Henry ii (Anarchy) Flashcards
What is Purpresture
Expanding your land illegally by taking control of your neighbour’s land
What is escheat
The feudal law which allowed the crown to take lands away from baronial families if the baron had died or committed a serious crime
What was Henry’s first act as king and why?
Henry’s first act as king was to destroy the all the adulterine (illegal) castles held by barons
With their high walls, barons could hide in their castles and defend themselves from the crown – they could do what they want. In addition, barons could also use these huge castles to keep their armies of mercenaries
How many castles in england were under Henry’s control by 1176?
every single castle in England was under Henry’s control.
What did Henry decide to do when he took control of the Welsh marcher baron Hugh Mortimer’s 3 castles?
he decided to fortify them by adding higher walls and larger towers. Henry then started pay around £760 a year on building and maintaining the castles he owned to ensure that his castles were stronger than any other barons and to strengthen Englands defenses.
What did William le Gros Earl of York decide to establish?
a fiefdom, independent of the crown
How did Henry respond to William le Gros of York?
in 1155, Henry responded by marching north with a huge army and his siege engines. William knew he could never hold off Henry’s might. William gave up and gave Henry all his castles.
How did Henry utilise escheat in 1155?
Henry used Escheat to claim all the lands of William, giving him ownership over most of the North East of England
Henry used Escheat again and claimed most of the earldom of Chester which had expanded into a huge fiefdom during The Anarchy.
How had the number of earldoms and duchies changed under Henry’s reign?
fell from 22 to 12 mainly through escheat
What did Henry collect during his resolving of the Anarchy?
tried to collect big market cities such as London, Lincoln, York, Winchester, Exeter, Oxford and Leicester which would result in him profiting a lot from the wealth of these cities.
Where was the first place Henry went when arrving in England and what did he find?
to go straight to the city of Winchester where the kingdom’s treasury was held. the kingdom had been run dry
What was usually the biggest source of royal income?
rent from the barons
What was the forrest?
an area of royal demesne which covered over a quarter of England
How did the crown profit from the forrest?
from the minerals, timber, charcoal and hay which the forest produced
What was the farm?
an area of royal demesne although much smaller than the forrest.
How did the crown profit from the farm?
profited lots from the crops and livestock which the farm produced
What happened to the farm and forest under the reign on Stephen I.
large sections of both the forest and the farm had been either abandoned or destroyed. Many neighbouring land holders had committed purpresture on these lands
What had Henry been able to do the the forest and farm by 1162?
Henry reclaimed all the forest and farm lands back to the borders established by Henry I and increased the revenue of these assets by 25% by 1162.
What were the two taxes raised by Henry in 1156
Tallage and Danegeld, howver danegeld had not been used since before 1066.
Who did tallage tax?
taxed the towns of the royal demesne more depending on how much land they owned
Why was tallage successful?
The owners of land in the royal demesne were very wealthy, and records on land ownership were very organised. This meant that tallage brought about lots of royal income without any confusion
Who did Danegeld tax
taxed every single baron more depending on how much land they owned
Why was Danegeld unsuccessful?
The Anarchy caused significant disorder in baronial land ownership, leading to confusion and disputes over payments, which resulted in little revenue for the crown. Many lands, including forests and farms, were abandoned or damaged, leaving 24% of English land classified as “waste.” Barons, unwilling to pay taxes on land that no longer generated profit, resisted taxation. Additionally, Henry’s decision to grant tax exemptions only to his closest allies made the Danegeld tax unpopular and unjust. As a result, Henry abandoned the tax within the year.
Who did Henry ii hire as his treasurer.
Bishop Nigel of Ely in 1154 and his son, Richard fitzNigel was made treasurer from 1160
What did Bishop Nigel do to increase financial scrutiny?
Bishop Nigel started twice-yearly exchequer courts to question all the financial processes
What change occured in financial matters under Henry?
the kingdom’s finances had changed from “memory to written record”
What did Henry do in 1158 to centralise the kingdom’s finances?
recoinage
What happened as a result of Coinage
coins all had the same amount of silver in them and had a picture of his face on them and no longer were rival barons minting their own coins.
Where were new mints created in 1158?
north of England
How did Henry II reform coin minting and control over finances in England
The Exchequer, under Bishop Nigel and Richard fitzNigel, ensured uniform coin quality and prevented waste.
The number of mints was reduced from 47 (1154) to 29 (1158) to centralize control.
Henry claimed control over ecclesiastical mints.
In 1160, Henry investigated mints for efficiency and fined moneyers for poor-quality coins.
What were the marcher barons on the Wales-England Border and why?
Earldoms of Chester, Shrewsbury and Hereford were positioned on the border between Wales and England to contain the princes from invading England
Who were the strongest princes in Wales by 1154?
Owain Gwynedd of Gwynedd and Lord Rhys ap Gruffudd of Deheaubarth had emerged as the strongest princes in Wales
Who was the only prince willing to pay Henry homage in 1154?
The ruler of Powys.
What was the aim of Henry’s first campaign into Wales in 1157
to take out Owain and Rhys and re-establish the borders between England and Wales which existed under Henry I
How big of an army had Henry raised in his first campaign into wales
30,000
How did Henry make Owian submit to Henry and pay homage?
Henry then used his army to invade North Wales from his earldom in Chester. He had also placed a fleet of ships of the coast of Anglesey (a large island off the coast of North Wales) to prevent any Welsh princes from escaping the invasion by sea. The pressure of an invasion and a lack of escape route led Owain to submit to Henry without a battle. Owain paid homage to Henry
When did Lord Rhys pay homage?
