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It was agreed that Stephen should keep the crown dur ing his life, and that Henry should succeed to it at his death. The news of this treaty was received with the greatest joy all over the country, and the king and his people at last obtained some repose. But the following year, some disagreements ensuing between Stephen and Henry, the war seemed ready to burst forth again. Hap pily for the country, the death of Stephen put an end to the contest.

Stephen died at Dover, on the 25th of October, 1154.

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Henry Plantagenet was the eldest son of Geoffroy, earl of Anjou and the empress Matilda. It was the custom, before family surnames were adopted, to call each person

What treaty was made between Stephen and prince Henry?
Who were the Norman princes, and how was the Saxon line re

stored ?

Who succeeded Stephen?

by a surname of his own; as Harold Harefoot, William Rufus. Thus Geoffry got the surname of Plantagenet, from wearing in his helmet a sprig of the plant genista, or broom; and Henry, either because he liked the name, or from affection to his father's memory, retained it, and by this means it became established as the surname of his family.

Henry had had the great advantage of receiving a part of his education at Bristol Castle, under the superintendence of the earl of Gloucester, who was the most learned and virtuous nobleman of his age. Henry had the possession of Normandy given to him when he was only sixteen years old. By his father's death, in 1151, he became possessed of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine. The year following he married Eleanor, heiress of Guienne and Poitou, who was many years older than himself, and had before been married to, and divorced by, the king of France. Thus he already possessed a very large domain in France, when the death of Stephen put him in possession of England also.

He was at this time twenty-one years of age; of the middle size, and remarkably strong and active. Whilst under the earl of Gloucester's care, he not only acquired all the common military accomplishments of the times, but also that uncominon one; a taste for study. He delighted in the conversation of learned men. He had an affectionate and good heart and an excellent understanding, and inherited all that was good and admirable in his grandfather Henry, without the alloy of his bad qualities.

The first act of Henry, on coming to the crown, was to send away all the foreign soldiers that Stephen had brought into England; and to order all the castles that had been built during the civil wars to be demolished. He also confirmed a charter of privileges to the people; and to use the words of one of the best historians,* no king in so short a time, had done so much good, and gained so much

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Who educated Henry II., and what were his circumstances?

What was the character of Henry II.?

What were the first measures of Henry II.?

* Henry.

love, since Alfred." In 1155, he recovered from the king of Scotland that part of the north of England which Stephen had ceded.

Henry also carried his arms against the Welsh, who had been very troublesome neighbors: and though his army was once in some danger of being defeated, he, in the end, made an advantageous peace with them, and compel led them to give up some places which they had taken on the English border. From this time till the year 1163, he was chiefly engaged in a war with the king of France, in pursuance of a claim he considered himself to have, in right of his wife, on Toulouse, and some other territories.

The fertile island of Ireland, was divided into five sepa. rate kingdoms. Very little mention is made of it by the English historians, till the year 1171, when Dermot, one of the five kings, being driven from the kingdon of Lein ster, came over to England to implore the assistance of Henry, who gave him some money from the royal trea sury, and permitted him to enlist in his cause any of the English whom he could prevail on to join him.

Accordingly the earl of Pembroke, surnamed Strongbow, and a few other noblemen, returned with Dermot to Ireland, and with their assistance he soon recovered his kingdom. Not contented with this success, Dermot thought that, by the help of his English friends, he might also possess himself of the other four kingdoms. But Strongbow did not dare to engage in a plan for the conquest of the whole island without first soliciting Henry's consent.

The king's answer was for some time delayed; and the earl, meanwhile, hastening his preparations, collected in England an army of 1200 men: but when he was on the point of conveying them to Ireland, he received Henry's positive commands not to proceed. He was, however, now too much bent on the enterprize to give it up; so putting life and honor to the hazard, he set sail.

At Waterford Strongbow was joined by Dermot, and there married his daughter Eva. He then proceeded to the

In what wars did Henry engage?

What is the early history of Ireland?

What were the achievements of earl Strongbow?

Did Strongbow follow the king's orders?

How came Strongbow king of Ireland?

The year

attack of Meath, which was soon conquered. following Dermot died, the earl Strongbow, in right of his wife, succeeded to his possessions, and thus became king of a great part of Ireland,

Henry had been exceedingly displeased with the earl for having disobeyed him; nor was he appeased till Strongbow came over to England, and resigned to him all these great acquisitions. Henry allowed him to retain part of Leinster, and went over himself in 1172, with a fleet of 400 vessels, to take possession of his new dominions. The petty princes, overawed by such a powerful force, immediately submitted; and Roderick, the supreme king of the island, consented to become tributary; and thus was this important conquest effected without bloodshed.

Thomas à Becket, was at this time a very distinguished person, and his quarrels with king Henry were a subject of concern and interest even to many foreign potentates. Thomas à Becket was the son of a citizen of London, and was the first Anglo-Saxon who had arrived at any kind of eminence since the conquest. Becket had early been remarked for his great abilities, and for his attachment to the cause of the empress Maude.

When Henry came to the throne, he selected Becket as his favorite and companion; and at length made him his chancellor, thus placing him in the highest dignity in the kingdom next to that of the archbishopric of Canterbury. He also confided to him the education of prince Henry, his eldest son.

Becket now indulged himself in every kind of luxury and magnificence. He never moved without a numerous train of servants; his dress was splendid in the extreme; he was profuse in his gifts; the luxury of his table and of his furniture was greater than had ever been seen before; and Fitzstephen, who was his secretary, and wrote the history of his life, states, as an instance of his extreme de

Did Strongbow surrender Ireland to Henry II. ?

Who was Thomas à Becket?

What favor did Henry show Becket?

How did Becket live?

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licacy, "that in winter his apartments were every day covered with clean hay and straw, and in summer with green rushes, or boughs, that the gentlemen who paid court to him, and who could not, by reason of their numbers, find a place at table, might not soil their fine clothes by sitting on a dirty floor."

Though Becket had been ordained a deacon, he considered himself more a layman than an ecclesiastic, and employed his leisure in hunting and hawking, and similar diversions. He also engaged in military affairs, and conducted 700 knights, at his own charge, to attend the king in his war in France. His house was a place of education for the sons of the chief nobility, and the king was often present at the entertainments he gave.

As an instance of the familiarity with which the king treated Becket, Fitzstephen, an historian of that age, relates the following story-One day, while they were riding together in the streets of London, they met a poor beggar shivering with cold. The king made the observation, that it would be a good deed to give that poor man a warm coat. The chancellor agreed, and added, “You do well, sir, in thinking of such a good action." "Then he shall have one presently," said the king, and seizing on the chancellor's cloak, which was of scarlet lined with ermine, he tried to pull it off. The chancellor, not liking to part with it, held it fast, and the king and he were near pulling each other off their horses in the scuffle. At last, Becket letting the cloak go, the king gave it to the beggar, who, was much astonished at such a scene, and such a gift, for such a man.

The bishops had, at this time, encroached so much upon the privileges of both the king and the people, that the king was hardly master of his kingdom, or the people masters of their own consciences. One great cause of this evil was, that the clergy were not amenable to the common laws of the country, but were governed by laws among themselves, called ecclesiastical laws. Henry, feeling the inconvenience of this church tyranny, had long meditated the put

Had Becket the manners of an ecclesiastic?
What familiarity with the king did Becket enjoy?
Did Henry encourage the tyranny of the clergy?

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