King Henry ll is best known for his improvement to the English legal system.
During his reign from 1154 to 1189, King Henry II introduced a number of significant legal reforms that helped to shape the English legal system as we know it today.
What accomplishments should Henry II be known for?
Henry II was the founder of the House of Plantagenet, which ruled England for more than 300 years, until the death of Richard III (the last English monarch to die in battle). The House of Plantagenet's accession to the English throne ended a period known as the Anarchy, the name of which explains the situation. In fact, England had experienced on-and-off political chaos, at least from the time of Edward the Confessor (before the Norman Conquest) until the arrival of Henry II. Henry II was probably the wealthiest person in Europe at the time of his death. Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine (Henry's wife) was a patron of the poets who created the so-called “matter of Britain”; that is, the mythology of King Arthur and Merlin the Magician. The origins of the Common Law system are also traced to Henry’s reign. A good deal of Henry's wealth was lost when his son, King Richard the Lionheart, was captured and held for ransom by the Holy Roman Emperor as Richard was trying to cross Europe incognito on his way back from the Crusades. Richard's brother King John (whose efforts to raise the ransom money through taxation are part of the background of the legends of Robin Hood) is the one who signed the Magna Carta. The reign of the House of Plantagenet ended with the end of the War of the Roses and the accession of Henry VII, (the first Tudor king and the father of Henry VIII), whose accession is a good dividing line between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance in England. As a result, Henry II's House of Plantagenet should be seen as defining the High Middle Ages in England. The period began with his accession to the throne of England and ended with the fall of his House.
Thanks.
#EddieEchevarria