Editing Henry the Young King (section)

== Political career ==
[[File:Henry the Young-Plantagenet.jpg|thumb|upright|Drawing of the recumbent statue in [[Rouen Cathedral]] destroyed in 1733; from ''Livre du Millénaire de la Normandie'' (1911, after a drawing of c. 1700)]]

The young Henry played an important part in the politics of his father's reign. On 2 November 1160, he was betrothed to [[Margaret of France, Queen of England and Hungary|Margaret of France]], daughter of [[Louis VII of France]] and his second wife, [[Constance of Castile]], when he was five years of age and she was at least two. The marriage was an attempt to finally settle the struggle between the counts of Anjou and the French kings over possession of the frontier district of the [[Norman Vexin]], which Louis VII had acquired from Henry's grandfather, [[Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou]], in around 1144. By the terms of the settlement, Margaret would bring the castles of the Norman Vexin to her new husband. However, the marriage was pushed through by Henry II when Young Henry and Margaret were small children so that he could seize the castles. A bitter border war followed between the kings.

Henry II had toyed with the idea of having Young Henry crowned king as early as 1162 and even procured a papal bull from Alexander III ordering Archbishop Roger of York to crown Young Henry whenever required.<ref>Frank Barlow, Thomas Becket, (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 68</ref> Thomas Becket, newly ordained as Archbishop of Canterbury, had been ordered to prepare for the coronation of Young Henry and the pipe rolls for 1162 record the allocation of funds for the commissioning of a golden circlet. This was not to be, however; Barlow suggests that the southern prelates dissuaded King Henry II from using the papal bull as the Archbishopric of Canterbury was now occupied. This greatly upset Roger of York, who wrote to Rome asking for confirmation of his right to crown kings; while ultimately unsuccessful, Roger's delays derailed Henry's plans and the Young King would not be crowned until 1170.<ref>Frank Barlow, ''Thomas Becket'', (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1986), p. 70</ref>

Young Henry was finally crowned on Saturday 14 June 1170 on the feast of St Basil at [[Westminster Abbey]], in the presence of most of the Anglo-Norman nobility and the overwhelming majority of the non-vacant English bishoprics. Matthew Strickland notes that the exiled Thomas Becket had few supporters left in the upper ranks of the English church after six years of dispute with Henry II.<ref name=":0">Matthew Strickland, ''Henry the Young King: 1155–1183'', (London: Yale University Press, 2016), p. 85</ref>

It was almost certainly a calculated insult to Louis VII that Margaret of France was not crowned alongside her husband in 1170. [[Robert of Torigny]] argues she simply arrived from Normandy too late to participate, but other sources reveal she was deliberately delayed at Caen. Warren believes that this was an ultimately fruitful attempt to prevent Louis VII from dissuading Thomas Becket from accepting his latest overtures.<ref name=":1">W. L Warren, Henry II, (London: Eyre Methuen, 1973), p. 111</ref> Whatever the case, Louis was so enraged by this that he launched an immediate attack on the Norman border, forcing Henry to return to the duchy personally to oversee its defences. Mediation by Count Theobald of Blois, however, led to a meeting between the two monarchs at Vendôme and, following subsequent meetings at La Ferté and Fréteval, Henry was able to placate King Louis.<ref>''The Chronicle of Robert of Torigni, in Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I'' ed. R. Howlett, vol 4, p. 207</ref>

Young Henry and Margaret were formally married on 27 August 1172 at [[Winchester Cathedral]], when Henry, aged seventeen, was crowned King of England a second time, this time together with Margaret, by [[Rotrou (Archbishop of Rouen)|Rotrou]], the [[Archbishop of Rouen]].<ref>W. L. Warren, ''Henry II'' (Univ. of California Press, 1973) p. 111, note 3</ref>

Young Henry fell out with his father in 1173. Contemporary chroniclers allege that this was owing to the young man's frustration that his father had given him no realm to rule, and his feeling starved of funds. The rebellion seems, however, to have drawn strength from much deeper discontent with his father's rule, and a formidable party of [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]], [[Normandy|Norman]], [[County of Anjou|Angevin]], [[Poitou|Poitevin]] and [[Brittany|Breton]] magnates joined him. The [[revolt of 1173–1174]] came close to toppling the king; he was narrowly saved by the loyalty of a party of nobles with holdings on the English side of the [[English Channel|Channel]] and by the defeat and capture of [[William the Lion|William I]], the King of [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. Young Henry sought a reconciliation after the capture of his mother, [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], and the failure of the rebellion. His funds were much increased by the terms of the settlement and he apparently devoted most of the next seven years to the amusement of the tournament.

In November 1179, he represented his father at the coronation of [[Philip II of France|Philip Augustus]] as associate king of France at [[Reims]]. He acted as Steward of France and carried the crown in the coronation procession. Later, he played a leading role in the celebratory tournament held at [[Lagny-sur-Marne]], to which he brought a retinue of over 500 knights at huge expense.

The Young Henry's affairs took a turn for the worse in 1182. He fell out with William Marshal, the leader of his tournament ''mesnée''.<ref>''Mesnée'' is an Old [[Norman French]] word, meaning ''household''.</ref> The unknown author of ''[[L'Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal]]'' suggests that Marshal's disgrace was because he had been falsely accused of a clandestine affair with Queen Margaret.<ref>The History of William Marshal, Translated by Nigel Bryant, Boydell Press, 2016, pp. 80-89, 94-95.</ref> [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]], one of the Marshal's principal modern biographers, argues that the charge against William was actually one of ''[[lèse-majesté]]'', brought on by Marshal's own arrogance and greed. By this account, the charge of adultery was only introduced in the [[L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal|''History of William Marshal'']] as a distraction from the real charges, of which he was most probably guilty. Though the Young King sent his wife early in 1183 to the French court, it was done most likely to keep her safe in the impending war with his brother, Richard, rather than because she was in disgrace.

Margaret gave birth to a baby boy named William, who may have been born prematurely on 19 June 1177, and died only three days later.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strickland |first=Matthew |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3nsDAAAQBAJ |title=Henry the Young King, 1155–1183 |publisher=Yale University Press |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-300-21955-5 |page=237 |language=en}}</ref>