Henry the Young King, 1155-1183 Hardcover – September 13, 2016

thank youGiuseppe Ligato

First posted on Amazon.co.uk on 31/07 a couple of minutes ago...This is indeed “the first modern study of Henry the Young King, eldest – and little known - son of Henry II, but it is also much more than that.As the author shows, Henry the Younger was crowned at age fifteen by his father precisely because Henry II wanted to avoid the succession wars that had plagued the death of his own grandfather (Henry I, the last son of William the Conqueror). The young king did indeed play a key role in his father’s Empire and did a lot for the prestige of the Plantagenet through his very successful participations in tournaments across Northern France.However, he was constantly denied direct rule of England, Normandy or Anjou by his father. This was a major problem since at the time, and as Matthew Strickland shows so well, lordship over land was both the main source of power and of wealth. It was also the main sources of influence and patronage because grants of fiefs was what allowed a lord to reward his followers and household knights. Without any of this, and although Henry the Younger was at one point in time allowed to govern Normandy on behalf of his father as some kind of temporary regent, he never had any real power.What made things worse from the Young King’s perspective, as also shown in the book, is that Richard, as Count of Poitou, rules over it and over Aquitaine while Geoffrey, his other younger brother, got Brittany. From Henry II’s perspective, and after his eldest son’s first rebellion, he always seemed to have feared a repeat, which finally happened and never trusted him with any real and significant power. This, again, tended to drive him into the arms of the Kings of France, first Louis VII and then Philippe II, who were, of course, too happy to stir up trouble against their much too powerful neighbour and vassal.One point where the book’s summary is somewhat incomplete and where it fails to do the book full justice is with regards to Eleanor of Aquitaine. She did encourage Henry’s first rebellion against his father. However, as Matthew Strickland shows, it is not sure how much encouragement the crowned King without a kingdom really needed. Her role in his second uprising seems to have been much more limited or even non-existent, partly because her husband had imprisoned her by then and partly because Henry the Younger was by then attacking Richard and disputing Aquitaine from his, and Richard (the future “Lionheart”) was “mummy’s favourite”, just like John was “daddy’s favourite”…Also included in the book are discussion about the Young King’s relationships with two rather extraordinary characters of the time. One was Thomas Beckett, who was his tutor when the future Archbishop was still his father’s Chancellor and friend. The other as William Marshall, who is likely to have been one of his master in arms and one of the leaders, or perhaps even the leader at one point in time, of his household knight. In both cases, however, Matthew Strickland describes fascinating pictures of both characters, showing them to be very much men of their time and not the “paragons of virtue” that they have been portrayed to be, and even portrayed themselves to be, as in the case of William Marshall.Finally, and although this is an excellent book that I will therefore rate five stars, readers should be aware that this is a scholarly piece, with full of references, discussions and footnotes, and a comprehensive bibliography to boot. The point here is that it is not written for the so-called “general reader” and may seem a bit heard to read at times. However, the contents are such that I, at least, found it very much worthwhile persevering…

Brilliant is a word thrown around but this is truly an amazing book. I study Henry the Second. Every scrap of information I can find is like gold. This book is so detailed, so cogent, so well referenced that I almost cannot believe it. The perspective the author shows as to the Plantagenet consolidation of power, the thought and angst that went into the relationships; the wider community that was effected is wonderful. You can read a few pages per day spending much time reading the footnotes and references and going down the various rabbit holes from there. See also W.L. Warren Henry II and you are basically set for years.Appreciated is the non hysterical approach to the death of "a low born clerk." We can learn a lot about Becket's own vanity and ambition here as well as Becket's own abuse of power.Henry the Young King is the son of a man who seeks to consolidate power. The son is different than the father yet alike in the thirst for power. The complicated characters and the milieu in which they dwell are multifaceted. The loves, the friendships (no less a man than William the Marshal), Henry the Young King's famous and infamous brothers. The scope of the Angevin Empire. It is an almost too rich field of study.We have Henry the Second losing a fair and beautiful son AND an strong opponent. If you are interested in these people and this time you really need to read this book.

