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ENGLISH HISTORY.

MIDDLE ENGLAND.

THE PLANTAGENET PERIOD.

HENRY THE SECOND.

ENRY the Second,1 grandson of Henry the First, acquired the surname of Plantagenet, from his

father, Geoffrey of Anjou. His paternal inheritance com

prised Anjou, Touraine, and Maine. His mother's right to Normandy had also been transferred to him; and with his wife Eleanor he received Poitou and Aquitaine. continental dominions thus stretched from the plains of Picardy 3 to the Pyrenees, and embraced at least one-third of France.

His

On his accession, therefore, to the throne of England, in 1154, Henry became one of the leading monarchs of Europe; and although he was as yet but a very young man, he soon proved, by the vigour and ability he displayed, that he had no equal among the sovereigns of his time.

Immediately after his coronation, Henry applied himself to the removal of some of the evils that had arisen in the late unhappy reign. The foreign soldiers, who had been employed by Stephen to support his rule, were compelled to quit the kingdom. The royal castles and land, which had been alienated or usurped, were reclaimed. The newly erected strongholds, to the number, it is said, of eleven hundred, were dismantled. The criminal laws, which had often been outraged with impunity, were strictly enforced; and the coinage, which had been debased, was reformed.

While these salutary measures were in progress, Henry wrested the northern counties from the control of Scotland; suppressed a rising that was headed by his younger brother Geoffrey on the Continent; and led an army into Toulouse 5 in support of his claim to that large and important province. This involved him in a war with France, which, however, was soon brought to an end by the friendly intervention of the Pope.

Henry also invaded Wales; but having had little or no experience in mountain warfare, he allowed himself to be drawn into an ambush among the hills, where his army was defeated with great loss. On a subsequent occasion, however, Henry was

amply revenged on the Welsh tribes for the disaster they had thus inflicted upon him.

But the two great events of Henry's reignevents which have made his name famous in English history-were his quarrel with the Church, and the conquest of Ireland. These, especially the former, occupied many of the best years of his life, and are of so much importance that we have devoted a chapter to each. We will therefore take no further notice of them in this general sketch, but pass on to the minor incidents of his reign.

1 Hen'-ry II., son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I. The name Plantagenet is derived from planta genista, the Latin name for the broom plant, which was worn by the first Earl of Anjou when on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. [Fr. plante de genêt.]

2 His wife, Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, the divorced wife of Louis of France.

3 Pic'-ar-dy, a province in the north of France, now the Somme. Al'-ien-at-ed, transferred to

others.

5 Tou-louse', in the south of France.

HENRY THE SECOND: DOMESTIC TROUBLES.

DOMESTIC Sorrow pressed heavily upon Henry during the closing years of his life, and overcast it with the darkest shadows. They were the result of his imprudent marriage with Eleanor, the divorced queen of Louis of France, and form a sad picture of family discord, husband and wife being arrayed against each other, sons taking up arms against their father, and brother fighting with brother.

Instigated by their mother, Henry, Richard, and Geoffrey, assisted by William the Lion, of Scotland, and Louis of France, raised the standard of rebel