William II (1087-1100) In 1095, England was ruled by William Rufus, son of the Conqueror, who had died in 1087. William I had not been well-liked, but he had been greatly feared. William II was openly despised and was not feared much at all. He had quarreled with the Church and was under the ban of excommunication in 1095 (as were Henry IV and Philip I). He had few friends among the barons. William was killed in 1100, shot by an errant arrow while hunting. Within three days, Henry of Anjou was being crowned the new king in London. Henry had been in the hunting party with William and had moved with remarkable speed, arriving in the city to stake his claim the same day William had died. Some modern historians have liked to see conspiracy in this, but the records make no such speculation, even those unfriendly to Henry. Henry I (1100-1135) Henry technically should not have been king; the elder claim belonged to Robert of Normandy. But Robert was still on his way back from the First Crusade and Henry was on the spot, so he seized his chance. In order to seal support, he issued a proclamation at his coronation on August 5, 1100 making a number of promises. He promised the Church its liberty (without being overly-specific) and made a number of fairly specific promises to the barons of England. While he proceeded to ignore these promises as it suited him, his proclamation was cited a hundred years later at the time of the Magna Carta. For Henry, it was likely no more than an expedient, but later generations turned it into a precedent. Probably the development for which Henry's reign is most famous lies in the area of law and royal administration. Under Henry developed the institution of itinerant justices: royal judges who toured the countryside, holding courts in every town and judging cases that affected the Crown. Another example is the Exchequer. Although this probably began under William Rufus, with Henry the Exchequer became something like a national office of the Treasury. The term refers to the checkerboard cloth that was spread over a table on which money was stacked, each square representing a different area of income. For the Exchequer was concerned mainly with the gathering of royal revenues. In other words, with Henry we begin to see royal government beginning actually to keep books on its income. This is further attested to by the fact that the Pipe Rolls first appear in 1130. The Pipe Rolls are the earliest surviving official government archives for the Middle Ages. The Investiture Struggle that was playing out in Germany had its echoes in England. Henry quarrelled with Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The quarrels were mainly over minor matters, but they ended with Anselm taking refuge in France. He finally returned in 1107 and Henry acquiesced by giving up his right to invest bishops with the ring and staff. Henry II (1154-1189)
Henry II was the most important English king of the period, in almost every respect. During his reign, England became a major producer of wool, acquired extensive holdings in France, and became the most centralized monarchy in Europe. Not all these things came about solely due to Henry, but he certainly played an important part. His reign was also marked by controversy and crises. Becket Henry was crowned king in December 1154. By January he had appointed his long-time friend Thomas á Becket as his chancellor. The act was significant in two respects. First, it symbolizes a new trend in English government, with the king relying on non-noble servants as his advisors. Second, despite their long friendship, Becket and Henry eventually found themselves on opposite sides of the conflict between Church and State. When the old Archibishop of Canterbury died, Henry was free to nominate a candidate as successor. He nominated Becket. Thomas accepted the job somewhat reluctantly, but once he became Archbishop, he became an ardent defender of the interests of the Church. Becket was made Archibishop in 1162. By 1163 he was defying the king. Henry made a number of demands over which they disagreed, but the most notorious was the status of "criminous clerics" -- that is, members of the clergy who had committed civil crimes such as assault, theft and murder. Henry claimed they should be tried in royal courts. Thomas insisted they could be tried only in clerical courts. The disagreement grew so heated that in 1164, like Anselm before him, Becket sought refuge in France. Thomas returned to England. No sooner had he returned, however, than the two fell to quarrelling again, for neither would yield on their principles. Then, late in that same year, three knights went to Canterbury and murdered Thomas while he knelt in evening prayers. They later claimed that the king had said he wished someone would rid him of that "troublesome priest." Henry claimed to be heart-broken, and perhaps he was. He was pardoned by the pope in 1172 and did penance at Becket's tomb in 1174. English law The English legal system took shape in the 12th century. Henry I made the first steps, but Henry II made even greater contributions. He's the one who created Justices of the Peace, who travelled about the realm enforcing royal justice. English common law was formalized under Henry for the first time, and here too we see trial by jury becoming a permanent part of the legal system. It was Henry who made the local sheriff into a royal official, thus setting the stage for the wicked Sheriff of Nottingham (smile). All this was mainly so Henry could enforce his will in the countryside, but his successors retained and extended his work. Henry and his family Henry had a violent temper, and he had a violent relationship with his sons. Eleanor gave him five sons and three daughters. Three sons William, Henry, and Geoffrey, predeceased their father. Geoffrey was one of the key plotters against his father, rising twice in rebellion. John and Richard also rebelled against their father. In every case, it was a matter of the sons thinking their father was not giving them the power and honor they deserved. In the later years, the king of France was Philip II, who proved a cunning opponent, so Henry's last years were spent trying doggedly to hold on to what he had built. At his death, he was forced to recognize Richard as the next king, and Richard was probably the son he liked least.
