Henry, Count of Anjou and Maine, the second born son of King Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine, came into the world on 28 February 1155. He was the much welcome ‘spare’ son to follow his elder brother, William, who was still a toddler. Alas, little William died a few months after Henry’s first birthday, leaving the second born son the heir to King Henry II’s throne.
Little Henry was groomed for kingship from the moment of his elder brother’s death, but he was also the apple of his parents’ eyes and the song in their hearts. The 15 year old Henry was crowned as the titular King of England alongside his father on 14 June 1170. Although the newly crowned Henry, known as the Young King to differentiate him from Henry II, had no real power outside of his father’s commands, he was nonetheless a political force within the kingdom because he was immensely popular with the people, renowned for his chivalry, and adored by his royal parents. However, as he grew older, the style and trappings of power – unsweetened by the substance of it – eventually created a rift between the Young King and his sire.
Henry was betrothed at the age of 5 to the 2 year old Margaret of France, the daughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine’s ex-husband, King Louis VII of France, by the French king’s second marriage. The young couple were formally married as teenagers, on 27 August 1172, at Winchester Cathedral, where they were also coronated as King and Queen of England — in spite of the fact Henry II and Eleanor were both alive and well and the REAL monarchs of Normandy and Britain. Nonetheless, the Young King and his bride were international, thanks to Young Henry’s prowess in the tournament circuit.
The Young King, as a married man and a famous knight, wanted some independence. He was also unhappy with his father’s choke-hold on the royal funds, and his too-meager-for-his-liking allowance. The family tiff soon devolved into a open rebellion due to “discontent with his father’s rule, and a formidable party of Anglo-Norman, Norman, Angevin, Poitevin and Breton magnates” joined the Young King in the revolt of 1173–1174. Moreover, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was fed up to the back teeth with Henry II’s infidelities and disrespect, threw her lot in with her eldest surviving son, backing Young Henry in an attempt top depose his father and become king in truth as well as in title. The Gallic nobles and the Young King almost succeeded, too – but Henry II’s crown was “was narrowly saved by the loyalty of a party of nobles with holdings on the English side of the Channel, and by the defeat and capture of William I, the King of Scotland.”
The true end to the rebellion, though, was Henry II’s capture of Eleanor of Aquitaine. With his mother imprisoned, Young Henry sought a peace treaty with his father to secure Eleanor’s safety and comfort. In turn, the now rattled Henry II increased Young Henry’s share of the family coffers and let him lead a relatively autonomous life as a celebrity jouster in northern France.
And make no mistake – Henry the Young King was a superstar. Tournaments were the FIFA of their day, and spectators were just as wild about the sport and modern football/soccer fans. The young king was a medieval David Beckham, and nearly everyone loved him. Gerald of Wales, a historical source who had nothing good to say about the other sons of Henry II, was effusive with his praise of the king’s heir, calling the young king, “admirable for gentleness and liberality” and “remarkable for his clemency”. Gervase of Tilbury, a medieval writer of note, declared that Henry the Young King was, “courteous and cheerful. Gracious to all, he was loved by all; amiable to all, he was incapable of making an enemy. He was matchless in warfare, and as he outstripped them all in valor, cordiality, and the outstanding graciousness of his manners.”
The news of Margaret of France’s pregnancy in late 1176 was a cause of rejoicing. The birth of a son and heir had the potential of bringing a true reconciliation between Young Henry and Henry II, as well as a hope for lasting peace between the French royals and the Plantagenets. Sadly, Margaret gave birth to a son, William, prematurely in Paris on 19 June 1177, and the baby boy died just three days later. She and Henry were never able to conceive another child, and Henry eventually tried to divorce her in 1182 on the almost certainly false charge that she was having an affair with William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
Did Young Henry actually think Margaret was doing the dirty deed with Marshal? Maybe. He certainly had a massive falling out with the Earl of Pembroke that year, shortly before the accusations were cast. Most historians, however, think that the breech between Marshal and Young Henry was simply the reason the young king chose Marshal as the co-defendant in the trumped-up charges of adultery. The Young King was obviously determined to get rid of his barren wife, by hook or by crook, and by then he was insanely angry at Marshal for talking back to him.
Not that any of it mattered in the end. Henry the Young King died in the summer of 1183.
The young king had just gotten done raiding the local monasteries of Limousin in order to pay his troop of mercenaries, when he contracted dysentery. By 7 June 1183, it was clear the disease was going to kill him. Henry made an attempt to reconcile with those he had loved and wronged in life. He forgave William Marshal of whatever beef lay between them, and asked the earl to take his cloak to the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, in order to fulfil his vow to go on crusade. He also sent word to his father, begging King Henry II to come to his deathbed. The elder monarch, fearing that it was a ruse by his rebellious son to get his sire into his clutches and thus free Eleanor of Aquitaine in an exchange of hostages, refuse to come – but he did send a ring and a letter swearing that he forgave the young king for his revolt. At peace with his absent father, Henry the Young King died on 11 June, holding Henry II’s ring in his hand.
When the king was told of his heir’s death, Henry II was reported to have said: “He cost me much, but I wish he had lived to cost me more.”