  My thanks are due to Heather McCallum, Melissa Bond and Rachael Lonsdale at Yale University Press for steering the book through to completion with patience and good-natured forbearance, and to Beth Humphries whose careful copy-editing has saved me from numerous stylistic infelicities.

  The writing of this book was made possible by an Arts and Humanities Research Council matching study leave grant, and the sabbatical leave given to me by the College of Arts at the University of Glasgow. I would also like to thank the Master and Fellows of Fitzwilliam College Cambridge for a Visiting Fellowship, which permitted me to research and write in such stimulating and convivial circumstances. It was while working as a doctoral student with the late Sir James Holt, then the Master of Fitzwilliam College, that I first began to develop my interest in the Young King. This is a fitting place to acknowledge my great debt to Jim Holt as a teacher and mentor, as well as to the late Marjorie Chibnall, who always took a keen interest in my research and whose work has been an important influence on it. To Michael Prestwich I owe an equally important debt.

  My warm thanks are due to Paul Strickland and Caroline Rose, and to Mike, Tom and Claire Strickland for their encouragement and unfailing welcome in deepest Norfolk, which Jordan Fantosme himself knew to be the best county ‘between here and Montpellier’. My greatest thanks are to my wife, Debra Strickland. Not only have I benefited throughout from her knowledge as a medieval art historian and from her editorial expertise, but she has also been a constant source of advice, help, and inspiration. This book could not have been written without her untiring support, and it is dedicated to her with love.

  A Note on Terms and Currency

  IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY, the word ‘prince’ (princeps) could be used in a general sense to refer to a ruler, as in Gerald of Wales’ work De principis instructione. It had not yet, however, become adopted as a formal title or rank for cadets of the English royal family, so that to speak of ‘Prince Henry’ would be anachronistic. In this book the term prince is applied to young Henry before his coronation in 1170 simply as a term of convenience for denoting a royal son. Contemporaries would have afforded him the title Dominus, while the term used by chroniclers and in governmental records such as the Pipe Rolls to refer to young Henry before 1170 was usually simply filius regis, and after 1170, rex filius regis or rex junior.

  The name Ralph of Diss has been used here for the chronicler traditionally referred to as Ralph de Diceto. It has long been thought probable that ‘Diceto’ was Diss in Norfolk, but Professor Dauvit Broun has recently shown beyond doubt that this is certainly correct.1

  A number of different currencies were in circulation concurrently in the Angevin lands, though the coinage itself principally comprised the silver penny or denier. In England, a pound sterling comprised 240 silver pennies (known as sterlings or esterlins), with twelve pennies in a shilling and twenty shillings in the pound. The mark, which existed only as a unit of account and not as an actual coin, was two-thirds of a pound or 160 pennies. In Normandy and Anjou, the main currency was the livre angevin (equivalent to the livre tournois) with four livres angevins being the equivalent value of one pound sterling.2

  Abbreviations

  AM

  Annales monastici, ed. H. R. Luard, 4 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1864–1869)

  ANS

  Anglo-Norman Studies

  Bosham

  Vita Sancti Thomae archiepiscopi et martyris, auctore Herberto de Boseham, in Materials for the History of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, ed. J. C. Robertson and J. B. Sheppard, 7 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1875–1885), III

  CCM

  Cahiers de civilisation médiévale

  CDF

  Calendar of Do
cuments Preserved in France, vol. 1, 918–1206, ed. J. H. Round (London, 1899)

  Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I

  Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R. H. Howlett, 4 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1884–1889)

  Chroniques des comtes d’Anjou

  Chroniques des comtes d’Anjou et des seigneurs d’Amboise, ed. L. Halphen and R. Poupardin (Paris, 1913)

  Continuatio Beccensis

  Continuatio Beccensis, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R. H. Howlett, 4 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1884–1889), IV

  Councils and Synods

  Councils and Synods, with other Documents Relating to the English Church, I, AD 871–1204, ed. D. Whitelock, M. Brett and C. N. L. Brooke, 2 vols (Oxford, 1981)

  CTB

  The Correspondence of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1162–1170, ed. and trans. A. J. Duggan, 2 vols (Oxford, 2000)

  De principis

  De principis instructione liber, ed. G. Warner, in Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, ed. J. S. Brewer, F. Dimock and G. Warner, 8 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1861–1891), VIII

  Dialogus

  Dialogus de Scaccario and the Constitutio Domus Regis, ed. and trans. E. Amt and S. Church (Oxford, 2007)

  Diceto

  Opera Historica: The Historical Works of Master Ralph de Diceto, Dean of London, ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols (Rolls Series, London, 1876)

  Draco Normannicus

  Stephen of Rouen, Draco Normannicus, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, II

  EEA

  English Episcopal Acta

  EHD

  English Historical Documents, II, 1042–1189, ed. D. C. Douglas (2nd edn, Oxford, 1961)