Christopher Harper-Bill & Nicholas Vincent 
Henry II: New Interpretations 

Survey of the reign of Henry II, offering a range of new evaluations and interpretations.


Henry II is the most imposing figure among the medieval kings of England. His fiefs and domains extended from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, and his court was frequented by the greatest thinkers and men of letters of his time, besides ambassadors from all over Europe. Yet his is a reign of paradoxes: best known for his dramatic conflicts with his own wife and sons and with Thomas Becket, it was also a crucial period in the evolution of legal and governmental institutions. Here experts in the field provide significant reevaluations of its most important aspects. Topics include Henry’s accession and his relations with the papacy, the French king, other rulers in the British Islesand the Norman baronage; the development of the common law and the coinage; the court and its literary milieu; the use of Arthurian legend for political purposes; and the career of the Young King Henry, while the introduction examines the historiography of the reign.


CONTRIBUTORS: MARTIN ALLEN, MARTIN AURELL, NICK BARRATT, PAUL BRAND, SEAN DUFFY, ANNE DUGGAN, JEAN DUBABIN, JOHN GILLINGHAM, EDMUND KING, DANIEL POWER, IAN SHORT, MATTHEW STRICKLAND


CHRISTOPHER HARPER-BILL and NICHOLAS VINCENT are Professors of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia.

Tabella dei contenuti

Introduction: Henry II and the Historians

The Accession of Henry II – Edmund King

Henry II and Louis VII – Jean Dunbabin

Doing Homage to the King of France – John B Gillingham

Henry, Duke of the Normans [1149/50-1189] – Daniel Power

Henry II and England’s Insular Neighbours – Sean Duffy

Henry II, the English Church and the Papacy, 1154-1176 – Anne J. Duggan

On the Instruction of a Prince: The Upbringing of Henry, the Young King – Matthew J Strickland

Henry II and the Creation of the English Common Law – Paul Brand

Finance and the Economy in the Reign of Henry II – Nick Barratt

Henry II and the English Coinage – Martin Allen

The Court of Henry II – Nicholas Vincent

Literary Culture at the Court of Henry II – Ian Short

Henry II and Arthurian Legend – Martin Aurell

Index

Circa l’autore

Nicholas Vincent is Professor of Medieval History at the University of East Anglia and a Fellow of the British Academy