“My life, when it is written, will read better than it lived.” Henry Plantagenet, 'The Lion in Winter.'The line above from James Goldman’s play, The Lion in Winter is delivered by King Henry II of England (1133-1189) but it could equally well have been said by his eldest son, Henry the Young King, who is the subject of this superb biography by Matthew Strickland. The Young King (1155-1183) was the eldest of the five legitimate sons of King Henry II to survive infancy. In order to ensure the smooth transfer of power after the death of his royal father, who controlled a virtual empire of land extending from the north of England to the south of France, Young Henry was crowned King of England, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou at the age of fifteen while Henry II was still alive. Yet, although there were successful precedents in Scotland and elsewhere, this ‘anticipatory succession’ proved to be unworkable. Although Young Henry was an anointed king with a measure of authority, his father ensured that essentially he held only the title. The elder Henry continued to govern through agents placed at the young man’s court, thus attenuating or indeed stifling, any real exercise of power. The son felt that he had been gelded and eventually rebelled against his father with the active support of his mother Queen Eleanor and his younger brothers.At first it might appear that this book is another story of dysfunctional parents and their offspring. After all, as Queen Eleanor herself remarks in 'The Lion in Winter', ‘What family does not have its ups and downs?’ Yet Matthew Strickland’s biography is far from another rehearsal of Plantagenet strained relations. It is a pleasing and overdue study of the life of a young man who has been overlooked and sometimes slighted by historians. It is also a vivid reconstruction of the political, military, social and religious life of the Middle Ages.Since The Young King died prematurely at the age of twenty-eight, the historical sources in which he features are fewer than those available to biographers of his brothers Richard and John but Matthew Strickland makes fair use of the documents at his disposal and he interprets the silences very well. As the Young King was involved in an abortive rebellion against his father, contemporary chroniclers give conflicting accounts of his character. Writers attached to the court of the elder Henry depict him as a black-hearted ingrate, a second Absalom, while those of the Young King’s own household are kinder. The latter recall his knightly courtesy, his generosity and excuse his appetite for power as youthful frustration and the influence of wicked counsellors. Alas, it seems that most modern commentators have taken the former view. The historian W. L. Warren, for example, calls the Young King ‘…a charming, vain, idle Spendthrift’ (‘Henry II’, Methuen, 1991, p. 118). Nevertheless, by a judicious use of the sources together with some insightful and entirely reasonable assumptions, Matthew Strickland reveals a more nuanced picture of the Young King. He brings the actions of the father and son into relief, favouring neither. Strickland explains Henry the Elder’s stance but ultimately does not excuse it. England was Henry II’s main source of revenue. Normandy connected his continental lands with England and Anjou was his patrimony; naturally he wished to remain in control. Similarly although it is true that a consideration of the Young King’s life under a somewhat jaundiced optic would make it easy to agree with Warren that he amounted to nothing so much as a spoiled brat, Strickland counters by drawing our attention to his courage, his patronage of the arts and the profession of knighthood, his interest in the law. All these are well argued. From this reading too, it would be possible to believe that he was a better, relatively more sensitive man than his brothers. The author's consideration of the Young King's possible nervous exhaustion towards the end of his life is moving. Yet one feels sympathy for the commoners who worked the land, who were too often the victims of Plantagenet, inter-familial conflict. In this meticulously researched book, the author lays bare the horrors of warfare, particularly the activities of the bands of routiers (the worst of mercenaries) who were employed by the nobility despite the prohibition of this by the Church. By the end of the text, the reader will know more about siege warfare. The details, such as the building of gallows outside a besieged town or castle, are absorbing. (Evidently the anticipation of a slow death by strangulation could be more persuasive than heavy missiles.)One particularly fascinating part of the biography is where the influence of Thomas Becket on the Young King (and vice versa) is considered. One would have thought, after all the ink which has been spilled on Becket, that there could be nothing more to say but here is a fresh optic under which to view the controversy. It seems that, after the elevation of his son to the throne of England, Henry II intended to rule the country through his old friend and confidant, Thomas Becket, conveniently made Archbishop of Canterbury as well as Chancellor. Apparently with malice aforethought, Becket stymied this plan by resigning the Chancellorship after he became Archbishop. Matthew Strickland suggests that had Becket acquiesced with Henry II's plan, all would have been well but his perfidious action in resigning the Chancellorship, led directly to the rebellion of 1173-74 which surely implies that the Young King would have quietly accepted his father's rule through Thomas Becket but not through any other channel. No doubt this will engender further debate.‘Henry The Young King’ is a professional work, planted thick with interesting foot notes but these need not distract the leisure reader. The references and magnificent bibliography are tucked away at the end of the text. There are short extracts of Medieval Latin peppered through the text which are always accompanied by an English translation. Their use brings the reader closer to the Middle Ages and Latin words such as ‘losengers’ meaning tale-bearers (or ‘clipes’ as would be said in Scotland) are captivating.*It would have been appropriate however if Yale university Press had done better by this first, hardback edition of a fine piece of scholarship and published at least some of the plates in colour.*Matthew Strickland has written a book which will surely become a classic benchmark in medieval biography. His subject’s vexed life might have been hard to live but as predicted in 'The Lion in Winter' it reads well, ‘Henry The Young King’ reads very well indeed.

