Henry II of England

Henry Plantagenet was born at Le Mans in France on 5 March 1133, the son of Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, and the Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. In 1152 he married Eleanor of Aquitaine, and in 1154, after years of civil war, he became king of England, ruling lands from Scotland's border to the Pyrenees. Determined to restore order, Henry expanded the king's justice. Royal judges travelled the country on regular circuits, and new legal procedures, the assizes, let people bring disputes over land to the king's court, where a jury of local men answered questions about the facts. The Assize of Clarendon (1166) required juries in each district to report suspected criminals. Because the royal judges applied the same rules everywhere, their decisions grew into a law common to the whole realm. Henry's attempt to bring clergy accused of crimes under royal courts led to a bitter quarrel with Archbishop Thomas Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 by four of Henry's knights. Henry did public penance at Becket's tomb in 1174. He died at Chinon on 6 July 1189.

Faith: A king whose six-year conflict with Archbishop Thomas Becket ended in the archbishop's murder. Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)

See also: Stephen Langton · Edward Coke · William Blackstone