1158
How far down did Scotland push during the Anarchy and what territories did they take?
The Scottish had advanced as far south as Durham (get a map) and had taken the territories of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmoreland
How did Henry respond to Scotland in 1157?
Henry marched north with an army to reclaim these territories. Before Henry got to Northumberland, Malcolm IV, the Scottish king surrendered all the English territories he took
What was the aftermath of Henry’s response to Scotland in 1157?
Henry made Malcolm IV the Earl of Huntingdon. Malcolm paid homage to Henry in response
Why does Richard de Lucy’s appointment show Henry hired magnates for talent only?
Richard de Lucy was experienced with the law and was appointed as justicier despite having supported Stephen’s claim to the throne.
Why was Richard de Lucy known as Richard the Loyal?
as he was responsible for leading fights against rebellious barons and was even sometimes the regent.
What was the role of chancellor and why was it important?
The chancellor was the most important magnate, attending all meetings of the Curia Regis and having access to the king’s private meetings. He controlled the king’s seal, a wax stamp used to approve official documents, making him almost as important as the king. Additionally, the chancellor managed the chancery, the king’s office for writing and recording royal documents.
Who did Henry choose to be his chancellor and why?
Henry chose Thomas Becket to be chancellor. Becket was previously a
clerk to the Archbishop of Canterbury, a job requiring a strong education especially in writing,
languages and diplomacy – all skills required of the most important magnate
Did henry and Becket have a stong or weak relationship?
Becket and Henry had a strong relationship – they played, hawked, played chess and hunted together
How much had becket increased the number of chancellor clerks?
Becket increased the number of chancellor clerks from 11 under Stephen to 16 in 1154 and 52 by 1162
Did the courts have little or a lot of power from 1154?
By 1154, courts had little power and organisation (see Anstey’s story) and justice was expensive
Legal cases were also mostly delegated to God via trials by oath or trials by ordeal
What were trials by oath?
Trial by oath meant that witnesses could be called to swear the defendant was telling the truth on a holy relic
What were trials by ordeal?
Trial by ordeal meant either battling the accuser, picking up a stone from the bottom of a bucket of boiling water, being dunked in a pond or being asked to walk whilst holding a red-hot poker
What did Henry do in 1155 Surrounding trails?
Henry introduced the repeal of trials of ordeal
Instead, punishments were standardised for each serious crime – hanging, mutilation or removal of limb
Name the 5 different types of courts introduced by Henry?
Manor courts
Hundred courts
County or shire courts
Forest courts
King’s courts
What were manor courts?
Manor courts were overseen by the lord of the land and were about small matters
What were hundred courts?
Hundred courts were overseen by a sheriff or a magnate and were about debts and land disputes between common folk and theft and met up to once a fortnight
What were county or shire courts?
County or shire courts were overseen by a sheriff or a magnate and were about general writs, disputes between local lords as well as crown please. Itinerant justices visited these
What were forest courts?
Forest courts were overseen by royal foresters or forest justices and were about crimes of the forest. Itinerant justices visited here
What were kings courts?
King’s courts were overseen by the king and was a supreme court of appeal which dealt with serious crimes often committed by barons
What type of writs did Henry introduce?
Henry II introduced “standardised writs” which were mass-produced, general rules for generic legal cases
What were two examples of standardised writs
Novel disseisin and Mort d’ancestor
What was Novel disseisin?
Novel disseisin was used for those who had clearly been dispossessed of their land illegally and thousands of these were made by the Chancery
What was Mort d’ancestor?
Mort d’ancestor was another standardised writ which was needed to automatically inherit land and Henry ensured that widows could apply for mort d’ancestor
How much most standardised writs cost and what did these mean?
Standardised writs were cheap at 6 shillings a piece, meaning most people could save up and afford one. Common people had more legal agency over barons and This standardised the legal system
What would itinerant justices do?
Itinerant justices would travel the courts of the country in groups on a set route over and over (making them known as circuit courts)
What did judges do?
Judges would spend three weeks in each shire, and if a defended did not turn up the date they were assigned, they would face fines
What did a jury of 12 men do?
A jury of twelve men of good character who knew the defendant and accuser was required under Henry II to increase trustworthiness
What did Henry issue to sherifs and what were the results of this?
Henry issued the Articles of Eyre to Sheriffs, instructions on how to make sure justices were doing their job properly
The chattels (possessions) of the accused went to the king through escheat
The increased legal scrutiny meant more people were paying their dues
Who was mostly exempt from his legal reforms?
Villeins were mostly exempt from these legal reforms – the law was for free men
What areas did Ecclesiastical law have jurisdiction over by 1154?
Ecclesiastical law by 1154 had jurisdiction over heresy, blasphemy, usury, sorcery, marriage, adultery and any crime of a member of the clergy
What were ecclesiastical courts like?
Ecclesiastical courts had no standardised punishments and utilised trials by oath and ordeal
What were clergy renowned for?
The clergy was renowned for being criminous and using its legal system to shield itself
What is an example of corruption in the clergy?
In 1154, archdeacon Osbert of Richmond was accused of killing his archbishop by poisoning the chalice he used at mass. Henry wanted him tried in a court, but the church refused
Between 1154-1163 how many lay people had been killed by clerks?
Between 1154-1163 at least 100 lay people had been killed by clerks
Was Henry religious?
Henry himself was not religious – his favourite phrase according to Gerard of Wales was “by God’s eyes, throat or testicles”
