AFTER the death of Henry I, his daughter Matilda was denied the crown by her cousin Stephen, and their stubborn rivalry left England and Wales in chaos. Stephen died childless in 1154, but Matilda’s son Henry II moved quickly to restore order, both at home and in northern France. Among his many reforms, he expanded the use and role of the jury, a defining feature of English justice ever since.
However, when Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, asked for greater independence from the Crown, Henry refused, and a furious argument erupted. Four of Henry’s knights, hoping to ingratiate themselves with Henry, murdered the Archbishop in his cathedral, but succeeded only in making a martyr of him.*
In 1173, Henry’s son Richard, supported by Queen Eleanor, led the first of a series of revolts against his father. At last the King, feeling weary and betrayed, fell victim to a fever and died at Chinon in France on 6th July, 1189.
Précis
Henry II brought order to England after the Anarchy created by Stephen and Matilda, and instituted the jury system which still lies at the heart of British justice. But he could not control the ambition of his sons and their mother, and was undermined by his loyal but foolish knights, who made a martyr of Archbishop Thomas Becket. (58 / 60 words)