The Angevin # 3: Henry II Part 1: Breed and Groomed for Power

"Born of the Devil"

Henry Fitzempress Plantagenet, also known as Henry Curmantle, for his scorn for long flowing robes usually worn as a symbol of office at formal occasions, opting instead for a shorter less voluminous robes, was born in Le Mans, on  March 3, 1133. His parents' marriage was meant to assuage the hostilities between the Norman lords and the lords of Anjou, a long standing rivalry for dominion over parts of North Western France.

Anjou was a fertile land known for its lush fruits and wines, but whose people had developed a unsavory and scandalous reputation among the peoples of the surrounding lands. The Normans in particular had a disdain and distaste of the Angevin whose lands laid in the midst of the Norman controlled territories of Normandy, Blois, and the Norman aligned Brittany. The Angevin had been seen by outsiders as degenerates and hedonists, who "desecrated churches and murdered priests in the night", and who "ate like animals, devoid of table manners." The gossip around France was severally exaggerated but not baseless, as the lords in Anjou had a continuing disputes with the Catholic church about several issues which had led to some isolated incidents of churches and monasteries being burned and clergy being arrested and executed. The French Kings would always have to step in and mediate the latest standoff, but it was a far cry from the accusations of witchcraft and devil worship the rumor mongers spread among the peasantry. As for the other accusations, with Anjou being so bountiful the Angevin were quick to festival and feast than normal, using even the simplest occasions to make celebration. But to other regions who were more prone to lean harvests, and again, especially to the Normans who are use to harsh winters, this was seen as a sinful extravagance and waste of food. Demonizing of Anjou was at its peak when it came to speaking of the Counts of Anjou. The Counts, ruling for many generations from their castle in Angers, had a reputation of being conniving and

Castle Angers and the Count of Anjou coat of Arms

untrustworthy, political snake charmers who had great and terrible tempers if their charming tricks did not work. The Counts were "Born of the Devil" as the chroniclers of the age liked to say, often citing passages from the family legend that the first Count, Fulk I,  had taken a Moorish pagan enchantress, Melisune, as bride, and after giving him a number of children she did not intend on raising as christian, she was forced to attend a christian mass to baptize her and her children. The story goes that the words of the bible were "like madding poison to her ears", so she flung herself out the window and down a cliff. Instead of trying to squelch the story the Counts, including Henry and his son Richard the Lionheart, would sometimes revel in it, using it as an excuse for some of their more volatile behavior.

King Henry I and Geoffrey Plantagenet

 After years of rivalry between the Norman lords, lead by the Dukes of Normandy and Angevin lords lead by the Counts of Anjou, Henry I, Duke of Normandy and King of England struck a truce with Geoffrey Plantagenet, younger brother of Count Fulk V, that in exchange for raw material and food surplus from Anjou the Normans would throw their military and political weight behind the Angevins in disputes with other French lords (including the King) who may look to take advantage of Anjou, since Fulk was leaving on crusade to the holy lands, taking much of his army with him. To seal the agreement Henry agreed to marry off his daughter, Empress Matilda, widow of Emperor Henry V of the German Holy Roman Empire, to Geoffrey in 1128. Fulk, not intending to return to France, gifted Anjou and the title of Count to his brother Geoffrey as a wedding gift (Fulk would eventually be crowed King of Jerusalem). Meanwhile, a few years earlier, King Henry's son, William, had died during the sinking of his ship in the English channel leaving no clear heir to the throne of England or the Duchy of Normandy, eventually causing the civil war known as The Anarchy after Henry I's death in 1135 (see the last article for a quick recap). And so Henry Fitzempress, heir to the County Anjou, and potential heir to the Duchy Normandy and throne of England was born just before war broke out and was raised during one of the most chaotic times in western Europe. He was left with tutors and nannies, or attended various French courts, for most of his younger years, as his parents were off fighting to press his mother's claims on inheritance; Matilda in England and Geoffrey in Normandy. However, after gaining control of Normandy in 1146 through combination military strategy and diplomatic guile, Geoffrey returned to castle Angers to take personal charge of his son's education. In his father Henry would not find a more able teacher in the art of court intrigue; as historian Dan Jones puts it, "Twelfth-century French politics was violent, changeable and rough, and Geoffrey was an adept player."

Henry's Political Debut

King Louie VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine

Henry, now a handsome stocky red headed teenager of 13, followed and watched his father ride across parts of South and eastern France, making deals, forming alliances, and projecting power and authority with some of the most powerful men of the realm. On this education tour it was noted that Henry was not as refined as his mother, nor was as charming as his father, but was noticed as highly intelligent, had a talent for administration and logistics, and had a piercing stare that intimidated most. In fact the boy seemed to have developed a flare for the dramatic, making strategically timed bullying outbursts if negotiations were not going his way. He garnered a reputation for the famed Angevin temper, when in fact he had become quit adept at acting out varies levels of outrage or indignation to what the situation called for. But him and his father's political skills would be put to the test with the arrival of King Louie VII, returned from a trip to the holy land. Louie having been informed of what had gone on since he left grew concerned at the amount of power Geoffrey had acquired in his absence, especially in his plans to name Henry as Duke of Normandy. To seal the claim for Normandy, Geoffrey offered Henry's hand in marriage to Louise's new born daughter, Alix (yes, I said new born, a 13 year old would be betrothed to a baby. It was not too common but it did happen occasionally, however, actual marriage in these cases would not happen until the younger of the two had reached mid teens).

