History Is Present

Henry Plantagenet & Margaret France

England’s Young King & Queen

Henry Plantagenet and Margaret of France are monarchs of England but even though they were crowned & anointed as King and Queen they are not thought as rulers by history.

Margaret of France

Henry was born on the 28 February 1155 to Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitane. Margaret was born in November  1157 to Louis VII of France and his second wife Constance of Castille. Henry's mother and Margaret's father had been married until they got an annulment and therefore they shared half-sisters; Marie and Alix.

Young Henry

Little is known about Henry's childhood but I expect as heir to the English throne he was given a good education; reading, writing, learning about politics, jousting, riding, chivalry etc.  

When Henry was five and Margaret was three an agreement was made between Henry II and Louis that Henry and Margaret would marry when they were both at a age for marriage. On the 2 November 1160 the two youngsters were betrothed and Margaret's dowry brought the disputed and vital territory of Vexin.    

On the 4 June 1170 Henry was crowned King of England. How? How can he be King if his father is still alive? He actually became co-ruler with his father. The Plantagenet Empire was combined of Normandy, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Aquitane, Poitou, England and Ireland so Henry needed someone to always be in England to rule and who better then his own flesh and blood.

Louis was angered by the fact that Margaret had not been crowned alongside her husband and in order to keep him happy a joint coronation was arranged. They were formally married on 27 August 1172 at Winchester Cathedral, when Henry was crowned king of England a second time, this time together with Margaret, by Rotrou, the Archbishop of Rouen.

Henry fell out with his father in 1173 because he was frustrated that his father had given him no realm of his own to rule, and feeling starved of funds. The Young King's rebellion was supported by the English, Norman, Angevin, Poitevin and Breton magnates. The civil war, which lasted from 1173 to 1174, came close to toppling the king and he was saved only by the loyalty of his nobles with holdings on the English side of the Channel, and the defeat and capture of the king of Scotland. Her the capture of Eleanor,Young Henry sought a reconciliation with his father. By the terms of the settlement, his funds were much increased and he spent most of the next seven years competing in tourneys.

"The Young Henry was the only one of his family who was popular in his own day. It was true that he was also the only one who gave no evidence of political sagacity, military skill, or even ordinary intelligence... He was gracious, benign, affable, courteous, the soul of liberality and generosity. Unfortunately he was also shallow, vain, careless, high-hoped, incompetent, improvident, and irresponsible."

Even though Henry was not political his patronage gave him a "celebrity status" throughout western Europe. The baron and troubador, Bertran de Born, who knew him, said that he was "...the best king who ever took up a shield, the most daring and best of all tourneyers. From the time when Roland was alive, and even before, never was seen a knight so skilled, so warlike, whose fame resounded so around the world – even if Roland did come back, or if the world were searched as far as the River Nile and the setting sun." 

Soon after the rebellion Margaret became pregnant. Henry must of been of overjoyed with news that he would have an heir for England. Margaret had her confinement period in Paris where she had been born over 19 years previous and on the 19 June 1177 she gave birth prematurely to their only son William, who died three days later on 22 June.

In November 1180, he represented his father at the coronation of Philip Augustus, Margaret's half-brother as associate King of France at Reims where he was given the honour of acting as Steward of France and carried the crown in the coronation procession. Later, he played a leading role in the celebratory tournament held at Lagny-sur-Marne, to which he brought a retinue of over 500 knights at huge expense.

The Young Henry's affairs took a turn for the worse in 1182 when he fell out with William Marshal, the leader of his tournament mesnée on the accusations that he had been having an affair with the Young Queen Margaret. However it is believed that he was actually guilty of lèse majesté (the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state) which was brought on by Marshal's own arrogance and greed. The charge of adultery was only introduced in the Life of William Marshal as a distraction from the real charges.

Henry may of started the process of a getting an annulment because of her adultery but probably because she could not conceive an heir. Henry sent Margaret to the French court in early 1183 to keep her safe in the impending war with his brother, Richard, rather than because she was in disgrace.

Margaret and Henry never met again as during the course of a campaign in the Limousin against his father and his brother Richard during the summer of 1183, Henry died. He contracted dysentery at the beginning of June. As a token of his penitence for his war against his father he prostrated himself naked on the floor before a crucifix. He made a testament and since he had taken a crusader's vow, he gave his cloak to his friend William Marshal with the plea that he should take the cloak to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. On his deathbed, he reportedly asked to be reconciled to his father, but King Henry, fearing a trick, refused to see him. He died on 11 June, clasping a ring his father had sent instead as a sign of his forgiveness. After his death, his father is said to have exclaimed: "He cost me much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more."

Henry's tomb at Rouen

His remains are at Rouen Cathedral, where his tomb is on the opposite side of the altar from the tomb of his younger brother Richard, with whom he was perpetually quarrelling. The tomb of the Archbishop of Rouen, who had married him and Margaret, lies nearby in the ambulatory. His brothers Richard I and John both later became kings of England.

Margaret was given a substantial pension in exchange for surrendering her dowry of Gisors and the Vexin. She became the second wife of Béla III of Hungary in 1186 making her Queen of Hungary. In 1196 Béla died and Margaret became widowed once more. She decided to go on a pilgrimage to Holy Land at St John of Acre in 1197 where she became ill and died. She was buried at the Cathedral of Tyre.

I think that they should be given the accordance of the rulers they were. Crowning the heir to the throne in advance to the King's death was a French custom that was brought to England by Stephen and Henry II. They were crowned, and anointed. Shouldn't they be remembered as part of the one of the greatest Dynasty the world has ever known?