Henry II was born in France in 1133. His parents were Empress Matilda, daughter of King Henry I, and Geoffrey Plantagenet, Duke of Anjou. He was said to have been a fairly good looking guy, with red hair, and had bowed legs from riding horses. He was also said to have a temper, yelling and throwing spoiled toddler fits. He also refused to speak, which reminds me a lot of my seven year old when she throws her fits. Henry was educated by very capable tutors and also sent to religious school. He tried to invade England at one point with his household and a few mercenaries, but was unsuccessful in his little foray. In 1149, he again got involved in civil war as though it was his business, and got sent right back to Normandy after another failure. He eventually married Eleanor of Aquitaine, and took control of the English throne in 1154. He implemented a full scale reconstruction of the government, got up several military campaigns, held a very expansive court, implemented a lot of changes to the laws, and had a unstable relationship with the Church. One of the main issues that dominated his rain was the issue of Thomas Becket, whom he argued with, and who was ultimately killed in an obscene way by four knights. In his later life, he suffered greatly from a bleeding ulcer, which I might chalk up to karma. He eventually died, after falling into a coma with a fever.

I have read about Eleanor of Aquitaine and about Becket (both in nonfiction and fiction books), and somehow I never put it together that Henry II was the culprit in her life and the ending of Becket's. I learned a lot about Henry II from this book, and found it very entertaining as well. I also learned that I am not a fan of this particular monarch in the least, though he did make some good improvements during his reign. It also wasn't extremely long, so I was able to complete it quite quickly. If you are looking for a book to give you a good overview of Henry II's life and times, this is one that you should try out.