Bernard of Clairvaux

Remembering their long time dispute with the Angevin and fearing an Angevin influence on the king's court, the clergy, lead by the powerful Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux, campaigned against the union and used a convoluted family tree to argue against it; with Bernard writing the king,"I have heard that the Count of Anjou is pressing to bind you under oath respecting the proposed marriage between his son and your daughter. This is something not merely inadvisable but also unlawful, because apart from other reasons, it is barred by the impediment of consanguinity. I have learned on trustworthy evidence that the mothers of the Queen and this boy are related in the third degree. Have nothing to do with the matter." Outraged by the set back, Geoffrey threatened to proclaim Henry Duke of Normandy without the king's consent and in response King Louie threatened to name King Stephen of England's son Eustace as Duke. It would be Henry who would prevent a war between the Angevin and the crown, as he entered Louise's court in Paris and negotiated with the king on his father's behalf. It was seen as a brazen move, as technically he had no standing, he was not a lord, just heir to one, and had no army or land of his own. Henry struck a deal with Louie, that in exchange for a renewed oath of fealty to the French king from his father and the promised gift of the Vexin, a strategic valley that connects the Norman lands and the lands of the powerful Count of Flanders

(modern day western Belgium and north eastern France) to the King's personal domain, Louie would name Henry Duke of Normandy, but only in the understanding that it was an advance on the eventual inheritance from his mother Matilda and that Geoffrey and the County of Anjou had no primacy over Normandy. By this King Louie had just declared for Matilda on the French side of the Channel, helping defend against all claims from King Stephen of England and his family. The decree was finalized by Bernard, Geoffrey, and Louie, and all sides seemed content. It was a tremendous feat for one so young and not yet into his inheritance; for the first time the French nobility took awed notice of this skilled young man, especially the kingdom's young and ambitious firebrand queen, Eleanor. In fact it is suspected by some chroniclers and historians that Eleanor is the only one that knew just how clever the boy had been, more on that in a bit.

It is at this time, 1148, as I stated in the previous article that Henry gets his first crack at a military campaign. Against his mother's wishes and ignoring the advice of his uncle, Robert of Gloucester, who was the head of Matilda's forces in England, Henry will take a small mercenary army and try to capture the region in southern England known as Wiltshire. It was an unmitigated disaster that was made all the more embarrassing to Matilda that her enemy (and cousin) King Stephen took pity on her boy, and gave him money to go home. But instead of running with his tail between his legs he used that money to reignite his mothers waning alliance with King David I of Scotland. David would knight the boy and would comment to Matilda and Robert of Gloucester what a remarkable young man Henry was. Some of his pride restored Henry returns to France with his mother, both looking to abandon large parts of the English campaign in favor of consolidating the gains made against Stephen's supporters in France.While this was going on there was much distress within the royal house of Louie VII Augustus; his marriage to the young and beautiful Eleanor was not a happy one. Louie had married the Duchess to obtain direct control of her inheritance, namely the large, bountiful, wealthy, and artistic Duchy of Aquitaine.

He and his father had for years been working on consolidating power back into the hands of the crown, and trying to reign in more independent minded nobles. He had made significant diplomatic successes with the Duchies of Burgundy, Champagne, and Toulouse, and was engaged in an on and off war with the Count of Flanders. But his marriage to Eleanor and subsequent acquisition of Aquitaine was a major coup in the efforts to centralize power. But Eleanor was not the submissive bride Louie and his advisors hoped she would be; Louie tried to play for time, hoping that his wife would settle down in her ambitions but it only made her more frustrated and power hungry. The cracks in their union were evidently visible on their return from the holy land, as rumors swirled of scandal that had happened between Eleanor and her uncle Prince Raymond of Antioch; and that events that transpired their hastened Louie's itinerary. So Louie returned to Paris in not the best of moods when he learned of Geoffrey and Henry's efforts to embolden Angevin power, efforts that could undermined his own. Whats worse is Eleanor had yet to produce a male heir; two daughters had been born to Louie and Eleanor, Marie and Alix, and the 30 year old king was growing concerned about succession of the throne, especially seeing what was currently happening in England and his own backyard, Normandy. His nobles counseled him to get a divorce, that his lack of sons may be due to his marriage not pleasing to god. But his families long time friend and advisor, Abbott Suger of Saint-Denis, advised against divorce, that it would lose him Aquitaine and undermine his goal of centralizing power in France. His fretting about succession and marriage, his indecisiveness in the conflicts in Outremer and Flanders, and his inability to bring the whole of his country to heel without making major concessions disgusted Eleanor. A famed chronicler of the time, William of Newburgh, quoted her as saying she "married a monk, not a king." How very lady Macbeth sounding. So when Henry came to court in Paris to treat with Louie, Eleanor took notice. No one knows whether Henry and Eleanor had conspired the coming events together and if so was it from the very start of their meeting? Many are quit suspicious of Eleanor's involvement in the chain of events.