This is indeed “the first modern study of Henry the Young King, eldest – and little known - son of Henry II, but it is also much more than that.As the author shows, Henry the Younger was crowned at age fifteen by his father precisely because Henry II wanted to avoid the succession wars that had plagued the death of his own grandfather (Henry I, the last son of William the Conqueror). The young king did indeed play a key role in his father’s Empire and did a lot for the prestige of the Plantagenet through his very successful participations in tournaments across Northern France.However, he was constantly denied direct rule of England, Normandy or Anjou by his father. This was a major problem since at the time, and as Matthew Strickland shows so well, lordship over land was both the main source of power and of wealth. It was also the main sources of influence and patronage because grants of fiefs was what allowed a lord to reward his followers and household knights. Without any of this, and although Henry the Younger was at one point in time allowed to govern Normandy on behalf of his father as some kind of temporary regent, he never had any real power.What made things worse from the Young King’s perspective, as also shown in the book, is that Richard, as Count of Poitou, rules over it and over Aquitaine while Geoffrey, his other younger brother, got Brittany. From Henry II’s perspective, and after his eldest son’s first rebellion, he always seemed to have feared a repeat, which finally happened and never trusted him with any real and significant power. This, again, tended to drive him into the arms of the Kings of France, first Louis VII and then Philippe II, who were, of course, too happy to stir up trouble against their much too powerful neighbour and vassal.One point where the book’s summary is somewhat incomplete and where it fails to do the book full justice is with regards to Eleanor of Aquitaine. She did encourage Henry’s first rebellion against his father. However, as Matthew Strickland shows, it is not sure how much encouragement the crowned King without a kingdom really needed. Her role in his second uprising seems to have been much more limited or even non-existent, partly because her husband had imprisoned her by then and partly because Henry the Younger was by then attacking Richard and disputing Aquitaine from his, and Richard (the future “Lionheart”) was “mummy’s favourite”, just like John was “daddy’s favourite”…Also included in the book are discussion about the Young King’s relationships with two rather extraordinary characters of the time. One was Thomas Beckett, who was his tutor when the future Archbishop was still his father’s Chancellor and friend. The other as William Marshall, who is likely to have been one of his master in arms and one of the leaders, or perhaps even the leader at one point in time, of his household knight. In both cases, however, Matthew Strickland describes fascinating pictures of both characters, showing them to be very much men of their time and not the “paragons of virtue” that they have been portrayed to be, and even portrayed themselves to be, as in the case of William Marshall.Finally, and although this is an excellent book that I will therefore rate five stars, readers should be aware that this is a scholarly piece, with full of references, discussions and footnotes, and a comprehensive bibliography to boot. The point here is that it is not written for the so-called “general reader” and may seem a bit heard to read at times. However, the contents are such that I, at least, found it very much worthwhile persevering…

