Henry II of England

Henry II (1133–1189) was King of England from 1154 and ruler of the Angevin Empire. He held Normandy and Anjou, gaining Aquitaine by marrying Eleanor, and in 1153 forced Stephen to name him heir. His short Angevin cloak earned the nickname Curtmantle.

He widened royal justice through the Assize of Clarendon of 1166, travelling justices and use of juries, regarded as the foundation of English Common Law. His wish to try criminal clergy in royal courts led to a quarrel with his former friend Thomas Becket, which ended when four knights killed Becket at Canterbury on 29 December 1170.

In 1173 his sons, joined by Eleanor and backed by France, rose against him; he crushed the revolt the next year. In 1189 Richard and Philip II defeated him, and he died at Chinon on 6 July. Richard succeeded him, and the empire broke up under his son John.