Richard I (1189-1199) Richard was a factor in England well before he was king, mainly as a rebel against his father. Once he became king, however, he did very little. Every history book will point out that Richard spent a grand total of six months in England, but he was nevertheless king for a full decade. A king cannot reign for ten years and have no effect. Ironically, even though Richard was endlessly in rebellion against his father, once he became king he perpetuated his father's regime. True, he replaced various counsellors, but the administrative, legal and financial changes instituted by Henry II were kept in place and exploited by Richard. This is not surprising, for both men were motivated to this by their great need to finance wars abroad. England was for Richard a source of men and money; it otherwise was to be a source of as little trouble as possible, and the men the king appointed were to see to this. Because Richard was so successful in his wars, and because he was genuinely liked and admired by much of the baronage, his rule met with little opposition in England. Not that his exactions were welcome, but no one dared, and few were inclined, to challenge Richard. Henry had had his opponents, but few dared to challenge that fierce old man. Most of what opposition there was centered around gaining influence at court. These men tended to gather around Richard's younger brother, John. They did not expect John would inherit, for Richard was still a young man when he died, but they hoped through John to gain influence. This is why, when Richard was away on Crusade, John virtually ruled England he was supported in his ambitions by nobles outside the centers of power. When Richard died unexpectedly in 1199, then, there were plenty of barons ready for change. One faction simply wanted into power; these rode in with John. Another faction, somewhat overlapping the first, were tired of what they viewed as the excesses of the Plantagenets and wanted a return of their "liberties." They didn't really think John would grant this willingly, but at least they hoped for some compromise.
John (1199-1216) John is very often portrayed as a bad king, largely because of the influence of certain chroniclers and later historians. He is portrayed as either incompetent or wicked, or both. Yet, he seemed strong enough early in his reign. John was his father's favorite son. He received a number of assignments and commissions under Henry, none of which kept John from joining Richard in rebellion at the end of Henry's life, but the assignments gave John experience in military command and in governing. Then again, while Richard was away, John took a hand (sometimes too strong a hand) in ruling England. All this meant that John was well experienced when he became king, and that he had a circle of supporters and advisers whom he trusted. Once king, he was faced at once with challenges to his authority (from his brother Geoffrey), which he met successfully. He continued Richard's policy of heavy taxation and an ambitious foreign policy, but he could never pull it off. He was faced with a formidable foe, one who was probably even more clever than he: King Philip II of France. He fell afoul of Pope Innocent III and so could not turn to the Church for support. And, finally, he lost the support of his barons. Always ready to be rebellious, the English barons could forgive much if their king were successful in war. But John proved to be spectacularly unsuccessful. France succeeded in driving the English out of Normandy, Maine and Anjou the very heart of the Angevin Empire by 1204. John undertook a long and very expensive plan to recover these territories, involving him in ever-increasing taxations. In order to win back papal favor, he went so far as to make England a papal fief (a gesture that had few practical consequences but which was symbolic of his "weakness"). He did this in 1213, in preparation for his new military campaign in France. That campaign involved a double invasion, from England and from Germany. John was actually successful on his part, but the Germans were so soundly defeated at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214 that John was forced to return to England empty-handed. The loss of the campaign was bitterly resented and John was blamed for it. All the taxation, all the defeats, all the outrages and humiliations finally proved too much for the English barons. They rebelled in 1215 and John was unable to defeat them. The result of the rebellion was a document, the Magna Carta, in which the barons asserted their rights against the crown. Later historians make much of this document, but at the time it really meant very little. As before, each English king's authority extended just so far as he could force it and no farther. But by the time of Edward I, it had become customary for the new king at his coronation to confirm that he would honor the provisions of the Magna Carta, and from that time onward, the document was elevated to an almost mythic status. And, of course, King John was necessarily portrayed as the bad guy in the drama, the very model of a tyrant king. John died in 1216, unmourned by most. His son was only nine years old, and so England, defeated on the Continent, was ruled by a regency--one controlled by those very same rebellious barons.
Edward I (1272-1307) Edward, took the crusading vow and actually went to the Holy Land in 1270, where he managed to do some good despite a diminutive army. The young prince arrived at Acre in 1270 at the head of a small army, fully expecting to be joined by the French. Only then did he learn that King Louis had been diverted by his wily brother, Charles of Anjou, to a campaign in Tunis. Without the French army, Edward could do little. His presence was enough to defend crusaders, but he could do little offensively. Bitterly disappointed, headed for England in 1271. By the time he arrived, his father was dead and he was king. Edward spent the first portion of his reign dealing with rebellions and external enemies. The first few years he campaigned in Wales, earning the nickname "Hammer of the Welsh." He managed finally to conquer Wales, however, and made his son its ruler. Eventually, the eldest son of the reigning king was always given the title of Prince of Wales, a tradition that continues down to modern times. Wales occupied him until 1282. He then turned his attention to France, particularly to Gascony, and events there occupied him through 1291 and after. Edward's accomplishments were many, and he stands with Henry II as one of the great medieval English kings. In foreign affairs he did not make much progress in Gascony, but he fought France to a standstill and brought both Wales and Scotland under direct English rule. His legal and constitutional activities were extremely important, but most fall outside our period, and so I will pass over them in silence. The general point about England is that its kings were often preoccupied with internal matters. Only Richard and Edward actually went on a crusade, but a fair number of English nobles went on their own. When the English king did manage to have the resources for a major military expedition, it tended to be directed either against France or against Wales. History of the Crusades An online course from Boise State University by E. L. Skip Knox