The Yale English Monarchs Series has always marked the apogee of scholarship on the various kings and queens of England, from Aethelstan onward, and Strickland's biography of the Young King would (or does) make a worthy addition to be held in regard of that series.Having read other material by Strickland, I was sceptical about how accessible this biography would be. Whilst he does write well, Strickland has also had a tendency to be slightly too dry for my tastes; however, when I met him last year at Hereford Cathedral where I work, there was a sparkle in his voice as we got into conversation over Magna Carta, King John, and his time as a student of Sir James Holt. It is this sparkle which has invested his biography of the Young King with a seething zest for life and enjoyment; filling with some amazing anecdotes and personal stories making them jump off the page. Gervase of Tilbury (one of the Young King's entourage), for example, we are told was wandering through a vineyard one day and saw a pretty girl. She, however, rebuffed him with tragic consequences (p. 257). Upon chasing up the reference, we find that she and Gervase entered into a debate about spirituality and sexual intercourse, and the poor girl was subsequently tried for heresy by the local bishop who came wandering into the vineyard, and she was burned at the stake as a Cathar heretic. Strickland, tempts you with a tasty hook, and gets you to look at the material yourself too in order to further expand on things, which, in my opinion, is fantastic.This brings me on to my next point; Strickland's referencing is utterly meticulous and so detailed it's hard to miss a trick. Whilst personally, I prefer footnotes, his endnotes are a marvel in themselves, weighing in at a quarter of the book's size when the bibliography is included. This is an extremely wide read, widely researched, Magnum Opus. Do not let this put you off though, there is ample anecdote and human story to interest the most casual of reader, but those who will long for more will certainly not be disappointed.This is, as the reviews say, the first treatment of the Young King specifically. Others have often agglomerated it into Henry II, Richard I, or even King John biographies, but that then often leads to the biography of the Young King faltering. To Warren, who wrote the Yale Monarchs biographies of Henry II and John - which to this day, have not been replaced - the Young King was 'shallow, vain, careless, empty-headed, incompetent, improvident and irresponsible' (Warren, Henry II, p. 580). Crouch, whilst offered a more level, nuanced coverage of the Young King in his William Marshal (3rd edn. 2016, pp. 43-4), but ultimately showed him as a charming, though feckless playboy.The Young King died at the age of 28, a squalid death caused by dysentery in the midst of a rebellion against his father and brother; therefore, there are obviously less sources since he never really reigned at all. Instead, Young Henry, rex junior, was immortalised in Matthew Paris as a small window, not even a full page portrait, between his father, Henry II, and his brother, Richard I. A footnote at the page of history, and England's forgotten king. But Strickland has risen to the challenge and excelled at telling his story. The rebellions are given fresh light, and no anachronistic judgements are passed. Instead, level-headed reasoning and conclusions abound, providing a refreshing account. The Young King, rises from the page as a patron of the arts, a courageous knight, and one of the best tournament stars of the Middle Ages; a star equal to his tutor at arms, and most loyal member of his mesnie, William Marshal. No more is Henry the Young King, the feckless indolent playboy caricatured into biographies of Henry II, or Richard Lionheart.His life is also thrown into relief against the towering monoliths of Henry's reign - Thomas Becket, and William Marshal. The Young King was tutored by these two; two of the most iconic names from this period, and after all of the biographies which have been written on both, there is still something fresh and intriguing about it. Such as the implications that Becket's martyrdom in Canterbury on December 29, 1170, set the stage for the Young King's rebellion of 1173-4. A considered and well reasoned argument, open for rebuttal and further debate, which I look forward to relishing.On the whole, Strickland's biography immerses you within the political machinations, the social circles, the religious tension, and fraught military campaigning of the period. In transporting us back to the period with such skill, he has crafted a benchmark of biography, that will stand shoulder to shoulder with items like Holt's Northerners and Magna Carta, or Warrens Henry II and John for the decades to come.Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in this period.

