HENRY II AND HIS SONS

Henry II restores Peace

Henry II was more than king of England : he was feudal lord of half of France, and was connected, by blood or marriage, with the chief princes of Europe. During the thirty-five years of his reign he spent all together but thirteen in England, and was never there for more than two years and a half at a time. The centre of his activity was France, where he was maintaining his feudal claims, though he never failed to recognize the prime importance of his English kingdom. He was a man of unbounded activity, a clear-headed statesman and lawgiver, and an ambitious ruler. He was, it is true, rash, intemperate, and licentious, but his private excesses interfered little with his political ambitions. He chose excellent councillors and was always ready to accept advice.

In the treaty of Wallingford, Henry had promised to set the kingdom right again, and as soon as he was crowned, began to restore order and peace. He issued a very brief charter confirming the charter of Henry 1, and at the same time began a series of important reforms. He drove the Flemish mercenaries out of England, ordered that all illegal castles should be razed to the ground, and took steps to recover the royal estates that had been given away both by Stephen and Matilda in their attempts to gain followers. Such resistance as he met with be overcame. The rebellion of Hugh of Mortimer, who held out longest, was suppressed in the summer of 1155, and from this time for nearly twenty years no serious rebellion occurred. With England pacified, Henry turned his attention to Wales, and after his return from Anjou, in 1157, made an attempt to subdue that land. But before he had accomplished anything he was called back to France in 1158, and there for five years was occupied in consolidating his feudal possessions. He settled complicated feudal claims, effected alliances and marriages in the interests of peace, and carried on wars with those that denied his feudal pretensions. Little wonder that his mind was not always on English affairs.

Henry's Administration : Strengthening of the Central Government

Henry's frequent absences made necessary such changes in administration as would enable the government to go on without him. England was comparatively small and compact, many of the dangerous feudal lords had been slain or had died, and most of the leading men sympathized with Henry in his determination to erect a strong central government. The king selected laymen as his justiciars, Richard de Lucy and Robert of Leicester, and invested them with almost regal power. Under them the same officers existed as in the days of Henry I. The small board of barons, called the Exchequer when performing financial duties, and the king's court (curia regis) when exercising judicial functions, continued their semi-annual meetings. But the treasurer of the Exchequer now became permanent, and under him was organized a staff of expert clerks, who did the routine work and remained at Westminster for a much longer time than did the barons. To this permanent board the sheriffs brought the revenues from each shire, which included the revenues from the royal estates, the proceeds from fines, the Danegeld when levied, and the money arising from marriages, wardships, aids, and other feudal dues.

Under Henry II the sheriff became the most important of those officials in the kingdom that had to do with local administration. He was always appointed by the king, and was generally one of the great lords of the shire whose revenues he collected and in whose court he sat. There were reasons why he might easily become dangerous to the king. Personally he was possessed of great estates within the district he administered ; while as sheriff he was invested by the king with great authority, often obtained the control of more than one shire, and, in some instances at least, succeeded in making his office hereditary. He was rapidly becoming a great local autocrat.

It was in order to place a check upon the sheriffs that Henry continued his grandfather's policy of sending occasionally one or more of his barons of the Exchequer or of the king's court into the shires. The duty of these barons was at first to watch the sheriffs to see that the lands were justly assessed and the revenues collected, and to hear those few cases that the king would not allow to be settled in the local court.' Thus in matters of finance and justice the king was beginning to increase the power of the central authority. In so doing he was lessening the power obtained by the feudal lords during the anarchy of Stephen's reign.