Henry II of England

Henry II Plantagenet was an energetic, relentless ruler who founded the Plantagenet dynasty and forged the sprawling Angevin Empire spanning from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. Ascending the English throne in 1154 following the devastating civil war of the Anarchy, Henry restored royal authority with an iron fist, demolishing unlicensed baronial castles.

Henry revolutionized the English legal landscape: he created the foundational apparatus of English Common Law, established itinerant royal circuit judges, and instituted the system of trial by jury to replace trial by ordeal. His reign was tragically clouded by his clash with his former chancellor, Archbishop Thomas Becket, over the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts. Becket's murder in Canterbury Cathedral in 1170 forced Henry to do public barefoot penance. His final years were consumed by bitter revolts staged by his formidable wife Eleanor of Aquitaine and rebellious sons, Richard the Lionheart and John. He was entombed at Fontevraud Abbey.