“My life, when it is written, will read better than it lived.”Henry Plantagenet, The Lion in Winter.The line above from James Goldman’s play, The Lion in Winter is delivered by King Henry II of England (1133-1189) but it could equally well have been said by his eldest son, Henry the Young King, who is the subject of this superb biography by Matthew Strickland. The Young King (1155-1183) was the eldest of the five legitimate sons of King Henry II to survive infancy. In order to ensure the smooth transfer of power after the death of his father, who controlled a virtual empire of land extending from the north of England to the south of France, Young Henry was crowned King of England, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou at the age of fifteen while Henry II was still alive. Yet this ‘anticipatory succession’ proved to be unworkable. Although Young Henry was an anointed king with a measure of authority, his father ensured that essentially, he held only the title. The elder Henry continued to govern through agents placed at the young man’s court, thus attenuating or indeed stifling any real exercise of power. The son felt that he had been gelded and eventually rebelled against his father with the active support of his mother Queen Eleanor and his younger brothers.At first it might appear that this book is another story of dysfunctional parents and their offspring. After all, as Queen Eleanor herself remarks in The Lion in Winter, ‘What family does not have its ups and downs?’ Yet Matthew Strickland’s biography is far from another rehearsal of Plantagenet strained relations. It is a pleasing and overdue study of the life of a young man who has been overlooked and sometimes vilified by historians. It is also a vivid reconstruction of the political, military, social and religious life of the Middle Ages.Since The Young King died prematurely at the age of twenty-eight, the historical sources in which he features are fewer than those available to biographers of his famous brothers Richard and John but Matthew Strickland makes fair use of the documents at his disposal. Since the Young King was involved in an abortive rebellion against his father, contemporary chroniclers give conflicting accounts of his character. Writers attached to the court of the elder Henry depict him as a black-hearted ingrate, a second Absalom, while those of the Young King’s own household are kinder. The latter recall his knightly courtesy, his generosity and excuse his appetite for power as youthful frustration and the influence of wicked counsellors. Alas, it seems that most modern commentators have taken the former view. The historian W. L. Warren, for example, calls the Young King ‘…a charming, vain, idle Spendthrift’ (‘Henry II’, Methuen, 1991, p. 118). Nevertheless, by a judicious use of the sources together with some insightful and entirely reasonable assumptions, Matthew Strickland reveals a more nuanced picture of the Young King. He brings the actions of the father and son into relief, favouring neither. Strickland explains Henry the Elder’s stance but ultimately does not excuse it. England was Henry II’s main source of revenue. Normandy connected his continental lands with England and Anjou was his patrimony; naturally he wished to remain in control. Similarly although it is true that a consideration of the Young King’s life under a somewhat jaundiced optic would make it easy to agree with Warren that he amounted to nothing so much as a spoiled brat, Strickland counters by drawing our attention to his courage, his patronage of the arts and the profession of knighthood, his interest in the law. All these are well argued. From this reading too, it would be possible to believe that the Young King was a relatively more sensitive man than his brothers. The author’s description of his possibly nervous exhaustion towards the end of his life is moving. Yet one feels drawn to the plight of the commoners who worked the land, who were too often the victims of Plantagenet inter-familial conflict. In this meticulously researched book, the author quotes sources, which lay bare the horrors of warfare, particularly the activities of the bands of routiers (the worst of mercenaries) who were employed by the nobility, despite the prohibition of the Church on this practice. By the end of the book the reader will know more about siege warfare; the details, such as the building of gallows outside a besieged town or castle are absorbing. (Evidently the anticipation of a slow death by strangulation could be more persuasive than heavy missiles.)One particularly fascinating part of the biography is where the influence of Thomas Becket on the Young King (and vice versa) is considered. One would have thought, after all the ink which has been spilled on Becket, that there could be nothing more to say but here is a fresh optic under which to view the controversy. It seems that after the elevation of his son to the English throne, Henry II intended to rule the country through his old friend and confidant, Thomas Becket, who had conveniently been made Archbishop of Canterbury as well as Chancellor. Apparently with malice aforethought, Becket stymied this plan by resigning the Chancellorship after he became Archbishop. Matthew Strickland suggests that had Becket acquiesced with Henry all would have been well but his perfidious action in resigning led eventually to the rebellion of 1173-74 which surely implies that the Young King would have quietly accepted his father's rule through Thomas Becket but not through any other channel. No doubt this will engender further debate.‘The Young King’ is a professional work, planted thick with interesting foot notes but these need not distract the leisure reader. The references and magnificent bibliography are tucked away at the end of the book. There are very short extracts of Medieval Latin peppered through the text which are always accompanied by a translation. The Latin extracts bring the reader closer to the Middle Ages and Latin words such as ‘losengers’ (meaning tale-bearers or ‘clipes’ as would be said in Scotland) are captivating.*It would have been appropriate though, for such a fine piece of scholarship, if Yale University Press had published at least some of the plates in colour.Matthew Strickland has written a book which will surely become a benchmark in medieval biography. His subject’s vexed life might have been hard to live but as predicted in The Lion in Winter it reads well, ‘The Young King’ reads very well indeed.[This review was first published on Amazon on 23 August, 2016.]

90 pages in so far. I will definitely finish the book, which is not as long as you think when it arrives. Over 100 pages of it are footnotes, which goes to show how scholarly this is. In general it is maybe too scholarly for the general reader of history and its likely another book about Young Henry will come along soon in the style of Asbridge and Co. Nevertheless there's everything here, and what is really breathtaking is that Strickland has no qualms giving his own interpretation and reading between the lines of events, which I really like so far as I find some writers shy away from it. He is a true historian, and I will be all the more informed having read this. I will admit as a William Marshal fangirl I am currently on tenterhooks waiting for his arrival on the scene. At 90 pages in he has still only had a handful of mentions - if this continues I'll be surprised as I would say they were the biggest influence on each other's lives. All in all its great to have a book just for Young Henry. There is a lot on Henry II his father and the usual politics of the time, but apart from being a little dry at times, the book cannot be faulted.

This is the long-awaited first ever biography of Henry, The Young King eldest son of King Henry II and Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. He remains the only prince to be crowned king in his father's life time in 1170 when he was just 15. Author Matthew Strickland, comprehensively analyses every aspect of this princes colourful and eventful life and, in particular, his rebellions with his powerful and domineering father King Henry II. Sadly, The Young king predeceased his father dying in 1183 at the age of just 28. This book rehabilitates this lost king of England who never really exercised any power in the kingdom of England. His relationship with the nobles of England were essentially strong and his friendship with William Marshall is particularly important. This book is sure to remain the definitive work on this king for decades. It is a prestigious and scholarly work exploring all aspects of Henry's short life! Its especially good on the military campaigns of the Young king and his chivalric ambitions which are crucially important in discovering the true identity of this elusive historical character, a crowned king, but one who would never actually have the authority and prestige of a king. This brilliant book is a must for anyone seriously interested in this period and is a book that never dulls either in its intensity or excitement.