In the winter of 1150, Henry's father died, making Henry Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. Next came a series of events that would put most soap operas to shame and show the world just what a Machiavellian mind Henry (and perhaps Eleanor) had. 1151, Abbott Suger dies under mysterious circumstances; the body given funerary rights and buried with haste the next morning. The news barely had reached King Louis ear when portions of the royal court lead by Eleanor call for the king to place Abbott Bernard of Clairvaux (you remember Bernard, he help Louie and Henry work things out) as replacement in the advisory position. Bernard took to his new position quickly, claiming he wanted to clean up all the unfinished business Suger left behind. He reopened the debate about Louie's marriage annulment as a way to solve the succession issue, but this time the clerical position was for annulment. So in March of 1152, presided over by the Arch-Bishop of Sens, Hugh de Toucy, and the Arch-Bishop of Reims, Samson of Mauvoisin, an annulment agreement was signed between Louie and Eleanor, where Eleanor would lose her title as Queen but retain her lands as Duchess of Aquitaine. Louie was comfortable with this as he would hold custody of their daughters, heirs to the Duchy. The annulment was finalized and approved by Pope Eugene III ten days later. As soon as word reach Eleanor of the Pope's approval she declared her intention to return home to Aquitaine by barge traveling the Loire river to Tours, a city on the Anjou border and head south from there. But while in Tours she sent a message to Henry to make haste for Poitiers. Henry, now 19, traveled in secret and once their immediately married Eleanor, 30, in the cathedral of Saint-Pierre, combining their two territories.

Enemies of Two Kings and Power couple of the Age

To say King Louie was furious would be an understatement, he demanded the marriage to be dissolved under the oaths of fealty agreed upon in the previous treaty Henry negotiated. But Henry refused, claiming the treaty stipulated his father was the one who swore oaths of fealty, not him. In fact Henry made a counter demand that the Vexin be restored to the Duchy of Normandy, that again technically under the treaty he negotiated and his father signed, Geoffrey, as Count of Anjou had no authority, that Anjou had no "primacy" to sign over the Vexin to King Louie. Louie turned to the church to have Henry declared an oath-breaker and a traitor in rebellion, but the clergy legalists sided with Henry; Henry may have negotiated the terms, but he was not the signatory and that the treaty was legitimate as it was witness by the now deceased Bernard of Clairvaux. Without Henry being declared a traitor he could not force the hands of all his lords, he would need to rely on much smaller personal alliances and coalition building.

Coat of Arms from Left to right, top to bottom: King Louis VII, Count of Boulogne, Count of Bois, Count of Perche, Count of Nantes, Count of Champagne, Duke of Normandy, and Duchess of Aquataine

His coalition consisted of King Stephen of England (acting as the Count of Bois), Stephen's son Eustace (acting as the Count of Boulogne), the Counts of Champagne and Perche, and in exchange for the title of Count of Nantes and promised the County of Anjou, Henry's own younger brother Geoffrey. Geoffrey claimed his betrayal was justified as he had heard rumors from his late fathers servants that it was his dying wish since Henry had Normandy, Anjou was suppose to go to Geoffrey. Eleanor stayed in Aquitaine, as she was beloved by the lords of Aquitaine, and would be a rallying symbol for them to resist the main royalist force lead by Louie. Meanwhile Henry raced up to Normandy, as he traveled he had heard that the Counts of Champagne and Perche had taken the city of Neufmarché-sur-Epte on the border of Normandy and Flanders. Meanwhile back in England, King Stephen, in hopes of goading Henry to split his forces, laid siege to one of his mothers last remaining strongholds, Wallingford Castle. But Henry new better and made a calculated move to scare the French King. Neufmarché-sur-Epte had always been a disputed territory with the King's hated rival, the Count of Flanders. He let it be known he cared not for the city and that he may be willing to recognize Flemish claim to it. He then surprise attacked and conquered the Vexin, creating a potential open doorway for a joint Norman/Flemish attack into the heart of Louie's personal domain. With the threat of invasion, getting nowhere in Aquitaine, and pressure from the church to end what they say was a personal war, Louie fained illness and called a truce, taking the Counts of Champagne and Perche with him. Henry then turned his attention to his wayward brother. With no support and already one of his castles burned to the ground, Geoffrey retreated to what he thought was the safety of his ally

Chaumount-sur-Loire and Theobald V

Theobald V, acting Count of Bois in King Stephens place. Instead, Theobald had him seized and imprisoned. A truce was made between Henry and Theobald that in exchange for the castle of Chaumount-sur-Loire on the Bois/Anjou border, Theobald returned Geoffrey to his brother Henry and promised to never raise arms against him unless his liege lord, King Stephen himself, came down to personally order it. Henry was now the undisputed master of nearly half of France, he could now set his sights on England and hopefully fulfill his mothers dream of seizing her father's throne.